Climate change and India - Notes from the economic survey

The final chapter of Economic Survey 2024 tilted, ‘Climate change and India - A look thorugh our lens’ makes for compelling reading. Acknowledging that India is faced with balancing economic development along with ‘meaningful climate action akin to its developing peers’, the survey hits out vehemently on the western world’s basis of criticism of India’s climate actions.

Interspersed with quotes from Alice in Wonderland, the document lays out strong arguments for India to have its own path of sustainable development - free from the prescriptions of the developed west or the global north - climatically speaking.

A few glimpses of the interesting themes discussed in the survey:

1. Overconsumption in the west: Discussed in significant detail, ranging from the resources needed for toilet paper to the multiplier impact of industrial meat on agricultural land. The facts bear out clearly the fallacy of comparing resource consumption at the country level rather than a per-capita level, a long-standing argument. It rather unfairly makes a sweeping generalization of veganism as a global industry-supplied movement. Also on a per capita level, surely we are an underconsuming society, but we have umpteen examples of overconsumption in our own society? Do they deserve the same official frown :)? In my view, an idealistic stand on consumption or a moralistic stand on vegetarianism serve limited purpose in a society such as ours where millions are discovering affluence.
2. Inadequacy of climate finance: The survey is generous when it suggests that climate finance has been inadequate! As per the survey, of the ~USD 6 trillion needed by developing countries by 2030 to achieve about half of their existing NDC targets, only USD 100 billion was pledged by developed countries till 2020 - of which only USD 83.3 billion was provided. Adding fuel to the fire on the paucity of climate finance is the issue of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism or CBAM, that seeks to tax source emissions for consumption in Europe. The survey notes this as a ‘new play for capitalism’ that doesn’t change the existing status quo of unsustainable consumption.
3. The looming housing problem: The survey rightly identifies housing as one of the areas that will exacerbate climate change in India. Traditional concepts of sustainability used in Indian houses certainly have merit but how effectively can they applied to urban Indian dwellings? They survey wistfully talks about the traditional Indian joint family and the increasing nucleation that we are experiencing. Urbanization and nucleation are here to stay, whether we like it not. The sooner our policymakers and urban planners accept these changes, the better for us. This is an area where limitations of traditional concepts need to understood and modern practices need to be adopted to minimize the environmental footprint.
4. AI and the future: The survey questions the mad rush by developing nations to usher in AI. AI technologies are energy guzzlers, and demand projections from data centers are hitting the roof. This rise is much faster than the supply of green energy that could lead to delays in decommissioning of coal-fired plants in the west, as seen in a couple of cases in the US. The potential of AI has hardly been realized and India cannot leave itself out of this revolution by citing energy issues.

The survey cautions against a market economy turning into a ‘market society’, which could lead to commodification of areas that were traditionally governed by non-market norms. The only way this could be prevented in India in areas such as water use especially is by improving municipal governance in delivery of essential services. Local water tanker markets have already created an unfortunate situation in many towns where service delivery has not kept pace with growth.

We are blessed with an ethos for living in harmony with nature, handed down by our ancestors. However it is neither easy nor practical to put principles in practice in all situations. We must recognize that there are certain needs of an aspirational modern society that cannot be met by traditional means. In the next 2 decades when we foresee a period of sustained growth India, the challenges around climate will increase multifold. If we choose to look inward as the document suggests, we must be honest about our own shortcomings. Be it untreated urban sewage, the mountains of urban solid waste or the sorry state of our rivers, abysmal air quality, lax pollution control, to name a few.

India is indeed in a unique position to discard outside prescriptions and chart out a sustainable development growth path. I can’t agree more when the survey makes it amply clear that ‘India needs to look at its own path‘. The LiFE philosophy is a good start with focus on individual action.

Traditional wisdom must indeed be encouraged and adopted wherever feasible. The same enthusiasm needs to be shown for furthering policy actions and research in critical areas like water management, waste recycling, nuclear energy, AI, batteries, green chemistries, co-processing, etc. Both need to co-exist for a modern society to thrive.

And finally, as the co-founder of a sustainability services firm in India, I cannot be more excited to play a part in this transition!