India - Attention to Climate Change is Need of the Hour

 What better day to start this blog than on World Environment Day (June 5th)! To paraphrase an old adage, "Every Day is Environment Day" for us environmentalists, but a day like today is nevertheless significant, as it provides an opportunity to renew our commitment towards safeguarding the earth. Like any anniversary, it is a moment to look back not only at everything that has been achieved and learnt, but also things that may not be regarded as successes, yet have helped the environmental movement grow and strengthen.

Sitting here in New York, a million miles away from my home country, I can tell what the US and the rest of the world are doing about World Environment Day, but I wonder - what is happening in India right now? If at all they are observing this occasion, how are they doing it? I'm excited to see that there have been awareness marches in Delhi, as well as other small events across the country, organized by NGOs, private companies, educational institutions and government entities. 

In particular, I am intrigued because this year's theme for World Environment Day is "Your Planet Needs You - Unite to Combat Climate Change". This is a very complex issue for a country like India, which has to balance the need for economic growth and development, with the need to ensure that this development is sustainable and that its resource-use is responsible (also see Jacob Scherr's blog about  climate-sustainable development linkages with poverty in India). India faces the tremendous task of alleviating poverty for millions - getting its citizens access to electricity, water, basic healthcare and education. 487.2 million Indians live without electricity, more than the entire population of the United States. 14% of Indians do not have access to any improved water source, amounting to 154 million people, more than all of the US Midwest, US Northeast and California combined. Over 53% of Indian children under the age of 5 do not have access to any basic healthcare, and 34% of Indians have still never had any primary education.

India plans to face all these challenges head-on, but also make sure this is not at the cost of climate change-induced environmental catastrophe. India is well aware that the IPCC identifies the Indian subcontinent as being one of the regions to be worst affected by the impacts of climate change. A study by India's National Institute of Oceanography concluded that there is already evidence of mean sea level rise, and that there would be a significant increase in storm surges.  A related study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology found that there would be disruptions in the hydrological cycle, with more floods as well as increased droughts, decrease in ground water aquifers in parts of the country, as well as change in rainfall patters. As part of the same set of studies, the Indian Agriculture Research Institute released findings about reduction in crop yields that would have significant impact on food security, especially for staple foods like rice and wheat. In terms of health impacts, investigations by India's National Physical Laboratory demonstrated that there would be a definite spread of mosquito-endemic regions, with a higher incidence of vector borne diseases like Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, as well as a rise in temperature-related mortality and morbidity. Just yesterday, a compilation of recent scientific research on the Indian monsoon indicated that this essential weather system would undergo severe disruption. And most alarming of all is the steady stream of research that has left very little doubt about the melting of Himalayan glaciers at a rapid rate, creating frightening scenarios where most of India's main rivers will first unleash deadly floods, and then eventually dry up.

These messages have sunk in, and Indian leadership has clearly identified climate change as a key challenge to address. Last year, spurred by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India released its National Action Plan on Climate Change. More recently, India indicated a slightly more open and positive approach towards negotiations in Copenhagen, and just yesterday, President Pratibha Patil reiterated that the government is proactively tackling the issue of climate change. We hope that this momentum will be kept up in the months to come, and that we will see India take on a leadership position on the world stage on this issue.

India is on the cusp of a critical period of immense economic growth and expansion, but this cusp could well be the environmental point of no-return. There is a fear in some quarters that in its haste to achieve material prosperity of the kind that is enjoyed in the West, India may turn a blind eye towards environmental concerns. However, I believe that if it capitalizes on the benefits of being a late-starter, it can learn from the mistakes of the West and avoid taking the same costly path. This is a period when resources are being reallocated and priorities reevaluated, and thus is an unprecedented opportunity for environmentalists to step in and influence decision-makers. NRDC's India team is hoping to do just that through our new US-India Initiative on Climate Change and Energy, by working with key partners both in India and the US to maximize this opportunity.  We believe that the road to economic prosperity should be paved with environmental sustainability, and that the need of the hour is for both the US and India to work together on one of the most time-sensitive and important pieces of the sustainable development mosaic - climate change.