Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has released the 2025 State of India’s Environment report.
At Nimli, near Alwar in Rajasthan, the report was released on Wednesday (Feb 26) in the presence of India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant; and former deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
In her address, Narain noted, “there is good and bad news as we move ahead in 2025. The good news is there is increased environmental consciousness… Governments are introducing programmes for environment; farmers care about their soil and water; industry needs resource security without any conflicts.”
On the ‘bad news’ front, she said, “we are saddled with programmes that are not ambitious enough; institutions that are weak; and a way of environmental management that is expensive and non-inclusive.”
She was speaking at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2025, an annual conclave of journalists from India who write on environment and development issues. The event was held by CSE at its facility, the Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute, located in Nimli.
Addressing the mediapersons, Kant said, “if in India, 42 of our cities are among the world’s 50 most polluted ones — this points to a huge failure of municipal governance. We need to replicate successful models of cities like Surat and Indore.”
Ahluwalia focused on two critical aspects of water use and pricing, and industrial pollution.
He pointed out, “with time, water issues will become worse. We have to recognise that water has to be economised – either you nationalise and ration the entire water supply or you price water adequately… With industry, there should be absolutely no compromise on pollution and wastewater. The polluter must pay – regardless of whether they are small or large.”
The report quotes the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, which says that 2024 was the first calendar year with a global average temperature exceeding 1.5 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
“Given the fact that atmospheric moisture levels rise by 7 per cent for every one degree rise in global average temperatures, this is a perfect brew for planetary disruptions in terms of extreme weather events, she added.
CSE’s assessment indicates that India saw more frequent and intense extreme weather events in 2024, compared to the previous two years.
In the first nine months of 2024, India witnessed extreme weather events on 255 of the 274 days as against 235 days for the same period in 2023 and 241 days in 2022.
The events drastically impacted agriculture, with 3.2 million hectare of cropland affected in 2024 – 74 per cent more than in 2022.