A global shake-up spells climate opportunities for India

Trump's climate U-turn and tariff war will leave other countries better placed to lead the clean revolution

- LEENA SRIVASTAVA

As the world witnessed its first full year of temperatures exceeding the 1.5° Celsius guard-rail in 2024 and calls to raise ambitions on climate action grew, the biggest historical emitter of greenhouse gases elected a leader who is not only slamming the brakes on climate action by his own government but also posing a threat to other well-intentioned actors within the US and elsewhere.

The scale and speed with which Donald Trump's executive orders have been implemented have left the world gasping and researchers scrambling to figure out their implications for climate progress.

The need to respond to a flurry of US policy announcements—with their significant impact on economic growth rates globally—has distracted governments across the world from focusing on their own efforts towards climate and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The response of the business sector, however, is likely to be more nuanced.

A number of reports have emerged lately on the steep decline in mentions of 'climate' and 'sustainability' in the earnings calls of large corporations.

Bloomberg reported that on average, companies are talking about the environment 76% less than they were three years ago.

Others have, however, argued that climate and sustainability responses are strategic in nature and a quietening down on such topics in quarterly-earning calls may merely reflect political prudence under the circumstances that prevail.