Description

About the Book

Environmental policy lies at the heart of the global transition toward sustainability, yet it often risks being reduced to technocratic targets, market mechanisms, and institutional rhetoric that overlook questions of power, equity, and human vulnerability. This Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship (EPAYF) Cohort 3.0 – Anthology of Essays, themed People, Power & the Planet: Reimagining Environmental Policy for a Just and Equitable Future, underscores the critical imperative of grounding ecological action in social justice, democratic participation, and lived community realities. Convened by the IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, this volume captures the rigorous inquiry and reflective dialogues of emerging scholars examining the complex intersections of climate policy, governance, and livelihoods.

Moving beyond purely ecological or technical frameworks, the book demonstrates that environmental outcomes depend fundamentally on connecting policy design with ground-level implementation. Through focused research, the contributors interrogate key contemporary domains—including tribal vulnerabilities and climate justice in Bastar, the governance architecture and reform pathways of Indian carbon markets, systemic gender disparities in tribal livelihood policies, community-led adaptation strategies in the Northern Himalayas, and agroforestry interventions for dryland agriculture. Together, these analyses illustrate that ecological resilience cannot be separated from questions of who bears the costs of transition and whose voices shape decision-making.

At its core, this volume emphasizes the need to equip emerging scholars, practitioners, activists, researchers, and policymakers with the critical perspectives and analytical tools required to engage with the evolving challenges of ecological governance through an equity-driven lens. By fostering reflective dialogue and interdisciplinary learning, the book contributes to ongoing efforts to reimagine environmental policy not merely as technical administration, but as a just, people-centred practice grounded in equity, accountability, and collective resilience.