Isha Sharma

Last week, India withdrew its bid to host #COP33 in 2028, a move that, as @AmanJSrivastava writes in @TheQuint, reflects a shift in its climate priorities. Hosting a COP is costly, but it also offers a strategic platform to shape global negotiations and foreground national concerns. India’s withdrawal suggests a recalibration amid domestic pressures, strained multilateralism, and slowing global climate ambition. But stepping back from such a platform could limit India’s ability to influence outcomes that directly affect its own climate and development trajectory, he argues. thequint.com/climate-change…

Asia turns to coal as Iran war chokes off gas supplies ft.trib.al/KEtgDxd

It is raining oil in Tehran this morning after major airstrikes on oil facilities in the South and West of the Iranian capital. @CNN @cnni

The Department of Environment (Iran) announced in a statement that the entry of a significant volume of pollutants into Tehran’s air, following recent attacks by the United States and Israel on fuel storage facilities, has placed citizens’ respiratory conditions on alert. The organization urged residents to avoid unnecessary outdoor presence as much as possible and to remain indoors. The Iranian Red Crescent Society also warned that the explosions of these tanks have released toxic compounds of hydrocarbons and sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. In the event of rainfall, the resulting rain would be extremely dangerous and highly acidic. The Red Crescent added that such rain could cause chemical burns to the skin and serious damage to the lungs. It advised that if citizens come into contact with the rain, they should not rub the affected area; instead, they should wash it with running cold water, immediately change contaminated clothing, and store the clothing in a sealed bag.

How are these band-aid measures helping bring down hazardous levels of air pollution? The government seems to be busy making reels for headline management! Where are the ACTUAL measures?

As #COP30 kicks off in Belém, Brazil, read the commentary by @_sharmaisha_, @AmanJSrivastava and @Nikita_Shukla02 on how climate multilateralism has evolved since 1992 — and how it can be strengthened through finance, governance, and trade. Read: sustainablefutures.org/blog/30-years-…

NEW BLOG: Global discourse on climate change has been moulded by multilateral negotiations through the annual Conferences of the Parties (COPs). This commentary by @_sharmaisha_, @AmanJSrivastava and @Nikita_Shukla02 traces the evolution of climate multilateralism, examines where it falls short of expectations, and discusses how it can address its shortcomings to build a more effective ambition and implementation agenda. Read: sustainablefutures.org/blog/30-years-…

As #COP30 nears, calls for larger developing countries to “step up” as #climatefinance providers have been growing louder. But this framing overlooks how unmet finance promises from developed countries have shaped developing countries' emissions trajectories. How then should financing obligations be distributed to better reflect differentiated responsibilities? @AmanJSrivastava and @Nikita_Shukla02 argue in @thewire_in that had finance needs been met earlier, countries like India could have invested in low-carbon technologies and processes sooner, and may have had the opportunity to lock in to a lower emissions trajectory. Any future financial burden-sharing must account for these historical shortfalls — developed countries should not be calling for climate finance contributions from developing countries before first correcting for the impacts of their historical imbalances. Otherwise, the global climate finance system risks deepening inequities rather than correcting them. thewire.in/environment/wh…

“It was naive to believe that science and advocacy alone could transform a global energy system forged over centuries by war and empire.” Read @bentleyallan on The Climate Geopolitics Era in @NoemaMag. noemamag.com/the-new-geopol…

#OurTeamSpeaks: @_sharmaisha_ is a Research Lead, in the Climate Policy vertical at SFC. Her work focuses on green industrial policy, international, and domestic approaches to climate change governance and low-carbon development strategies. #climatepolicy #climatefinance #governance

Super timely intervention on climate action and human development in Himachal. Truly inspiring to watch @MahajanAnnanya and the SFC team work so hard to make it happen!

Great talk by @azadrohit and @shouvik1979. Their paper adds a valuable dimension to the just energy transitions research: income redistribution as a crucial part of low-carbon development. Builds on their work on Indian green deal.

.@NavrozDubash, with fellow Co-Editors-in-Chief W. Pieter Pauw and @YacobMulugetta, writes in a new @Climate_Policy editorial: Climate policy is now a more multi-stranded and complex area of inquiry than ever before. In these uncertain times for climate action and climate cooperation, attention to broader questions is necessary to deepen understanding and work toward a truly effective response to climate change. What sorts of questions and analysis might be of continued, and even enhanced, relevance for analysis in Climate Policy? Read: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Robert Armstrong @rbrtrmstrng (who coined Trump Always Chickens Out thesis) says TACO is falsified. Its now WACO — World Always Chickens Out. New: @polycrisis @kmac take. Its actually EMPANDA — Everyone Makes Promises And Never Actually Does Anything? buttondown.com/polycrisisdisp…

1/4 NEW: #Netzero targets are now central to global climate ambition. However these targets vary in scope and timelines, reflecting differences in historical responsibility, development needs, domestic capabilities, political realities, and economic structures. As India charts its path toward a 2070 net-zero goal, @Nikita_Shukla02, @AmanJSrivastava, and @na_easwaran break down the core elements that must define a credible and context-specific net-zero framework for the country. Thread below:

Bhakshnam!

12 hrs in Kerala.

Why Indian scientists are critiquing IPCC report — unfair burden on developing countries theprint.in/environment/wh… via @theprintindia

"How are we claiming that we are progressing as a nation, if we are still building prisons to address the issue of overcrowding?: President Murmu" A great piece on the need to de-carcerate and stop building more prsions

@nona_uppal @MisraDevika03

if reading is your 2023 new year's resolution, this is a SUPER MASSIVE thread on some of the best books I read in 2022, mostly fiction, VERY accessible, and all incredibly fun! 📚💟

Contemporary global climate governance shows how the historical trajectory of science-politics interaction has come to shape the way we talk about climate change. I write for @UoDSCGH. Thanks @JordanBuch_anan for curating this wonderful space! globalhistory.org.uk/2021/04/politi…