"IPCC and the Global South: Evolving Science-Policy Nexus in Climate Change"
Speaker : Prof. T. Jayaraman
Visiting Professor, School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, NIAS @ : tjayaraman@nias.res.in
Chairperson : Dr. Rudrodip Majumdar
Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences and Engineering, NIAS @ :rudrodip@nias.res.in
Date : 1st July 2026
Time : 9.30 AM
Venue : Lecture Hall
Abstract: We briefly review the role of the IPCC and its influence on climate policy making in the context of global climate negotiations under the United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change. We reflect on the significant role of the IPCC in the shaping of climate policy over the last three decades, the evolution of this role and the challenges it faces on the way forward. IN particular we reflect on the need for reimagining the role of the global South in the IPCC from passive reception of knowledge paradigms to active shaping of both science and its policy implications. We illustrate the need for this transformation through consideration of the IPCC's handling of issues such as equity and climate justice, the role of the global carbon budget, burden sharing in mitigation, and redefining climate resilience. We also reflect briefly on how inclusivity in the work of the IPCC takes us back to fundamental issues of objectivity in science communication in the context of the profoundly anthropocentric nature of the science of global warming, illustrating it from ongoing debates in communicating contemporary climate science issues to policy makers.
About the speaker: T. Jayaraman was trained as a theoretical physicist and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Madras, Chennai in 1984. From 2008, he has been actively working in climate change, climate policy, environmental issues and sustainable development and has published actively on these subjects. He initiated the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, in the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, where he was Professor from 2006 till 2020. After a stint as Senior Fellow, Climate Change at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, he joined NIAS in April 2026 as Visiting Professor.
Apart from academic research, he has worked with both government and civil society on climate issues and has also contributed to the media. He has been a member of the Govt of India delegation to the IPCC and a technical expert to the GOI delegation to the UNFCCC COPs and SB sessions on several occasions.