Ambuj Sagar

The human development index: a critical review

Since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published a series of annual Human Development Reports (HDRs) in which the human development index (HDI) is computed for each country. This index has become an important alternative to the traditional unidimensional measure of development (i.e. the gross domestic product). Although the index still fails to include any ecological considerations, it has broadened the discussion surrounding the evaluation of development. Unfortunately, over the years, the HDRs seem to have become stagnant, repeating the same rhetoric without necessarily increasing the HDI’s utility. This paper evaluates how well these reports have lived up to their own conceptual mandate and assesses the ability of the HDI to further the development debate. We find that the reports have lost touch with their original vision and the index fails to capture the essence of the world it seeks to portray. In addition, the index focuses almost exclusively on national performance and ranking, but does not pay much attention to development from a global perspective. We propose the incorporation of three simple modifications for the index as a first step to overcome these shortcomings.

Assessing the global energy innovation system: some key issues

Abstract Energy technology innovation has played central role in the evolution and advancement of the energy sector. The major challenges facing the energy system—ensuring adequacy supply of energy services at low cost while mitigating adverse local and global environmental impacts—will doubtless require further innovation (i.e., research, development, demonstration and deployment) in energy technologies. Yet our understanding of the global energy innovation system is incomplete, with a majority of analyses focusing on energy research and development in industrialized countries, and within that domain, on funding levels. A much more systematic effort is warranted to assess, and fill, the gaps in understanding of the global energy innovation system—only then we will able to develop appropriate policies to guide this system to enable it to meet future challenges.

Climate change research and analysis in India: an integrated assessment of a South–North divide

Abstract For more than a decade climate change has been the focus of much research and analysis. Despite the global implications of the problem, the overwhelming majority of the researchers involved worldwide in studying the problem and its possible solutions are from industrialized countries, and participation of lesser-industrialized countries has been limited. While the wide-ranging implications of this South–North divide are sometimes recognized, there is little analysis on the reasons for this divide, why it continues to exist, and what steps might be required to narrow it. Towards this end, this paper analyzes how climate change research and analysis is performed in India, a major lesser-industrialized country. Based on detailed interviews, it explores the factors that play a role in shaping the capability of India to perform, and respond to, climate-change analyses. Drawing on the Indian case study, the paper examines developing-country participation in the international climate science and assessment enterprise. This allows some reflection on the potential pitfalls for international discussions on climate change and what the international community and countries of the South can do to overcome them in order to address this conspicuous South–North divide.

A perspective on industrial ecology and its application to a metals-industry ecosystem

Abstract An industrial ecosystem is a synthetic analog of a natural ecosystem where connections through the flux of materials and energy between the various firms/production units define the system. In natural ecology, observation and analysis need to be carried out at different levels of aggregation to understand and predict system behavior. Similarly, a systems perspective applied to the analysis of the complex industrial ecosystems may help better understand the interactions between the various entities, and their overall interactions with the natural environment. Such an analysis can also assist in the efforts to effectively mitigate the environmental impacts of industrial production. In addition, insights from natural ecological studies might also hold valuable lessons applicable to the efforts to guide industrial production towards a sustainable future. Our study of firms in the metal sector (mainly copper and its alloys and some precious metals) in the New England area has led to an understanding of the industrial ecosystem involving and surrounding these firms, and the nature of the material flows in this ecosystem. Overall, for this system, the recirculation of metal seems to be extremely high, a finding that is supported by the metal use and release data reported by Massachusetts firms. The roles of the various entities in the ecosystem have been clarified, including those that are essential to the recirculation of the metals. Furthermore, other issues such as economic and regulatory factors, relationship with regulators, industry networks, etc. have been studied to highlight the key promoters and barriers to recycling. Based on this, some preliminary policy conclusions are drawn along with suggestions for further research to deepen our understanding of ecologies of industries.

Wealth, Responsibility, and Equity: Exploring an Allocation Framework for Global GHG Emissions

The need to develop a framework for allocatingnational GHG emissions based on ‘rights to theatmosphere’ is increasingly pressing since aresolution of the issues surrounding these rights arelikely to be a precondition not only for moving beyondthe Kyoto Protocol, but even for effectiveimplementation of its Articles. This paper exploressome possible variations of a framework that isderived from the principles of the Climate Convention. It takes into account differences among countries interms of their current and historical greenhouse gasemissions, the attributes that contribute to thesedifferences, and the capabilities for contributing tothe achievement of the Conventions objectives. Furthermore, it is suggested that such a frameworkshould be designed so as to decouple the allocationissue from the deliberations over a suitable GHGconcentration stabilization target or global emissionscap. Such an approach could help achieve results inthe short to mid term without waiting for resolutionof the complex debate on the desirable level ofstabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in theatmosphere.Sample explorations with carbon dioxide emissions dataindicate that the framework presented here can beparticularly favorable to the least-developedcountries. This is appropriate since these countrieshave not contributed substantially to the enhancedgreenhouse effect, but may be quite vulnerable to theimpacts of a changing climate, and lack thecapabilities to mitigate adverse impacts or adapt asneeded. Equally importantly, the framework alsodifferentiates between industrialized countries on thebasis of their current income and historicalemissions. The implementation of such a framework inconjunction with an emissions trading scheme may offeran appropriate path towards meeting the objectives ofthe Climate Convention.

Shaping human development: Which way next?

The United Nations Development Programmes concept of human development, first presented in the 1990 Human Development Report (HDR), distilled the essence of the evolution in development thinking and effectively reoriented the debate by bringing people back into the centre of development. There has been much discussion of the HDRs in the literature and the reports have also evolved somewhat over the years. But the basic concept of human development seems to have become stagnant and the reports have not lived up to their own initial promises. We feel that if the reports are to maintain their position as frontrunners of the development debate, then they must explore further the relationship between the widening of human choices and the framework within which these choices are exercised, as alluded to in the first report itself. Furthermore, the reports should choose to focus explicitly on the role of the richest people and countries in promoting human development, the plight of the poorest people and countr...

Making sense of policy for climate technology development and transfer

encompass[ing] the broad set of processes that cover the flows of knowledge, experience, and equipment for mitigating and adapting to climate change among different stakeholders. These include governments, international organizations, private sector entities, financial institutions, NGOs and research and/or education institutions. It comprises the process of learning to understand, utilize, and replicate the technology, including the capacity to choose it, adapt it to local conditions, and integrate it with indigenous technologies. (IPCC, 2000)

Collaborative research and development (R&D) for climate technology transfer and uptake in developing countries: towards a needs driven approach

While international cooperation to facilitate the transfer and uptake of climate technologies in developing countries is an ongoing part of climate policy conversations, international collaborative R&D has received comparatively little attention. Collaborative R&D, however, could be a potentially important contributor to facilitating the transfer and uptake of climate technologies in developing countries. But the complexities of international collaborative R&D options and their distributional consequences have been given little attention to date. This paper develops a systematic approach to informing future empirical research and policy analysis on this topic. Building on insights from relevant literature and analysis of empirical data based on a sample of existing international climate technology R&D initiatives, three contributions are made. First, the paper analyses the coverage of existing collaborative R&D efforts in relation to climate technologies, highlighting some important concerns, such as a lack of coverage of lower-income countries or adaptation technologies. Second, it provides a starting point for further systematic research and policy thinking via the development of a taxonomic approach for analysing collaborative designs. Finally, it matches characteristics of R&D collaborations against developing countries’ climate technology needs to provide policymakers with guidance on how to Configure R&D collaborations to meet these needs.

Innovating for energy efficiency: a perspective from India

While it is well-understood that technological innovation offers much potential to meet sustainability challenges, realising this potential is not a trivial task. This is especially true in developing countries where resource and institutional limitations often impede innovation. This paper focuses on energy efficiency, increasingly recognised as a linchpin of a sustainable energy system, and through a set of case studies on energy-efficiency programmes in India, draws out lessons for innovation for sustainability, paying particular attention to the issue of ‘scale-up,’ which is key to a meaningful transition towards sustainability. We suggest that effective sustainability-oriented innovation must be rooted in the local context, prioritising local needs, identifying potential technological solutions, and then designing programmes that address the necessary elements of the innovation chain to ensure delivery at scale. Further, we suggest that such a process can be greatly facilitated by a coordinating agency (a ‘system operator’) with a birds-eye view of the target system.

Policy making for renewable energy in India: lessons from wind and solar power sectors

It is clear that developing countries will have to be part of the global mitigation effort to avoid ‘dangerous climate change’, and, indeed, many of them are already undertaking significant actions on multiple fronts to help address this problem, even if they have not yet taken on legally binding commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since the deployment of GHG-mitigating technologies is already a significant part of this effort and likely to be even more so in the future, drawing lessons from existing programmes can help accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of this deployment process. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the deployment of wind and solar power in India, paying specific attention to the role of public policy in incentivizing and facilitating this deployment, how these policies have evolved over time, what has shaped this evolution, and what the learning has been over this period. Through this analysis, the intention is to draw out key lessons from Indias experience with deployment policies and programmes in these two sectors and highlight the issues that will need to be given particular consideration in the design of future domestic policies and international cooperation programmes to enhance the move towards climate-compatible development in India. Many of these lessons should also be relevant for other developing countries that are attempting to balance their climate and developmental priorities through the deployment of renewable energy technologies.