🌆 𝐇𝐂𝐈 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 – 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐: 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢⁣ (February 16–19)⁣

[Dr. Soumitra Das]

🌆 𝐇𝐂𝐈 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 – 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐: 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢⁣ (February 16–19)⁣

𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤⁣
Mumbai was electric.⁣ From high-level policy conversations to packed auditoriums at Mumbai Climate Week, the city pulsed with ambition — trillions of dollars in green growth, innovation capital, and climate entrepreneurship. And yet, beneath the optimism, one question kept surfacing in my mind: 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟?⁣
⁣
🤝 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐑𝐈 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚⁣
I had the privilege of meeting Madhav Pai, CEO of WRI India. We discussed the case for an India Climate Cooling Summit. Madhav was thoughtful, supportive, and expressed genuine interest in collaboration.
⁣
🎓 𝐈𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐲 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩⁣
At Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, I presented a seminar titled: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘱: 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 & 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢.” The response was deeply engaging. Several IITB professors expressed strong interest in collaborating with HCI.
⁣
🌍 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 – 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 & 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦⁣
The remainder of the week was spent attending events across Mumbai Climate Week. The scale was impressive.⁣ There was serious discussion about mobilizing trillions of dollars into: Renewable energy, EV infrastructure, Sustainable urban growth. India’s green transition is gaining momentum.⁣
⁣
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭…⁣
⁣
⚠️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧⁣
In the grandeur and optimism of Mumbai Climate Week, something critical felt under-addressed: What happens if extreme climate risks outpace our transition? Mumbai itself faces existential flood risk, Parts of India could become unlivable due to extreme heat and humidity., Water stress is intensifying. and Rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers carries serious consequences. If large parts of India become heat-stressed, flood-prone, or water-scarce: It won’t just be a humanitarian crisis... Infrastructure investments, supply chains, urban development, and productivity could all be undermined. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.⁣
⁣
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝⁣
Capital is mobilizing.⁣
Innovation is accelerating.⁣
Academia is ready to engage.⁣
But extreme climate risk management remains insufficiently centered.⁣
⁣
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 —⁣It needs a parallel conversation on cooling, risk reduction, and resilience at planetary scale.⁣
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐩

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Soumitra Das

Chairman and Executive Director, HCI USA

Chairman, HCI India

https://healthyclimateinitiative.org/

[John Dixon]

Dear Soumitra

Thanks for the interesting report on the Mumbai Climate Week. Good to see the interest of WRI and IITB. 

A large portion of the capital sloshing around will gravitate towards commercial high return  low risk, investments in climate transitions eg renewables, EVs, etc (but often not to the required strategic infrastructure of grids, resource conversation, pollution reduction, insurance/risk management ..). thus affording only partial and indicate solutions.

With public sector leadership and incentives, could part of the capital be attracted to provide infrastructure and public goods including knowledge of cooling options?

In relation to your closing note, why do you not promote risk reduction and resilience at a regional scale (instead of asking India to invest on these items at a planetary scale)? 

Best

John

Sent from Android device

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