Climate change has emerged as a defining global and national problem, the response to which needs to be urgently supported through climate services and solutions. India has initiated an ambitious and sustained response at the national level through the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its eight missions covering different sectors and systems. Gaps in strategic choices can create industrial and social structures that adversely impact the environment and climate or maladapt to future climate impacts. India is at a critical juncture in its development journey and facing choices regarding technology that could have irreversible long-term socio-economic implications.
It is important to generate the appropriate climate knowledge to inform, guide, and support national actions in a dynamic and uncertain environment. There is an urgent need for multi-disciplinary collaboration to connect a scientific understanding of climate change to impacts and effective response. Many sectors and regions in India are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. These include but are not limited to agriculture, water resources, health, energy, ecosystems, food, and urban and rural settlements. India is highly exposed to the risk of many climatic natural hazards such as the extremes of temperature, floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. The objectives of this course are not to portray a scary future but to focus more on the possible designs of climate adaptation and mitigation techniques grounded on climate science. The course is not limited to lectures by faculty, but 50% of the time is devoted to interactions between alumni and faculty members. These co-learning interactions may result in alumni-faculty strong collaborations towards technology development for climate resilience and sustainability.