India is an emerging economy where Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are set to increase, albeit from a low base, in pursuit of its development and poverty eradication goals. India’s historical cumulative emissions from 1850 to 2019 amount to less than 4 per cent of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions of the world from the pre-industrial era, despite being home to 17 per cent of the world’s population. Hence, India’s contribution for global warming has been minimal and even today its annual per capita emissions are only about one-third of the global average .

During the 26th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP 26) in November, 2021, India announced its target to achieve net zero by 2070. India’s long-term low-carbon development strategy is based on the principles of equity and climate justice and the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities.

Water conservation is essential to India’s net-zero ambitions, given its deep influence on the environment and society. As a country largely dependent on agriculture, industry, and domestic use, India is confronting significant water scarcity issues that are worsened by climate change and rising population.

Large parts of India are already close to a crisis as the taps are running dry. The subcontinent, paradoxically blessed with abundant rainfall, faces one of the gravest water shortages of any large economy. Insights from Water Research Institute of India (WRI) and NITI Aayog reveal that India ranks 13th among 17 countries facing extreme water stress. Over the past decade, major urban centres such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai have repeatedly grappled with acute water shortages. Further, between 2017 and 2021, power plants in India lost 8.2 TWh of generation due to water shortages equivalent to the energy consumption of 1.5 million homes over five years.

The reasons are not elusive. They lie in decades of groundwater overextraction, haphazard urban growth, population explosion, poor infrastructure, and........

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