People, Planet and Prosperity First: The DA Perspective

In the Indian context, the concept of “Independence” generally continues to evoke a positive, eudemonic feeling of achievement from gaining political freedom from colonial rule. After seven decades of political self-rule, however, one could be forgiven for hoping for more. National pride, expressed through respect for the institutions of governance …

Building Climate Resilience to Improve Livelihoods

Climate change in the present-day context has become a reality. Already the global average temperature is 1.15°C above the 1850-1900 average, and though we will not breach the threshold limit of 1.5°C (as per the Paris Agreement) on a permanent basis, all warning signals point to a breach within the …

Its time for India to embrace its legacy of social economy – the UN resolution can help

In Uttar Pradesh, India, there is a growing micro-system of women-led “safe e-mobility network” driven by 60 battery-powered e-rickshaws that connect women and girls to schools, colleges, and healthcare facilities. It responds to women’s severely constrained mobility and connectivity, which impede the employment or education of women. This microcosm has …

Behaviour Change for Plastic Circular Economy in India

Plastics have become an indispensable part of human lives and transformed everyday life. The present per capita consumption is over 21 million tonne in India. Rapid urbanisation and population growth are bound to increase their usage further in the years to come. Unlike other materials, plastics do not naturally degrade …

Development Alternatives Group @ 40

In the early 1980s, at around 35 years of age, the nation’s midlife crisis manifested itself in numerous life-threatening ways—two-thirds of its citizens living in extreme poverty; its vast wealth of forests, soils, water and other resources depleting rapidly; its growing global environmental responsibilities such as minimising stratospheric ozone depletion, …