India's journey towards becoming a climate-resilient and sustainable nation by 2047 is a multifaceted challenge that requires a holistic approach across various sectors. This vision, as outlined by a climate scientist, emphasizes the need for inter-ministerial coordination, technological innovation, and strategic planning to address the growing climate impacts on all sectors of the economy and society. The plan envisions India achieving robust economic growth, including a significant contribution from the Blue Economy, while minimizing environmental footprints and progressing towards Net Zero emissions by 2070 or earlier.
At the heart of this vision is the recognition that climate vulnerabilities extend beyond national borders, potentially becoming national security and economic threats. To address these challenges, the plan calls for nimble teams led by different ministries to respond rapidly with scientific and technological innovations. These teams would be responsible for weather and climate predictions, sectoral early warnings, vulnerability mapping, and building data networks to create digital twins of various systems. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is envisioned to lead the development of data networks, modeling infrastructure, and AI/ML-driven downscaling of dynamic model predictions to meet stakeholder needs at various spatial and temporal scales.
The sustainability challenge is approached through a matrix of verticals and cross-cutting issues. Verticals are established for water, agriculture, energy, carbon, health, transportation, buildings, and infrastructure, with early warning systems operating at timescales from days to decades. The plan emphasizes the importance of quantifying all natural carbon sources and sinks, identifying levers to reduce sources and enhance sinks through nature-based solutions, regenerative agriculture, and managing the food-water-energy-health nexus. This approach ensures that the entire nation stays on the pathway to sustainability and net zero while mainstreaming sustainability into fiscal policies and budget processes.
By 2047, the vision sees India with a fully implemented Earth System Prediction capability for various sectors at spatial resolutions of around one kilometer. This system, integrated with a comprehensive data network, will function as a digital twin, anticipating hazards and minimizing impacts while driving rapid recovery to a sustainable pathway. The Earth System Model will also track carbon fluxes over the subcontinent and the northern Indian Ocean, quantifying the net carbon balance and establishing pathways to net zero. The plan envisions in-house innovations and international collaborations to achieve net zero by 2070 or earlier.
The vision for 2047 includes significant advancements in urban development, with smart green buildings and cities designed to handle the sustainability challenges of rapid urbanization. This includes real-time decision support systems to maximize climate adaptation and mitigation, innovations in energy conservation, water-energy nexus management, and smart transportation. In agriculture, the plan foresees the integration of genomics, molecular biology, geoinformatics, and autonomous machinery to enhance sustainability and minimize greenhouse gas emissions while avoiding ecosystem destruction.
Water and energy security are identified as key components of national security. The plan envisions climate-smart agriculture that is robustly connected to the Blue Economy, expected to generate one trillion dollars for the Indian economy by 2047. Water security strategies include smart irrigation, maximizing green water use, and managing grey and black water through advanced biotechnological innovations. Energy security is to be achieved through a focus on solar, wind, and hydrogen as key pillars of the pathway to Net Zero, with massive battery storage innovations already underway.
Finally, the vision emphasizes the importance of a circular economy, leveraging India's ancient wisdom of resource use and reuse. Innovative biotechnologies are expected to drive biofuel, bioenergy, water and soil clean-up, minimization of environmental footprints, and overall food, water, and energy security. The plan sees India continuing its role as a climate leader, driving international collaborations, sharing technological innovations, and providing disaster management assistance to neighboring countries and beyond. This comprehensive approach aims to ensure that India remains on the pathway to sustainability, setting a benchmark for sustainable development and climate leadership globally.
