Necessity the Mother of Invention: Young Indian Innovators

 

We are more than midway through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global call for action led by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that aims to 

"prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, aiming to revive 1 billion hectares of land and protect marine environments."

It's a good time to access our progress and check out the main threats to ecosystems and the innovations and innovators tackling it. 

Overwhelmingly environmental threats include the climate crisis, deforestation, soil degradation, air pollution, water pollution and plastic pollution. In nearly all cases innovators leading the charge have overwhelmingly been young people.

Threats to ecosystems are directly and indirectly risks to human security and innovations - be they recognized, award winning and community level life-changing - have come from young people who have seen a problem and found solutions for it. 

The search engine Ecosia's planting of over 250 million trees in key ecosystems thus restoring vital natural resources has been a major win fr Ecosystem Restoration.

Young Innovators nationally and internationally, individually and through innovative community intervention have played a vital role in improving ecosystems as well as lives and livelihoods. 

The focus of this post will be young Indian Innovators whose innovations have led to climate action (SDG 13), environmental cleanup as well as improved lives.

Source: Ideal City 2026: Nature Research Intelligence/Springer Nature

SDG 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

Young Indian Innovators boosting SDGs

Three 16-year-olds Indians from Delhi-NCR, Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal, and Avyana Mehta, won the $100,000 Grand Prize of Earth Prize 2026 after becoming Regional Winners from India with their innovation Plas-Stick. Seeing the problem of microplastic pollution in water resources everywhere they came up with a low-cost innovation to ensure clean water for all, especially in rural India where access to safe drinking water and affordable tech to clean were both challenges. Their innovative use of ubiquitous tamarind seed powder to bind and remove microplastics rightfully earned then the Earth Prize 2026.     

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Mahek Parvez then a student pupil leader of a leading school in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India), Chettinad Vidyashram as a teenager designed a "refrigerator" that functioned without electricity or a coolant. This innovation that won the Lexus Design Award India improved lives and livelihoods as well as cutting down food wastage (SDG 12, SDG 2) and carbon footprint (SDG 13) of food produce. 

 

The "SunHarvested CoolRooms" which triples shelf-life of fruits and vegetables was a response to the young lady witnessing the problem of spoiling produce and the challenges of access to electricity and affordable cooling solutions and solved the problem by applying basic physics innovatively. 

This led Mehak to a Research internship at IIT-Madras' Prof. KS Reddy Sustainable Cooling Heat Transfer & Thermal Properties lab (2023-2024), the Lexus Eco Award and graduate studies in the United States. 

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Iron Max, the solar-powered ironing cart designed by then 14 year old Vinisha Umashankar from Thiruvanamalai, Tamil Nadu, India got her nominated for the inaugural Earthshot Prize of 2021 in the "Clean Our Air" category.

Seeing local dobhis (laundry persons) handle coal under the scorching sun - polluting the air and adding to greenhouse gases led to Vinisha, the Earthshot Prize's youngest ever nominee to design Iron Max - the Solar Ironing Cart even before she was a teenager after months of researching and innovating a solution. 

 

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These innovations all improved ecosystems as well as lives and livelihoods. 

SDG10 - Reduced Inequalities 

Nearly 15 years ago, then 12 year old Shalini Kumari from Patna, Bihar saw her her grandfather using a walker because of limited mobility struggle with steps and designed the adjustable walker that can be used to climb steps as well as walk on flat surfaces. By improving the access of people with limited mobility, Shalini's retractable walker improved mobility and lives of people with limited mobility. To date it remains a cost-effective and life-changing innovation in the lives of many. Improved mobility in many ways is empowerment. 

Just a student of Class 8, her life-changing innovation won her the Ignite Award 2011. 

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More recently WALK by Lifespark Technologies - a smart gait support system for Parkinson's Patients was also an innovative solution Amey Desai designed in response to his grandfather's struggles with Parkinsons Disease that has gone on to empower and improve the life, gait and safety of many suffering from the sudden fall/freeze inducing neurological condition as well as similar conditions. 

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Avishyant Panda, IAS, of the 2017 batch through his innovative community-level intervention across Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra ("Lungs of Maharashtra") has reduced inequalities and built a climate-resilient, water-secure community. His efforts at watershed management, tree-planting and water bodies restoration boosts multiple SDGs: SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities through community empowerment, SDG6 - Access to Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 11 - Sustainable Communities, SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 14 - Life Below Water, SDG 15 - Life on Land.

Ecomodernism in the lead up to Environment Day 2026

 After a May focused on celebrating biodiversity in its many forms, the main focus in June will be Environment Day, observed on 5 June 2026. 

The theme for World Environment Day 2026 (WED2026) is 

"Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future."

WED2026 is hosted by Azerbaijan. 

Personally I have found the environmental philosophies of Ecomodernism, Ecofeminism and a future reimagined as "Solar Punk" most in-line with the theme of #WorldEnvironmentDay2026. The theme of Environment Day as well as the ecology-centric worldviews of  Ecomodernism and Ecofeminism put the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Circularity at their hearts. An ecology-first approach with an intersectionalist lens is central to reimagining a regenerative world. 

What is Insersectnality?

(See explainer video below)

Ecomodernism 

"Ecomodernism is an environmental philosophy arguing that human technological development and economic growth can—and should—be harnessed to protect nature and improve human wellbeing. At its core, ecomodernism focuses on 'decoupling', a process meant to separate growing economic prosperity from environmental damage. This is primarily achieved through 'land sparing'—intensifying human activities like food and energy production on less land, which leaves more space for natural ecosystems to thrive."

If I have reservations about ecomodernism its the approval of nuclear power, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified crops and urbanization in the quest to concentrate civilization and let ecology thrive in silos. See the YouTube Shorts summary (10 Cool Facts!) below: 

Ecofeminism 

Ecofeminism was introduced in Carolyn Merchant's 1980 book The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution. It calls for knowledge with an ecological ethic of care instead of dominance. A return to a mode of development in partnership with nature, respecting it as living systems instead of machines to be controlled and dominated. See the explainer YouTube shorts below: 

Solarpunk 

"Solarpunk a literary, artistic, and social movement that envisions a sustainable, optimistic future where humanity lives in harmony with nature. It blends advanced renewable technology (the tech, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy) with ecological awareness, actively rejecting climate doomerism in favor of community-driven, post-capitalist solutions (punk resistance to neocapitalism, neocolonialism & neoliberalism, et al. a.k.a. “Empire,” as Arundhati Roy puts it)"

Electric Bus launched in Indian Metros & Solar Ferry in Kochi's (Keralam) backwaters.

One of  the facilitators from my South Asia fellowship with Climate Tracker a decade ago (2016), Renee Karunungan from The Philippines, now based in United Kingdom shared how she has solarized her home and electrified her transport with UK government subsidies.  

Beyond Environment Day: For Our Future

Meanwhile my classmate, Venkatesh R. highlighted the plans for going 100% Off-Grid in India in his post on Medium as the Ground Truth Architect.

With the heating Pacific Ocean and predictions of a Super El Nino bound to mess with my city, Chennai's monsoon season (Northeast Monsoon), Venkatesh 'the Ground Truth Architect' also highlighted low-cost retrofits of the city's existing storm drains and rainwater harvesting systems as well as the introduction of porous roads in low-traffic areas and parking as well as bioswales in place of medians on highways. Thus reimaging the Greater Chennai Metropolis as a sponge city. 

Inspired by Nature: Biomimicry & Beyond

Video: Sponge City: Chinese Style

Inspiration from nature is a way of working in partnership with it for people, planet and profits. This can be as simple as growing your kitchen garden to encourage symbiosis or can go up to inspiration for tech to clean up the messes of over-consumption, capitalism, neocolonialism and neoliberalism.

#PlantHealthDay contd.
Healthy Plants for Healthy Humans!
Let's #endhunger & obliterate #micronutrienthunger AKA #microhunger - #SDG2 #ZeroHunger through thriving plant #biodiversity #SDG15 #LifeOnLand in our #kitchengardens #herbpatches & beyond#FruitForests as #UrbanForests https://t.co/EwznYjzOht

— Raakhee Suryaprakash (@10sunshinegal) May 26, 2026

 

For Climate: For Our Future

Beyond consumption for consumption's sake, living under the cloud of planned obsolescence as we are, we need to embrace the tenets of the circular economy models and sustainable development to live in harmony with nature. 

My dad handed me two clothespins. “This,” he said, “is the story of everything.”

In one hand: a clothespin from the 1960s. Solid hardwood, smooth from decades of use. It still works perfectly, some 60 years later.

In the other: a clothespin from 2025. Lighter, paler wood,… pic.twitter.com/Rh33ZpVOxR

— Mr PitBull Stories (@MrPitbull07) May 26, 2026

And however we design solutions, we must remember to hold an intersectional lens up to the problem to solve it holistically and regeneratively! 

Uncut grass keeps the ground at around 19.5°C
Grass cut to 10 cm raises the ground temperature to about 24.5°C
Bare ground in the middle of summer rises to over 40°C
It's important to raise awareness #NoMowMay pic.twitter.com/IQJviy48Ko

— Dr Elaine Cox 🍃 💚 🍃🌽🥬🐦‍⬛🐌🇬🇧 (@ElaineCox11) May 25, 2026