{"id":60018700,"date":"2024-05-15T13:16:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T12:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=opinion&p=60018700"},"modified":"2024-05-15T14:30:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T13:30:46","slug":"is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Is India’s ruling party downplaying climate change?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

India is in the midst of a massive general election lasting over a month and a half and involving nearly a billion voters<\/a>. It is also experiencing a series of heatwaves<\/a>, with temperatures exceeding 40\u02daC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strikingly, though, the election manifesto<\/a> of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the leading party in the National Democratic Alliance and widely seen as the frontrunner, barely mentions climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The manifesto mentions the specific term just once \u2013 in its last chapter on sustainability \u2013 in the context of building resilience for coastal communities. The chapter, like most in the BJP\u2019s manifesto, is decidedly upbeat – choosing phrases like “climate smart” and “climate resilient”, with no measurable indicators of what they mean, or specific ways that the government will act. The only downbeat note is a passing mention of increasing disasters<\/a> in the Himalayan region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sustainability chapter is also striking in its avoidance of measurable goals, except for \u201cachieving national air quality standards in 60 cities by 2029\u201d. Another phrase, working \u201ctowards achieving net zero emissions by 2070\u201d lays down a goal, but there are no details about how this is to be achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the BJP\u2019s manifestoes changed after coming to power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 BJP manifesto stands in vivid contrast to their 2014 one. Ten years ago, before the party came to power, it promised very specific measures, such as introducing cleaner fuels to deal with air pollution, an ecological audit of projects, pollution indexing of cities and townships, as well as promises on expansion of social forestry. A section was dedicated to the Himalayas, with specific promises to launch a ‘National Mission on Himalayas’, an inter-governmental partnership, create a ‘Himalayan sustainability fund’ and a central university dedicated to \u2018Himalayan technology\u2019. Of these, only the first<\/a> commitment has been fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2019, after five years in power, climate change had almost entirely disappeared from its manifesto<\/a>. The term was mentioned only in the context of India\u2019s impressive installation of renewable power. The only measurable goal was the reduction of air pollution in 102 of India\u2019s most polluted cities \u201cby at least 35% over the next five years\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to IQAir<\/a>, the annual average concentration of particulate matter of less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter (PM2.5) \u2013 the most dangerous form of air pollution \u2013 in India in 2019 was 58.1. It went down to 51.9 in 2020, then rose back up to 58.1 the next year. It dipped again to 53.3 and then rose slightly to 54.4 in 2023. In other words, air pollution did come down \u2013 but only by 6%, and it was not a steady trend. Furthermore, 42 out of the 50 most polluted cities in the world continued to be in India during the period 2017-23. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For what it was worth, in the 2019 manifesto the Himalayas were given a separate section from the environment in general, but all that was promised was a \u201cgreen bonus\u201d to Himalayan states in order \u201cto facilitate the protection and promotion of forests\u201d. This has not been nearly enough. As India votes, forest fires have ravaged Uttarakhand<\/a>, an Indian Himalayan state prone to such disasters. The only time that Uttarakhand saw a significant drop in forest fires over the last five years was during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto is light on climate change and environmental issues, it seems to reflect the lived challenges after a decade in government. This marks a stark contrast to the  ambitious and measurable agenda it presented in its 2014 manifesto. The party\u2019s consistent inability to fulfil its earlier pledges appears to have prompted a scaling down of its public commitments, rather than an increase of its ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is at stake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But India and its citizens can scarcely afford to lower their ambitions in dealing with climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water estimated that 80% of Indians<\/a> \u2013 roughly 1.1 billion people \u2013 lived in areas highly vulnerable to extreme hydro-meteorological disasters. The latest research<\/a> indicates that the first \u201cmoist heat waves\u201d \u2013 those that will kill by creating \u201cuncompensable heat stress\u201d \u2013 will affect 2.2 billion people living in the Indus basin, largely in India and Pakistan. The coastal communities mentioned in passing in the BJP\u2019s manifesto account for 250 million people<\/a>, a fifth of India\u2019s population and 3.5% of the world\u2019s, increasingly facing<\/a> more cyclones and floods, salt water intrusion, impact on fisheries and droughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some of these projections are for the future, climate change has already had an impact on the monsoons, with almost a quarter of Indian districts<\/a> experiencing both deficient and excessive rainfall over the last forty years. This has a huge impact on agriculture in particular, and because almost two-thirds of India\u2019s population<\/a> is dependent on agriculture, it is the single biggest factor affecting Indian livelihoods, as well as food and economic security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As hundreds of millions of Indians line up to vote, issues of employment, disasters, health, displacement and simply surviving are sure to be playing on their minds. However, if the diminishing promises dealing with these issues in the BJP\u2019s manifesto are anything to go by, it seems that India\u2019s dominant party, having learned the scale of the challenge it faces, is choosing to simply ignore it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A decade after coming to power, the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto reveals a lack of bold climate and environmental action, reflecting the challenges of governance, writes Omair Ahmad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60018713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[761],"tags":[50029993,580],"country":[20000111],"class_list":["post-60018700","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-elections","tag-policy","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs India's ruling party downplaying climate change?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A decade after coming to power, the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto reveals a lack of bold climate and environmental action, reflecting the challenges of governance, writes Omair Ahmad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is India's ruling party downplaying climate change?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A decade after coming to power, the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto reveals a lack of bold climate and environmental action, reflecting the challenges of governance, writes Omair Ahmad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-15T13:30:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/India-Modi-campaign-trail-election-climate-change_Alamy_2X67GKP-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"679\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Is India's ruling party downplaying climate change?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A decade after coming to power, the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto reveals a lack of bold climate and environmental action, reflecting the challenges of governance, writes Omair Ahmad\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/\",\"name\":\"Is India's ruling party downplaying climate change?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/India-Modi-campaign-trail-election-climate-change_Alamy_2X67GKP-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-15T12:16:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-15T13:30:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"A decade after coming to power, the BJP\u2019s 2024 manifesto reveals a lack of bold climate and environmental action, reflecting the challenges of governance, writes Omair Ahmad\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/is-indias-ruling-party-downplaying-climate-change\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/India-Modi-campaign-trail-election-climate-change_Alamy_2X67GKP-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/India-Modi-campaign-trail-election-climate-change_Alamy_2X67GKP-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":679,\"caption\":\"2X67GKP Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets supporters from a platform after garlanding a statue of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, an eminent scholar and former president of Indian National Congress, during a roadshow in Varanasi, India, Monday, May 13, 2024. 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