Meet innovators building India’s climate resilience (2024)

With global temperatures and emissions expected to continue rising, the adverse impact of climate change events like floods and heatwaves are also expected to intensify1. In India, a large number of communities are vulnerable to such climate-related disasters2.

Building climate resilience is therefore an urgent need. Changemakers from across India and the Asia-Pacific region have been answering this call with innovative digital-led solutions, even leveraging AI to deepen and scale their impact.

To support their development, our philanthropic arm Google.org supported the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund founded by AVPN with Asian Development Bank as the outreach partner. We’ve been inspired by the progress and impact the Indian recipients of this fund have achieved:

• Villgro Innovation Foundation partnered with CultYvate to help farmers in Punjab and Kerala with real-time insights and advice for precise irrigation and water management, deploying an Internet-of-Things-based solution that has not only helped save over 13 million tonnes of water between June 2023 and April 2024, but also helped mitigate over 3,700 tonnes of carbon emissions from India’s agriculture sector. Villgro also collaborated with AGS Carbon Advisory to integrate carbon credit generation into this project, thereby assisting farmer incomes while incentivizing sustainable practices.
• Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust developed and tested an AI-enabled approach to help address flooding and water security in India’s urban spaces. The machine-learning model has assisted flood vulnerability mapping in Amalner in Maharashtra, which along with support from local stakeholders and the community, is helping strengthen urban planning that protects natural drainage systems, mitigating the occurrence and severity of floods, while also recharging wells and the groundwater table for the town’s 100,000+ residents.

To help sustain such momentum towards a more climate-resilient future, we have supported AVPN APAC Sustainability Seed Fund (SSF) in its second year with a US$5 million Google.org grant alongside Asian Development Bank as the outreach partner. We’re thrilled that four sustainability-focused organizations based in India have been selected as part of 18 organizations from across the Asia Pacific region to receive support under SSF 2.0.

The India-focused projects aim to leverage AI and data-driven solutions to address critical environmental and social challenges - from water quality and urban heat to lake conservation and sustainable rural development. Read more below:

• INREM Foundation is developing an AI-enabled open digital tool to equip communities and villages across India with access to data on water contamination, and to expertise for local inclusive and sustainable solutions to support safe drinking water and cleaner water bodies.
• CEPT Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) is using machine learning and satellite imagery to help protect lakes, and their important function as carbon sinks, by simplifying the process for estimating how much carbon they can absorb, thereby assisting proactive and corrective action by local governments and municipal authorities.
• Institute for Financial Management and Research (WELL Labs) is developing advanced models that will provide granular insights into water security challenges at the village level, enabling policymakers and stakeholders to make informed decisions that address water scarcity.
• Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust is developing an AI-powered model to help combat urban heat, identifying urban heat islands and suggesting targeted gender-inclusive, community-centric solutions like cool roofs and cool routes.

At Google, we are deeply committed to seeing technology and AI address pressing challenges facing humanity and the planet. We are proud to support the ceaseless efforts by changemakers and communities that give passion to this purpose.

Read more about the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 2.0 on the program’s website.