Executive Summary Riding on the climate commitments made at Paris, the world was well on its way to a temperature rise over 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100. With the window of opportunity for climate action fast closing, the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26), hosted in Glasgow in November 2021, was referred to as the “make-or-break” summit in the fight against climate change. With the announcement of the net-zero targets by major economies, such as China, and the US, global warming projections have improved. Climate change is one of the outcomes of the environmental debt that has accumulated over time due to the global failure to incorporate environmental costs into economic growth and development calculus. India’s ambition to grow into a US$5-trillion economy by 2024-25 while also addressing this accumulated environmental debt will make it a decisive player on the global chessboard of climate-change mitigation. As the third-largest emitter, the second-most populated country (1.38 billion as of 2020 and estimated to reach 1.6 billion in 2048), and one of the fastest-growing economies, India is expected to emerge as a world leader in climate action for achieving global net-zero emissions by pursuing a 1.5 degrees Celsius compatible development pathway. Further, this development experience can prompt similar action by peer nations and make India their touchstone in resolving the trade-off between environmental sustenance and economic growth.
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