New Delhi June 14th, 2022: UNDP India organised a policy dialogue on 'Rethinking Solutions: Towards an Inclusive, Green, and Equitable Recovery for India and the Region’ on June 14th, 2022. The dialogue brought together leaders from across academia, civil society, think-tanks, multilateral and bilateral donors, and representatives from government, to identify pathways for India’s inclusive, green, and equitable recovery from the pandemic in an increasingly interconnected world.

The conversation was led by an expert panel comprising Dr. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India, Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr. Shyam Saran, India’s former Foreign Secretary, and Dr. AK Shiva Kumar, eminent Development Economist. Noted environmentalist Ms. Bahar Dutt, moderated the discussion.

“Dealing with 21st Century challenges require maximal outcomes, which only collaborative approaches – based on a certain sense of international solidarity and common humanity can deliver,” said Mr. Shyam Saran.

The experts acknowledged India’s growing leadership in achieving its climate targets - decarbonization, green energy, EVs, renewals and the LIFE foundation, and the government’s investments in technology-focused solutions to accelerate growth.

The panel recognised that the world faces multiple challenges including food and oil inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, disruption to global supply chains and the ongoing threat to the climate and ecological stability. These challenges exacerbated by the pandemic have reinforced the interconnectedness of the modern world and the growth in productivity, inclusivity, and social protection.

The discussion highlighted four broad pillars for India’s inclusive, green, and robust recovery roadmap to combat the current global and regional economic challenges:

Putting green recovery at forefront of policy agenda: India’s growth trajectory towards green recovery showcases the country’s potential to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070. However, constraints such as heavy carbon growth and lack of attitudinal shifts of public in developed world towards adopting greener technologies must be addressed. “We are caught-up on the science and better at using technology, but the human concerns persist – the smallest emitters bear the brunt of climate effects because they do not have the means to adapt; requires largest emitters to adjust their targets,” noted Ms. Kanni Wignaraja.

Evidence-based policy making: Strengthening data and evidence-based systems and looking beyond just GDP or GNI, and towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at subnational levels is critical for any reform agenda going forward. “We need to strengthen evidence-gathering and practices of evaluation so that we can improve accountability and also incorporate lessons that we learn along the way on what works, where and when, why and most importantly – for whom,” said Dr. AK Shiva Kumar.

Strengthening global integration and coordination: The discussion highlighted the fact that while India’s challenges are much like the world’s, they are also magnified by its population and size. This lends an intense spotlight on the country’s choices. The experts made a case for the country to both learn and adopt global policies, as well as understand context across all levels, and implement differentiated strategies customized to local challenges and landscapes.

Promoting inclusive economic growth: With multiple crises spawning social, economic, political, and cultural problems, there is an immediate need to reshape the world into one that is equitable. Women especially faced the brunt of the pandemic. Dr. Anantha Nageswaran said that, “Women’s participation in the MSME sector or women becoming entrepreneurs will start with women being given opportunities for higher education.”

It was agreed that the 17 SDGs form an excellent, cross-cutting framework to tackle interconnectedness among sectoral challenges and the discussion concluded by emphasizing the catalytic role of the United Nations in providing collaborative support to India through implementation of holistic, inclusive, and participatory skilling, gender, and climate-sensitive project and policy partnerships.

The complete recording of the dialogue can be accessed here.