India, the world’s most populous country, is also one of the most vulnerable to climate disasters. That’s not only because global warming exacerbates heat waves and floods, but also because many of the country’s 1.4 billion people are already vulnerable. Most are poor by global standards and have no safety nets.
Early election results on Tuesday showed the party led by two-term Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on track to win the most seats in India's parliament but may have to form a coalition government with some smaller parties.
The government will face major challenges posed by climate change.
Hot weather has now become an election issue, literally.
The six-week polling process has been held amid scorching heat in several parts of the country. At least 33 people, including polling workers, were reported dead last week due to complications from heat in the northern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Government Authorities Reuters quoted.
Rohit Magotra, deputy director of the Integrated Research and Development Initiative, called on state election officials to reschedule future elections to avoid such disasters, noting that workers from every political party were suffering in the heat, as were voters, who often had to queue under the scorching sun.
“I do see momentum building and it’s less likely that future elections will be scheduled during the peak summer months,” said Magotra, whose organization has been advocating for heating solutions in Indian cities.
The Election Commission did set up A special task force to monitor weather conditionsbut only after voting takes place in unusually high temperatures. It also sent election workers a list of heat precautions prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority. However, according to a report published by Indian news website Scroll, party activists Not told to do anything different Because the weather is hot.
While India's parliamentary elections are traditionally scheduled for the summer, climate change is making the summer increasingly dangerous. This year, a weather station in Delhi recorded a record high temperature, with a reading of more than 52 degrees Celsius (127 degrees Fahrenheit). This was the third consecutive year of abnormally high temperatures in India, which has been exacerbated by climate change, according to scientific studies of the heat wave.
Some cities and states have plans, at least on paper, for dealing with the heat. As an independent analysis concluded last year,most of which are underfunded and lack specific methods to identify and protect the most vulnerable.
Farmers, who hold political power, are angry.
In recent years, Modi's government has faced strong opposition from farmers' groups, many of whose concerns are rooted in climate change.
Their protests reflect the dire plight of agriculture, a major part of India's economy. More than half of Indians depend on it for their livelihoods. Groundwater is scarce in many important agricultural areas. Farmers in many parts of the country are deeply in debt.
In addition, extreme weather and unpredictable rainfall have repeatedly damaged crop harvests in recent years.
In 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers, mostly from India’s breadbasket states of Punjab and Haryana, pitched tents outside New Delhi and drove tractors into the capital. Protests turn violentTheir initial grievances were with Modi’s attempts to open up agriculture to more private investment, which farmers said would leave them vulnerable to low prices driven by corporate profits.
The government has backed down in the face of the protests, a rare move for Modi but one that shows how seriously his government is taking the protests.
This year the peasants marched to the capital again, this time Request for higher government pricing Wheat and rice.
India's global image is often associated with its fast-growing economy, vibrant cities and large, young workforce. But most people in India still rely on agriculture for income, with the bulk of its 770 million poor people live in rural areasthe government has been unable to create enough jobs outside of agriculture to feed its booming young population. Solving agriculture’s problems in an era of climate change may be one of Modi’s toughest challenges in the coming years.
“The increase in extreme weather events — floods, heat waves, storms — is without a doubt the most significant climate challenge facing the government,” said M. Rajeevan, a former earth sciences secretary who is now vice-chancellor of Atria University in Bangalore.
The second is India’s coal usage habits.
Climate change is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the dirtiest of which is coal.
At international summits, Modi has stressed the need to promote the construction of renewable energy infrastructure. But at the same time, his government Continue to expand coal.
This is due to political and economic considerations. Coal is the mainstream fuel. State-owned and private companies (many of which are politically connected) invest in coal. The government's main interest is to keep electricity prices low.
Coal remains the country's largest source of electricity. Coal use has grown this year, in part because of climate change itself.
Rising temperatures boost demand for air conditioners and fans, which in turn drives up electricity demand. Power sector emissions surge in first quarter of 2024That's according to Ember, a research organization that tracks emissions.
Coal supply More than 70% Solar and wind power account for just over 10% of India’s electricity. Despite the government’s ambitious target of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, coal’s influence is unlikely to wane anytime soon. According to government forecasts, coal will still supply More than half Electricity in India in 2030.
