NRDC

Climate Resilience
and Health

Rising incidence of climate disasters such as extreme heat and poor air quality are affecting communities that are highly vulnerable to climate change. NRDC India has expertise on designing city-led programs connected to national policies to build climate resilience to extreme heat and poor air quality.

CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND HEALTH STRATEGIES

Advise stakeholders on expanding the scope of Heat Action Plans (HAPs) with vulnerability assessments & cool roofs and regularly update temperature thresholds for early warning systems.

Advise on scaling communications about extreme heat and air pollution health risk to vulnerable communities across targeted states and cities.

Scale Compile local evidence for the strong linkage between climate actions and health co-benefits for the purposes of advising new clients.

Advise stakeholders on the development & implementation of sector-specific emission reduction roadmaps in Indian cities (in alignment with the respective state governments and the central government’s objectives).

Clean Air Publications

Building Smart from the Start: Implementation of Energy Saving Building Codes in Uttar Pradesh

Case Study | November, 2020

Towering Possibilities in India: Scaling up the Implementation of Energy Conservation Building Across States

Issue Brief | September, 2019

Getting Cities Climate-Ready: The Story of India’s First Mandatory Energy Efficient Building Compliance System...

Case Study | December, 2018

Resource Guide for the Telangana ECBC

Fact sheet | December, 2017

Online Compliance System for Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) For Hyderabad

Fact Sheet | December, 2017

Building Efficient Cities: Strengthening the Indian Real Estate Market Through Codes and Incentives

Issue Brief | January, 2014

Prior to 2023, Indian experts worked as consultants with NRDC, and their work was thus hosted on NRDC’s website

Our Experts

Polash Mukerjee

Air Quality and
Climate Resilience Lead

Polash Mukerjee leads NRDC's work on air quality in India. His expertise is in developing emission reduction roadmaps, as well as financial and regulatory environmental health governance tools, clean fuel and vehicular technologies, and assessing air pollution sources. He is also involved in strategic work on clean mobility, international climate policy as well as communications for the India team. He is a researcher and policy advocacy professional with over 8 years of experience in environmental health and air quality management. He works closely with a diverse set of stakeholders spanning state, civil society, and private sector actors at the national, regional and city level to improve environmental governance on air quality and extreme heat.

Abhiyant Tiwari

Climate Resilience and
Health Lead

Abhiyant Tiwari is the lead climate resilience and health consultant at NRDC India. His interest includes environmental, climate, and disaster risks to public health, and he works to advance evidence-based adaptation and mitigation policies and actions in these areas. He has extensive experience in working with academia, governments, and non-profits on public health research, program and policy development, management, and evaluation. Right from the development and implementation of the first Heat Action Plan (HAP) of South Asia in the city of Ahmedabad in 2013, as a public health researcher and practitioner at the Public Health Foundation of India, Abhiyant has worked with knowledge partners like Natural Resources Defense Council and policy partners like national and sub-national governments on developing, implementing, and scaling heatwave health adaptation plans in South Asia region.