The link between climate change and water is one of often neglected and not well understood. This ambiguous relationship combined with climate change induced extremities and uncertainties exacerbate the propensity for conflicts over shared waters.
Srinivas Chokkakula, Ministry of Jal Shakti Research Chair with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, will give the talk “Conflicts and Complicit Climate Change: Transboundary Water Governance in South Asia." Talk is co-sponsored by Penn State's Department of Asian Studies.
Foregrounded by this complicit nature of climate change, his talk will discuss the transboundary governance challenges in South Asia – focusing on India, within and with its neighboring countries. He will share some recent work of the Centre for Policy Research to propose that climate change can also be an equalizer to mobilize collective action and address emerging governance challenges.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Srinivas Chokkakula is the MoJS (Ministry of Jal Shakti) Research Chair – Water Conflicts and Governance at CPR, where he leads the Transboundary Rivers, Ecologies, and Development studies (TREADs) programme. His research and policy interests lie primarily in the water sector, focusing on transboundary water conflict/cooperation and governance. He has written and published widely on the topic, both in academic journals and mainstream outlets. His interests extend to the broader area of politics of infrastructure development, including inland waterways, smart cities, and rural roads. As the MoJS Research Chair, he engages closely with relevant government agencies and is often consulted on various water policy and institutional issues. Srinivas is currently a Member of the Drafting Committee of India’s National Water Policy. Srinivas has an interdisciplinary training in geography, planning and engineering. He has a PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle, and an MA from the University of Miami, Florida in political geography; an earlier Masters in Urban Environmental Planning from CEPT University, Ahmedabad; and a B. Tech. in Civil Engineering from Kakatiya University, Warangal.