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In September 2025, WRI India unveiled a pioneering tool designed to reshape how India’s states, districts, and even villages plan for a low-carbon future. The Advanced Scenarios and Carbon Emissions Navigation Tool (ASCENT), launched at WRI’s flagship Connect Karo event, marks a critical step in India’s journey towards its net-zero by 2070 vision. By combining rigorous science with user-friendly design, ASCENT offers policymakers, planners, and citizens a new way of seeing the future—before decisions are made.
Why ASCENT matters
India has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and meeting ambitious short-term targets under the Paris Agreement. Yet, much of the responsibility for implementing climate action rests not with the central government but with states, cities, and local institutions. Subnational actors are tasked with balancing developmental priorities—jobs, energy access, mobility—with emissions reduction.
Until now, they have had to rely on international tools that were either too narrow in scope, too complex, or ill-suited to India’s governance and data systems. For instance, models like LEAP or ClimateOS are powerful but often fail to incorporate sectors critical for India, such as municipal solid waste, wastewater, and agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU). They may use foreign currencies, omit local emission factors, or demand data that Indian municipalities simply do not collect.
ASCENT fills this gap. Built in India, for India, it reflects local fuels, units, and institutional realities. It is open access, ensuring that not only policymakers but also researchers, NGOs, and students can experiment with its scenarios.
The architecture of ASCENT
At its core, ASCENT is an Excel-based platform enhanced with macros and visualisations, ensuring accessibility for government staff familiar with spreadsheets. Users begin by defining their geographical boundary—whether a gram panchayat, city, district, or state. They then select a base year, enter demographic and economic growth rates, and provide sector-wise activity data.
The tool then generates:
A baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for the chosen geography.
Emissions projections under three default scenarios: Business as Usual (BAU), Existing and Planned, and High-Ambition.
A menu of mitigation strategies, from electric vehicle adoption and renewable energy deployment to waste-to-energy projects and agroforestry expansion.
Budget estimates for each strategy, allowing decision-makers to weigh costs against emissions reduction potential.
The tool covers all seven greenhouse gases identified by the IPCC—CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, PFCs, HFCs, SF₆, and NF₃—and spans every key sector: buildings and energy, electricity generation, transport, industry, waste, and AFOLU.
Seeing the future before it happens
The most innovative aspect of ASCENT is its ability to let decision-makers test pathways before implementing them. A state can, for example, compare what happens to its emissions if it prioritises large-scale solar power versus investing in electric mobility. The results are displayed visually, enabling side-by-side comparison of costs, emissions reductions, and co-benefits such as improved air quality, energy savings, or job creation.
For subnational governments often navigating competing pressures, this clarity is invaluable. As Ulka Kelkar, Executive Program Director at WRI India, noted at the launch: “We hope this open-access tool will demystify and simplify net-zero planning for Indian cities and villages. We will be happy if officials, experts, and students test this tool and help us make it more user-friendly.”
Tailored to Indian realities
ASCENT has been explicitly designed around the gaps in existing models:
Contextualisation: Emission factors for Indian coal, diesel, and electricity have been built in, avoiding the need for technical recalibration.
Sectoral Coverage: Unlike many tools, ASCENT includes sectors often ignored internationally but central to India’s emissions profile, such as livestock management, open waste burning, and wastewater.
Data Flexibility: While accurate, disaggregated data is preferred, the tool can work with proxies or national datasets when local data is missing.
Accessibility: It is free, Excel-based, and intentionally user-friendly—no expensive subscriptions or international consultants are required
Building scenarios: From BAU to high ambition
ASCENT’s scenario modelling provides three distinct trajectories:
Business as Usual (BAU): Projects emissions growth if no new climate actions are undertaken, extrapolating current trends.
Existing and Planned: Reflects policies already in motion—such as renewable energy targets, net metering guidelines, or EV incentives.
High Ambition: Lets states design bold, forward-looking plans, such as carbon capture adoption in industry, major public transport expansions, or rapid afforestation.
Each scenario is linked with cost estimates. For example, if a municipality models biomethanation for waste management, ASCENT will calculate both the emissions reductions and the expected installation costs, helping planners assess whether external finance will be needed
Applicability across scales
A striking feature of ASCENT is its scalability. Whether a village panchayat in Kerala experimenting with net-zero planning, or a megacity like Mumbai crafting its climate action plan, the tool adapts to the data and capacities available.
For smaller jurisdictions where GDP data may be unavailable, population growth rates can drive projections. Larger states can use both GDP and population growth, increasing accuracy. This flexibility ensures that ASCENT can be used by all tiers of governance.
Limitations and challenges
ASCENT is not without its challenges. The accuracy of outputs depends heavily on the quality of input data. Many Indian municipalities lack robust datasets on energy use, transport modes, or waste flows. Collaboration across government departments will be essential for effective use. Moreover, while the tool is designed to be intuitive, capacity-building will still be needed for officials to use it to its full potential.
A tool for India’s climate decade
WRI India intends to refine ASCENT continuously, incorporating new scientific studies, updated emissions factors, and emerging technologies. Feedback from pilot users—states, cities, researchers—will be crucial to improving usability and accuracy. Regular updates will also ensure the tool stays aligned with India’s evolving policy commitments and the latest IPCC guidance.
India’s climate future hinges on the ability of its states and cities to act decisively, with strategies that are ambitious yet grounded in reality. Tools like ASCENT empower local governments to design pathways that are not only technically sound but also economically viable and socially just.
By enabling states to “see” the outcomes of different choices before committing to them, ASCENT lowers the risk of missteps, encourages innovation, and builds confidence in climate governance. It is more than just a spreadsheet—it is a bridge between India’s developmental aspirations and its climate responsibilities.
As the country advances towards 2070, ASCENT could prove to be a defining instrument, ensuring that the vision of net-zero is not just a distant aspiration but a roadmap underpinned by evidence, strategy, and collective action.
