Subtext by Zerodha

The power dynamics behind the world’s green transition

Episode Summary

In this episode, Pranav sits down with Avantika Goswami and Trishant Dev from the Centre for Science and Environment to discuss why industrializing and decarbonizing simultaneously is the hardest problem the developing world has ever been asked to solve.

Episode Notes

We cover:

- Why every wealthy nation protected its industries to develop, the reality behind technology transfer in clean-energy joint ventures, and why a "just transition" in India’s coal belt is about securing entire districts, not just retraining workers.

- It also covers the trade-offs between energy and manufacturing sovereignty across the Global South, why Europe's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) shifts the cost of decarbonization onto poorer nations, and the asymmetric power dynamics inside global climate institutions.

Timestamps: 

0:00 Introduction

0:32 Welcome to Subtext

7:27 Green Industrial Policy

14:22 China & Technology Transfer

21:17 Joint Ventures & Bargaining Power

28:12 Energy vs Manufacturing Sovereignty

35:07 CBAM: Climate or Trade Barrier?

42:02 COP & the Global South

48:57 EU-India Trade Deal

55:52 Reforming Multilateral Banks

1:02:47 What's Next for Climate?