Rising temperature, climate change risks, plastic pollution and high carbon emission not only impact lives and jobs, but also commodity prices, especially food. Is India prepared to commit more investment towards a green economy?
With change in climate threatening sustainability of life, livelihood and the ecosystem, economists and policymakers worldwide are sharpening their focus on mitigating such risks. However, it is a rather steep task, as India is among the top 10 economies in terms of vulnerability to climate risk events and is already suffering the adverse impact of climate change.
As India continues to face climate-related crisis like extreme heat temperature, scanty monsoon, floods and rising sea levels, the impact on overall macro and social environment is likely to be immense. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates up to 4.5 percent of India’s GDP could be at risk by 2030, due to lost labour hours from extreme heat and humidity.
Climate change due to rising temperature and changing patterns of monsoon rainfall in India could cost the Indian economy 2.8 percent of its GDP and depress the living standards of nearly half of its population by 2050, RBI’s Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) says in its latest report on Currency & Finance 2022-23. India may lose anywhere around 3 to 10 percent of its GDP annually by 2100 due to climate change in the absence of adequate mitigation policies.
The warning signs look scary. Indian agriculture (along with construction activity) as well as industry are particularly vulnerable to labour productivity losses caused by heat-related stresses. India may account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress associated productivity decline by 2030, according to World Bank estimates.