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REPORT 
 

A Report on the INSEE-CESS International 
Conference on “Climate Change and Disasters: 
Challenges, Opportunities, and Responses” 
 

Jeena T. Srinivasan   
 
The Tenth Biennial Conference of the Indian Society for Ecological 
Economics (INSEE) on Climate Change and Disasters: Challenges, 
Opportunities and Responses was organized jointly with and hosted by the 
Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, in partnership 
with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH 
(GIZ, India) and the National Institute of Rural Development and 
Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR). It took place in Hyderabad during November 
6–8, 2019.  

In the context of the increased risk of climate-related natural disasters such 
as floods, heatwaves, and storms, both predicted by scientific studies and 
recently experienced in different parts of the world and India, the objectives 
of the conference were to discuss the following: What are the likely impacts 
of climate change on human and natural systems? How will climate change 
affect different sectors and sections of society? What are the alternative 
policy options to address the risks that climate change and extreme weather 
events pose? The three-day conference comprised discussions on these 
issues across various plenary, panel, and technical sessions in addition to 
inaugural and valedictory sessions. Springer Nature also organized a special 
session on ethical publishing. The conference received considerable media 
coverage and hosted over 200 delegates, including a few from abroad.  

                                                           
 Centre for Economic and Social Studies, N. O. Campus, Begumpet, Hyderabad 500016, 
Telangana, India; Secretary, INSEE (2018–20); Organizing Secretary, Tenth Biennial 
Conference of INSEE; jeena@cess.ac.in. 

Copyright © Srinivasan 2020. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0) by the author.  

Published by Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), c/o Institute of Economic 
Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007.  

ISSN: 2581-6152 (print); 2581-6101 (web). 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v3i2.121  

https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v3i2.121


Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [216] 

In the inaugural address, Vinod Thomas (Former Senior Vice President, 
World Bank) noted that India and South and Southeast Asia are not only 
highly vulnerable with regards the climate crisis, but are also ill-prepared to 
handle it. This was the perfect start to the conference, and it set the pace 
for the deliberations that followed. Thomas opined that countries must be 
prepared to tackle disasters, develop and adopt measures to reduce risks 
and exposure, and build resilience within the next few years.  

In his presidential address, K. N. Ninan (President, INSEE) gave an 
illuminating presentation on the growth and development of ecological 
economics in India, and on climate change and disasters from an Indian 
perspective. The inaugural session also featured speeches by the 
representatives of the collaborating organizations, who reflected on climate 
change issues, possible solutions, information needs, decentralized 
approaches, and civil society initiatives aimed at mitigation and adaptation. 
There was also a video message from Clóvis Cavalcanti (President, ISEE), 
which was played at the conference. 

The conference had five illuminating keynote addresses by distinguished 
scholars on specific sub-themes. Rajeev Ahal (GIZ, India) talked about the 
need to improve water security, climate resilience, and efficiency of water 
use in agriculture and industry. He emphasized the need for cooperation 
between the private and public sectors to ensure the integrated climate-
adapted management of water. Kirit Parikh (Integrated Research and 
Action for Development/IRADe, New Delhi), who spoke on the need to 
develop a low carbon strategy for inclusive growth, emphasized that India 
should focus on renewable energies and link inclusive growth requirements 
with factors like housing, drinking water supply, sanitation, education, 
healthcare, electrification, provision of cooking gas, the infant mortality rate 
(IMR), and fertility.  

Taking a more global perspective, Thomas Sterner (University of 
Gothenburg, Sweden) spoke about the twin issues of climate policy 
efficiency and fairness/feasibility, and the policy instruments needed to 
prevent worsening of the environment. In his talk on climate change, 
forests, and biodiversity, N. H. Ravindranath (Indian Institute of 
Science/IISc, Bengaluru) pointed out an increase in tree mortality, 
ecosystem disturbances, and the effects of climate-related extremes; he 
stressed that many ecosystems are more vulnerable than humans. Madhu 
Verma (Indian Institute of Forest Management/IIFM, Bhopal) presented 
the economic value of the ecosystem services of 16 tiger reserves in India 
using a value plus approach, and emphasized the use of valuation to justify 
enhancing investments in conservation.  



[217] Jeena T Srinivasan 

 

The conference had 10 engaging and thought-provoking panel discussions. 
While one panel discussed the complex interlinkages of water with other 
critical systems such as food, energy, and the economy, and how integrated 
water resources management (IWRM) can contribute to climate resilience, 
another showed the importance of hazard vulnerability maps and planning 
for disaster resilient cities. The third panel discussed how cities in countries 
like Nepal and Bangladesh were coping with hydro-meteorological events 
and floods, and the role of hard and soft interventions in mitigating such 
disasters. A fourth panel discussed the efficacy of local self-governance and 
the climate change action plans initiated by panchayats in Kerala, India. 
Another panel discussed Martin Weitzman’s contributions to environmental 
economics and his seminal works on climate catastrophes. The contribution 
of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 
(MGNREGA) to climate mitigation and adaptation in terms of carbon 
sequestration was the theme deliberated by the sixth panel. The seventh 
panel discussed the quantitative methods used to assess climate change 
impacts on agriculture, and the eighth panel considered climate change and 
mitigation in rainfed areas. Building climate resilience through the 
restoration of common lands was the theme considered by the ninth panel. 
The last panel discussed the findings of a climate change vulnerability 
assessment in the Indian Himalayan region, which experiences frequent 
floods, storms, and landslides; women and children in this region are 
amongst the most vulnerable.  

Another highlight was the outreach event organized by the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in partnership with 
INSEE. The IPCC authors presented the Special Reports of the IPCC and 
the ongoing AR6 (Sixth Assessment Report). There were presentations on 
the physical and scientific bases for climate systems, climate models, and 
projections; the impact of global warming and the importance of mitigation 
activities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; land 
management and the interaction of the atmosphere with land resources; 
and, finally, the effects of climate change on marine life and coastal 
livelihoods.  

Further, 56 papers contributed by participants were presented in 12 
technical sessions. Some papers discussed the macroeconomic dimensions 
of climate change, including fiscal transfers and the political economy of 
disaster management. Others discussed gender issues, food security, and the 
Sustainable Development Goals. A few papers analysed the effects of 
floods, recovery patterns, and the effectiveness of early warning systems, 
and highlighted the role of the state and civil society. Others attempted to 
quantify the damage caused by floods and the risks at the community level 



Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [218] 

and on the ecosystem. There were also papers on environmental and 
climate justice, institutional interventions, agricultural adaptations to climate 
change, and the role of MGNREGA in building the adaptive capacity of 
rural communities, renewable energy, and infrastructure to mitigate climate 
change impacts.  

Gopal Kadekodi (Former President, INSEE), in his valedictory address, 
spoke about the dynamic interlinkages between ecosystem services and their 
stakeholders, and the need for changes in climate strategy. 

For their outstanding contributions to ecological economics, INSEE 
conferred the Lifetime Achievements Award on C. H. Hanumantha Rao; 
the title of INSEE Fellow on M. N. Murty, Ramprasad Sengupta, and 
Madhu Verma; and the Bina Agarwal Prize for Ecological Economics to 
Joan Martinez-Alier.  

Public lectures by INSEE members were organized in three reputed 
institutions in Hyderabad as curtain-raiser events. A pre-conference 
workshop on “Behavioural and Environmental Economics” and a post-
conference workshop in association with the South Asian Network for 
Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) on “Non-market 
Valuation of Environmental Goods and Services”, each attended by 35–40 
participants, also took place.  

Overall, the conference was rich in terms of the variety of topics covered as 
well as in participation. The delegates had many opportunities to engage in 
academic and social interactions and to build their networks. The cultural 
event showcasing Telangana folk dances and culture added colour to the 
conference, and the sumptuous menu included organic, millet-based ethnic 
food. The conference received generous financial and in-kind support from 
various governmental and non-governmental organizations.  

 


