​We all heard an alarming cry of 2022. It was the cry of the 8 billionth baby borne on the Earth. It was in reality a roaring warning for the world to change our developmental path.

The world now needs to produce more Food and Energy and draw more Water for the population of 8 billion which would reach about 8.6 billion by 2030 and nearly 9.8 billion by 2050 as per the estimate by the United Nations. Those are the FEW challenges I am referring to.

Deploying out-of-box responses to this challenge is the only way to face the FEW challenges and transform them into opportunities.

First, we should consider the underground as water storage, rather than building man-made water storage tanks and creating surface water bodies that would be costly and resource-consuming. Making soil conditioned to soak more rainwater should be the way forward. It is like rainwater harvesting by enabling the land to absorb more water. Today large gaps are formed underground and left unfilled by excessive extraction of water. We have the opportunity to fill those underground natural storage gaps by conditioning the land and by using GPS technology. Adopting to climate-resilient agriculture, and following the 'per drop more crop' practice promoted by PM Narendra Modi. That transformation would need the use of digital technologies like IoT with soil sensors and AI for data management and predictive analysis of weather and early warning to farmers.

Second, the production of hydrogen from water to produce energy should be deployed. India has started using the term 'Hydrogen Economy' than just hydrogen as a source of clean energy. Water should be considered as the fuel for producing hydrogen. Water can drive the economy by splitting into hydrogen. Hydrogen can wean humanity from the use of fossil fuels. Hydrogen energy can prevent climate crisis, avoid draughts and enhance food production and make more water and hence food available for the bulging population of the world.

Under the Green TERRE Foundation, an innovative global network of universities has been formed. That network is called Smart Campus Cloud Network (sccnhub.com). It urges universities to make their campus 'living laboratories' for SDGs and Net Zero (decarbonization) as pledged by PM Modi in 2021 in Glasgow COP 26 of climate change. Presently 460+ universities and higher educational institutes are in its network. They have initiated the journey towards net zero. Each of them could also initiate research on Hydrogen energy and out-of-Box solutions to the FEW challenges. The FEW is a challenge but solutions are not few, there are many. END

 Dr Rajendra Shende

Former Director UNEP, IIT Alumni,

Prime Mover Smart Campus Cloud Network 

Coordinating lead author of IPCC.