Nalin Agarwal

Climate Tech in South Asia (Climate Seeds Fund / Climate Collective / New Energy Nexus India)

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

A Danish scientist counted bugs on the same windshield, same road, same conditions, every year for 20 years. By year 20, 80% of the insects were gone.

In Germany, a group of volunteer bug scientists did something even bigger. They set traps in 63 nature reserves, not farms, protected land, and weighed everything they caught. Same traps, same method, 27 years straight. The total weight of flying bugs dropped 76%. In midsummer, when insects should be peaking, it was 82% gone. A follow-up in 2020 and 2021 checked again. No recovery.

In the UK, they literally ask drivers to count splats on their license plates after a trip. The 2024 count came back 63% lower than just 2021. Three years.

A 2020 study pulled together 166 surveys from 1,676 locations around the world. Land insects are disappearing at roughly 9% every ten years.

Here’s where it hits your plate. About 75% of the food crops we grow depend on insects to pollinate them, everything from apples to almonds to coffee. One 2025 study modeled what a full pollinator collapse would look like: food prices jump 30%, the global economy takes a $729 billion hit, and the world loses 8% of its Vitamin A supply.

Birds are already feeling it. North America has lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970. A study from just weeks ago found half of 261 bird species on the continent are now in serious decline, and the losses are speeding up in farming regions. The birds that eat insects lost 2.9 billion. The birds that don’t eat insects? They gained 26 million. That ratio tells the whole story.

One of the German researchers behind the 27-year study drives a Land Rover. He says it has the aerodynamics of a refrigerator. It stays clean now.

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@IndiGo6E @DGCAIndia

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

Today’s @IndiGo6E experience would have been a joke if it didn’t feel insidious.
We were delayed 8.5 hours at BOM with zero communication and no ground staff in sight. After finally taking off, we spent another hour circling DEL waiting for a parking bay. (1/n)

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@IndiGo6E At the moment, all said and done, we may need to continue flying with IndiGo - but it will be with reluctance, and a sense of trepidation. (n/n)

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@IndiGo6E We really need, and the regulator must enable:
• more landing slots for Air India and Akasa
• more competition overall via newer airlines
• zero compromise on safety — no matter who’s pressuring whom. (5/n)

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@IndiGo6E India’s aviation sector is essentially a duopoly right now, with IndiGo holding dominant power and treating customer service like an afterthought. (4/n)

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@IndiGo6E If true, that’s extremely alarming.
My sympathy is with the crew stuck in the middle, but the airline’s management has shown shockingly poor competence and disregard for customers. (3/n)

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

Passengers showed remarkable patience despite growing frustration.
Several IndiGo pilots dead-heading on the same flight said they believe this chaos is deliberately engineered — a pressure tactic to force the regulator to roll back recent, safety-focused crew duty limits. (2/n)

[Startup Mahakumbh @StartupMhakumbh]

Join @nalinagain, Founding Partner at @CCollectiveNet and Co-anchor of the #ClimateTech Pavilion at #StartupMahakumbh - the world's largest startup event. Be a part of thought-provoking discussions on transformative climate solutions and innovations.

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@airindia My Vistara vouchers have disappeared after the merger. What's my recourse? Merging Vistara and AI will have case studies on the wrong kind of mergers - destroying a highly reputable and trusted brand (Vistara) with one that has no credibility nor trust among customers.

[Nalin Agarwal @nalinagain]

@rd25sep @aviationbrk @MoCA_GoI @airindia @JM_Scindia this is truly appalling. Even if you consider some transition time for improving management at AI after divestment, this sort of a situation (and behaviour, or lack thereof by staff) defies logic and requires immediate action

[Samir Saran @samirsaran]

“Who could you call, and who would answer?

#India Answered” - @kaminajsmith

Watch this fantastic discussion on the #GlobalSouth and #SouthRising here - https://t.co/bIA6sQ6dxo

@DrSJaishankar @HughToddgt @JoaoCravinho

[G20 United States @g20org]

On the sidelines of the 3️⃣rd #SFWG Meeting in #Mahabalipuram, the #G20India delegates took part in a workshop that shed light on policy measures and financial instruments for catalysing the rapid development & deployment of green and low-carbon technologies.

[The Climate Collective @CCollectiveNet]

AND IT'S A WRAP!!

This year more than 2500 people registered for 54 events with 25+ speakers on board, a success for #ClimateStartupWeek 2022.

The amount of interest you have shown in #pitchevents, #webinars, #expert panels, and #networking events has been overwhelming.

[Voices for Vaccines @Voices4Vaccines]

In the 2010s, adult flu vaccine uptake never broke 50%. It's so predictable that we don't even make shots for 1/3 of the population.

A lot of that is because people don't take flu seriously. But folks, you should and I'll tell you why.

Here's the FULL case for flu vaccination🧵

[Boris Wertz @bwertz]

Incredibly promising to see such a large acceleration of venture capital investment into climate tech (h/t @azeem)

[Shiva Keshavan, OLY @100thofasec]

Dear ambassador @AmbWieserIndia require your urgent assistance for Indian Junior National Team visa for World Cups and World Championships in Austria! @austria_rodel
Athletes have been waiting in Delhi for long! 🙏🏽🙏🏽
@WeAreTeamIndia
@FIL_Luge @MFA_Austria @DrSJaishankar @M_Lekhi

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

The emissions of rich US Americans are extreme to the point of being violent.

Also, emissions in China are a fraction of the Western average. Even the rich emit *less than the poorest 50%* of Anglo-Americans. An important corrective to Western narratives. https://t.co/ijnceTczU0

[Max Roser @MaxCRoser]

If we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions we should not be paying people to burn fossil-fuels.

#COP26

[Simon Evans @DrSimEvans]

WOW

The @IEA just published a new forecast for renewable growth

It is…

* 25% higher than Nov20 forecast
* 40% above May 2020

The IEA says it's "exceptional" – but also the "new normal"

It means renewables will account for 90% of *all* new capacity

https://t.co/FJGxfHnqx0