It points out that even as developed nations are gearing up to impose a carbon tax on imports coming into their countries laden with carbon, they are ramping up energy demand driven by their obsession with letting artificial intelligence (AI) take over natural intelligence. Meanwhile, we are being told through multilateral bodies and experts that climate mitigation is the way forward. This implies avoiding and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in order to prevent the planet from warming to more extreme temperatures. This approach fails to accord the same importance to biodiversity loss and land degradation. All of these factors impact the quality of life not just for humans but also for our co-habitants on the planet.

As a climate-vulnerable country, India has a greater need for adaptive strategies in agriculture and conservation efforts to save lives and livelihoods. India has, therefore, taken a nuanced stance that we must look at climate change through our own lens and not be dictated by those who are historically responsible for the problem and refuse to put a check on their consumption patterns. We are treading a path that strikes a fine balance between economic development and impactful climate action in collaboration with the rest of the world.

If India accepts greed as good and overconsumption as a pivot for prosperity, focusing our energy on ways to consume more, the world is doomed. The climate fight has to move beyond finding ways to limit the Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5 °C or 2 °C and adjust the climate budget.

It has to address the complex relationships between climate, human welfare, and ecological diversity. In that regard, India has also shown the way. We have been a nation where technology and science have flourished even as nature is worshipped. Mission LiFE, or Lifestyle for Environment, addresses the question of greed versus need. The concept envisioned by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is a road map to making pro-planet choices in a way that people live quality lives without hurting nature. A technocentric approach, which creates a value system that is centred on technology and its ability to control the environment, lacks the basic understanding that no artificial mechanism can control the natural flow of life.

Efforts to address climate change must thus focus on devising ways that ensure the natural flow of life is not disrupted. For that to happen, we have to live environmentally friendly lives. The Economic Survey 2023-24 draws our attention to data that shows how addressing consumption patterns is imperative to sustenance.

One key data which has caught many by surprise says making one toilet roll uses 1.5 pounds of wood, 37 gallons of water and 1.3 kWh of power. The Global South has sustainable practices that avoid this consumption. Yet, increasingly and worryingly, we find the former making its way into our lives.

Amid this crisis, India stands as a beacon of hope. Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, India’s annual per capita carbon emission is only about one-third of the global average.

We have successfully reduced our emission intensity vis-à-vis our GDP by 33% between 2005 and 2019, thus achieving the initial NDC target for 2030, 11 years ahead of scheduled time. We also achieved the target of having 40% of electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources nine years ahead of the deadline (2030). Between 2017 and 2023, India has added around 100 GW of installed electric capacity, of which around 80% is attributed to non-fossil fuel based. On the global stage, our contribution to climate action is significant with the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, creation of LeadIT, Infrastructure for Resilient Island States, and Big Cat Alliance.

India believes all these efforts are cures, and while they are important to address (reflected in India’s climate action measures), it is the cause that needs to be looked at closely. The cause is overconsumption without a care for consequences, believing technology will take care of the fallout. The Indian way of life is seeded with the principles of moderation. Mission LiFE is PM Modi’s clarion call for the world to follow.

Under this philosophy, the Modi government has initiated a noble drive — Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam — to plant a sapling in the name of our mothers. So far, 16,60,52,178 trees have been planted. The campaign has been initiated to inculcate environmental sense in people by encouraging them to plant saplings and nurture them as they grow into trees, just like a mother nurtures a child.

Only by respecting nature can we learn to live with nature and not overpower it. We cannot continue to find technologies to sustain our lifestyles. We must change our lifestyle.

Bhupender Yadav is Union minister for environment, forests, and climate change. The views expressed are personal