Explainers
Discover all stories in this collection.
Explainers
Bengaluru
The Hidden Plastic in Vegan Fashion
“Vegan leather.” Few labels carry as much moral weight as the word “vegan”. For many shoppers, it has become shorthand not only for compassion towards animals, but also for environmental responsibility. If a handbag isn’t made from animal hide, surely it must be better for the planet. That assumption has helped turn vegan fashion into […]
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The Floating Answer to the Green Steel Challenge
Rushi Kanakiya recycles ships from a 50-metre beachside plot overlooking the sea in Alang, India. Since 1985 his family enterprise, Triveni Shipbreakers, has been receiving and dismantling old vessels here, in the world’s largest ship-breaking yard. Triveni is capable of processing some 2,000 metric tonnes of steel every month. There is a mind-boggling amount of […]
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Hyderabad
The Rs 1.75 Lakh Crore Question: Can Andhra Pradesh’s Natural Farming Model Transform Indian Agriculture?
The Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme, which involves over a million farmers practising forms of natural farming, recently won the 2026 Food Planet Prize. Awarded by the Curt Bergfors Foundation, this is the world’s largest environmental award for changing global food systems. As governments across India invest in programmes to reduce farmers’ […]
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Mumbai
How’s the Green Energy Corridor Coming Along, and Is It Time for Battery Subsidies?
India’s continuing renewables growth curve will not be determined only by how many panels get installed, but on how intelligently demand, storage, pricing, transmission and dispatch are managed. The country can generate more clean power during sunny hours, but the grid must still serve homes, industries and cities when demand rises later in the day. […]
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Delhi NCR
Carbon Capture Explained: Can We Clean Up Emissions We Can’t Avoid?
Collectively, we humans add more than 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere every year, and this number is rising. This gas, though invisible, is one of the biggest drivers of climate change today. The challenge is clear: how do we reduce something that is so deeply tied to the way our […]
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Dehradun
CCUS in India: Essential Climate Solution or a Lifeline for Coal?
India’s ₹20,000 crore budget allocation to Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) announced earlier this year positions CCUS as both a climate solution and a lifeline for India’s coal-dependent economy. This raises a critical question: is this pragmatic decarbonisation, or an expensive way to prolong the fossil fuel era? While allocations for renewable energy in […]
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Mumbai
India Surpassed RE Installation Targets. Now Comes the Hard Part
A month ago, during an informal discussion among a group of sustainability optimists, I raised a simple question: if India’s solar adoption is accelerating so rapidly, why does solar still contribute less than 10% of total electricity generation? That question opened up a discussion deeper and wider than expected. On the surface, India’s renewable energy […]
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Bangalore and UAE
Sustainable Finance: A Primer
A recent study estimates that the global transition to net zero by 2050 will require $275 trillion in investment in physical assets – or $9.2 trillion annually. A big chunk of that money is expected to come from private financial institutions. Commercial banks alone may need to support $2.0-2.6 trillion annually. This shift is already […]
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Bangalore
India’s Recycling Economy Is Evolving Fast – But Can It Keep Up With Its Own Ambition?
For decades, recycling in India was seen as a back-end activity – fragmented, informal and largely invisible for the average Indian. Today, recycling sits at the heart of conversations around climate action, resource security and industrial growth. India’s waste streams are expanding not just in volume but in complexity. Alongside municipal solid waste, there is […]
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Bangalore
Wary of Greenwashing? Here’s What You Can Do
Greenwashing is arguably one of the most pernicious developments at a time when we need urgent climate action. Social media has a big role here, and from a demand perspective, greenwashing stories consistently sell. It concerns us all because greenwashing: Misleads your choices. You pay extra for “sustainable” without getting the real ecological benefits. Undermines […]
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