The world today is battling the grave threat of climate change. If this crisis deepens further, it may endanger the very survival of humanity. Even imperial powers express concern—though largely to shift responsibility onto others. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-30), held in Belém, Brazil from November 10–21, ended without concrete results, despite coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. India strongly argued that developed nations should not expect developing countries to compensate for their own failures, since they are the historical and primary contributors to carbon emissions. This was precisely why countries like the United States chose not to participate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concern about climate change in his Independence Day address on August 15, 2025. Yet, in practice, the government appears far from serious. The biggest driver of climate change is large-scale destruction of forests and land in the name of development. Forests in India are being wiped out at an alarming pace, causing rapid year-on-year growth in carbon emissions.
Before liberalization in 1990, India’s carbon emissions stood at 600.68 million metric tonnes. By 2024, they had risen to 3,962 million metric tonnes, and are expected to reach 4,000 million tonnes in 2025. The devastating floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand during this year’s monsoon are stark warnings. Agriculture contributes just 1% to emissions, while the power sector contributes 47%, industries 22%, transport 11% and construction 8%.
While promoting domestic and foreign corporate interests, the government has accelerated deforestation—but conceals the reality by counting artificial plantations as forest cover. On July 24, 2025, the government informed Parliament that between 2019 and 2023, forest cover in Madhya Pradesh fell by 408.56 sq km and in Arunachal Pradesh by 806.43 sq km. According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), Arunachal’s forest cover fell from 66,688 sq km in 2019 to 65,881.57 sq km in 2023; Madhya Pradesh from 77,483 to 77,073.44 sq km; Nagaland from 17,119 to 12,227.47 sq km; Manipur from 16,487 to 12,222.47 sq km; and Meghalaya from 17,119 to 16,966.46 sq km.
In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, Lloyd Metals & Energy Ltd has been permitted to cut 123,000 trees across 937 hectares for an iron ore project. In Nashik, 1,700 trees may be felled for Kumbh preparations. Andhra Pradesh lost 42,400 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2024; in 2024 alone, 468 hectares were cleared. Uttarakhand has lost 50,000 hectares over two decades. In Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo forest—often called the lungs of India—1,742.60 hectares containing 448,874 trees were transferred for coal mining on June 26, 2025. In Kanker district, over 5,000 trees were cut before a public hearing could be held. In Ladakh, 20,000 acres have been allotted to Adani Group for a large solar project.
Meanwhile, the government claims that India’s forest area has increased—from 712,249 sq km in 2019 to 715,342.61 sq km in 2023. This increase, however, represents monoculture plantations rather than dense, biodiverse forests. Old forests host complex ecosystems, wildlife, tribal culture, food and medicinal traditions, and absorb massive carbon. Artificial plantations do not.
Air Pollution: A Public Health Emergency
Climate change is deeply linked to air pollution—each worsening the other. Deforestation, mining, industries, transportation, diesel-petrol fuel, and waste burning are the major causes. Every winter, India’s plains endure severe toxic smog, and Delhi’s air has remained “hazardous” for months.
Half of Delhi’s office workers have been told to work from home. The government orders costly air purifiers, yet most residents cannot afford such devices or remote work options. Construction bans leave thousands of labourers jobless, street vendors lose customers, small traders are crippled, and daily-wage workers must travel for hours breathing toxic air.
Schools run in hybrid mode, leaving poor children behind. Children—whose future depends on clean air—are suffering asthma, lung inflammation, and eye irritation. In 2021, pollution killed an estimated 169,000 children under the age of five. Nearly 2 million people died due to air-pollution-related diseases in India that year. Pregnant women and infants face the gravest danger.
Pollution has led to a sharp rise in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lung cancer and tuberculosis. Yet governments blame each other and farmers instead of tackling the root causes.
Protest, Suppression, and Distraction
When student and environmental groups peacefully demanded clean air and protection of forests, police detained them. Protests on November 5 and 9 at India Gate were stopped and participants abandoned in remote areas at night. On November 23, 23 protesters were arrested and beaten; one image showed a policeman kneeling on a student’s chest and covering his mouth.
Some protesters raising slogans such as “Save Jal-Jungle-Zameen” and “Hidma Amar Rahe” argued that Hidma’s struggle in central India was linked to protecting forest land and therefore connected to climate justice. However, instead of addressing pollution, government agencies and media amplified these slogans to divert attention away from environmental demands.
The Real Question
The government tells the world that developed nations must take responsibility for historic emissions. That argument is valid. But the same government cannot evade its responsibility to protect Indian citizens. Clean air is not a luxury; it is a fundamental right.
If forests disappear, if toxic air kills children, if labourers starve without work, if police brutalize peaceful protesters—what remains of democracy or governance?
By turning pollution into a market for masks, purifiers and profit, have we turned disaster into an “opportunity” for corporations?
Time to Act
The government must:
- Develop a long-term plan to reduce emissions at their source, not through temporary bans.
- Protect natural forests rather than replacing them with plantations.
- Hold industries and transport polluters accountable.
- Stop suppressing climate activism and environmental defenders.
- Order legal action against police involved in brutality at India Gate.
- Implement in India the same commitment demanded at COP-30.
Every breath we take reminds us that the path of “development” has been built at the cost of our lungs—our lives.
The people of India deserve clean air. The government must act now.
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*Social worker and independent journalist
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