How wars are undermining climate promises even as accelerating global warming

By N.S. Venkataraman*

Since 1995, global climate conferences have convened annually, with the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) held in November 2024. These gatherings attract world leaders and generate extensive media coverage, raising hopes of decisive strategies to address the climate emergency. Yet, despite lofty promises and ambitious targets, the crisis remains unabated.

Each COP has become a stage for “ready-made speeches” filled with pledges to cut fossil fuel use and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, sulphur dioxide, and nitrous oxide. Animated debates focus on funding commitments from developed nations to developing ones. But meteorological agencies continue to report rising global temperatures, accelerating Arctic ice melt, erratic monsoons, and worsening ecological disruptions.

Even as leaders speak eloquently of climate responsibility, many simultaneously indulge in wars that devastate the environment. The conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Iran, Israel and Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and other skirmishes unleash drones, missiles, and explosives that pollute air, soil, and water, destroy ecosystems, and release massive carbon emissions. The environmental fallout of war extends far beyond the battlefields, affecting citizens worldwide who have no role in these decisions.

Scientists are striving to develop eco-friendly technologies—electric vehicles, hydrogen processes, solar and wind energy—but their progress is undermined by the destructive indulgence of war. The contradiction is stark: while technologists work to mitigate climate change, warlords undo their efforts, rendering COP proceedings hollow exercises.

Meanwhile, fossil fuel production continues unabated. Nations such as China, India, Australia, and Indonesia expand coal use, while oil- and gas-rich countries resist curbing extraction. Methane emissions, among the most potent drivers of global warming, show no signs of decline.

The fundamental issue is the lack of genuine commitment from governments. Loud talk and tall claims cannot substitute for responsible action. Without peace, climate protection is impossible. As long as wars rage unchecked, the hope of resolving the climate crisis remains a mirage.

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*Trustee, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Chennai

The “Dr” debate masks a larger crisis in allied-health education

By Dr P K Gupta* India’s allied-health professions have long operated in a fragmented landscape of universities, hospitals, State authorities and private institutions, each with its own nomenclature, curriculum and standards. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021 was meant to correct this by creating a unified national framework for education, professional regulation and institutional recognition. Few dispute the need for such oversight. The real question is whether standardisation is quietly becoming synonymous with longer courses, additional internships and new professional titles—changes that risk masking deeper gaps in clinical training, institutional capacity and affordability.

Pilgrimage or pollution? The waste crisis of Indian faith

By Raj Kumar Sinha* In today's times, there are certain issues that are constantly talked about and discussed, yet no visible impact seems to be made. Beyond water, soil, and pollution, one crisis that continues to be overlooked is waste. Like other life-threatening problems, waste too is gradually moving toward burying and obliterating us. After the Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar, approximately 8,000 tonnes of waste were left behind on the riverbanks, including bottles filled with urine.

Arrival of USS Lincoln: A ‘leisure trip’ to Thailand or a neo-colonial move to commodify women?

By Benyasiri Eimviriyapong The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for a ‘leisure trip’ in Thailand before returning to its campaign of destruction against the people of West Asia demands immediate interrogation and opposition. For us Thai people, and those in sites of American plunder across the globe, this a rattling of the US’ cold war colonial chains on its most loyal lap dog, while conducting a war of aggression in Iran and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. In allowing the USS Lincoln to dock, the Thai ruling elites are once again facilitating a system of imperial violence that extends far beyond Southeast Asian borders, a system which in our case, is predicated on sexual violence and femicide.

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