The India China Institute’s third round of its signature Leadership Program was called Social Innovation for Sustainable Environments and was launched in 2010 to address the complex problems associated with climate change and environmental sustainability. 

India and China face unprecedented environmental challenges and opportunities in their intertwined futures, and both countries have started to address the negative consequences of their current rapid development, in particular, facing problems related to ecological degradation and global warming. 

Unfortunately, many ecological concerns, including water contamination, greenhouse gases, poor urban air quality, and industrial waste dumping have been sidelined due to urbanization pressures, industrialization, and the economic downturn following 2008. Although there has been positive experimentation in environmental governance in both countries, much remains to be done to bring attention and action to these pressing issues.

Many of today’s environmental challenges are not simply technical issues. Scientific solutions for many problems already exist. Indeed, some of the most pressing environmental problems are posed by social, political, and market barriers to change. Innovative strategies in the social sector are needed, as well as new collaborative processes of creating and adapting new organizational forms and coalitions. These creative solutions, skills, knowledge, and forms of entrepreneurship can be drivers of policies to mitigate the effects of climate change and help with achieving environmental sustainability. 

ICI brought together scholars and policy experts to generate new ideas, debate policies, and share collaborative solutions. While the focus of this inquiry was on India and China, a three-way dialogue that included perspectives from the United States was a key feature of the program.