In November 2024, during the U.N. climate conference (COP29) in Baku, India sharply criticized the new climate finance package, which promises $300 billion annually for the Global South by 2035. The representative from New Delhi described the proposed funding as “too little and too distant,” arguing that it falls significantly short of the $1.3 trillion that the Global South has requested over the past three years of discussions.
Many countries praised India for championing the perspective of the Global South. However, India’s public and diplomatic posture in global forums lags behind its domestic efforts.
Eleven of the 20 cities identified as the most polluted globally in 2024 by the World Air Quality Report published by IQAir are in India. Each of them exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual guidelines for PM2.5 concentrations. According to the report, the world’s most polluted city, Byrnihat, is in India’s Meghalaya state, otherwise known for its breathtaking scenery. India’s capital Delhi ranks second. Similarly, according to the World Air Quality City Ranking 2024 by AQI, all the 12 most polluted cities in the world are in India.
Pollution frequently dominates the headlines in India’s newspapers. The judiciary consistently reprimands both the central and state governments for their insufficient and sluggish efforts.
It is surprising that while New Delhi advocates for a substantial increase in the commitment of developed nations to climate financing, its Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) fell short of spending even 1 percent of the allocated budget for pollution control for the 2024-25 financial year.
In 2018, the Indian government launched the Control of Pollution (CoP) scheme to monitor air, water and noise pollution and their quality levels across the country. The scheme funds plans to clean dirty air in 82 “non-attainment” cities that do not conform to air quality standards. It provides funding assistance to weaker pollution control boards of the states to control pollution and carries out an environmental monitoring network program. It is fully funded by the Union government and is part of the government’s flagship National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter 10 (PM10) in 131 cities of the country by 2026.
From 2019-20 to 2025-26, 30.72 billion Indian rupees have been allocated under the CoP scheme. According to a report tabled in India’s Parliament, of the 8.58 billion rupees allocated for the scheme in financial year 2024-25, only 72 million rupees, or less than 1 percent of the funds, were used. The Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which prepared the report, asked the MoEFCC “to introspect and expressed shock over the ministry’s lack of action.”
The explanation offered by the ministry’s officials, as published in media reports, was telling. It shed light on the MoEFCC’s thought processes about the effectiveness of the CoP scheme. The officials indicated that the ministry is yet to make a final call on the continuation of the scheme, which has resulted in a near freeze in expenditures. The fate of the scheme remains unclear as of writing. Unless the CoP is continued or replaced by another scheme, the country’s efforts to contain pollution could suffer immensely.
The policy paralysis surrounding the CoP is one of the many examples of the MoEFCC’s underperformance. The Standing Committee, which assessed the CoP scheme, looked into the MoEFCC’s overall fund utilization and found that the ministry had utilized only 54 percent of the allocated funds of the 2024-25 budget through January 31, 2025. For a 100 percent utilization, the ministry would have spent the remaining 46 percent of the funds within the next two months, before the financial year ends.
Despite the country’s international posturing on climate change and a range of activities undertaken by the government to deal with climate change, including transition to green energy, the attitude of the MOEFCC toward protecting the environment and people through containing pollution remains lackadaisical. Periodically, “national security” projects are prioritized over preserving green cover. Wealthy corporates have been allowed to muzzle through bureaucratic objections and receive clearances for contentious projects in the name of development. Even in routine matters, the MoEFCC’s performance has fallen below expectations. In December 2024, the ministry’s indolence in outlining the health risks of asbestos sheets in educational institutions was criticized by the National Green Tribunal.
The ministry has even been found to be willing to repudiate science while playing down the impact of pollution on the lives of ordinary Indians. A study in 2023 found that outdoor air pollution from all sources accounts for 2.18 million deaths per year in India, second only to China. Shortly thereafter, the MoEFCC came out with a rebuttal saying that “such estimates do not depict the actual status as there are no conclusive data available in the country to establish a direct correlation of death/ disease exclusively due to pollution.” It seemed to contend that pollution kills people with only existing morbidities. “Health effects of pollution, including air pollution, are synergistic manifestations of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of the individuals,” it said.
As India’s attempt to represent the Global South in conversations with the Global North on climate change takes center stage, there is a clear need to take action at home. Its international posture needs to be backed up by tangible commitments and sustainable domestic achievements. An aspiring giant can’t have feet of clay.
