Climate change hits home: One-third of Indians worry about food shortage

India Today

2 days ago

Climate change and global warming are no longer issues that only engage elite environmental activists in developed countries. They are impacting the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people worldwide. This was revealed by a survey conducted in India by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter. Its most quoted result was related to heat waves: 71 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced extreme heat waves in the past year. In 2024, India will experience its hottest year since 1901, with temperatures rising by 0.65 degrees Celsius above the long-term average.advertisementBut it's another result that's more worrisome: 38 per cent of Indians personally experienced famine or food shortages in the past year, quite alarming for a country that has largely eliminated extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, India had reduced extreme poverty (measured at an income of $2.15 a day) to just 3.4 per cent by the end of 2023. Yet, the Yale-CVoter study indicates that almost four in 10 Indians experienced or feared food shortages in 2024-25.Food insecurityAnalysts have wondered why the current government persisted with the free food aid program for 800 million Indians even after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022. This new survey indicates that there is still serious food insecurity in India, particularly among those who have recently climbed out of extreme poverty. Three out of four Indians were very or moderately worried about famines and food shortages, holding global warming responsible.advertisement
Many Indians reported experiencing other climate change-related impacts. For example, 60 per cent of Indians experienced agricultural pests and diseases. This, too, is directly related to food security. Additionally, a majority experienced frequent power outages (59 per cent), water pollution (53 per cent), droughts and water shortages (52 per cent), or severe air pollution (52 per cent).Multiple studies have found that Indian cities have some of the worst air pollution in the world. As per scientific data on PM2.5 pollution, 13 of the 20 most-polluted affected in the world are in India. During the winter of 2024, many parts of Delhi reported an air quality index of more than 1,000, which is a health emergency.Indians eager to do their partOlder surveys conducted by Yale and CVoter have found that Indians want and expect robust policy responses from both government and civil society. Most people in India (86 per cent) support the Indian government's 2070 Net Zero goal, according to the 2023 Yale-CVoter survey (https://www.indiatoday.in/opinion/story/indians-are-worried-about-global-warming-and-support-the-2070-net-zero-goal-opinion-2552655-2024-06-13 ). In 2022, a majority of Indians (55 per cent) said that India should reduce its emissions immediately, without waiting for other countries — an increase of 19 percentage points compared to a 2011 survey. In addition, two-thirds of Indians (64 per cent) said the government needed to do more to address global warming.advertisementLikewise, 93 per cent of Indians are willing to make big changes in their daily life in order to protect the environment, according to the 2023 survey. This can be seen in real life in India. The ban on firecrackers in some states, the voluntary movement to observe eco-friendly idol immersions and Holi, the gradual move away from plastics, and many other environmentally-friendly behaviours are testament to that. Proactive government policies and decisions at the central and state levels are nudging citizens towards becoming more environmentally-friendly.Indians are also rapidly embracing electric vehicles despite logistical bottlenecks like battery charging delays. Various studies by the Indian Energy Storage Alliance project that sales of e-vehicles in India will grow 49 per cent a year and reach annual sales of 17 million units by 2030. Even if that is an overestimate, Indians are driving change.Two-thirds of Indians (66 per cent) support requiring new automobiles to be more fuel-efficient, even if it increases the costs of cars and bus fares. An even larger majority of Indians (77 per cent) want buildings to use and waste less energy and water, even if they cost more. And, three in four Indians (73 per cent) support India's participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.advertisementHowever, a significant proportion (32 per cent) of people in India have never heard of global warming. These findings highlight the critical need to raise public awareness about climate change and local climate impacts and reinforce the urgency of both reducing carbon pollution and preparing for future extreme events.Climate change and Indian society are both highly complex, and no single study can do justice to their full richness and diversity. Nonetheless, this study takes an in-depth and rigorous look at some of the key dimensions of these issues in India. This research is intended to contribute to both scientific and public understanding and dialogue about these issues and provide useful information for the Indian climate change community.MethodologyThis nationally representative study surveyed 10,751 adults in India between December 5, 2024, and February 18, 2025. It was conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter. Respondents were contacted by mobile telephone using predictive dialling technology and computer-assisted telephone interviewing.The survey was translated into 12 languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Odiya, Bangla, Asamiya, and English), and respondents received the survey in one of those languages based on their geographic location in India. National Census-based demographic parameters were used to create sampling targets for gender, education, and socio-economic status.advertisementThe results were also weighed after completion of the data collection to adjust the final sample to match national demographic parameters on gender, age, education, income, religion, and urbanicity.(Anthony Leiserowitz is the Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Emily Richards is Program Manager, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Jagadish Thaker is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland and Yashwant Deshmukh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of CVoter Foundation)(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the authors)Must Watch