Many voters themselves addressed the urgency to focus on climate change. On May 25, East Delhi resident Ronika Sawhney stepped out to cast her vote. Queuing up to cast her vote with the temperature above 45 degrees, Sawhney said, “It was a test between my health and the duty to the nation...Regardless of who comes to power, climate change needs more attention.”

In fact, a majority of the 2,178 people surveyed by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter said they were worried about various environmental issues harming their locality, including agricultural pests and diseases, extinction of plant and animal species, climate extremes and severe air pollution.

So what should be the government’s climate agenda? Some experts advocate a balancing act between mitigation and adaptation. This would mean that while India works to curb carbon emissions, it should also empower citizens with facilities, infrastructure and policies to adapt to climate change-triggered crises. 

Anushree Joshi, Climate and Sustainability Researcher at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) India, told The Secretariat, “Although, India is lacking in both adaptation and mitigation, all big-ticket steps taken here (in India) are mitigation measures. There should be a balance of mitigation and adaptation, which global forums like COP are moving towards. India should be at the forefront of these efforts given how agriculture, which suffers due to lack of adaptation, is a big part of our economy.”

The Push For Renewables

India has been eagerly pursuing the path of sustainability as it broadens sustainable development. For instance, the country has been leading on the front of energy transition, shifting towards greener forms of energy like solar, wind, hydropower, etc. 

According to India Climate and Energy Dashboard, the total installed power generation capacity is 442.87 GW with coal contributing 49 per cent. Renewable energy capacity has also increased rapidly over the years. 

Solar holds the highest share among renewables at 18.6 per cent with wind and hydro at 10.42 per cent and 10.60 per cent respectively. With the governmental target of achieving 50 per cent of its total power capacity from renewable energy, the bid has worked out. 

In addition, the country has adopted electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles in a big way. It still needs booster shots to help in better manufacturing and infrastructure evolution. Not just private vehicles, public transport is also switching to the electric mode.

But again all the government's aforementioned efforts fall under mitigation, allowing India to emit less and be accountable for carbon emissions. This close watch on emissions has increased after India committed to Net Zero by 2070 at COP28. 

India was still the third top emitter globally in 2022, emitting 2,830 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), after China and the USA. China tops the chart with 11,397 metric tonnes of CO2, While the USA emits 5057 metric tonnes of CO2, as per the Global Carbon Atlas.

The picture, however, is quite different when it comes to ranking countries by per capita emission. Under this head, India ranks 73rd with the average Indian emitting 1.8 metric tonnes of CO2, which is starkly less when compared globally. 

Bearing The Burden Of Climate Change's Effects

Yet, India bears the burden of the critical impacts of climate change. Climate expert Sankalp Suman told The Secretariat, “Although it shouldn’t be an either-or situation when it comes to mitigation or adaptation in the context of climate change but if we are forced to make an either-or decision, then I believe adaptation needs to be our utmost priority.”

He said mitigation should be a priority for countries that are causing or historically contributing to climate change, where the per capita carbon emissions are much higher than the global average, which is not the case for India.

“Even though we are the third largest emitter, our per capita carbon emission is half the global average. That said, it is not proportional to how people in India continue to suffer due to climate change,” Suman added. 

He noted that India’s climate change crisis is not comparable to others due to the impact on agriculture, food and erratic weather. “Hence, the urgent need for India to focus more on adaptation,” he said.

The country has been lurching from energy crisis to water scarcity to food insecurity to agriculture crisis, all of which can be traced back to climate change. Moreover, according to a report by the Council on Energy Environment and Water, over 80 per cent of India's population lives in districts highly vulnerable to extreme hydro-met disasters.

With all of this at stake, this is where the balancing act of adaptation comes in. While we can’t unilaterally put an end to climate change since it needs global collaboration, the government and policymakers can help vulnerable citizens adapt and build resilience to the impacts of climate change by empowering them with policies, safeguards, infrastructure, knowledge and monetary support.

Experts note that climate change hasn’t found much space in India. “Things that can make you money or save money have been incorporated into the idea of climate change. For example, India is doing very well in solar panels but not because it is good for the environment but because it will save us money,” he said.

“I believe policymakers and industry are ill-informed about the segregation between adaptation and mitigation. They may not know what is the difference between the two at the ground level,” he added.

The Need Of The Hour

It is high time the country focused on adaptation measures to build resilience capacity for the citizens to survive the catastrophes triggered by climate change and global warming. 

Experts note there is a pressing need for a climate change body to identify issues on a state-by-state basis. A one-size-fits-all approach won't work because the complexities and environmental conditions of each state are different. Addressing climate change effectively requires context-specific solutions tailored to challenges and opportunities in each region.

“Climate action will only be able to come from the ground up. Panchayats and municipalities should be the first line in climate strategy and deployment of solutions as many climate change-triggered issues need to be addressed at a micro level,” Suman said.

Experts believe an inter-governmental body can help bolster the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which was introduced in 2008. The plan is a national strategy to enable the country to adapt to climate change and enhance the ecological sustainability of India‘s development path.

Areas That Need Support

Experts say it is high time for the country to focus on the agriculture sector. Joshi said climate-resilient agriculture should be big on the agenda. “When it comes to climate-resilient agriculture, it is not just about conducting activities to suit the needs of corporations and what sells, but also about what the region's particular climate requires.”

She said the new government can push for the cultivation of climate-resilient crop varieties instead of water-intensive crops such as rice, cotton and more. “We need to move towards traditional crops the terrain can understand and for that government intervention is needed at this stage,” Joshi added.

She said the country needs to focus on resource building such as improvements in irrigation and training in agronomic management techniques. “We, as a country, are not doing enough on that front. A lot is happening in regenerative agriculture globally, as well as agrometeorology installations, fortification and diversification of crops, and needs to be looked into by the new government as these are the things that can better our resilience to climate change and answer food insecurity questions,” Joshi noted.

Experts also noted that given India is a disaster-prone country, there is a need for disaster-resilient infrastructure. “The infrastructure of even Tier-1 cities is not adequate given India’s vulnerability. We need to climate-proof roads, bridges and buildings in flood-prone and coastal areas, as well as implement early warning systems,” she told The Secretariat.

In all, Modi 3.0 has its task cut out vis-a-vis climate change that has left its mark with disruptions in the lives of people. The government needs to prioritise how to safeguard the people first. If the opportunity is lost, there won’t be even a tightrope left to balance mitigation and adaptation.

This story is the first of a two-part series by The Secretariat that highlights the climate agenda for the new government.