The Importance of Climate in a Global Agenda

Narendra Taneja serves as chairman of the Independent Energy Policy Institute, a think tank based in New Delhi, and is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He presides over the World Energy Policy Summit and was president of the World Oil and Gas Assembly from 2001 to 2011. With expertise in energy policy, transition, geopolitics, governance, and energy security, Taneja is recognized as a powerful voice on energy and climate, especially in the context of the Global North and the Global South. 

Currently surpassing China as the world's most populous country, India is the world's fifth-largest economy and the third-largest electricity producer. Despite the country's vulnerability to climate change impacts, its historical cumulative emissions account for a relatively small portion, standing at 3.4%. This places India as the seventh highest emitter among nation states, according to Carbon Brief, with the United States and China leading at 20.3% and 11.4% of emissions, respectively. 

Taneja sheds light on India's energy landscape, leading our discussion from statistical insights to a dynamic exploration of global collaboration for the energy transition and climate change. His compelling arguments are highly engaging and thought-provoking, and will likely cause almost every listener of this podcast to stop and think.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [03:13]: Recent developments in India's energy economy
• [04:49]: How India views climate and energy as two sides of the same coin
• [07:02]: Overview of India's energy grid infrastructure
• [08:29]: India's energy mix and new government incentives
• [10:05]: The current grassroots solar revolution
• [12:52]: India's history with coal and energy security challenges
• [18:46]: The Global North bias in climate narratives
• [25:15]: Risks of excluding developing nations from global climate conversations
• [31:13]: The need for a new democratic climate governance order
• [33:45]: The risks and reasons for a lack of global energy governance
• [36:16]: The International Energy Agency (IEA)’s exclusion of India and China
• [39:59]: The need for a new global bank for climate finance
• [46:32]: What it takes to create a new global organization
• [48:01]: India and China's history and return to the global center of gravity
• [52:15]: The Global North’s resistance to change and how global power dynamics will shift in the next 30 years
• [54:42]: Narendra's thoughts on the European Union as a project
• [57:56]: India's investments in Russian oil
• [01:04:00]: Decentering the US and the "us or them" worldview

Get connected: 
Narendra Taneja
Cody Simms
MCJ Podcast / Collective

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Episode recorded on May 12, 2023

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant