Rajendra Kumar Pachauri was the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2015, during the fourth and fifth assessment cycles. Under his leadership the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and delivered the Fifth Assessment Report, the scientific foundation of the Paris Agreement. He held the post from 2002 until his resignation in February 2015 after facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He was succeeded by Hoesung Lee. Pachauri assumed his responsibilities as the Chief Executive of The Energy and Resources Institute in 1981 and led the institute for more than three decades and demitted office as Executive Vice Chairman of TERI in 2016. Pachauri, universally known as Patchy, was an internationally recognized voice on environmental and policy issues, and his leadership of the IPCC contributed to the issue of human-caused climate change becoming recognized as a matter of vital global concern.
Gurgaon, officially named Gurugram, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the national capital New Delhi and 268 km (167 mi) south of Chandigarh, the state capital. It is one of the major satellite cities of Delhi and is part of the National Capital Region of India. As of 2011, Gurgaon had a population of 1,153,000.
The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Network is a collective of research partners at 12 universities or non-governmental organizations in 11 countries around the world that focus on how institutions and governance arrangements shape forest use and management outcomes. Scholars and policy makers affiliated with IFRI are interested in understanding the role of formal and informal institutions in enhancing livelihoods and adaptive capacity of peoples, conserving biodiversity, and promoting greater sustainability in carbon sequestration. IFRI's goal is to carry out rigorous research that can help policy makers and forest users design and implement improved evidence-based forest policies. IFRI comprises partner collaborating research institutes in North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa. IFRI utilizes the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, created at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues.
Ramesh Menon is an author, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and corporate trainer.
Isher Judge Ahluwalia was an Indian economist, public policy researcher, and professor. She was Chairperson Emeritus, Board of Governors, at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). She had also served as the chairperson of the board of the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the chairperson of the Government of India's High-Powered Committee on Urban Infrastructure Services. She was awarded India's 3rd highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, in 2009.
The TERI School of Advanced Studies is a higher education institute in New Delhi, India which specializes in the field of sustainable development. It was established in 1998 by TERI. In 1999, the TERI School of Advanced Studies was granted the 'Deemed to be University' status by the Indian University Grants Commission (UGC).
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is a research institute in New Delhi that specializes in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development. Established in 1974, it was formerly known as the Tata Energy Research Institute. As the scope of its activities widened, it was renamed The Energy and Resources Institute in 2003.
Subhash C. Kashyap is a former Secretary-General of 7th Lok Sabha, 8th Lok Sabha and 9th Lok Sabha and Lok Sabha Secretariat from 1984 to 1990. He is also a well known political scientist, an expert in the Indian Constitution, Constitutional Law, Parliamentary Experts and a distinguished scholar. He also headed an International Centre for Parliamentary Documentation, IPU at Geneva till 1983. Kashyap was Honorary Constitutional Advisor to the Government of India on Panchayati Raj Laws and Institutions. He is also Recipient of several prestigious awards for the Best Books in Constitution, Law and Political Science. At present Dr. Kashyap is an Honorary Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. He was also a Member of the National Commission to Review the Working of Constitution and Chairman of its Drafting and Editorial Committee.
The Najafgarh drain or Najafgarh nalah, which also acts as Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary, is another name for the northernmost end of River Sahibi, which continues its flow through Delhi, where it is channelized, and then flows into the Yamuna. Within Delhi, due to its channelization for flood control purposes, it is now erroneously called "Najafgarh drain" or "Najafgarh nullah." It gets this name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Jheel (lake) near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi and within urbanized Delhi. It is the Indian capital’s most polluted water body due to direct inflow of untreated sewage from surrounding populated areas. A January 2005 report by the Central Pollution Control Board classifies this drain, with 13 other highly polluted wetlands, under category ‘‘D’’ for assessing the water quality of wetlands in wildlife habitats.
Prof. B. S. Sahay is the Founder Director, Indian Institute of Management Jammu. He was the Founder Director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur, Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon and Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad. Sahay completed his BTech from BIT Sindri and received his MTech and PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth. The Global Soil Partnership, GSP, was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its members with the hope to improve governance of the limited soil resources of the planet in order to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food-secure world, as well as support other essential ecosystem services.
Urbanization in India began to accelerate after independence, due to the country's adoption of a mixed economy, which gave rise to the development of the private sector. The population residing in urban areas in India, according to the 1901 census, was 11.4%, increasing to 28.53% by the 2001 census, and is now currently 34% in 2017 according to The World Bank. According to a survey by UN, in 2030 40.76% of country's population is expected to reside in urban areas. As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050.
Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, is a researcher, analyst and author. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata. He is a Former Professor of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. An internationally renowned professional on public interest research, mountain environment and water governance in south Asia, Bandyopadhyay has authored sixteen critically acclaimed books and monographs, in addition to 150 papers and articles. He has delivered invited lectures in many parts of the world.
Arcot Ramachandran (1923-2018) was an Indian scientist, anthropologist, author and a former Under-Secretary General of United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, known for his scholarship on the subjects of heat and mass transfer and environment and his social commitment to the cause of sustainable development. The Government of India honoured him in 2003, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the fields of Science and Engineering.
Basai wetland, located in Basai village in Gurgaon tehsil in Gurgaon district in Haryana, India, is a flora and fauna rich water body. It is recognised as one of India's Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is of global conservation significance as it supports populations of several endangered, vulnerable, and threatened bird species. Basai wetlandis recognised globally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the BirdLife International housing 20,000 birds of over 280 species including migratory birds and endangered birds, has not yet been declared a protected wetland by the Government of Haryana.
Gautam Bhan is an LGBTQ+ rights activist in India as well as a researcher, writer and faculty member at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. As the faculty member of IIHS, he works and teaches politics of poverty, inequality and development in Indian cities with a focus on housing, social security, governance and urban and planning theory. He is also the spokesman for LGBTQ+ rights and one of the petitioners in the legal battle to decriminalize homosexuality in India. He is the coordinator of Program for Working Professionals in Urban Development and co-anchors three major research projects on evictions, urban inclusion, slum up-gradation, and the relationships between poverty, inequality and urban violence.
Ramisetti Murali is an Indian Social Worker and Activist involved in environmental and civil society initiatives comprising water, farming, eradication of child labour, health and nutrition and waste management. Murali presently heads the Freshwater Action Network in South Asia (FANSA), a regional water body of South Asian countries. and is also the founder-Director of Modern Architects for Rural India (MARI) based in Secunderabad.
Climate change and cities are deeply connected. Cities are one of the greatest contributors and likely best opportunities for addressing climate change. Cities are also one of the most vulnerable parts of the human society to the effects of climate change, and likely one of the most important solutions for reducing the environmental impact of humans. More than half of the world's population is in cities, consuming a large portion of food and goods produced outside of cities. The UN projects that 68% of the world population will live in urban areas by 2050. Hence, cities have a significant influence on construction and transportation—two of the key contributors to global warming emissions. Moreover, because of processes that create climate conflict and climate refugees, city areas are expected to grow during the next several decades, stressing infrastructure and concentrating more impoverished peoples in cities.
Kamta Prasad, is an Indian economist, author, and professor with a career spanning over 60 years. He has published over 20 research books and has contributed to over 150 research papers.
