India Clean Air Summit to address ‘pollution's impact on sustainable development goals’

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The 5th edition of the India Clean Air Summit (ICAS) is set to take place in Bengaluru from August 23 to August 25. The summit aims to facilitate discussions about the implications of pollution on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Mission LiFE initiative. It also seeks to align clean air goals with climate policies and explore how democratizing air pollution data can enhance citizen science.

The ICAS event is organized by the Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS) at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), a prominent policy-research think tank in India. The summit intends to emphasize the importance of clean air in the SDGs and India's strategies to combat climate change.

Dr. Jai Asundi, Executive Director of CSTEP, stated that by converging the agendas of clean air and sustainable development, ICAS aims to foster inclusive dialogue that transcends boundaries, making clean air an integral part of India's development trajectory.

Notable participants in ICAS 2023 include Dr. V K Saraswat from NITI Aayog, Gaurav Gogoi, Member of Parliament, representatives from various Pollution Control Boards, WHO Director Dr. Maria Neira, experts from Indian Institutes of Technology, United Nations Environment Programme, Columbia University, and other research institutions.

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ICAS 2023 will put the spotlight on air pollution's effect on various SDGs, such as those related to good health and well-being, clean and affordable energy, sustainable cities, climate action, and protecting biodiversity, as well as on collaboration and partnerships for achieving the goals. The panellists will interact to explore how clean air and SDGs are interconnected, identify the barriers to their achievement, the ways to overcome them for better public health, and interlinkages between urban and rural policies in India to achieve clean air objectives.

The gathering will also discuss how to bridge the gap in knowledge sharing, ways to foster collaborations between various stakeholders, successful case studies of integrating clean air with climate policies and challenges, incorporating clean air into climate action plans in the national policy framework, etc.

One of the most crucial areas that will be focused on during ICAS 2023 is the role of the public to improve air quality by democratising air quality research and empowering the citizenry. The role of urban planners is critical in achieving the SDGs; hence, one of the sessions will explore the ways to design sustainable cities and communities without deviating from the goal of developing smart cities to meet clean air targets.

"Through ICAS, CSTEP is developing a platform to build and nurture an ecosystem that includes members of different communities - academia, civil society, industry, and government - to inform research with the ground realities and ensure policy solutions are successful," said Dr Asundi.

"CSTEP strives to build an ecosystem of like-minded organisations/institutions to talk and work together for the sole vision of "clean air for all"'. ICAS 2023, which is CSTEP's premier event, serves as a vital forum where academicians, emerging researchers, students, and policymakers converge to facilitate a culture of learning and knowledge exchange at the city/region/country level. ICAS has been growing year-on-year with the quality of discussions, presentations, speakers, and the number of participants. Moreover, ICAS provides an avenue for new technology innovators to join this ecosystem and make valuable contributions to the cause," said Dr Pratima Singh, Senior Research Scientist, CSTEP.