About
India 2047
‘India 2047: Building a Climate-Resilient Future’ brings together leading experts in climate science, public health, medicine, labor, business, agriculture, and urban planning for a series of interdisciplinary dialogues on advancing climate resilience. Taking place from March 19-22, 2025, it is an invite-only, closed-door event that will address the effects of extreme climatic events such as extreme heat intensifying across the Global South—particularly in India—with far-reaching impacts on the environment, economy, and society demanding urgent, evidence-based solutions. Experts at this convening include government, academia, civil society, and the private sector, aiming to foster collaboration, bridge critical knowledge gaps, and shape actionable research and policy frameworks for a sustainable and climate-resilient future.
India 2047 is co-hosted by The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Collaborators include: The National Foundation for India; Sustainable Futures Collaborative; The Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation; NRDC; NITI Aayog; and CEEW.
India 2047
Tracks
Climate Science of Heat and Water with its Implications on Agriculture
India faces increasing risks from climate variability, including heatwaves, changing monsoon patterns, and water distribution issues. This track aims to deepen understanding of and address the challenges posed by climate change in India, with a specific focus on the dynamics of heat and water and their profound impact on food systems.
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Health
Large swathes of India’s populations are increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events driven by climate change, including prolonged heatwaves that imperil health and livelihoods. This track convenes leading medical and public health professionals, and health system experts, from India and the world to address essential questions on the impact of heat.
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Work
The impacts of climate change on work environment and labor productivity due to climate change, especially rising temperatures, are likely to be significant in India, especially for vulnerable communities.
This track brings together a diverse group of stakeholders including representatives from the private sector, workers, labor organizations, and public health experts to contribute evidence-based recommendations.
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The Built Environment
India, home to some of the largest urban agglomerations in the world, faces stresses on housing, transportation, public services, critical utilities, and air quality. This track seeks to examine how India’s built environment can be prepared for rising temperatures.
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Scientific Committee
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Participants
India 2047
AGENDA
March 19
March 19, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Registration
March 19, 2025 | 3:10 pm – 3:50 pm
Inaugural Session
Featuring a welcome address and remarks
March 19, 2025 | 3:50 pm – 4:10 pm
The Climate Challenge: What lies ahead?
Dan Schrag (Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University) gives a keynote on climate projections, the known threats of climate change and India’s role in global solutions.
March 19, 2025 | 4:10 pm – 4:30 pm
India’s Leadership in Preparing for Climate Change
Tarun Khanna (Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School and Director, The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University)
March 19, 2025 | 4:30 pm – 5:15 pm
Plenary 1: Societal Implications
A panel discussion with experts from various disciplines addressing critical issues related to climate science, health, labor, and community resilience.
March 19, 2025 5:15 pm – March 20, 2025 5:35 pm
Plenary 2: Governance
In this plenary, senior state officials will respond to the challenges and opportunities for India, in the context of the changing climate.
March 19, 2025 | 5:35 pm – 5:45 pm
Concluding Remarks
March 20
March 20, 2025 | 9:00 am – 9:15 am
Opening Remarks
March 20, 2025 | 9:15 am – 10:45 am
Plenary 3: Climate Science – Impact of climate change on monsoons, heatwaves, and agriculture.
This session will explore the significant impact of climate change on India’s monsoon patterns and the intensification of heat waves across the country. This panel will discuss the scientific basis of these changes, their regional variations, and the long-term consequences for India’s climate.
March 20, 2025 | 11:15 am – 12:30 pm
Plenary 4: How Hot is Too Hot?
This session examines approaches to a shared understanding of extreme heat thresholds across disciplines, setting the stage for Sessions across the Science, Health, Work and Built Environment Tracks.
March 20, 2025 | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Climate Science: The foundation of climate science related to heat and monsoons
This session will examine how climate change is disrupting India’s monsoon patterns and intensifying heatwaves, impacting public health, agriculture, and water resources, and discuss the scientific underpinnings and long-term implications for the region.
March 20, 2025 | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Health: Exposure and impact
This session examines current approaches to ascertaining heat exposure, and its impact on health, work and habitat.
March 20, 2025 | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Work: Adaptations at work
This session examines how extreme heat affects worker productivity, review the effectiveness of heat adaptations in India and globally, and devise new strategies for worker protection, focusing on the most vulnerable.
March 20, 2025 | 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Built Environment: Models for climate resilient urban development in India
This session examines governance, market mechanisms, and reforms necessary to mainstream heat resilience into urban design and planning.
March 21
March 21, 2025 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Plenary 5: Adaptation Frameworks
Introduction to approaches to adaptation within government, multilateral organizations, and research organizations.
March 21, 2025 | 10:50 am – 1:15 pm
Climate Science: Protecting populations during extreme heat events
This session explores adapting to climate change-induced heat waves in India, discussing strategies like expanding heat action plans and enhancing climate forecasting with new technologies and models.
March 21, 2025 | 10:50 am – 1:15 pm
Agriculture: Environmental limits on agricultural productivity and historical and future opportunities for adaptation
This session provides an overview of historical environmental limits on agricultural productivity and adaptation strategies gives a foundation for a discussion of future limits and potential for adaptation.
March 21, 2025 | 10:50 am – 1:15 pm
Health: Climate and weather associated disease modeling and forecasting challenges
This session discusses the effects of climate change on vector-borne diseases and explores forecasting and modeling challenges in predicting outbreaks and assessing long-term health impacts.
March 21, 2025 | 10:50 am – 1:15 pm
Work: Protecting incomes
This session examines global innovations for stabilizing work and wages during uncertainties triggered by extreme or sustained heat
March 21, 2025 | 10:50 am – 1:15 pm
Built Environment: Thermal comfort
This session explores active and passive strategies to enhance thermal comfort in urban settings, exploring spatial design, building materials, and policy incentives to foster synergistic cooling solutions and heat-resilient urban landscapes.
March 21, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Agriculture: Perspectives from the ground
This session examines adaptive farming practices and risk management to mitigate the adverse effects of climate variability on agriculture
March 21, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Health: Toward resilient health systems
Health system resilience in warming world: clinical, infrastructural and financial preparedness
March 21, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Work: Local and global opportunities for worker protections
Strategies to advance work and wage protections for workers globally through interventions at key convenings in 2025 and 2026.
March 21, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Built Environment: Centering health and livelihoods while planning adaptation frameworks
Experts will examine best practices for developing, evaluation and monitoring proposed adaptation frameworks
March 21, 2025 | 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Climate Science: Climate science of heat and water: research agenda
This session explores how to adapt to the growing impacts of heat waves and changes in the monsoon season in India, emphasizing the critical role of new research in shaping future adaptation strategies.
March 22
March 22, 2025 | 9:00 am – 9:10 am
Welcoming Remarks
March 22, 2025 | 9:10 am – 9:30 am
Keynote
March 22, 2025 | 9:30 am – 11:30 am
Proposed Plans
Each track reports on key learning and proposals to move ahead that may comprise peer-reviewed articles, white papers, policy briefs, research studies or other deliverables.
March 22, 2025 | 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm
Plenary 6: Financing Adaptation
Representatives from multilateral and state institutions and philanthropy will respond to the roadmap presented
March 22, 2025 | 12:45 pm – 1:00 pm
Closing Remarks