INDIA MUST LEAD CHANGE

The world is dodging climate responsibility and delay is not an option—India must act with urgency and originality

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THE GLOBAL CONVERSATION on climate action has become unmoored from credibility. Declarations continue, but delivery falters. The architecture of international commitment is weakened. Most advanced economies continue to operate with carbon-intensive systems while offering timelines that exceed political cycles and ignore frontline realities. For India, the consequences of inaction are neither abstract nor distant. The risks are local, immediate, and intensifying.

India stands exposed to the full spectrum of climate volatility. The question is no longer whether India should lead, but whether it can afford not to. Conventional growth pathways are no longer tenable. Replicating the material intensity, spatial form, and ecological footprint of western development models would lock India into a cycle of vulnerability. The alternative is to reimagine it—grounded in sustainability, designed for resilience, and aligned with long-term national interest.