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Nikhil KamathNikhil Kamath

Ep# 15 | WTF is Climate Change? Nikhil ft. Sunita, Bhumi, Navroz and Mirik

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have surged from 290 ppm in the 1870s to 421 ppm in 2022, exceeding the safe limit of 350 ppm and reaching the highest levels in millions of years. Featuring insights from experts like Sunita Narain, Mirik Gogri, Bhumi Pednekar, and Navroz K Dubash, we explore the impacts of climate change and the implications of a dramatic increase in carbon dioxide levels, as well as the looming threat of a 3-degree temperature rise. We also discuss the opportunities and incentives for building low-carbon economies, the evident trend in energy transition, the importance of net-zero emissions, renewable energy, and much more. We discuss this on both the macro and micro levels, covering everything from tackling climate anxiety to implementing policies at an intergovernmental level for climate change mitigation #Nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha, True Beacon and Gruhas Twitter https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio #SunitaNarain - Environmentalist Twitter: https://twitter.com/sunitanar LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunita-narain-22797477/?originalSubdomain=in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063519768523 #BhumiPednekar - Actor and Climate Warrior Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhumipednekar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhumipednekar/?hl=en Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/bhumipednekar #NavrozKDubash - Researcher Twitter: https://twitter.com/navrozdubash?lang=en LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/navroz-dubash-bb2b58151 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ndubash/ #MirikGogri - Technologist LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirik-gogri-59311333/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirik.gogri/ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 00:34 How Navroz went from engineering to Climate Change 6:14 What is the IPCC? 9:25 Mirik on his early days, education and ventures 16:27 How Bhoomi became a Climate Warrior 21:06 Why Sunita started working in the Climate Space 26:47 What Changed in the Climate Space : Then Vs Now 35:25 What do environmentalist think about EV 38:30 What Drives Sunita Today? 40:18 The ‘Shit Story’ : India’s Sewage Story 45:55 What is Climate Change? Simplified 1:01:35 Effects of Politics and Narratives on Climate Change 1:07:00 Incentives of building low carbon economies 1:13:40 Grid Storage : Opportunities For Entrepreneurs 1:07:05 Issues with Indian Electricity Distribution Companies 1:27:27 One thing government can do to make the Power grids better 1:28:42 How to incentivise distribution companies 1:31:20 What is the Relationship between Pre-industrial temperatures and carbon 1:33:50 Why doesn’t bollywood make movies around climate 1:46:22 Why we are focussed on optics more than action 1:49:55 What are Carbon Credits and Offsetting ? 1:52:38 Nikhil Summarises the Episode so far 1:53:10 Mirik’s view on nuclear fission and fusion 2:04:40 Way Forward for Developing Nations 2:05:40 How can a 20-year-old contribute to climate action today? 2:11:45 What are some forums for engaging in climate change discussions? 2:13:47 Can we solve for Climate Change the same way we did for ozone? 2:22:05 Are carbon capture projects the future? 2:31:08 Can Geoengineering Be Effective in Addressing Global Issues? 2:34:45 How Should a Carbon Tax Be Levied? 2:39:40 Relevance of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to meet global climate targets 2:44:18 How effective is veganism in addressing environmental issues? 2:52:08 Advice to Entrepreneur and Government 2:56:00 WTF Fund is Back !

Nikhil KamathhostNavroz K DubashguestBhumi PednekarguestMirik GogriguestSunita Narainguest
Feb 7, 20242h 57mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Climate change explained: science, politics, India’s energy transition, action pathways

  1. Nikhil Kamath hosts Sunita Narain, Navroz K. Dubash, actor Bhumi Pednekar, and industrialist Mirik Gogri to explain climate change in simple terms and make it tangible for young Indians.
  2. They connect the basic science (greenhouse gases trapping heat; rapid warming) with real-world impacts (extreme weather, ocean heat, air pollution) and emphasize climate change as a social-political reality—not just an abstract environmental issue.
  3. A major throughline is India’s energy transition: renewables, storage, grid/distribution-company (DISCOM) reform, and demand-side solutions (public transport, efficient services) alongside debates on nuclear, carbon capture, offsets, and geoengineering.
  4. They repeatedly stress “scale and integrity”: meaningful implementation over optics, avoiding greenwashing (especially in offsets), and designing solutions that align climate goals with development and equity—within India and the Global South.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Climate change is now a governance problem, not just a science lesson.

Beyond greenhouse-gas physics, the panel frames climate change as something that will force system-level changes in how societies organize energy, cities, consumption, and risk management—through both mitigation and adaptation.

IPCC credibility comes from exhaustive review and government line-by-line approval—also making it slow.

Navroz describes the IPCC as a synthesis body, not a creator of new science, with multiple review rounds and negotiated summaries. This produces legitimacy but can feel “cumbersome” against an urgent crisis.

Extreme weather ‘lived experience’ is the best entry point for public engagement.

Rather than apocalyptic narratives, the group suggests stories about heatwaves, floods, and local resilience actions—because climate harms are already visible and relatable, especially to farmers and people who depend on land.

India’s biggest climate lever is the energy transition—but grid/distribution reform is the bottleneck.

Renewables are increasingly cost-competitive, but scaling them depends on fixing DISCOM incentives, losses/theft, and planning rules built for centralized coal-era systems. Without that, rooftop solar and storage remain constrained.

Storage is the key technology gap for scaling solar and wind.

Mirik highlights grid storage as a massive entrepreneurial opportunity, arguing that renewables’ next cost-curve breakthrough must be storage (likely beyond lithium-ion for grid scale) to stabilize supply at high penetration.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Climate change is now a social and political reality that is going to have to change the way in which human beings organize our economies and our societies.

— Navroz K. Dubash

We want climate change sorted out… but we want to do that at no cost. No cost to us… and that’s not gonna happen.

— Sunita Narain

It’s one extreme weather event a day… in India, as defined by IMD.

— Sunita Narain

I am tired of small solutions, pilots, nice ideas… I get a high from seeing things scaled up.

— Sunita Narain

If you don’t get your excreta story right, you cannot fix your water pollution.

— Sunita Narain

Personal pathways into environmental work (Chipko, Narmada, COP)What the IPCC is and how its reports are madeSimple definitions of climate change and evidence (models, ice cores)Equity and Global South politics; trade/globalization linksIndia energy transition: renewables, storage, decentralized servicesDISCOM dysfunction: losses, incentives, politics of power subsidies/theftEVs as air-pollution imperative; mineral supply chainsWaste, sewage, and circular systems as scalable climate solutionsCarbon credits/offsets integrity problems; greenwashing risksNuclear fission vs renewables debate; timelines and scaleOzone success story—and why it misleads for climateCarbon tax/CBAM, NDCs, and global governance tensionsGeoengineering research vs deployment risksFood systems, veganism nuance, industrial farming and consumption

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