India's first climate school aims to nurture climate leaders - University World News

India’s first climate school aims to nurture climate leaders

INDIA

The school was launched by Anant National University (AnantU) – a private university located in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat – in recognition of prevailing national and global environmental challenges.

The Anant School for Climate Action offers academic courses for students in climate studies, climate impact and implementing measures to facilitate climate change adaptation and mitigation. The courses equip students with skills that are imperative for employment in the areas of sustainability and climate change.

Dr Miniya Chatterji, founding director of the Anant School for Climate Action and CEO of Sustain Labs Paris – said the school is currently offering a bachelor of technology in climate change, a four-year undergraduate engineering degree programme.
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It also offers the Anant Fellowship for Climate Action – a nine-month global fellowship programme – and executive education programmes. Chatterji said graduates from the climate school can engage in the public and private sectors as well as academia.

Chatterji is a prominent businesswoman and a globally acclaimed sustainability leader. She has worked with Goldman Sachs, is a global leadership fellow of the World Economic Forum and is on the steering group for sustainability for United Nations Global Compact India, and for the World Steel Sustainability Expert Group.

She has a bachelor degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, a PhD from Sciences Po Paris, and was a PhD fellow at both Harvard and Columbia universities in the United States.
Global standards

“Our curriculum meets global standards while focusing on the specificities in India and developing economies,” Chatterji told University World News.

“Anant School for Climate Action launched India’s first undergraduate engineering degree programme focused on climate change in 2022, in the same year leading universities such as Stanford and Columbia stepped up climate education.”

She said the curriculum of AnantU’s bachelor of technology in climate change degree programme emphasises climate technologies for measuring, predicting, mitigating and adapting to climate change.

“Through our BTech programme in climate change, we are nurturing climate leaders who can apply critical thinking and interdisciplinary technology solutions to mitigate or adapt to climate change,” Chatterji said. “There is a potential in India alone to create more than three million renewable energy jobs by 2030.”

While Chatterji conceded that it is indeed challenging to identify faculty members to teach a new subject, she also said that – being India’s first – the climate change programme has attracted high-level talent to teach, from India and abroad.
More than 50 million net new jobs by 2070

Chatterji noted that India’s transition to a green economy could potentially create more than 50 million net new jobs by 2070, representing upwards of a US$15 trillion economic opportunity. US$1 trillion of this opportunity could potentially materialise within this decade.

According to Chatterji, companies will eventually see the value and necessity of hiring graduates from the climate school as all organisations, globally and in India, will in due course require a skilled workforce to help them shift towards a net-zero economy. The demand for climate-related skills is already present and growing, she said.

“The sectors and regions with the highest environmental footprint and those that are the most vulnerable to climate change will require people with these skills the most. It is impossible to achieve net-zero goals without people with climate skills to help organisations work towards a net-zero economy.”

She added: “There is already a market waiting to welcome the fresh pool of graduates who are proficient in climate studies, and these individuals will be well positioned to thrive in a net-zero economy.”
Climate industry opportunities

Elaborating on the idea behind establishing the climate school, Chatterji said that only about 120,000 people globally – and fewer than 5,000 in India – are formally trained to adequately cater to the expected US$23 trillion opportunities by 2030 in the global climate industry.

She noted that a shift to a greener economy could create 24 million new jobs globally by 2030, but institutions providing the right skills for young people to take up these roles are few and far between. “This is why we established the School for Climate Action, to equip both the upcoming and current workforce with the skills to mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

According to Chatterji, building climate resilience among the most vulnerable populations is the top priority for India as heat waves, floods and declining groundwater reserves affect them the most. However, to stand up to such challenges, industries need a workforce with knowledge and technical skills in the field of climate change.

She expects the school to attract foreign students. Because it is among the first university-level institutions globally focusing on technical education in climate action, international students who are seriously interested in climate studies are likely to pick the programme.