The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most watched sports globally and has played an instrumental role in mobilising young talent, increasing sports-related funding for India, and bolstering the economy through its large sponsorship and revenue generation activities. However, the sport is associated with an array of environmental issues. In recent years, the IPL has tried to find various ways to make the sport greener, but there is still a long way to go. 

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The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) playing the first match on March 22, 2024. The event gathered 113 million views from JioCinema, the IPL’s official streaming platform, representing a 51% jump from last year’s figures. Similarly, Disney Hotstar saw 168 million unique viewers tune in for the same match.

Founded in 2007, the IPL’s impact on the economy is undeniable. 

According to the IPL Valuation report 2022, the IPL Ecosystem was valued at US$3.5 billion in 2015; by 2022, its value nearly quadrupled, reaching US$10.9 billion.

The substantial jump in 2015 was driven primarily by media rights. However, increase in the number of matches played, sponsorship deals, and higher ticket sales also played a role. This rise in popularity had a cascading effect on the economy, leading to a rise in sports tourism by 30% in 2019 and a boost to tier 2 cities, with people combining travel with cricket match experiences. It also led to improvements in infrastructure, higher employment rates, and betterment of the hospitality industry. There has also been a rise in start-ups such as Sports365, Upstox, and Dream11, which have utilised  prominent cricket players to market their services and products, fuelling consumer purchase. 

In 2023, IPL witnessed a significant rise in their advertisement revenue. For that, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has to pay higher tax for the year 2021-2021, generating higher revenue to the government of India.

The Carbon Footprint of Cricket

Alongside a substantial economic footprint, IPL is also accompanied by a high environmental footprint. A single IPL match in 2023 emitted around 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), which is equivalent to the carbon emissions of over 2 million homes. Over a season, this figure can reach anywhere between 750,000 and 900,000 tCO2e. This represents a significant increase from the previously estimated 42,264 tonnes of tCO2e measured in 2010. 

IPL’s carbon footprint comprises travel and logistics, waste generation, water, and electricity. 

Turf sports such as cricket require enormous amounts of water for ground maintenance. Watering the grounds helps in turf rejuvenation and builds resistance to wear, fostering healthy pitches. During dry spells, the clay-based soil used in cricket grounds have a tendency to crack, which can hamper players’ safety. A standard cricket stadium requires 270,000–300,000 litres per week to keep the ground in a healthy and safe condition. In the summer months, the amount is significantly higher. 

An increase in the city’s temperature implies an increase in frequency of water irrigation for cricket grounds. This is problematic, as higher temperatures in India often put a strain on water sources. 

In 2016, the Supreme Court of India ordered 13 IPL matches to be relocated from drought-hit parts of Maharashtra to other states. In 2024, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a statutory body exclusively dealing with environment protection, requested the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to submit details regarding water use at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

The energy requirement for a match is also significant. Over 1.6 million units of electricity are used annually, with the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore alone requiring approximately US$144,000 to be spent on electricity. In 2016, the KSCA installed solar panels on the east end of the stadium to help harness solar power and has prevented 600 tonnes of CO2 emissions. While energy-related emissions seem high, transportation and logistics remain the primary sources of CO2. According to a 2018 report by Eliminate Carbon Emissions (ECE), contracted by the IPL Management upon the recommendation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to calculate the IPL’s annual carbon footprint, 42% of the emissions come from travel and logistics, including travel of spectators and teams. 

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Cricket and Climate Change

Another factor highlighting the need to make cricket more sustainable is that the sport itself has been affected severely by climate change.  

In 2023, the final IPL match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujrat Titans (GT) had to be postponed twice due to heavy rain and inclement weather. In 2021, IPL matches were moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to Covid-19. Playing under the sweltering climatic conditions that characterise the country meant the players had to find ways to cool themselves during the match. 

“It’s important that we adapt to the heat and the humidity. When the guys came out of isolation, it was very hard to adapt. It was important to keep them hydrated. We try to encourage them to drink as much water as possible. We have a team of qualified doctors in our support staff who help our players keep up with the hot and humid conditions,” said Evan Speechly, RCB’s psychotherapist.

Cold towels, ice vests and ice boxes were all used to keep the players cool. In 2022, RCB captain Faf du Plessis spoke about playing in harsh climatic conditions and how players are required to drink plenty of fluids to combat dehydration and heat related illness. 

The Way Forward

The IPL has the ability to promote environmental awareness and become a climate stalwart by educating fans and promoting sustainable practices. To address climate change, reduce waste, and raise awareness, in 2018, the BCCI partnered with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to implement green protocols. In the same year, a Chinnaswamy stadium filled with posters promoting the importance of waste separation and reducing waste hosted the first ever “green” match. Non-biodegradable plastics were not allowed and vendors were asked to use areca leaf plates and bowls to sell food. Volunteers in green shirts interacted with the crowd to educate them about waste management and a zero-littering policy. 

A similar move took place in the Wankhede Stadium, the IPL match venue in 2022, and required extensive renovation. The use of novel materials and special carbons contributed to a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the stadium. Following the footsteps of the Chinnaswamy stadium, in 2023 the Holkar stadium in Indore also said it would install 376 solar panels, a move that is expected to save 277 tonnes of carbon emission per year.

Teams also played a huge part in mobilising green initiatives. RCB donned green jerseys in 2011 to spread awareness about climate change. In 2023, jerseys made using recycled stadium waste were donned in their IPL match against Rajasthan Royals. Other initiatives by RCB include partnership with Goodera to restore three lakes in Bengaluru and driving behavioural change towards climate change in partnership with Bengaluru schools. 

In 2018, Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) partnered with Coca-Cola to support sustainable waste management in the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The Kolkata Knight Riders flag with plastic sticks distributed to fans in the stadiums was switched to paper sticks. Tree planting was also undertaken with every “six” that was hit during the 2017 and 2018 matches at Eden Gardens. Rajasthan Royals partnered with Schneider electric to mobilise climate action. The Rajasthan Royal Foundation’s Project Khushaali enabled opportunities for women to access clean water and energy. In 2024, Rayzon Solar partnered with CSK and GT to raise awareness on environment conservation and the importance of renewable energy. CSK also partnered with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, to understand how environment conservation can be achieved in the games. 

In 2022, Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate, became the official sponsors of the IPL. That same year, Tata Motors launched an auction on the sidelines of the 15th IPL premier league. Proceeds of the auction were donated to Kaziranga National Park to support wildlife conservation efforts. In 2023, Tata partnered up with the BCCI to plant 500 trees for every dot ball that was bowled during the IPL playoffs and finals. However, there is limited information about the actual outcome of the tree planting drives. Tata also replaced the traditional fossil fuel cars on display during the IPL matches with electric vehicles. Every time a batsman hit the official car on display, Tata Motors pledged to donate nearly US$6,000 to enhance biodiversity in coffee plantations in the Indian state of Karnataka. The group launched a similar initiative the following year, pledging to donate the same amount of money, this time to fund the installation of solar panels in Tata memorial hospital.

Measures like these have garnered some success in the war against climate change. However, there is still a long way to go. Lessons from other cricket leagues can provide a way ahead for the IPL. 

For example, Somerset County Cricket Club installed LED floodlights, which are 50% more energy-efficient than traditional floodlights. In 2019, Sri Lankan teams began making their jerseys with recycled waste found on the country’s beaches, including 30,000 plastic bottles. And since 2016, electricity consumption at London’s Lord’s Cricket grounds has been 100% wind-generated. Water refill stations and recycle units were also set up to mobilise plastic reduction. 

If the IPL follows suit on such policies, it can surely be batting for climate action.

Featured image: Royal Challengers Bangalore/Flickr

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The post Cricket and Climate: Exploring the Environmental Implications of the Indian Premier League appeared first on Earth.Org.

75% of the world’s total CO2 emissions propelled in recent years by Asian economies come from road transportation. India contributes about 291 million tonnes of CO2 out of the 795 million tonnes emitted in Asian economies. CO2 emissions from the transportation industry alone experienced a threefold increase in the last decade. In response to this, the electric vehicle (EV) market has expanded. Given the rise in fuel prices and the promise to deliver a green alternative to traditional combustion engines, EVs have gained incredible traction in recent years. While the principle of lower emissions is certainly commendable, the environmental impact of battery production is still up for debate.

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There are several categories of electric vehicles (EVs), including hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles as well as battery electric vehicles (BEV).

In India, the EV market has exploded in recent years and the government has now set new targets to achieve a 30%-growth in private electric cars and an 80% growth in two- and three-wheelers by 2030. Projections say India’s EV industry will hit $100 billion by the end of the decade.

The principle of lower emissions in EVs is certainly commendable, the notion of sustainability on account of battery use, however, is still up for debate. There are two primary environmental costs relating to an electric car – the manufacturing of batteries and the energy source to power these batteries. To understand the advantage an EV has over the Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, we must analyse each step of production and not just look at the final product. The manufacturing process begins with building the chassis using a combination of aluminium and steel; emissions from smelting these remain the same in both ICE and EV. However, the environmental impact of battery production begins to change when we consider the manufacturing process of the battery in the latter type. 

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The Environmental Impact of Battery Production

In India, batteries contain some combination of lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Currently, India does not have enough lithium reserves to produce batteries and it thereby relies on importing lithium-ion batteries from China. 

Mining these materials, however, has a high environmental cost, a factor that inevitably makes the EV manufacturing process more energy intensive than that of an ICE vehicle. The environmental impact of battery production comes from the toxic fumes released during the mining process and the water-intensive nature of the activity. In 2016, hundreds of protestors threw dead fish plucked from the waters of the Liqui river onto the streets of Tagong, Tibet, publicly denouncing the Ganzizhou Ronga Lithium mine’s unethical practice of polluting the local ecosystem through toxic chemical leaks. Similarly, the production of lithium was halted in China’s Yichun city after an investigation into the water quality of the Jin river, the main source of residential water, revealed the presence of toxic pollutants.

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The additional environmental cost of transporting these batteries results in a higher carbon footprint than ICE vehicles. A 2021 study comparing EV and ICE emissions found that 46% of EV carbon emissions come from the production process while for an ICE vehicle, they ‘only’ account for 26%. Almost 4 tonnes of CO2 are released during the production process of a single electric car and, in order to break even, the vehicle must be used for at least 8 years to offset the initial emissions by 0.5 tonnes of prevented emissions annually.

Data for this graph was retrieved from Lifecycle Analysis of UK Road Vehicles – Ricardo

Furthermore, producing one tonne of lithium (enough for ~100 car batteries) requires approximately 2 million tonnes of water, which makes battery production an extremely water-intensive practice. In light of this, the South American Lithium triangle consisting of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, experienced heavy water depletion due to intensive lithium extraction in the area. In Chile alone, 65% of the region’s water was used for lithium extraction. The US state of Nevada recently saw protests on account of the Lithium Americas Project due to the prophesied use of enormous quantities of groundwater. 

Nickel and cobalt have similar reputations. Satellite analysis in Cuba has shown a devoid of life in over 570 hectares of land and contamination of over 10 kilometres of coastline where nickel and cobalt mines are present. The Philippines had to shut down 23 mines, many producing nickel and cobalt, because of the environmental degradation that it caused.

Stories like these are a testament to the hazards of metal extraction, but they are not exclusive to EV manufacturing – all portable electronic devices contribute to this. Recycling and reusing batteries can provide some relief to the mining process but the technology surrounding it is still inefficient. Currently, Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan reuses the batteries from its EVs to power the automated guided vehicles in factories. Similarly, Volkswagen and Renault have set up recycling plants for batteries. Despite this, only 5% of the world’s total batteries are currently recycled. This is mainly because of the cost and the rather long process required to recycle batteries. Batteries ending up in landfills add to the environmental footprint.

Battery Powering

While manufacturing has the biggest footprint, powering batteries also contributes to environmental degradation, especially in developing economies like India. This is because the source of electricity used to power them determines how eco-friendly an EV really is. According to the Ministry of Power, as of 2021, India sourced 61% of its power from thermal sources including fossil fuels like coal, which accounts for 60% of the country’s total emissions. Added to this, is the environmental cost of transporting coal to India. India is currently the world’s second largest exporter of coal to meet the demand and enhance the quality of coal.  The use of coal leads to health hazards due to noxious fumes, higher CO2 emissions, loss of forests, water pollution through mining wastes and kills aquatic life forms. This is further exacerbated by the underutilisation of power capacity (wherein the ability to produce power is higher than what is produced due to archaic power plants and obsolete technology), resulting in wastage that adds to the environmental impact. To ensure emission-free mobility, renewable sources of power are required to power batteries. At present, however, only 21% of installed capacity is accounted for by renewable sources in India.

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The Bottom Line

The push for EVs by the Indian government happened in two phases – the mobilisation of consumer-led demand and a push to increase production capacity. In light of this, in 2020, India launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan with the aim of bolstering the adoption of EVs through reduced prices, tax exemptions, and scaling up charging facilities. Incentives for research and development to enable local manufacturing and reduced taxes for domestic producers are also currently being undertaken. However, the main issue is that an increase in demand for EVs can lead to a push in EV prices, especially for batteries. In fact, the price per tonne of lithium in India rose about 70% since January 2022. It is projected that EV prices will rise by 8% in the coming year owing to expensive raw materials. This is further exacerbated by the Ukraine-Russia war, given that Russia supplies 20% of the world’s nickel which is used by battery manufacturers in combination with lithium. Further demand from consumers and quick adoption of EVs by the government could lead to indiscriminate mining of nickel, cobalt, and lithium, which are finite resources, leading to even more environmental harm.

The bottom line is that while EVs have the benefits of no emissions and lowered noise levels during functioning, it is hard to consider them to be truly eco-friendly owing to the issues listed in this article. A push for sustainable mining and responsible sourcing of raw materials can prevent the socio-environmental issues that come with lithium batteries. 

Decarbonising the supply chain is still possible and requires shifting to low-carbon hydrogen and biofuels to process lithium as well as having manufacturers provide transparent data of the carbon footprint at each process of manufacturing. Indeed, this would enable car manufacturers to choose suppliers with a lower carbon footprint. Furthermore, a plan of action should first be made towards increasing the composition of renewable energy to power batteries, enhancing technology to meet recycling and reuse needs, and creating a mechanism for the safe disposal of batteries. 

The post The Environmental Impact of Battery Production for Electric Vehicles appeared first on Earth.Org.

Every year on August 9, the world celebrated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Tribal communities have been indispensable forces in the maintenance of ecosystems across the world. For centuries, Indian tribes have helped preserve natural habitats and promote conservation through sustainable practices in farming, fishing, and cohabiting spaces with wildlife. Their rituals and beliefs further contribute to environmental protection. However, these communities are often confronted with forced eviction and other threats that affect their livelihood as well as the ecosystems they helped preserve for so long.

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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment conducted by the United Nations assessed the impact of environmental change on human well-being and called for several actions toward conservation. The report popularised the term ‘ecosystem services’ in lieu of the life-supporting services ecosystems provide to human wellbeing. These include provisioning services like food and medicine, regulatory services like climate regulation and decomposition, cultural services like aesthetic beauty, and supporting services like water cycling. At the crossroads of all these services lie the interdependencies of tribes and the ecosystem. 

Tribal communities constitute around 9% of the Indian population with the majority residing in Central India. These communities have accumulated indigenous knowledge on agriculture and cohabiting that have little consequence on the forest ecosystems. 

In areas like the Ziro valley, the Apatani tribes are known for their sustainable agriculture practices of wet rice cultivation where nutrient washouts from hilltops flow in to enable crop growth. Land irrigation is facilitated by canals dug and linked to streams from hills. Soil fertility is maintained by organic wastes and the recycling of crop residues. Similarly, native animal populations like the Himalayan squirrel are protected through a mechanism called ‘Dapo’, where the community head lays down rules on hunting and extraction, nonadherence to which can lead to penalties.

The Garasia tribes are known to have extensive knowledge about the ethnomedicinal plants in the Sirohi district, many of which are listed in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. To protect them, tribal communities have developed patches of forest termed sacred groves for folk deities. 

Other sustainable practices include the collection of medicinal plants by inspecting the maturity of the leaves to prevent overharvesting by the Bhotias of Central Himalayas. Tribe members also cultivate barley and buckwheat in the upper valleys during summer for consumption. Once these crops are harvested, cattle and sheep are allowed to graze on the land. During this time, the upper valleys are prepared for cultivating crops which are then used once the produce is harvested for grazing activities. This seasonal cycle of farming and grazing allows for the utilisation of pastures and is called transhumance. 

1. Wildlife Protection

In terms of wildlife protection, tribal communities often employ totems and religious beliefs that restrict the culling of animals and certain plants. For example, for the Adi tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, tigers, sparrows, and pangolins are believed to be well-wishers of humankind and hence are not hunted. Likewise, it is believed that cutting down banyan trees can lead to famine and death. This ultimately helps in specie preservation. Mount Vojo Phu is considered a sacred mountain for the Akas, a tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh. For this reason, access to the mountain is restricted in an effort to help preserve the local flora and fauna.

2. Agriculture

In terms of agricultural practices, the Kadars of Tamil Nadu pluck fruits and vegetables only from the mature stems of the plant, which are then cut and replanted for future harvest. The Irulas, Muthuvas, and Malayalis farms follow a mixed cropping system wherein several types of crops are grown simultaneously in a specific area. This prevents overexploitation of the water table and soil nutrients as different crops have different requirements and in addition, prevents soil erosion. 

The Gond, Pradhan, and Baiga communities of Madhya Pradesh undertake Utera farming, a method where the next seeds are sown in paddy fields before the primary crops are harvested to make use of the existing moisture from the soil before the land dries up. These communities also follow the Badi cropping system in which fruit crops and trees are planted along the periphery serving as a barricade from droughts and heavy rains while preventing soil erosion. Mulching, burning of leaves for residue, and retainment of roots and stumps allow for soil fertility and nutrient cycling    . 

3. Fishing

Fishing at present involves some amount of agricultural pesticide, dynamiting, and chemicals. As opposed to these harmful methods, tribal communities employ more sustainable techniques. For example, the Wancho and Nocte tribes of the Tirap district create obstructions in streams by using bamboos, stones, coir, and tree branches in which fishes get trapped and are then collected and distributed amongst the communities in a method known as Bheta. 

Indian tribes such as the Adi and Galo employ Lipum fishing techniques wherein large bamboo baskets lined with seaweed are constructed and placed at the bottom of streams. The seaweed attracts small insects which in turn draw the attention of fishes. Fishes caught are inspected and juvenile fishes are released back into the stream. This practice is carried out during the winter months to prevent people from fishing during the breeding season. In this manner, fish populations are kept intact while local needs are fulfilled.

What Threats are Indian Tribes Facing?

Despite the sustainable lifestyle of tribes, their populations have dwindled with several communities migrating to cities for lucrative jobs. The ones left behind are under threat of eviction by government bodies and anti-poaching squads. The creation of protected land by the government has led to several displacements and the 2006 Forest Rights Act has been an inadequate response to address land rights, leading to the forced eviction of several tribal dwellers. 

Cases of harassment, bribes, delays in claim settlement, and illegal evictions have also been reported. In addition to this, the objective of conservation is also not met.

Tribal life is largely an embodiment of conscious extraction without depletion and a sense of responsibility towards future generations. The Soliga tribes of Karnataka take honey from combs and leave some on forest floors for tiger and bear cubs to consume. They also light controlled fires to prevent invasive plants that can destroy the forests and thereby affect animal life and the forest food chain. 

The Chenchu, Baiga, and Mising tribes consider tigers a companion and in the areas of their residence, tiger populations have increased. Evictions of these Indian tribes imply considerable ecological damage sustained by forests. Today, lantana an invasive plant species has destroyed several hectares of forests, prominent of those in Bandipur due to the ban on shifting techniques. 

In the Sariska tiger reserve – located in the Alwar district of Rajasthan – eviction meant adverse changes in the vegetation composition which in turn affected the avifauna population. In Pin Valley National Park there is competition between the wild ibex and the domestic goats and sheep for pastures leading to overgrazing which previously was managed through transhumance. Villages inside forests have resulted in grassland formations serving as grazing plots for herbivores which in turn enable the carnivorous population to maintain the food cycle. In some cases, like in Kanha National Park, these grasslands also served as sites of food for endangered animals like antelopes and some species of deer

The Importance of Protecting Indian Tribes

It is imperative to focus ecological protection on enhancing tribal communities as they are key stakeholders of indigenous knowledge. Their sustainable lifestyle makes them extremely capable of protecting and conserving the environment around them.

Some of their practices have helped formulate policies on conservation. For example, Indian tribes in the Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh grow red gram along with rice to prevent soil erosion, these are exchanged with Mahua flowers and black gram to replenish soil fertility. This sustainable model was borrowed by the Regional Agriculture Station and further refined to propagate sustainable agricultural practices. Similarly, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) implemented the National Agricultural Technology Project to test out the Utera cropping system in 1999.

Thus, impetus should be provided to tribal communities to share their knowledge towards conservation and indigenous methods that enable researchers, policymakers, and conservationists. This can only be done when the tribal communities are given positions of stewardship and are stakeholders of the land that they have cultivated for centuries.  

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Climate conscious consumerism has resulted in a rise of sustainable products that are often too expensive for the average consumer. The poor who face the brunt of climate change are polarised further by the unaffordable factor. This article gives an overview of how climate change policies require accessibility, and the inequality issues that need to be addressed as a prerequisite to combat the climate crisis.   

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Climate change and global warming has become one of the pressing issues of the 21st century. The responsibility of it is borne collectively by consumers and corporations. Yet, the onus of sustainability befalls on the average consumers who are nudged to make climate conscious choices. Consumers account for on average a mere 8.1 metric tonne out of 33 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions each year but they are the ones driving the change forward. To cater to this, there has been a rise in sustainable products promoting eco-friendly lifestyles. These sustainable solutions have become the cornerstone of most marketing agendas fuelling conscious consumerism and steering masses to buy ‘green’. As countries scramble to meet their sustainable goals set by the Paris Agreement, it’s the consumers doing the heavy lifting by replacing plastic straws with metal and/or paper ones, buying organic food, switching to electric vehicles, and wearing clothes made with recycled materials. 

The issue with conscious consumerism and most sustainable alternatives is the high price tag that comes with them. Three factors determine pricing strategy: The lack of alternate choices or competition; the cost of fair labour and sourcing of raw materials; the ostentation or status symbol. Along with this is the markup attached to each factor, adding more bucks to the price. 

The costs of common sustainable products compared to regular products. Source: Seastainable

It is therefore unsurprising to see how organic products cost three to five times more than regular products. The scepticism surrounding green products is two-fold: Do they really make a dent in the fight against climate change and how can the poor afford them due to their high prices? 

Studies show that straws constitute less than 1% of the total plastics found in the ocean while plastic bags account for merely 2%. Bigger are the impact of products with plastic casing, toxic cleaning solvents and exotic produce with high food mile green prints, which are typically afforded by rich households. A shift to paper bags may seem like a harmless eco-friendly practice but the carbon footprint associated with manufacturing it is in fact massive, requiring over four times the energy compared to the conventional plastic bag. 

Corporate greenwashing is notorious for punishing average consumers to buy green and for misleading the population into trusting their products are truly green. Companies like Nestlé Waters made claims on being the most environmentally-responsible water producer on account of using recyclable plastic. But doubts on these claims revealed that only 31% of the company’s bottles were being recycled, implying tonnes of plastics end up in landfills. A report by TerraChoice showed that out of nearly 3,000 products tested, 98% of which had greenwashing claims. 

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In 2018, Seattle was the first US state to ban the use of single-use plastics including disposable cups and straws in restaurants.  A district-wise assessment of the ban done by the University of Washington for the Seattle Public Utilities revealed that there was a compliance rate of up to 90% in wealthy districts like Magnolia and Queen Anne whereas compliance in poorer districts like South Park were about 40%, suggesting that richer districts could afford the higher capital costs of switching to recyclable products. Replicating these changes in one’s personal life is more tedious and often been exclusionary for the poor. A study by Oxfam revealed that the world’s richest 10% have been contributing to over 50% of the carbon emissions while the poorest contribute only 10% to the global carbon emissions. The poor are likely to use public transport, reuse shopping bags and practice other environmentally-friendly behaviour out of necessity rather than by choice. According to a UNDP report published in 2020, 1.3 billion people around the world live in poverty, most of whom live in impoverished nations. For most of them, accessibility to food and basic housing is an issue let alone accessibility to organic food and efficient houses. 

Sustainable products often market themselves for the elite to identify themselves with. For these folks, the high price tag is a small premium to pay for a superior status. In this form, environmental classism creates more divisions and diverts attention away from the real issues of sustainability and climate change. The luxury effect, a process whereby affluent households and locations boast greener pastures, better air quality and diversity in vegetation because of the affordability factor is prominent when policymakers evaluate cities. A study by Yale University shed light on how air pollution from transport, indirect emissions from procuring cleaner and efficient gadgets, and higher household consumption by the richer households are affecting the poor and the marginalised in a disproportionate manner. Likewise, studies by Robert Bullard elucidate how environmental racism pervades all aspects of lives for the African American communities. African American households are more likely to be located in the proximity of hazardous waste plants, and schools often experience issues relating to asbestos in which classroom walls and playgrounds are likely to be painted with lead, resulting in health degradation and a poorer quality of life. 

Climate change policies are often in contradiction to the grassroots issues that pervades societies such as systemic racism, classism and poverty. Being environmentally conscious is a luxury few can afford and for climate policies to be effective, it is imperative that they are not blanket policies or one-size-fits-all solutions. Environmental policies require to be viewed from the income dimension rather than a price and affordability angle and for this to happen inequality reduction becomes a prerequisite. Individual choices and conscious consumerism do have an impact but they cannot act as mechanisms to police and berate those who cannot make the switch to biodegradable products due to structural issues. Pollution control measures are to be implemented first on industries and greenwashing curbs must be enforced. Governments need to subsidise and incentivise innovation towards green technology. Together, these go a far longer way in addressing climate change than mere substitution to organic products. 

The post The Green Divide: Exploring the Accessibility of Conscious Consumerism appeared first on Earth.Org.

The call for action is eminent as countries scramble towards meeting the high stakes set by the Paris Climate Agreement. For countries like India, the stakes are even higher with juggling developmental agendas and finding sustainable solutions to meet the economy’s needs. This article elucidates how India can transition towards net zero through lessons from other countries and proven solutions put forth by researchers which are growth friendly.

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The Paris Climate Agreement signed by 196 parties in 2015 pledged action towards net zero emissions to keep an increase in global temperature levels to below 1.5°C. The notion of carbon neutrality was popularised by this agreement and refers to the act of offsetting or reducing emissions to achieve a state of net zero. Though the deadline for achieving these ambitious targets was 2050, the sixth assessment report of IPCC released in 2021 talks about the dire state of the climate crisis. It elucidates how within a few decades and a temperature increase of 1.1°C has already created catastrophic impacts on the world’s ecosystems. The recent European floods displaced and killed several hundred people, the heat wave in the balmy cities of the Pacific Northwest caused 600 deaths, forest fires in Russia and Turkey along with many others contributed to over 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in just two months, and the African droughts left over two million people in acute food scarcity. These are just some of the many prominent examples of human-caused global warming and climate change.

Turning our attention to Asia, in a span of a few months, Northeast villages in India faced acute droughts, flooding was seen in Mumbai and Delhi, and Odisha faced huge vagaries in its temperature.

According to the International Energy Agency in 2018 and an article on The Wire in 2021, India is positioned as the third biggest polluter, contributing over 2.46 billion metric tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere owing to the steady increase in coal usage due to rampant electrification drives and the sustained use of oil and gas. As one of the signatories of the Paris Climate Agreement, India had vowed to bring down emissions through a strategic and holistic manner. With repercussions of a fallout from the international community in case of non-cooperation, vulnerability to severe climate change and expenses mounting to fight the
climate crisis, transitioning towards net zero emissions for India is imperative. Five years on, promises of restoration of over 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, setting up of biogas plants to turn agriculture waste into energy, ramping up efforts in the renewable sector through subsidies and programmes like National Clean Air and Swachh Bharat, have given momentum towards the transition but the fight is far from over.

The net zero emission target for India was highlighted in the 75th Independence Day speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with what appears to be a semblance of a roadmap to achieving those ambitious targets. Indians have bigger fish to fry, is an applicable adage development economists and policy makers often employ and it is true to some extent. With over 60% of people under poverty, more than half of the children under the age of four being malnourished, unemployment rate at 8.32% and widespread illiteracy, and a lack of resources alongside the need for development and growth, these become polarising points against the climate crisis. However, the truth of the matter is if India does not ramp up its efforts, it can put over 600 million people at risk as India’s sustenance comes from sectors that are vulnerable to climate change. For example, the agriculture sector employs over 60% of the population and frequent flooding or erratic droughts can impact food stability and sustenance
which would have far reaching consequences.

Owing to the aforementioned factors and the looming pandemic that placed a spoke to several transition plans, the pathway for India to achieve net zero is still a question to be answered.

Studies done by eminent scholars from US Department of Energy and Central Building Research Institute have shown that acceleration of clean technologies, encouraging lower carbon choices or substitution go a long way in curbing emissions. Electricity generation and transport contribute to two thirds of total emissions generated in 2019. According to the Ministry of Power, India sources 61% of its power from thermal sources including fossil fuels like coal, which contributes to half the CO 2 emissions. Dependency on thermal sources will only reduce if there is a shift to reliance on green energy. India targets to achieve at least 40% renewable power generation by 2030. In order to do so, it would have to take advantage of the low prices of solar and wind energy which has plummeted over cost of coal power generation both in monetary terms (saving close to 40% of energy cost) as well as the cost of externalities like health hazards according to Gireesh Shrimali of Stanford University. India also has vast untapped agricultural land and a strategic location that can anchor the Global Solar Alliance to exchange ideas and collaborate on solar power. Setting up panels here can amplify benefits and negate any greenhouse gases arising from it. As reported in the IEEE Access Journal, direct sunlight would provide a source of energy generation and enable crop growth, and help in maintaining the humidity and moisture levels required by the plants. India can follow the footsteps of China in the case of renewable energy (RE) by providing subsidies for implementation, providing tax concessions for RE projects, financial institutions providing preferential loan rates, and by eradicating import duties for RE materials. This will give impetus to produce the 175 GW of renewable energy India promised by 2022, which in turn can enhance transportation, and reduce energy demand by almost two thirds annually.

Currently, India is encouraging the local manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) and is providing subsidies for manufacturers to produce it at a cost on par with the existing Internal Combustible Engine vehicles. Under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicle (FAME) scheme, the government intends to set up 2600 charging stations, mandates 20% parking space allocation for EVs, and has a prerequisite of a 3-year battery warranty by manufacturers. This has spiked demand for EVs in recent years, which is further fuelled by the lower prices of lithium batteries and lowered maintenance costs, thereby making EVs viable.

The International Energy Agency’s survey in 2019 revealed that the construction sector contributed to about 40% of the total emissions and utilised 36% of the global energy and cited how necessary it was to decarbonise this in order to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement commitment. In this light, studies have shown that using solar energy through rooftop photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, geothermal energy for cooling and heating solutions can counter the need for traditional heaters and air conditioners. Additionally, reflective roofing for cooling, wind scopes and towers for natural ventilation, daylighting, energy efficient appliances and sustainable materials like bamboo go a long way in providing alternate solutions to tackling emissions from buildings.
India can gain insights on transition from countries like Bhutan. Bhutan mandates 60% of its land as forest covers, makes use of the vast network of rivers to produce hydroelectric power, even exporting some of it to neighbouring countries like China, and has banned log exports. Additionally, free electricity is provided to rural households to prevent burning of wood and coal. Corporates too can pitch in by investing in cleaner technologies, going paperless, and classifying natural capital as an asset class for accounting. For example, companies such as Tata Group are winning awards on sustainability, Mahindra Group is committing to net zero by 2040, and Reliance by 2035. Carbon pricing policies prevent further environmental exploitation by calling on corporations to become socially responsible by making the cost of polluting high. Furthermore, carbon capture and sequestration can be widely employed owing to the success of the carbon capture plant at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu which has the potential to lock up 60,000 tonnes of CO 2 emissions in a year.

The policies at the central level tackling climate change provide ample scope to the achievement of the set targets, despite questions of implementation and investment still remaining a challenge due to the climate development nexus. The bottom line is that India needs to prioritise climate change with growth friendly policies, and coordinate efforts from a grassroots level to halt climate disasters. This in turn will enable it to be a successful model for other countries to follow.

Featured image by: IWMI/Flickr

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