Global Environmental Change 9 (1999) 119 — 138 Climate change research and analysis in India: an integrated assessment of a South—North divide Milind Kandlikar*, Ambuj Sagar Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Received 3 February 1998 Abstract For more than a decade climate change has been the focus of much research and analysis. Despite the global implications of the problem, the overwhelming majority of the researchers involved worldwide in studying the problem and its possible solutions are from industrialized countries, and participation of lesser-industrialized countries has been limited. While the wide-ranging implications of this South—North divide are sometimes recognized, there is little analysis on the reasons for this divide, why it continues to exist, and what steps might be required to narrow it. Towards this end, this paper analyzes how climate change research and analysis is performed in India, a major lesser-industrialized country. Based on detailed interviews, it explores the factors that play a role in shaping the capability of India to perform, and respond to, climate-change analyses. Drawing on the Indian case study, the paper examines developing-country participation in the international climate science and assessment enterprise. This allows some reflection on the potential pitfalls for international discussions on climate change and what the international community and countries of the South can do to overcome them in order to address this conspicuous South—North divide.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Climate change; IPCC; Global environmental research; Developing countries; North—South; Capacity building 1. Introduction Climate change is arguably the most important, and certainly the most complex, global environmental issue to date. As the intricate relationships between human activity and the global climate are revealed, the possibili- ty of wide-ranging impacts of climate change is raising concern in many countries. Advances in scientific know- ledge have allowed for a continually evolving under- standing of the global climate system. In parallel, as international negotiations on this subject have pro- gressed, technical and economic analyses of the various implications of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement have gained in importance. Despite recent progress in each of these arenas, it has also become clear that the uncertain- ties that surround climate science and proposed policy initiatives may never be fully resolved. It is, therefore, likely that scientific research and analytical expertise will *Corresponding author. Tel.: # 1 412 268-3001; fax:# 1 412 268- 3757; e-mail: mk49@andrew.cmu.edu continue to play an active role in informing and shaping the international policy debate. Ecological, economic, and social implications of cli- mate change are expected to vary substantially among regions and nations. This variation results from both the geographic distribution of the diverse impacts of a dis- rupted climate system, and the disparate interactions of abatement strategies with the society and the economy of individual countries. Consequently, a wide range of inputs — knowledge, data, and perspectives — within and across nations, are key to informing and shaping international research and analysis for comprehensive coverage of the multitude of issues related to climate change. At the same time, it is important for individual coun- tries, in their role as negotiating agents under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), to generate positions that are congruent with their national concerns. This is of critical import- ance because, to date, climate negotiations have been less about protecting the global environment than about protecting national interests. Therefore, assessment at 0959-3780/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 5 9 - 3 7 8 0 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 3 3 - 8