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GGGI and EMC Kerala Host Dialogue on Climate-Smart Buildings at IEFK 2026
Kerala, India, 9 February 2025 — The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in collaboration with the Energy Management Centre Kerala (EMC), hosted a high-level dialogue at the International Energy Festival Kerala (IEFK 2026) in Ernakulam.
Titled “Climate-Smart Kerala: Transforming Buildings for Efficiency, Comfort and Low Emissions,” the session brought together policymakers, technical experts, implementers, market enablers, and financiers to discuss how Kerala can accelerate the transition toward low-carbon, climate-resilient buildings.
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The dialogue featured a distinguished panel of speakers, including Dr R. Harikumar, Director of EMC Kerala; Mr Soumya P. Garnaik, India Country Representative of GGGI; Mr Johnson Daniel, Head of NMEE & DSM at EMC Kerala; Mr Kulbhushan Kumar, Partner at Grant Thornton; Mr Ashok Bonam, Regional Senior Officer for Project Coordination at GGGI’s Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) project; Mr D. Rajanikant, Director at the National Productivity Council; Mr K. N. Hemanth Kumar, Director of E-Mobility at the International Copper Association; Mr Girja Shankar Charan, General Manager (Technical) at Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL); and Mr Amit Semwal, Climate Advisory Specialist at responsAbility Investments AG.
Speakers shared perspectives across policy, implementation, market, and finance dimensions, highlighting the need for integrated approaches to scale up low-carbon buildings across the state.
Discussions focused on translating building policies into measurable on-ground outcomes, scaling energy-efficient cooling and retrofit models, leveraging energy service company (ESCO) mechanisms and appropriate technology choices, and unlocking finance through credible data, baselines, and monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems.
Convened under the Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) project, the session reinforced the importance of coordinated action across policy, technology, implementation, and finance to deliver a truly climate-smart building sector in Kerala.
During the event, GGGI and its partners also officially launched the ALCBT Project Work Plan 2026 and the Deep-Dive and Carbon Performance Analysis Report for Buildings in Kerala, marking key milestones in advancing the state’s low-carbon building.
The IEFK is an annual event that aims to showcase the state’s clean energy transformation and offers a forum for collaboration and knowledge sharing among participants from the energy sector, including global energy professionals, thought leaders, policymakers, and innovators.
About ALCBT
The Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) Project is a five-year initiative (2023-2028) that seeks to reduce GHG emissions by catalyzing nationwide transitions towards low-carbon buildings in five Asian countries: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Funded by the Government of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), through the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the project is being implemented by a consortium led by GGGI and comprising the ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE), Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), and HEAT International.
In India, the project operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Capacity building efforts in the country will benefit over 2,000 individuals, including government officials, architects, engineers, building developers and owners, ESCOs, financial institutions, material manufactures, and technology providers, to promote low carbon building design and sustainable practices. Learn more about project activities in India here.
For more information, visit: https://alcbt.gggi.org
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