SDG 13: Climate Action

SDG 13.1Climate research and innovation

Open 13.1 Research as a separate report

UPES research tackles both sides of climate change: cutting emissions through clean energy and helping mountain communities adapt to floods, landslides and water stress.

The figures below cover UPES research publications on climate action from 2021 to 2025 (source: Scopus, October 2026).

What the research covers

Number of 2021–2025 papers on each theme (a paper can appear under more than one).

Most cited climate work

1. Biofuel production from microalgae: challenges and chances (Phytochemistry Reviews, 2023), cited 261 times.
2. Biochar application for greenhouse gas mitigation, contaminants immobilization and soil fertility enhancement: A state-of-the-art review (Science of the Total Environment, 2022), cited 253 times.
3. Comprehensive review on effect of dust on solar photovoltaic system and mitigation techniques (Solar Energy, 2019), cited 238 times.
4. Critical review of biochemical pathways to transformation of waste and biomass into bioenergy (Bioresource Technology, 2023), cited 230 times.
5. Production and modifications of biochar to engineered materials and its application for environmental sustainability: a review (Biochar, 2024), cited 185 times.

The full list of 742 publications since 2007, with links, is on the climate research publications page (also available as a spreadsheet).

Research spotlights

Batteries that work at –40°C

UPES is the first private university in India to win a DRDO-funded project. With IIT Roorkee as principal investigator and NIT Rourkela, the team aims to make batteries work at –40°C, with thermal management and smart inverters, so that microgrids keep running in places like Ladakh and Siachen.

UPES blog · Read more

Early warning for the Himalaya

A HILL project uses wireless sensor networks to track rainfall, soil moisture and ground movement in real time, so remote areas get early warning of flash floods and landslides and can plan evacuations and road closures.

UPES blog · Read more

Water security in a warming climate

With French institutions, HILL is working on water quality and availability under climate change, and is building a simple solar thermal water purifier for villages in hilly terrain.

UPES blog · Read more

Waste into clean energy

A pilot microalgae plant led by Prof Bhawna Yadav Lamba treats sewage from a nearby canal and turns the algae and sludge into bio-oil, biogas and bio-manure.

UPES blog · Read more

Climate economics, policy and law

• CEESS. The Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Studies researches business and sustainable development, transport and green supply chain management, and related questions of climate and energy policy.
• Climate law. On 20–21 September 2024 the School of Law, with the Uttarakhand Forest Department and the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, hosted an international conference on new paradigms of environmental sustainability and energy law, with representatives of 66 Indian institutes and six foreign organisations discussing climate change, renewable energy, environmental governance and climate justice.
• Wider research. UPES also works on solar photovoltaics, rural electrification, carbon capture, algae biofuels and climate-risk assessment.

Patents and intellectual property

UPES holds 2,314+ intellectual property rights, made up of 813 patents, 943 designs and 558 copyrights, with 139 granted (December 2025).

SDG 13.2Cutting emissions on campus

Open 13.2 Campus emissions as a separate report

UPES has measured its carbon footprint and is cutting it through solar power, efficiency, electric mobility and greener buildings.

• A plan with targets. The RISE Centre's Climate Action Plan sets a 2024–25 baseline of 8,271 tCO₂e, a 20–25% cut by 2030, 30–40% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and net zero by 2060, with a live Green Dashboard to report progress and a permanent Climate Action Task Force of leaders, academics, operations staff and students.
• Measuring emissions. An energy audit and greenhouse gas inventory prepared in line with ISO 14064-1 tracks diesel generators, LPG, university vehicles and refrigerants (Scope 1), grid electricity (Scope 2) and air travel (Scope 3), and models how larger solar systems would cut emissions.
• Clean power. A 100 kW rooftop solar plant has met about 8% of campus electricity demand and doubles as a training facility for students, alongside 61,500 litres of solar water heating and a self-powering solar tree.
• Using less. UPES retrofits conventional lights, maintains a unity power factor to avoid energy losses, and plans smart controls and more efficient lighting and air-conditioning systems.
• Electric mobility. Students built U-BAHN, an electric campus vehicle with an 85 Ah battery and IoT location tracking, and an electric bicycle that reaches 30–35 km/h with a range of 70–80 km.
• A living lab. UPES is turning its campus into a Sustainability Living Lab for developing and testing solutions, and plans to invest in verified nature-based offsets such as regional afforestation for emissions that are hard to cut.

SDG 13.3Climate education for every student

Open 13.3 Education as a separate report

UPES makes sure every student learns about climate change, and trains specialists for the energy transition.

• For everyone. The School for Life, which serves students across all of UPES's schools, includes a four-credit Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change course with a theory part and a Living Lab.
• Specialist degrees. Programmes such as the B.Tech in Clean Energy Technologies, alongside courses and degrees in climate science, renewable energy, sustainability and environmental studies.
• Skills and certificates. Certification programmes, fieldwork, workshops and the HSFEA conference on health, safety, fire and environmental aspects of sustainability build practical skills.
• ATMOSFAIR. Each September, around World Ozone Day, the student GreenUp club runs ATMOSFAIR. Its seventh edition in September 2020 held a national webinar on climate change, risk resilience and livelihoods, opened by Padma Bhushan Dr Anil Prakash Joshi of HESCO, with scientists from the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology and the Wildlife Institute of India.
• Learning by doing. Students have made edible cutlery and zero-waste products, and presented prototypes and climate solutions at the Sustainability Fair.

Climate learning beyond the classroom

• Forest officers. The School of Law delivered 40 lectures to Indian Forest Service probationers (2023–2025 batch) at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun, in two modules in November 2024 and May–June 2025, on environmental law, governance and climate change strategy.
• Hands-on environmental technology. With the Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre (USERC), the Sustainability Cluster ran a three-day hands-on training programme on environmental technology.
• Wildfires. A Sustainability Cluster lecture on 20 July 2023 explained the dynamic behaviour of wildfires, a growing climate hazard in the Himalaya.
• Applied sustainability. Prof Corey Glickman led a workshop on applied sustainability for transformative impact, on using AI and machine learning to speed up sustainability initiatives and on collaboration between academia, industry and government.
• Open masterclasses and summits. A climate risk profiling masterclass (18 March 2025), Sustainability Fair 3.0 (9–10 April 2025) and Energy Summit 2025, which included a model and poster event for school students, cover climate risks, adaptation planning and mitigation.

SDG 13.4Resilience to climate hazards

Open 13.4 Resilience as a separate report

In a region exposed to floods, landslides, forest fires and glacial lake bursts, UPES prepares its own community and helps others become more resilient.

• Himalayan communities. HILL works on disaster preparedness, including wireless sensor networks for early warning of flash floods and landslides, and on livelihoods such as Bhimal fibre crafts, Bhanjira cultivation, eco-tourism and turning temple flower waste into incense, dyes and compost.
• Community Resilience Resource Centres. UPES is an implementing and knowledge partner in this DST–UNDP programme, using science and technology to help communities recover from shocks. UPES cites its projects Sakhi, Eklavya, Ayushman and Narayani as part of this work.
• Policy on disaster risk. On 10 December 2025 the School of Law, with the SDC Foundation and the Society for Constitutional Law and Human Rights, released "Uttarakhand on Edge: UDAAI's Monsoon Report 2025", documenting 13 major disasters of the 2025 monsoon and recommending stronger early warning, wider glacial monitoring and a unified Himalayan resilience policy.
• Working with NGOs on adaptation. Himalaya Calling 2025 led to MoUs with seven national and international NGOs on climate resilience.
• At the United Nations. In May 2023 Prof Neelu Jyothi Ahuja presented UPES's work on these centres at the UN Science, Technology and Innovation Forum.

SDG 13.5Partnerships and policy

Open 13.5 Partnerships as a separate report

UPES works with government, international bodies, industry and communities on climate action.

This work spans the state, national and international levels.

• Himalaya Calling 2025. HILL's three-day global summit in September 2025 brought together more than 128 speakers, 1,600 delegates and 700 students on climate resilience, ESG, food security and indigenous knowledge, and led to MoUs with seven national and international NGOs.
• Energy Summit. The School of Advanced Engineering's annual summit, held since 2022, brings experts, industry and policymakers together on energy conversion and storage, green hydrogen, smart grids and carbon capture.
• ESG skills for business. The RISE Centre and Mahindra University train professionals in climate-smart business models, corporate carbon footprints, sustainable finance and net-zero strategy.
• Clean livelihoods. Project Artisan builds design skills among women weavers in a remote Ladakh village for the collective production and sale of carpets made on back-strap looms.

Events and activities

Open Events and activities as a separate report

19 events from UPES schools and departments support this goal. Each event has its own report with a description, photograph and, where one exists, a link to the original post.

School of Advanced Engineering · Sustainability Cluster · 20 July 2023

Understanding the dynamic behaviour of wildfires

On 20 July 2023, the Sustainability Cluster held a lecture on wildfires as a source of socio-hydrological extremes.

SDG 13SDG 15

Event report → · Original post

School of Advanced Engineering · Sustainability Cluster

Hands-on training in environmental technology with USERC

A three-day hands-on training programme on environmental technology, run by the Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre with the Sustainability Cluster.

SDG 4SDG 13SDG 17

Event report → · Original post

School of Advanced Engineering

Sustainability Fair 3.0

On 9–10 April 2025, the School of Advanced Engineering brought students, researchers and industry together for prototypes, hands-on workshops and conversations on innovation for a resilient future.

SDG 7SDG 9SDG 13

Event report → · Original post

School of Advanced Engineering

Doctoral scholar presents nanomaterials research in Paris

Kamal Kumar, a CSIR senior research fellow in the Department of Physics, presented his work at the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology in Paris.

SDG 9SDG 13SDG 17

Event report → · Original post

School of Advanced Engineering · 11–12 November 2025

Energy Summit 2025: ICSAE 2025

On 11–12 November 2025, the fourth Energy Summit, the International Conference on Sustainable and Affordable Energy, brought researchers together on cleaner and more sustainable energy.

SDG 7SDG 9SDG 13

Event report → · Original post

School of Business

Seminar on challenges in petro retailing

G.H.V. Rao, Zonal Manager (Oil and Gas Downstream), HPCL Chandigarh, discussed margins, infrastructure, safety compliance, automation and sustainable practices in fuel retailing.

SDG 7SDG 9SDG 13

Event report → · Original post

School of Business

Masterclass on business consulting for climate resilience

Prof Cynthia Caron of Clark University spoke on risk assessment, sustainable supply chains and community partnerships for climate resilience.

SDG 4SDG 13SDG 17

Event report → · Original post

School of Business · 18th March 2025

Masterclass on climate risk profiling and adaptation planning

On 18 March 2025, Prof Cynthia Caron led a School of Business masterclass on climate risk profiling and adaptation planning.

SDG 4SDG 13SDG 16

Event report → · Original post

School of Business

SAKSHAM 2026: responsible leadership in energy

The School of Business hosted SAKSHAM 2026, its annual initiative on energy conservation and responsible energy use.

SDG 7SDG 13SDG 16

Event report → · Original post

School of Business

Youth Consultation for Viksit Uttarakhand 2047

With the Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance, the School of Business hosted a youth consultation on energy, economics and sustainability for Uttarakhand’s Vision 2047.

SDG 8SDG 13SDG 16

Event report → · Original post

School of Computer Science

Udbhav 2025 state hackathon

UPES hosted Level II of the Uttarakhand AI Mission state hackathon, with innovators from more than 25 institutes presenting solutions in AI, IoT, blockchain, XR and robotics.

SDG 8SDG 9SDG 13

Event report →

School of Design

Masterclass with architect Snehanshu Mukherjee

The School of Design hosted architect and educator Snehanshu Mukherjee for a masterclass on design and legacy.

SDG 4SDG 13

Event report → · Original post

School of Law · November 2024 and May–June 2025

40 lectures for IFS probationers at IGNFA

The School of Law delivered 40 lectures on environmental law, governance and climate change strategy to the 2023–2025 batch of Indian Forest Service probationers at IGNFA, Dehradun.

SDG 4SDG 13SDG 16

Event report → · Original post

School of Law

Law students at the International Conference on Climate Justice

Four School of Law students presented research papers at the second International Conference on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development.

SDG 13SDG 15SDG 16

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School of Law · 23 July 2025

Contemporary international trade and the changing global legal order

On 23 July 2025, the Law and Social Sciences cluster held the second event in its International Law and Politics in Review series.

SDG 13SDG 16SDG 17

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School of Law

Hexa Climate interaction with law students

Mayank Bhardwaj, VP – Legal, and Arpit Jain, Chief of Staff, of Hexa Climate held an interaction with School of Law students.

SDG 7SDG 13SDG 16

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School of Law · 16th September 2024

Ozone Day awareness event

On 16 September 2024, the School of Law held an event on protecting the ozone layer, with Dr Rakesh Kapoor, Special Secretary (retd.), Government of India.

SDG 12SDG 13SDG 16

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UPES

Workshop on applied sustainability with Prof Corey Glickman

Prof Corey Glickman led a workshop on applied sustainability for transformative impact, on how AI and machine learning can accelerate sustainability and why academia, industry and government must work together.

SDG 13SDG 17

Event report → · Original post

Sustainability Cluster · 16 September 2024

ATMOSFAIR 2024 for World Ozone Day

The Sustainability Cluster marked World Ozone Day on 16 September 2024 with ATMOSFAIR, an eco-conscious fest on protecting the ozone layer and the environment.

SDG 13

Event report → · Original post

All sources

Open All sources as a separate report

Every website and document used in this report, and the sections it supports. Each initiative and event also has its own page, linked from its name in the report.