Climate change has always seemed like an existential threat. But the drastic impact of this pandemic has woken up many citizens to the consequences of environmental degradation and climate inaction. The Lancet and WHO have stated that climate change will increase the incidence of infectious disease outbreaks. …

As India enters its second phase of a national lockdown, the social and economic toll is starting to mount. The national unemployment rate is estimated to have risen to 23% in April. Migrant workers who were shifted to relief camps after trying to return home, have rebelled in Surat and…

India’s recent economic slowdown appears to have taken an unexpected victim — the Indian government’s electric vehicle (EV) ambitions. Faced with weak exports, declining car sales and widespread layoffs in the automotive sector, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government appears to have backtracked on its EV agenda. Road Transport…

The Gujarat state government’s implementation of a cap-and-trade programme is an important milestone in India’s war against air pollution. Although the pilot project specifically targets particulate matter (PM) pollutants in Surat’s industrial belt, it has wider ramifications for the country. The scheme is a departure from the traditional command and…

From the balcony of an old Portuguese house in Goa that’s been converted into a guesthouse, I see a water tanker outside our gate, spilling water onto the road while filling the underground water tank. Our proprietor says his well has run dry and the municipal water supply has become…

One out of every eight deaths in India in 2017 was caused by air pollution, according to a study. That’s almost twice as many deaths caused by cancer. This is a grim warning to India’s policymakers. No longer just a middle-class inconvenience in the winter, air pollution has become a…