'Countries looking to India's energy transition experience for lessons'

Hurricane Melissa was ravaging the West Indian island of Jamaica the day Arunabha Ghosh, and CEO of Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) a Delhi-based think tank, speaks to $ Dinakar in a video interview.

- Arunabha Ghosh

Arunabha Ghosh Envoy for South Asian nations at the Conference of Parties

Ghosh is also a special envoy for South Asian nations at the Conference of Parties (COP 30), a UN-led global climate summit in Belém, Brazil. He refers to Melissa to underscore the urgency of finding success at the latest COP, beginning 10 November, and why implementation is key to climate mitigation, and what the COP process can do to help South Asian nations combat global warming. Edited excerpts:

You are representing South Asian nations at COP 30. What exactly will your role be?

Yes, Ihave been appointed as the special envoy ofthe COP presidency representing South Asia. My task is to ensure that the voices, needs, and innovations from the region are reflected in the international discourse. It’s also about finding areas of convergence for regional action and conveying perspectives both within and across regions. In essence, I serve as a bridge between the presidency and South Asia.

Doyou see any convergence of climate issues across South Asia, given the diversity of countries in the region?

South Asia is geographically diverse; we have small island states like Sri Lanka and the Maldives, mountainous countries like Nepal and Bhutan, and highly stressed coastal regions in Bangladesh and parts of India. Despite these differences, several common threads emerge.