Back to resources

Make India Climate Smart: We have big infrastructure plans but forget to review them through a climate change lens

Climate & Biodiversity | Jan 24, 2019

India will invest billions of dollars in public infrastructure over the next few years. Government policies also aim to massively increase private investments across sectors – manufacturing, services and agriculture. Each of these policies and investments will have time horizons spanning five to 50 years.

Examples of planned infrastructure include – 100 new airports with an investment of $60 billion, interlinking of rivers at a budget of Rs 5.5 lakh crore, a linked network of ports through Sagarmala at an outlay of Rs 4 lakh crore. At a different scale, just one project – the 29.2 km coastal road planned in one city, Mumbai – will cost Rs 10,000 crore.

All these initiatives will impact the lives and livelihoods of millions, and will compete for finite and scarce public resources. But are any of them being screened against the biggest existential threat humanity has ever faced – climate change? Unfortunately, the answer is NO.

Times of India

PDF

ToI Image

More like this

Climate & Biodiversity

રોમાન્સિંગ ધ બ્લેક પેન્થર…

હમણાં હમણાં કર્ણાટકના કાબીની ફોરેસ્ટના એક બ્લેક પેન્થરની વિડીયો યૂ-ટયુબ પર ખાસ્સી એવી લોકપ્રિય થઇ રહી છે. ના, આ વિડીયો કાંઇ ડિસ્કવરી કે નેશનલ જિયોગ્રાફીક જેવી ચેનલે કરેલા બ્લેક પેન્થર પરના શૂટીંગની નથી, પણ આમ છતાં ય વાઇલ્ડ લાઇફના શોખીનો એ બ્લેક પેન્થર પર ઓવારી રહ્યા છે અને આ વિડીયો શેર કરી રહ્યા છે. એમાં […]
Feb 2, 2021 |

Climate & Biodiversity

Talk at Seventh Anniversary of Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development, Bangalore

This is a talk Rohini gave at the Seventh Anniversary of Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development, Bangalore on 19th August, 2008. “Going forward, my job is to ensure that a lot of people know about the organizations I support, working for environmental issues, especially CISED, with its inter disciplinary approach. And to […]
Aug 19, 2008 | Speech

Climate & Biodiversity

Spare the green hills - Environmentalists oppose illegal granite quarrying

Environmentalism is struggling to come of age in the country, and Karnataka is probably ahead of most other states as awareness has spread to even the remotest parts of the state. The latest issue taken up by environmentalists in Karnataka is that of illegal granite quarrying, especially in the B.R. Hill ranges of Mysore. It […]
Jun 13, 1987 | Article

Climate & Biodiversity

The dark side of Urjapradesh

While the debate over an eco-sensitive zone rages, Uttarakhand has not even defined minimum environmental flows for its rivers. Uttarakhand is rightly termed the abode of the gods, with its magnificent mountains, pristine forests and awe-inspiring rivers. It is a place sacred in our culture, and millions of tourists and pilgrims pay homage to its […]
Jun 23, 2013 | Article