For the new government, sustainable development must lead to economic growth

In a few days; time, the third most-polluted country in the world will have a new government taking oath in New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital city. A sobering reminder for those assuming power that from here on they will do better if they prioritise ecology over economy, environment over development, and long-term benefits over short-term gains, in their 100-day plans, 5-year programmes, and 1,000-year vision.

India has been ranked lowest (180th out of 180 countries) on the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), 111th on the 2023 Global Hunger Index, 134th in the 2023 Human Development Index, and 112th among 166 countries for its performance in 2023 towards achieving the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is believed that the success of Agenda 2030 globally will depend, in a decisive way, on the progress India makes on the SDGs in the next five years. Currently, India trails behind countries such as Bhutan (61st, the best in South Asia), the Maldives (68th), Sri Lanka (83rd), Nepal (99th), and Bangladesh (101st) on SDGs.

India's economy may have grown by about 8 per cent in the last fiscal year, the fastest among major countries; however, it has done little good for the 90 per cent of the population. India is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The top 10 per cent of the India’s population holds 77 per cent of the total national wealth. By the end of last year, India's richest citizens owned 40.1 per cent of its wealth. Meanwhile, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has been giving free food rations to 814 million of India's 1.42 billion people — nearly 60 per cent of India's population.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India is expected to pay the highest price for the impacts of the climate crisis. Eighty-five per cent of people surveyed in India by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter say they are already experiencing the effects of Climate Change. Aside from extreme weather events such as flash floods and widespread wildfires, since March 2022 — which was the hottest and driest month recorded in 120 years — large swathes of India have been dealing with a prolonged wave of scorching and record-breaking heat, a direct manifestation of Climate Change.

Already among the world’s most water-stressed countries, India’s waterways have become extremely polluted, with around 70 per cent of surface water estimated to be unfit for consumption. A 2019 report predicts that 21 major cities — including New Delhi and India’s IT hub of Bengaluru — will run out of groundwater by 2030, affecting nearly 40 per cent of the population. 

The plastic crisis in India is one of the worst on the planet. Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges rivers are known as the ‘highways of plastic flows’ as they carry and drain most of the plastic debris in India. Together with the 10 other topmost polluted rivers, they leak nearly 90 per cent of plastics into the sea globally.

Since the start of this century, India has lost 19 per cent of its total tree cover, much of the loss has been a consequence of wildfires, which affected more than 18,000 square kilometres of forest per year — more than twice the annual average of deforestation. According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, published by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), 97.84 million hectares of land in India were degraded in 2018-2019.

Meanwhile, India’s dependence on coal, oil, and gas due to rampant electrification makes it the world’s third-largest polluter, contributing over 2.65 billion metric tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere every year.

The voters have already spelt out the priorities for the incoming dispensation — creating largescale employment opportunities, taming inflation, and addressing the agrarian crisis. The new government needs to understand that trying to address these enduring issues with a business-as-usual approach has not worked in the past, and will not work in the current climate-constrained world.

Instead of locking ourselves into development paths that may ultimately lead to ecological collapse, the new government must now consider the whole system and the goal must shift from economic growth to sustainable development. Growth implies increasing in quantity or size, while development implies improvement in quality without necessarily increasing in size. A green economy and green growth need to be fostered as both are needed for sustainable development.

The stakes are high for India where environment and climate-related risks could cost the nation 3 per cent of its GDP annually.

(This article is the fourth in a series of articles on the challenges and opportunities before the next Union government.)

(Shailendra Yashwant is a senior adviser to Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA). X: @shaibaba)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.