This report focuses on the changing climate. India experienced its second-longest heatwave, with temperatures reaching 50.8 °C. July 2019 was the hottest month on record globally. Record-breaking warmth is becoming a familiar trend with new markers broken each year for the last several years. Weather and climate shape India’s economy and society. Temperature and precipitation affect such diverse outcomes as human health, labour productivity, agricultural yields, crime, and conflict. When there is extreme weather, it poses risks to daily life, which are only expected to worsen over the century.
At the root of these climate change impacts is the continued global reliance on fossil fuels. India’s energy use is projected to more than double over the next 20 years, with much of that new use coming from coal. But as one of the world’s largest emitters, India is poised to increasingly take a leadership role in how every country mitigates the causes of climate change.
This is why it is critical for the Indian population and policy-makers to understand the benefits of reducing carbon emissions, and the costs to Indian society of not doing so. Without a change to current emissions patterns, India stands to face many impacts of climate change, not least among them being more days of extreme heat.