Guest Advisor: Eric Zusman
Vol 4. Issue 1. January 2022
The three contributors to this month’s Energy Review provide eye- opening insights into a pivotal question: how can India and other countries transition onto net-zero pathways?
Those insights focus on pathbreaking technological and social changes that will make a net-zero future feasible. Whether reflecting on overcoming intermittency challenges or promoting agrivoltaics and smokeless Chulhas stoves, the three articles share a common concern with how to expand the space for making not simply a net-zero but sustainable future feasible. In my view, they underline two points that are critical to expanding the feasibility space for net-zero. First, all three articles note the need to consider not just climate but a broader range of sustainability concerns (i.e., water stress, food security, and air quality). Second, a single technological or social change may be necessary but not sufficient for net-zero. Enabling policies that connect climate with other sustainability issues are essential for building support across sectors and stakeholders for new technologies and social practices.
(Dr. Eric Zusman is Research Director with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan (Author of Chapter 17 of IPCC AR6 Working Group III)