The #MontrealProtocol repaired the ozone layer, spared the planet roughly 0.5°C of warming, and became a rare example of global environmental cooperation that worked. But the Protocol now faces challenges that could undermine these hard-won gains. In my latest column for The Times Of India, I ask a harder question: what must the Montreal Protocol become over the next 40 years? 1). There are new threats to Ozone. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is now the single most important ozone-depleting substance emitted by human activities, yet it remains outside the Protocol’s control. Ozone-depleting chemicals used as industrial feedstocks are also leaking into the atmosphere at levels far higher than previously assumed. And solar geoengineering could create entirely new risks for the ozone layer. So, the Protocol must evolve to govern any activity that can damage the ozone layer. 2). For decades, we have been on a chemical treadmill. CFCs damaged the ozone layer, so we replaced them with HCFCs. HCFCs still damaged ozone, so we moved to HFCs. HFCs protected ozone but turned out to be powerful greenhouse gases. Now HFCs are being replaced by HFOs, which break down into a forever chemical, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), raising new concerns about water pollution. Each transition solved one problem while creating another. We now need to break this cycle by accelerating natural refrigerants and technologies that reduce or eliminate the need for refrigerants altogether. 3). And then comes perhaps the biggest challenge of all: the machine itself. The Protocol has focused on what gas goes inside an air conditioner. But most of the climate impact of cooling comes from the electricity consumed by the machine, not the refrigerant. As temperatures rise, cooling is becoming essential for health and survival. But if billions of people meet this need through conventional, energy-intensive air conditioners, electricity demand and emissions will break the world. That is why the next transition must go beyond changing the gas. We must also rethink cooling itself. The Montreal Protocol succeeded because it evolved as science evolved. Its next test is whether it can evolve again—from a treaty focused primarily on refrigerant transition to one focused on sustainable cooling. The bottomline is that the ozone story should not end with a repaired sky, polluted water and an overheated planet. Read my full column in The Times Of India. 👉 lnkd.in/gE6NwRCj

A deficient monsoon. A devastating flood. This paradox captures the changing character of Assam’s floods: sudden, deeper, and less predictable—and increasingly triggered by rainfall outside the state. Assessment done by @iForestGlobal shows that Assam’s flood-risk area could expand from about 32,000 km² historically to 50,000–60,000 km² by mid-century. Flood depths are also expected to rise. More soberingly, even drastic cuts in global emissions will not significantly alter this risk over the next two decades. The warming that will shape Assam’s immediate future has already occurred. Mitigation remains essential—but Assam is already confronting floods that are deeper and faster than those it has historically known. Adaptation can no longer wait. I, with my colleagues Kaushik Hazarika and Dr. Sindhuja Kasthala write in @Sentinel_Assam, how #Assam must prepare for this new character of flooding. 👉 share.google/iISAssXrZlOCBHZ…

For more than three decades, a critical mass of political and business leaders in developed countries convinced themselves that global warming would hurt hot and humid developing countries far more than the colder, richer world. Some even believed modest warming could bring benefits—and that, in any case, they had wealth and technology to adapt. That belief has now gone up in smoke. At barely 1.5°C of global warming, wildfires are consuming millions of hectares across Europe and North America. Rivers are shrinking. Extreme heat has become routine and infrastructure is being pushed beyond their design limits. In my latest opinion piece for The Times of India, I examine how this dangerous idea shaped three decades of climate complacency, weakened global cooperation, and left both developed and developing countries dangerously underprepared for the world now emerging. Read the full article to understand why greater capability must translate into greater responsibility. 👉 lnkd.in/gBmcgJDd

Green Urea is no longer a distant dream. It is becoming a reality. The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has just released an Expression of Interest for the establishment of green urea plants in India. This is a significant moment. India could soon produce urea from little more than water, air and captured carbon dioxide. Just two years ago, when iFOREST released its report, “Green Urea – Economic and Environmental Benefits of a Low-Carbon Future,” we were repeatedly told that green urea was technologically difficult, economically unviable and unlikely before 2040. One senior official told me in 2024: “It will be only after 2040 that we can think about green urea. It is economically unviable and CO₂ is not available. This is why urea has been excluded from the National Green Hydrogen Mission.” But systems change when they are given a shock. The West Asia crisis, which pushed imported urea prices to nearly $1,000 per tonne, was precisely the shock the system needed. In our report, we had projected that green urea could become the cheapest form of urea by 2030. The recent crisis has brought that timeline forward to 2027. A green urea plant installed today can produce urea at a levelised cost of less than $500 per tonne — cheaper than imported urea. The most exciting part is that green urea can decentralise fertiliser production. Instead of relying only on large integrated plants, India can build smaller urea units close to CO₂ sources and agricultural demand centres. These plants can buy green ammonia and captured CO₂ from outside and synthesise urea locally. This spreads investment and risk across three players: green ammonia producers, CO₂ suppliers and urea manufacturers. Green urea can help India reduce urea imports, natural gas imports and fertiliser-sector emissions — while strengthening energy and food security. This is what Atmanirbhar Bharat looks like in practice. Please watch this space for my next op-ed on this issue.

As @narendramodi becomes India’s longest continuously serving elected Prime Minister, it is worth asking: What is his environmental philosophy, and what drives his environmentalism? In my latest op-ed in @FinancialXpress, I examine how his environmentalism has evolved. financialexpress.com/opinion…

As the entire Indo-Gangetic plains is once again engulfed in severe #AirPollution, we must ask a hard question: why have we failed to make any meaningful dent in pollution levels? The answer I have arrived at is uncomfortable but clear. We haven’t failed for lack of solutions; we’ve failed because of denial. Even after two decades of evidence, we continue to bicker over science and refused to officially acknowledge the mounting health toll and economic ruin caused by air pollution. This denial is precisely why the world mocks us. The way out of this crisis, however, is not complicated. We must stop fighting over science and start implementing solutions on the ground. Given the severity of the problem, an “all-of-the-above” approach is necessary. We no longer have the luxury of picking and choosing which source to control. We must tackle everything simultaneously -- residential and commercial fuels, transport, stubble burning, industry, thermal power plants, dust management, waste burning, and everything else that contributes to dirty air. I have written two columns in the past fortnight on these issues, including one responding to the Chinese embassy’s “step-by-step” guide to tackling air pollution. Please read. 1. lnkd.in/gTFBgv7a 2. lnkd.in/gBVFdnTK Wishing you all a healthy and hopeful New Year.

#COP30 made one thing clear: the climate crisis has outgrown the #UNFCCC system. The world now needs a new multilateral architecture for a new phase of #climate action. I write about this my latest column in @FinancialXpress. 👉 financialexpress.com/opinion…

#Cloudseeding in Delhi was always bound to fail. Even if it had rained, it wouldn’t have made a meaningful difference to the city’s air pollution. We already know this—not just from theory, but from practice. Over the past 10–15 years, cities like Lahore, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and several others in China have all tried cloud-seeding. Almost all have abandoned it because the results simply don’t hold up. The real problem is this: Delhi’s political leaders continue to sell quick fixes—whether for cleaning the air or reviving the Yamuna. But environmental crises can’t be solved through shortcuts. I’ve written more about this in my latest column for the @timesofindia. Please read the cloumn here: lnkd.in/dtrYgXaM