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Concerns raised over ‘micro-management’ of air quality data

As smog blankets the national capital, Delhiites continue to complain of burning eyes, scratchy throats and breathing difficulties. The toxic haze has once again brought attention to the accuracy of the city’s official air quality data. Media reports have pointed out glaring inconsistencies and questionable practices near several monitoring stations, raising doubts about the credibility of pollution readings. Last month, an online survey of 14,978 residents revealed that 87 per cent have little or no trust in the AQI data released by the government. While 62 per cent said they had no trust and 25 per cent reported low trust, only 13 per cent expressed average or higher trust, reflecting a credibility gap in official air quality monitoring. Amid these concerns, allegations that the authorities might be “micro-managing” pollution readings by spraying water near monitoring stations have sparked debate about whether such actions could distort air quality data. Delhi’s Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, however, defended the practice. “How would we suppress the dust? It’s natural- through sprinkling. It is being done throughout the city, including around stations. We are successfully able to control pollution,” he said. But experts warn that such measures, if done excessively near monitors, can be misleading. Dr Mohan P George, Consultant for Clean Air and Sustainable Mobility at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and former Additional Director at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, explains that India’s AQI is based on the concentration of pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and lead. “At least three parameters are required to calculate AQI,” he said. “Usually, PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 are used. The data from continuous analysers is converted into an index value ranging from 0 to 500 - from ‘good’ to ‘severe,’ with corresponding colour codes and public advisories.” The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) operates Delhi’s Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), which automatically transmit real-time data every few minutes. There are currently 39 such stations across the city.

As new hotspots emerge, capital finds its hands—and lungs—full

New Delhi: Shadipur, Nehru Nagar, Siri Fort, Alipur, ITO and Patparganj are among 11 emerging hotspots that have been recording high PM2.5 levels in the city, according to an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In 2018, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) and Central Pollution Control Board identified 13 hotspots in the city: Rohini, Vivek Vihar, RK Puram, Narela, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, Dwarka, Ashok Vihar, Bawana and Anand Vihar. The new locations have been recording higher or the same levels of PM2.5 as the old hotspots. For instance, Shadipur had PM2.5 levels of 117 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023, which increased to 127µg/m³ the next year. In 2025, till Oct 31, the figure was 81µg/m³. Nehru Nagar in Lajpat Nagar had annual PM2.5 concentrations of 120 and 121µg/m³ micrograms in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Siri Fort saw the figure rising from 96µg/m³ in 2023 to 111µg/m³ in 2024. The new hotspots also include Mandir Marg, MDC national stadium, North Campus-DU, Burari Crossing and Mathura Road. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Research and Advocacy, CSE, said, "The old hotspots were identified and plans made to tackle local pollution sources, including unpaved and poor road conditions, open burning of waste and traffic congestion. These original hotspots continue to show a mixed air quality trend. In the meantime, the newer hotspots have proliferated, indicating a rapid spatial spread of polluting activities in the city." She added that city-wide stringent measures should be taken to reduce emissions from all key pollution sources. Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "With the help of Delhi Police, we have identified 62 new pollution hotspots. We are regularly monitoring these areas and action is being taken to reduce pollution from varied sources. It is a continuous process to identify and act against pollution in different parts of the city." Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst of the think tank EnviroCatalysts, said it is easy to understand the reason behind the sources of pollution in some of these emerging hotspots, be it emissions from industries or the transport sector. "However, the reading in some stations may be compromised due to the presence of dense tree canopies or tall buildings in the vicinity. Such stations may record higher or lower levels of pollution. It is necessary to conduct an audit of all monitoring stations," said Dahiya.

From health crisis to economic pulldown : The cost of pollution

Delhi's air quality has plunged into toxic territory once again, triggering Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-3). Construction activities have been halted, truck movements restricted, and daily business operations across the National Capital Region (NCR) severely disrupted. What was once viewed as a seasonal civic nuisance has evolved into a full-blown economic shock, impacting productivity, projects, and profits. A senior business journalist highlighted the escalating crisis, noting that pollution-related deaths and disabilities cost the Indian economy nearly 9.5% of GDP in 2023—equivalent to a staggering $339 billion. What is GRAP 3. Graded Response Action Plan – Stage 3 is the third level of a four-stage emergency action plan activated by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) when air quality turns “severe”. It consists of four escalating stages, each triggered by worsening Air Quality Index (AQI) levels. Under this, a wide range of construction and demolition activities are completely banned, except for critical national projects such as railways, metro rail, airports, hospitals, and sanitation initiatives. This halt aims to reduce dust and particulate matter, major contributors to winter smog in Delhi. An estimated 1.7 million lives were prematurely lost to toxic air that year, with Delhi alone accounting for 15% of pollution-linked deaths. The economic toll extends far beyond the capital. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh lost close to 2% of their GDP to air pollution in 2019, a figure likely higher today. In Delhi, the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) estimated a Rs 2,500 crore blow to the local economy late last year under GRAP-4 measures, representing a 20% drop in business activity. Daily footfalls plummeted, weddings and events were postponed, and supply chains faltered. A separate study revealed that air pollution inflicted Rs 7 lakh crore in losses on Indian businesses over just four months—nearly 43% of the impact seen during COVID-19 lockdowns. "Air pollution is not just killing people; it's hurting profits and productivity," the journalist emphasized, warning that India's growth momentum could be dampened if ignored. Education takes a hit as schools shift online or close. Tutoring centers in East Delhi lose Rs 5,000 per student monthly. Parents juggle work and childcare, with one mother reporting her child's asthma attacks costing Rs 20,000 in medical bills during a single GRAP episode. Logistics companies like Delhivery reroute fleets, adding 200 km detours to avoid NCR bans. Fuel costs surge 15%, delays erode customer trust. "E-commerce peaks during Diwali, but pollution curfews kill last-mile delivery," a operations head complained. Labor unions demand pollution bonuses. Construction workers exposed to dust seek hazard pay, with one union filing petitions for Rs 500 daily allowances during bans. A noted environmentalist argued that the true costs are understated in GDP calculations. "When someone is hospitalized and pays bills, it actually adds to GDP growth," he pointed out, critiquing the perverse incentives. He stressed that premature deaths and illnesses impose unaccounted burdens on individuals and families, potentially exceeding quantified business losses. Businesses, he added, cannot function without healthy workers—productivity suffers when employees fall ill or are encouraged to flee Delhi during winter months, a luxury few can afford. A senior office bearer at the Centre for Science and Environment, delved into industrial impacts. In the NCR, industries are barred from using coal, forcing a shift to costlier alternatives like natural gas or biomass. Compliance with mounting regulations demands in-house environmental teams and reporting, inflating operational expenses. Workers in small and medium-scale industries face year-round exposure without adequate pollution controls, he noted, underscoring how pollution raises costs for businesses and end-users alike while hindering the transition to a greener economy. Another office bearer of the of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), described how pollution curbs under GRAP have become an annual inevitability, baked into business planning. Construction halts, wholesale disruptions, and logistics snarls hit sectors hard. Businesses are adapting by factoring in these risks, but short-term resistance persists due to immediate cost hikes. He warned that in the long term, costs may rise further without action, calling for solutions to mitigate recurring shocks. An economist observed that companies are beginning to incorporate environmental risks into project valuations and net present value estimates—though not uniformly. She pointed out that a decade ago, these hazards weren't priced in as much, citing examples like the NHPC hydropower project's massive losses from an Uttarakhand landslide. Delays, cost overruns, and non-compliance evade full penalties, while ESG reporting and risk disclosures remain inconsistent. She advocated for better integration of climate risks into financial statements to help investors price them accurately. On the policy front, environmentalists seriously criticized a 25-year failure to address Delhi's winter smog, even as Parliament sessions expose lawmakers to the hazard. They expressed concern about a complete lack of vision at the highest levels, urging integration of natural resource accounting into national budgets to reflect true losses in GDP. They also highlighted enforcement gaps: delayed SOx emission norms for thermal power plants, unreliable online monitoring data, and overburdened regulators struggling with thousands of small industries. They proposed innovative solutions like centralized boilers, drone monitoring, and common effluent treatment plants to ease compliance burdens. The economists and industrial experts outlined fiscal implications, including rising healthcare costs, productivity losses, and natural resource depletion that strain state economies. They argued that policymakers must compensate for private-sector output shortfalls through increased spending, noting indirect GDP hits from reduced life expectancy, agricultural damage, and tourism declines. They urged India Inc. to petition the Prime Minister for effective implementation of initiatives like Swachh Bharat, while criticizing recent relaxations on flue gas desulphurization for power plants. The consensus was clear: pollution is both an environmental and economic emergency. One key policy shift, panelists suggested, lies in streamlining compliances and boosting regulator capacity through technology. "Clean air must be seen not as compliance but as competitiveness," was the summary. With numbers underscoring the crisis, India cannot decouple its economic ambitions from environmental realities. The opportunity—for businesses and policymakers alike—is to prioritize resilience now, before the cyclical drag becomes irreversible.

गोरखपुर में जुटेंगे देशभर के टॉप एनवायरनमेंट एक्सपर्ट्स:दो दिनों तक चलेगा GEAG का स्वर्ण जयंती सेलिब्रेशन, ग्रीन जर्नी पर होगी चर्चा

गोरखपुर में 15-16 नवम्बर को गोरखपुर एन्वायरन्मेंटल एक्शन ग्रुप (GEAG) अपने 50 साल पूरे होने पर स्वर्ण जयंती सेलिब्रेशन आयोजित करेगा। दो दिनों तक चलने वाले यह इवेंट देशभर के प्रमुख एनवायरनमेंटल एक्सपर्ट्स, पॉलिसी मेकर्स, साइंटिस्ट्स और किसानों को जोड़ने वाला प्लेटफॉर्म होगा। कीनोट एड्रेस पद्मश्री डॉ. सुनीता नारायण, डायरेक्टर, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट देंगी, जबकि क्लोजिंग सेशन में ‘वॉटरमैन ऑफ इंडिया’ और मैगसेसे अवॉर्ड विजेता श्री राजेन्द्र सिंह मुख्य उद्बोधन देंगे। दरअसल, GEAG की शुरुआत 1975 में गोरखपुर यूनिवर्सिटी की इकोलॉजी लैब में प्रो. राजेन्द्र सहाय की लीडरशिप में हुई थी। छात्रों, युवाओं और रिसर्च स्कॉलर्स ने मिलकर इसे एक ग्रासरूट्स एनवायरनमेंट मूवमेंट के रूप में शुरू किया। इसका उद्देश्य लोगों में एनवायरनमेंट अवेयरनेस बढ़ाना और युवाओं को सस्टेनेबल डेवलपमेंट की दिशा में प्रेरित करना रहा। सस्टेनेबल फार्मिंग से किसानों को मिला फायदा संस्था ने ईस्टर्न यूपी के छोटे और सीमांत किसानों को ऑर्गेनिक और सस्टेनेबल फार्मिंग के लिए ट्रेनिंग दी। बायो-फर्टिलाइज़र और बायो-पेस्टिसाइड के प्रयोग से खेती की कॉस्ट कम हुई और प्रोडक्शन बढ़ा। हजारों किसान ट्रेनर बने और यह मॉडल आज नेशनल लेवल पर मान्यता प्राप्त कर चुका है। GEAG ने फ्लड, वाटर लॉगिंग और वाटर मैनेजमेंट जैसे मुद्दों पर रिसर्च किया और 50 से ज्यादा वेटलैंड्स को रिस्टोर किया। संस्था ने नेशनल और स्टेट गवर्नमेंट्स के साथ मिलकर सॉल्यूशंस विकसित किए और जल संरक्षण में मॉडल पेश किया। क्लाइमेट चेंज पर इंटरनेशनल पहचान संस्था ने 2004 में एशिया लेवल की इंटरनेशनल रिपोर्ट में को-ऑथर के तौर पर योगदान दिया। अर्बन क्लाइमेट एडॉप्शन और पेरी-अर्बन एरिया की स्ट्रैटेजी डेवलपमेंट में GEAG की भूमिका सराही गई। 2013 में यूनाइटेड नेशंस ने पोलैंड में GEAG को ‘लाइटहाउस अवॉर्ड’ से सम्मानित किया। कॉफी टेबल बुक लॉन्च के साथ 50 साल की ग्रीन जर्नी सेलिब्रेशन के दौरान संस्था की 50 वर्षों की ग्रीन जर्नी पर आधारित ‘कॉफी टेबल बुक’ लॉन्च की जाएगी। इवेंट में डॉ. सैम जोसेफ, बीज बचाओ अभियान के को-फाउंडर बीजू नेगी, पद्मश्री डॉ. आरसी चौधरी, IIT रुड़की के प्रो. अनिल गुप्ता, द एशिया फाउंडेशन की डायरेक्टर डॉ. नंदिता बरुआ और एग्रीकल्चर पॉलिसी एक्सपर्ट डॉ. देवेंद्र शर्मा समेत कई नेशनल एक्सपर्ट्स शामिल होंगे।

Sunita Narain: వార్షిక వాతావరణ ప్రహసనాలు

శీతవేళ ఆగమిస్తోంది. ఏటా ఈ తరుణంలో ప్రభుత్వాల ప్రతినిధులు, పౌర సమాజ క్రియాశీలురు, పర్యావరణ వైజ్ఞానికులు, పారిశ్రామిక, వ్యాపార సంస్థల సీఈఓలు వాతావరణ మార్పుపై చర్చలకు సమావేశమవుతారు. ఐక్యరాజ్యసమితి ఆధ్వర్యంలో జరిగే ఈ సమావేశం ఈ ఏడాది బెలెమ్‌ (అమెజాన్‌ వర్షారణ్యం అంచున ఉన్న బ్రెజీలియన్‌ నగరం)లో జరుగుతోంది. సరిగ్గా ఇదే రోజులలో ఢిల్లీ, దాని చుట్టుపక్కల ప్రాంతాలలో గాలి ధూళి దూసరమయిపోతుంది. ఊపిరి పీల్చుకోవడం ఢిల్లీ వాసులకు మహాకష్టంగా ఉంటుంది. ఈ ఏడాది వాతావరణ మార్పు సంబంధిత మార్పులు ఎప్పటిలానే మహా ఆందోళనకరంగా ఉన్నాయి. మనిషిపై ప్రకృతి పగ సాధిస్తున్నట్టుగా వాతావరణ పోకడలు ఉంటున్నాయి. హరిత గృహ వాయు ఉద్గారాలు ఘోరంగా పెరిగిపోతున్నాయి. వచ్చే దశకం (2030లు) తొలి సంవత్సరాలలోనే భూతాపం పెరుగుదల పరిమితి 1.5 డిగ్రీల సెల్సియస్‌ను ప్రపంచం ఖాయంగా ఉల్లంఘించనున్నదని రోజురోజుకీ మరింతగా విదితమవుతోంది. ఇది వినాశనకరమైన పరిణామం, సందేహం లేదు. భూ ఉష్ణోగ్రతలు 1.2 డిగ్రీల సెల్సియస్‌ పెరిగితేనే ఈ విశాల అవని ఎల్లెడలా భయంకరమైన ప్రాకృతిక విపత్తులకు లోనవుతుంది కదా. వాతావరణ మార్పు వైపరీత్యాల తాకిడి మన దైనందిన జీవితాలపై ఎంత తీవ్రంగా ఉంటుందో మరి చెప్పనవసరం లేదు. వాతావరణ మార్పును నివారించే, లేదూ నియంత్రించే లక్ష్యంతో ఐక్యరాజ్యసమితి నిర్వహిస్తోన్న వార్షిక శిఖరాగ్ర సదస్సులు ముంచుకొస్తోన్న వాతావరణ ముప్పునకు ప్రభుత్వాలను జవాబుదారీగా చేయడంలో విఫలమవుతున్నాయి. చర్చలు నిరర్ధకమవుతున్నాయి. శీత రుతువు రాకడతో ఉత్తర భారతావనిలో గాలివేగం తగ్గుతుంది. చల్లని గాలులు దట్టంగా వీస్తూ భూమిని అదే పనిగా స్పృశిస్తుంటాయి. కాలుష్యం మన కళ్ల ఎదుట కరాళ నృత్యం చేస్తుంది. మన నయనేంద్రియాలు ఎర్రబారుతాయి. మన ఊపిరితిత్తులు ఊపిరి పీల్చుకోలేకపోతాయి. కొద్ది నెలల పాటు కాలుష్యం, కాలుష్య కారక ఘటనలు మీడియా పతాక శీర్షికలవుతాయి. ప్రజలకు దాపురించిన వాతావరణ వెతలకు రాజకీయవేత్తలు పరస్పరం నిందించుకుంటారు. సమస్య నిమ్మళిస్తుందా? లేదు. శాసన నిర్మాతలు శ్రద్ధ చూపుతారా? లేనే లేదు. అయినా రాజకీయ పక్షాలు వాతావరణ వైపరీత్యాలపై వాదోపవాదాలు చేస్తుంటాయి. తమ శ్రేయస్సుకు మేలు చేయని ఈ వ్యర్థ ప్రలాపాలను సగటు పౌరులు జుగుప్సా భావంతో వింటూంటారు. శీతాకాలంతో పాటు కాలుష్యమూ వీడిపోతుందా? పోదు. అది మరింతగా తీవ్రమవుతుంది. ఏటేటా ఇదే కథ. ఈ ఏడాది ఈ పాత కథకు ముగింపు పలకాలని ఢిల్లీ ప్రభుత్వం నిర్ణయించుకున్నది. ఎలా? కృత్రిమ వర్షాలు కురిపించడం ద్వారా! అందరూ అబ్బురపడుతూ ఆకాశం వర్షించబోయే అమృత ధారల కోసం ఆశావహ దృక్కులతో ఎదురుచూశారు. అయితే ఢిల్లీ సర్కార్‌కు దైవశక్తులు లేవని అంతిమంగా ప్రతి ఒక్కరికీ విదితమయింది. అయితేనేం, ఆ అట్టహాస వైఫల్యం, ఢిల్లీ సర్కార్‌ ప్రజల బాధలను ఉపేక్షించలేదని చెప్పేందుకు పనికివచ్చింది మరి. బెలెమ్‌లో ఐక్యరాజ్యసమితి వార్షిక వాతావరణ సదస్సూ, ఢిల్లీలో వార్షిక వాయు కాలుష్య బెడదను నివారించేందుకు ‘కృత్రిమ వర్ష’ ప్రయోగం రెండూ సమస్యను పరిష్కరించేందుకు సరిపోని, నిబద్ధత లేని చర్యలను ప్రదర్శించేందుకు మాత్రమే తోడ్పడుతున్నాయి. ఈ ప్రహసనప్రాయ కార్యాచరణల గురించే నేను నిజంగా ఆందోళన చెందుతున్నాను. ఐక్యరాజ్యసమితి ఏటా నిర్వహిస్తున్న కాప్‌ (కాన్ఫరెన్స్‌ ఆప్‌ పార్టీస్‌) శిఖరాగ్ర సదస్సులో దేశ దేశాల ప్రతినిధులు, నిపుణులు వాతావరణ మార్పును నిరోధించే చర్యల పురోగతి ఏ స్థాయిలో ఉన్నదీ సమీక్షించి, తీసుకోవల్సిన తదుపరి చర్యల గురించి చర్చించి నిర్ణయాలు తీసుకుంటారు. సరే, స్థిరమైన అభివృద్ధికి దోహదపడే విధంగా వాతావరణ మార్పులకు అనుగుణంగా అన్ని దేశాల సామర్థ్యాన్ని పెంచడమనేది ప్రస్తుతం బెలెమ్‌లో జరుగుతున్న కాప్‌ 30 అజెండా ప్రధాన లక్ష్యంగా ఉన్నది. వాతావరణ మార్పుల నెదుర్కొనేందుకు అభివృద్ధి చెందుతున్న దేశాలకు అందుతున్న ఆర్థిక సహాయం రుణాలు, ఈక్విటీల రూపేణా ఉంటోంది. అయితే ఇవి పేద దేశాల రుణ భారాన్ని మరింతగా పెంచడమే కాని అసలు లక్ష్య సాధనకు తోడ్పడడం లేదు. ఈ ఏడాది వాతావరణ మార్పు వైపరీత్యాలకు నష్టపోయిన అనేక దేశాలు అందుకున్న అంతర్జాతీయ ఆర్థిక సహాయం కంటే తమ రుణాలపై చెల్లించిన వడ్డీల మొత్తమూ అధికంగా ఉన్నది. అసలే వాతావరణ విపత్తులకు కుదేలయిపోయిన ఈ దేశాలు అభివృద్ధి సాధనకు అవసరమైన ఆర్థిక వనరులు కొరవడి అన్ని విధాల కృశించి పోతున్నాయి. ఈ పరిస్థితుల్లో హరిత గృహ వాయు ఉద్గారాల తగ్గింపునకు తోడ్పడే వాతావరణ చర్య (క్లైమేట్‌ యాక్షన్‌)కు అవి సమర్థంగా ఎలా పూనుకోగలుగుతాయి? చెప్పవచ్చినదేమిటంటే నిర్దేశించుకున్న లక్ష్యాలను సాధించడంలో చిత్తశుద్ధి కొరవడి, ప్రయోజనరహితంగా సాగుతున్న వార్షిక వాతావరణ సదస్సులకు స్వస్తి చెప్పాలి. ఢిల్లీలో ఏడాది పొడుగునా కాలుష్యాన్ని తగ్గించేందుకు ఒక కార్యాచరణ పథకం ఉన్నది. అయితే దాన్ని అమలుపరచడం లేదు. మాటలే కాని, చేతలు లేనప్పుడు జరిగే మేలు ఏమిటి? ప్రభుత్వాల క్రియారాహిత్యాన్ని కప్పిపుచ్చేందుకు మాత్రమే చర్చలు, సమావేశాలు తోడ్పడుతున్నాయి. నిర్దేశించుకున్న లక్ష్యాల సాధనకు దోహదం చేసే కార్యాచరణలకే తొలి, మలి, తుది, నిరంతర ప్రాధాన్యమివ్వాలి. అవును, మనం సదా లక్ష్య సాధక కార్యచరణలో ఉండాలి. అది మాత్రమే ముఖ్యం. అంతేగాని చేతలకు దిగకుండా మాటలకు పరిమితమైతే సమస్య నుంచి ఎలా బయటపడగలుగుతాము? అసలు సమస్య నుంచి బయటపడేందుకు మాట్లాడే అర్హతను సైతం కోల్పోతాము సుమా!

Best of Both Sides | Government has capacity to clean Delhi’s air. It needs the will to make changes and regulate

Dangerously high levels of air pollution keep Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) locked in a state of health emergency. When citizens gasp for breath, only ineffectual emergency measures are offered as the magic remedy during winter. It is time to challenge this obsession with short-term measures like road sweeping, water sprinkling and bans on construction, old vehicles and waste-burning. This stokes the rhetoric but does not clean up the air. Incremental and temporary measures cannot win the battle against pollution. Unless deep sectoral reforms cut emissions from vehicles, industry, power plants, waste streams, solid fuels in households and dust sources together, Delhi cannot achieve more than 60 per cent reduction in its annual PM2.5 levels to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The challenge is to de-link the pollution curve from the urban and industrial growth in this region. This requires systemic changes to bridge the gaps in action and also upscale action across the Indo-Gangetic Plain to reduce the influence of transboundary movement of pollution. It is important to acknowledge that there are no quick-fix solutions. Even in the past, Delhi could bend its pollution curve only with consistent targeting of dirty diesel in transport and coal in power plants and industries that required massive restructuring of the energy systems and natural gas-based infrastructure development. When winter action plans are flagged annually, there are barely ever any sector-wise report cards on the progress against the sectoral targets. It is not highlighted how the requirements of the comprehensive round-the-year action plans are integrated with the regulatory targets and the resource provisions to match the scale of implementation. Delhi cannot shy away from addressing the systemic solutions. To curb vehicular pollution, which accounts for nearly half of all local pollution sources during winter, Delhi requires a vehicle segment-wise mandate for zero emissions electric vehicle uptake and disincentives for internal combustion engines with enablers. Even this will not suffice unless Delhi meets its Master Plan target of meeting 80 per cent of its travel demand with integrated public transport systems. For example, increasing the number of electric buses without improving service and ridership cannot help. Huge funds are being diverted towards car-centric road infrastructure, including flyovers and wide roads that lock in car congestion and pollution. This funding requires repurposing to align with transit-oriented development with walkable and cyclable neighbourhoods and effective pricing of roads and parking spaces for vehicles. Similarly, to curb industrial emissions that also rank high during winter, address the bottlenecks to implementation of the approved clean fuels with a favourable pricing policy and promote electrification of industrial processes wherever technically feasible. Small-scale units need more innovative solutions while ensuring inventory and accounting of their energy mix and processes. Also curb industrial waste burning and fugitive emissions from industrial material storage and crushers. share-btnShare this article Even though coal-based power generation has stopped in Delhi, the electricity demand is still largely met through power sourced from coal-based plants outside the city. This requires increased sourcing of clean power while cleaning up power generation across the region. Waste will continue to burn if the municipal bodies do not collect and segregate 100 per cent of household waste. Delhi requires massive expansion in waste processing capacity, including composting and compressed biogas generation to feed the CNG network, while phasing out mixed-feed-based waste-to-energy systems. While remediating legacy waste, ensure 80 per cent of the fresh waste is processed and diverted from landfills.

Wuppertal Lunch: Global Mutirão vs. Geopolitical Crisis?

Off Target – The 2025 UNEP Emissions Gap Report highlights the global failure to meet climate goals. Current policies are not sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C, which could lead to significant health, ecosystem, and economic consequences. COP30, hosted by Brazil's newly elected and climate-ambitious presidency, offers a chance to reset. In the context of ongoing geopolitical tensions, Brazil is promoting the Global Mutirão, a collaborative initiative focused on implementation guided by the first global stocktake. The next weeks will reveal whether countries are inspired by the Global Mutirão to take meaningful action and keep climate goals within reach. Brazil, like many low- and middle-income nations, is confronted with the challenge of balancing short-term fossil-fueled growth with long-term climate commitments. This unique position has the potential to facilitate collaboration and promote progress at COP30. The Wuppertal Institute and Table.Briefings are on site in Belém and follow the negotiations closely – and will host a discussion on the conference outcomes enriched by the first analyses. Join us for a panel discussion with the following participants on 4 December: Wolfgang Obergassel, Co-Head of the Global Climate Governance Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute Max Schulze-Steinen, Researcher in the Global Climate Governance Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute Avantika Goswami, Programme Manager Climate Change at the Centre for Science and Environment Anna Pérez Català, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) Bernhard Pötter, Team Lead Climate.Table Registration is possible via the link below. Participants will receive an email confirmation with information on participation after registration. Participation in the Wuppertal Lunch is free of charge.

COP30: Can India step up and lead Global South on climate?

As nearly 200 countries debate the planet's climate future at the 30th UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Brazil's Amazonian city of Belem, India finds itself in a unique position in balancing the weight of its need for economic growth with its increasingly prominent role as a voice representing the Global South. This year's climate negotiations follow last year's disappointing COP29 held in Azerbaijan, where countries missed the climate finance mark and agreed to raise $300 billion (€259 billion) annually by 2035 instead of the appealed $1.3 trillion. Developing nations criticized countries with industrialized economies for dodging their responsibility by not pledging adequate climate financing. India said the pledged sum was "too little, too distant." Standing on the shaky ground set by COP29, this year's summit aims to operationalize the climate finance targets and revise national climate plans called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The host country, Brazil, has insisted this will be "the COP of implementation." How is India balancing economic and climate needs? For India, like other vulnerable countries in the Global South facing a disproportionate brunt of the climate crisis, the stakes and hopes are high. As one of the world's fastest growing economies, it walks a tightrope, balancing its economic ambitions with the collective responsibility of tackling the climate challenge. In the past few years, India has made substantial progress in the field of renewable energy — particularly solar and wind. It has the fourth largest renewable energy generation capacity in the world, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). And a report published in October by the International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that the country is set to become the second-largest renewables growth market globally, after China, by 2030. Despite its achievements in harnessing renewable power, India still relies heavily on coal, which is estimated to generate around 75% of its electricity. The country is the world's second largest coal consumer, after China. Amid strong economic growth and corresponding energy demand, India has seen a multifold jump in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The country was responsible for the biggest rise in GHG emissions globally between 2023 and 2024, adding about 165 million tons of GHGs during this period, according to a recent UN report. India's emissions have grown but "it has also become more proactive about committing to more ambitious mitigation action on its own through the NDCs," Aman Srivastava, a fellow studying climate policy at the Delhi-based think tank Sustainable Futures Collaborative, told DW. This year, India has achieved 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources — five years ahead of its 2030 target. Where do wealthy countries stand? This year, the US, which is historically the biggest emitter, pulled out of the 2015 Paris Agreement for the second time under President Donald Trump, who has dismissed climate change as a "hoax" and "a money-making industry." On the other hand, the European Union remains divided and unable to set a clear direction to achieve its climate goals. Just days before COP30 began, the EU agreed to cut emissions by 90% by 2040, from 1990 levels, but gave the target leeway by allowing member countries to buy foreign carbon credits to make up 5% of the emission reduction goal. Speaking of the West's waning leadership in climate affairs, Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, told DW the West's leadership role on climate policy is waning. "It's the crisis of Western economies today, which is spread across military conflicts, trade wars, deindustrialization, and economic stagnation — to which they are responding anxiously," she said. Dhanasree Jayaram, a co-coordinator at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education's Center for Climate Studies, shared a similar view. "Many developing countries have taken the lead while countries in the West or Global North have been faltering in the past decade," she told DW. This is an opportunity, Jayaram added, because "these were the countries that were often blamed for not contributing enough to the global public good." Tackling the effects of extreme weather | Eco India

COP30: Developing nations risk losing out on green economy benefits – Centre for Science and Environment

Developing countries risk being left behind in the global green transition unless they prioritize economic resilience and green industrialization, according to a new series of discussion papers by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Released ahead of the UN’s 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, the paper series titled “Towards a New Green World” calls on developing nations to focus on value addition and localized production to secure equitable participation in the emerging global green economy. CSE Director General Sunita Narain emphasized, “Inclusive and affordable development is critical for economic resilience and will help combat climate change.” She added, “Countries need an economic stake in the green transition, which requires domestic manufacturing and job creation. To achieve this, global trade and finance rules must be reset to support localization and value addition. There is an opportunity to establish distributed, locally led production systems as the foundation of green industrialization.” The papers address three key areas: agriculture and forest commodities, critical minerals, and clean technology manufacturing, offering a Southern perspective on how developing economies can secure a fair share of the green transition. According to the report, developing nations provide much of the world’s raw resources but capture only a small fraction of the profits. From cocoa and copper to lithium and solar cells, the green transition risks replicating old patterns of extraction and dependence. CSE climate change programme manager Avantika Goswami said, “We need to reinvent the climate agenda for the Global South. Calling for decarbonization without economic resilience is no longer viable.” The first paper, on agriculture and forest commodities, highlights that developing nations remain trapped in low-value export cycles. For example, Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce over 50% of the world’s cocoa beans, earn only 6.2% of total export revenue from value-added products like chocolate, while manufacturers and retailers in the Global North capture 80-90% of the profits. The report calls for a shift from raw exports to processing and product diversification. The second paper, on critical minerals, notes that while the Global South holds most reserves crucial for the energy transition, it captures little of the value generated. Goswami added, “These countries remain exposed to commodity price volatility, balance-of-payments instability, and geopolitical risks.” The paper analyzes strategies in Chile, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, advocating for policies that prioritize equity and justice for the Global South. The third paper, on clean technology manufacturing, points out that global production is dominated by China, the EU, and the US, with developing regions accounting for less than 5% of production value. It recommends renewed industrial policies, South-South cooperation, and reforms in trade rules to improve participation. Concluding the series, Narain said, “The future green economy must not replicate the inequalities of the old one. The Global South needs not just a greener world, but a fairer one, where economic resilience is integrated with climate action.”

COP30: Developing nations risk lagging in global green economy transition

Will developing countries be left behind in the race towards a new, green economy? This is an emerging threat, says a set of new discussion papers by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a time when the UN’s 30th Conference of Parties (COP) has kicked off in Belem in Brazil amid a turbulent geopolitical landscape in which climate ambition is struggling to stay afloat. 'Towards a new green world', as the CSE paper series is called, was released on the eve of COP30. It calls for centering economic resilience, value addition and green industrialisation in the climate agenda for developing countries. Releasing the series, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Inclusive and affordable development is critical for economic resilience and will help combat climate change.” “Countries need an economic stake in the green transition, which requires domestic manufacturing and job creation. For this, we must also reset global trade and finance rules for localisation and value addition. "There is an opportunity to rethink these rules so that distributed local-led production systems can become the basis of green industrialisation,” Narain added. Focussing on three strategic fronts of the green transition -- agriculture and forest commodities, critical minerals, and clean technology and manufacturing -- the series presents a Southern perspective on how the Global South can participate and stay afloat in the new, green economy. Across commodities, minerals and manufacturing, developing countries face a common dilemma: They supply the world’s resources but capture too little of the value. From raw cocoa and copper to lithium and solar cells, the green transition is repeating old patterns of extraction and dependence. “The global green transition risks reproducing old inequities under a new climate-friendly banner, unless the Global South is empowered to capture greater value, diversify its economies, and shape the governance of emerging green industries,” says Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE. “We need to reinvent the climate agenda for the Global South. Calling for decarbonisation without economic resilience is no longer viable,” she adds. On agriculture and forest commodities, developing countries are trapped in a low-value export cycle -- they sell raw agricultural and forest commodities, and end up with almost nothing of the value, says the first paper in the series. For instance, Ivory Coast and Ghana produce over 50 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans; but, they account for a mere 6.2 per cent of the total export revenue from value-added products like chocolate and cocoa powder. In contrast, manufacturers and retailers located in Global North countries capture almost 80-90 per cent of the total profit margin of a chocolate bar. The paper argues that “a shift from raw exports to processing and diversification is critical”. On critical minerals, the Global South holds most of the world’s reserves of critical minerals crucial for energy transition; but it captures little of the value generated from refining and manufacturing. Says Goswami: “These countries remain exposed to commodity price volatility, balance-of-payments instability, and geopolitical risk.” Taking the cases of three countries -- Chile, Indonesia, and Congo -- the paper has analysed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their critical minerals policies and strategic plans and offers a list of principles for paving the way forward through centering equity and justice for the Global South in the climate-trade-development nexus. On clean technology manufacturing, global clean tech manufacturing is concentrated in China, the EU and the US; developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia together account for less than 5 per cent of production value. Meanwhile, the Global South faces a dual challenge of decarbonising while industrialising to meet the demands of a growing economy. Structural asymmetries persist: Developing nations assemble goods but import value-heavy inputs. This paper explores how countries can pursue green industrialisation by building clean-tech manufacturing capacity amid China’s dominance, limited domestic capacities, and unequal participation in global trade. Using case studies from China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, it outlines key takeaways from country experiences in the clean technology sector, calling for renewed industrial policy, South-South cooperation, and global rule reform to build resilient economies. The three papers present preliminary pathways for how developing countries can capture more value, earn more revenue and emerge as strong players in the new green economy for combating climate change. Says Narain: “The future green economy must not mirror the inequalities of the old one. The Global South needs not just a greener world -- but a fairer one, with economic resilience at its core, in hand with climate action.”

COP30: Developing nations at risk of being left behind in green economy race, says research

Will developing countries be left behind in the race towards a new, green economy? This is an emerging threat, says a set of new discussion papers by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a time when the UN’s 30th Conference of Parties (COP) has kicked off in Belem in Brazil amid a turbulent geopolitical landscape in which climate ambition is struggling to stay afloat. ‘Towards a new green world’, as the CSE paper series is called, was released on the eve of COP30. It calls for centering economic resilience, value addition and green industrialisation in the climate agenda for developing countries. Releasing the series, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Inclusive and affordable development is critical for economic resilience and will help combat climate change.” “Countries need an economic stake in the green transition, which requires domestic manufacturing and job creation. For this, we must also reset global trade and finance rules for localisation and value addition. “There is an opportunity to rethink these rules so that distributed local-led production systems can become the basis of green industrialisation,” Narain added.

COP30: CSE warns developing nations risk exclusion from green economy

Will developing countries be left behind in the race towards a new, green economy? This is an emerging threat, says a set of new discussion papers by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a time when the UN’s 30th Conference of Parties (COP) has kicked off in Belem in Brazil amid a turbulent geopolitical landscape in which climate ambition is struggling to stay afloat. ‘Towards a new green world’, as the CSE paper series is called, was released on the eve of COP30. It calls for centering economic resilience, value addition and green industrialisation in the climate agenda for developing countries. Releasing the series, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Inclusive and affordable development is critical for economic resilience and will help combat climate change.” Focussing on three strategic fronts of the green transition — agriculture and forest commodities, critical minerals, and clean technology and manufacturing — the series presents a Southern perspective on how the Global South can participate and stay afloat in the new, green economy. Across commodities, minerals and manufacturing, developing countries face a common dilemma: They supply the world’s resources but capture too little of the value. From raw cocoa and copper to lithium and solar cells, the green transition is repeating old patterns of extraction and dependence. For instance, Ivory Coast and Ghana produce over 50 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans; but, they account for a mere 6.2 per cent of the total export revenue from value-added products like chocolate and cocoa powder. In contrast, manufacturers and retailers located in Global North countries capture almost 80-90 per cent of the total profit margin of a chocolate bar. The paper argues that “a shift from raw exports to processing and diversification is critical”.

Populist Gimmicks, Dismantling Checks: How the Govt Just Won't Let Delhi Breathe

Almost 10 years ago, on January 1, 2016, Delhi had dared to act. It launched the odd-even car-rationing scheme – a desperate but decisive action against the city’s most visible polluter. As head of the Delhi government’s policy think-tank, I had convened a team of leading environmental experts months earlier. Back then, Delhi didn’t have a reliable pollution inventory – no clear data on what was poisoning us or in what proportion. Yet after weeks of analysis, the experts reached an emphatic conclusion: if Delhi wanted clean air, it had to strike at its biggest culprit – vehicular emissions. Since then, study after study – from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Centre for Science and Environment, and TERI – has confirmed that vehicles are the single largest source of Delhi’s PM2.5, contributing between 41% and 51% of the city’s pollution. Delhi has over 10 million registered vehicles — not counting the 6 million petrol and diesel vehicles already past the age limit of 15 and 10 years respectively. Along with the millions of cars, two-wheelers, and commercial vehicles that come into the city every day and spew out PM2.5 and NOx, you have a city poisoning itself on four wheels. The polluted air is causing an unprecedented rise in asthma, lung diseases, heart problems, and strokes. Pollution kills more people in Delhi than obesity or diabetes. How is this then not a public health emergency on the same level as COVID? Why are there no daily health bulletins, no advisories, no emergency financing, no Mann ki Baat? Instead, Delhi has normalised a “pollution season” even as India proclaims itself a Vishwa Guru. Instead of tightening the rules on vehicular emissions, the new Delhi government is systematically dismantling them. It has quietly diluted the Supreme Court’s 2018 order to phase out Delhi’s dirtiest vehicles – diesels over 10 years and petrol cars over 15. This July, government suspended the ban on refuelling these polluting vehicles, citing citizens’ “emotional attachment” to their vehicles. As a result, nearly 6 million polluting vehicles were back on the roads. Then more recently the government has permitted the deregistered vehicles to get re-registered outside Delhi-NCR. The argument is that this will move the polluting vehicles to other states. It is an insult to reason. We all share the common air shed. If fumes from farm fires from Punjab and Haryana do not stop at the states’ borders, then how vehicular pollution from neighbouring states won’t enter Delhi? Also what stops the owners of these vehicles from driving them back into the city after re-registering them in neighbouring states? The populist gimmicks – designed to please the electorate – have not stopped with rehabilitating old polluting vehicles. This year, both the Delhi government and the Union government pleaded before the Supreme Court not to protect citizens from poison in the air, but to secure the “right” to burst firecrackers. The ban was lifted. For three nights Delhi exploded, firecrackers went off across the city. The morning after Diwali the capital woke up under a lid of smoke so thick you could chew it. And then, to complete the theatre of charade, the Delhi government floated the grand spectacle of artificial rain — a stunt that failed as dramatically as “green” crackers. Then the Delhi government pulled another stunt – announcing an “innovation challenge” with Rs 50 lakh prizes for start-ups to “solve” air pollution. One more cruel joke from a government that champions firecrackers in the name of religion and defends old polluting cars as family heirlooms. Delhi’s crisis endures not for lack of solutions, but because of political deceit – leaders who pretend to act while letting the city choke. When London, Los Angeles, and Beijing were choking in in thick, brown, acrid air, they didn’t respond with populist exceptions, pseudo-science, and innovation hackathons. They shifted coal plants and polluting industries, limited new vehicle registrations, and spent billions on clean public transport, last mile connectivity and cycling infrastructure. Their actions and policies were based on science, political will, and sustained enforcement. Vehicles remain Delhi’s biggest polluter. The entire NCR needs a robust, electric, and reliable public transport system, making cars optional rather than indispensable. Delhi-NCR has a world class metro, but third class bus and last mile connectivity, because of which for a large number of people car remains the preferred mode of transport. According to the CAG, the Delhi Transport Corporation added only two buses between 2011–12 and 2021–22. The fleet actually shrank – from 4,344 buses in 2015-16 to 3,937 in 2022-23 – despite hundreds of crores available. By contrast, Beijing has a fleet of 23,000 public buses (as of 2024). Not surprising then that the Delhi-NCR adds 15-20 lakh vehicles annually. An efficient bus network depends on integrated control over service levels, street and bus stops design, infrastructure, and enforcement. In Delhi no single body currently has that integrated authority. Delhi’s bus governance has design flaws. It is shaped by multiple agencies, each performing different statutory roles: DTC/DIMTS/DTIDC/Transport Department: policy and permits (Transport Dept), operations (DTC), technical-ITS support (DIMTS), and infrastructure such as terminals and depots (DTIDC). PWD: arterial roads, lane markings, signals MCD: local roads, shelters, footpaths, vending zones DDA: ROW planning, depot land approvals Delhi Traffic Police: enforcement of lane discipline and traffic rules This institutional fragmentation is the core reason why bus reform has not achieved outcomes comparable to the Delhi Metro. Unless the public transport across NCR is made world class complimenting the Delhi metro with high quality buses, and last mile connectivity, the spectacular rise in private vehicle ownership and usage will not cease. The government of India and the government of NCT Delhi can create a joint venture for bus services, along the lines of DMRC. This would consolidate planning, procurement, operations, and fare integration under one empowered, technocratic authority, much like DMRC. Coordination with PWD, MCD, DDA and Delhi Police would be institutionalised through formal frameworks. After stabilising Delhi operations, this model can evolve into an NCR Bus & Transit Corporation with participation from Haryana, UP, and Rajasthan – mirroring the DMRC’s regional success. Expecting the Delhi government to impose congestion pricing or demarcating low-emission zones – as London did – would be naïve. But it can still push hard on electric mobility. Delhi’s 2020 EV policy was a start; by 2022, over 10% of new vehicles sold were electric. Now is the time to scale that to 25%, 50%, and beyond. Every diesel bus or petrol scooter replaced is pollution we don’t breathe. Like Beijing, Delhi must also invest in last-mile connectivity and protected cycling lanes—so people don’t have to walk for miles to access major transit hubs.

Developing Nations At Risk Of Being Left Behind

Will developing countries be left behind in the race towards a new, green economy? This is an emerging threat, says a set of new discussion papers by New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a time when the UN’s 30th Conference of Parties (COP) has kicked off in Belem in Brazil amid a turbulent geopolitical landscape in which climate ambition is struggling to stay afloat. ‘Towards a new green world’, as the CSE paper series is called, was released on the eve of COP30. It calls for centering economic resilience, value addition and green industrialization in the climate agenda for developing countries. Releasing the series, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Inclusive and affordable development is critical for economic resilience and will help combat climate change.” “Countries need an economic stake in the green transition, which requires domestic manufacturing and job creation. For this, we must also reset global trade and finance rules for localization and value addition. “There is an opportunity to rethink these rules so that distributed local-led production systems can become the basis of green industrialization,” Narain added. Focusing on three strategic fronts of the green transition — agriculture and forest commodities, critical minerals, and clean technology and manufacturing — the series presents a Southern perspective on how the Global South can participate and stay afloat in the new, green economy. Across commodities, minerals and manufacturing, developing countries face a common dilemma: They supply the world’s resources but capture too little of the value. From raw cocoa and copper to lithium and solar cells, the green transition is repeating old patterns of extraction and dependence. “The global green transition risks reproducing old inequities under a new climate-friendly banner, unless the Global South is empowered to capture greater value, diversify its economies, and shape the governance of emerging green industries,” says Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE. “We need to reinvent the climate agenda for the Global South. Calling for decarbonization without economic resilience is no longer viable,” she adds. On agriculture and forest commodities, developing countries are trapped in a low-value export cycle — they sell raw agricultural and forest commodities, and end up with almost nothing of the value, says the first paper in the series. For instance, Ivory Coast and Ghana produce over 50 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans; but, they account for a mere 6.2 per cent of the total export revenue from value-added products like chocolate and cocoa powder. In contrast, manufacturers and retailers located in Global North countries capture almost 80-90 per cent of the total profit margin of a chocolate bar. The paper argues that “a shift from raw exports to processing and diversification is critical”. On critical minerals, the Global South holds most of the world’s reserves of critical minerals crucial for energy transition; but it captures little of the value generated from refining and manufacturing. Says Goswami: “These countries remain exposed to commodity price volatility, balance-of-payments instability, and geopolitical risk.” Taking the cases of three countries — Chile, Indonesia, and Congo — the paper has analyzed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their critical minerals policies and strategic plans and offers a list of principles for paving the way forward through centering equity and justice for the Global South in the climate-trade-development nexus. On clean technology manufacturing, global clean tech manufacturing is concentrated in China, the EU and the US; developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia together account for less than 5 per cent of production value. Meanwhile, the Global South faces a dual challenge of decarbonizing while industrializing to meet the demands of a growing economy. Structural asymmetries persist: Developing nations assemble goods but import value-heavy inputs. This paper explores how countries can pursue green industrialization by building clean-tech manufacturing capacity amid China’s dominance, limited domestic capacities, and unequal participation in global trade. Using case studies from China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, it outlines key takeaways from country experiences in the clean technology sector, calling for renewed industrial policy, South-South cooperation, and global rule reform to build resilient economies. (IANS)

Green Transition: Developing Countries Urged to Step Up to Avoid Losses

Developing countries risk being left behind in the new green economy despite being richly endowed with critical minerals crucial for energy transition, a new report has revealed. The report, titled “Towards a New Green World: Critical Minerals—Moving Up the Value Chain, by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reveals that the ongoing global transition toward renewable energy is repeating old patterns of resource extraction and dependency. While developing nations provide the raw materials needed for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles, the real profits are reaped elsewhere. “Developing countries continue to export raw materials while industrialized nations capture most of the value through refining, manufacturing, and innovation,” reads part of the report. According to the report, from copper and cobalt to lithium and rare earth elements, the mineral wealth of the Global South powers the world’s green ambitions, but the benefits rarely reach those who mine them. For instance, Chile contributes around 30 percent of the world’s raw copper exports, yet captures only 12 percent of the revenue from processed copper. Australia supplies more than 76 percent of global raw lithium, but China earns nearly a quarter of the world’s processed lithium export revenues. Meanwhile, Indonesia produces over 60 percent of mined nickel, but China and Japan control 75 percent of global refining capacity. “Countries need an economic stake in the green transition, which requires domestic manufacturing and job creation. For this, we must also reset global trade and finance rules for localisation and value addition. There is an opportunity to rethink these rules so that distributed local-led production systems can become the basis of green industrialisation,” said Sunita Narain, CSE’s Director general. The report warns that if developing countries remain stuck in the role of raw material suppliers, they could face new economic vulnerabilities. Heavy reliance on mineral exports exposes economies to commodity price shocks, environmental degradation, and “boom-and-bust” cycles that weaken long-term development. For example, Chile’s current account balance surged twenty-fold in 2004 during a global copper price spike, only to contract sharply when prices fell again. However, the report also highlights emerging success stories showing that change is possible. Indonesia, for example, banned the export of nickel ore in 2014 and introduced incentives for companies investing in local smelting and refining. This policy attracted over US$20 billion in downstream projects and transformed the country into the world’s largest refined-nickel producer. “In Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have formed a joint battery value chain partnership aimed at local processing of nickel, manganese, and cobalt critical inputs for electric vehicle batteries. Similarly, the African Union’s Green Minerals Strategy, launched in 2025, seeks to ensure that Africa moves from being merely a supplier of raw materials to an integrated partner in global value chains,” the report reads. To prevent the green transition from becoming another form of exploitation, the report proposes four strategic pillars for the Global South. First, sufficiency encouraging sustainable consumption and reducing over extraction. Second, recycling and circularity. Investing in technologies to recover minerals from e-waste and used batteries. Third, regional cooperation, through frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to harmonize standards and attract investment. Fourth, economic diversification, to reduce dependence on single-resource exports and build resilience against price shocks. “The global green transition risks reproducing old inequities under a new climate-friendly banner, unless the Global South is empowered to capture greater value, diversify its economies, and shape the governance of emerging green industries,” says Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE. The study calls on policymakers to embed justice, human rights, and environmental safeguards in mineral governance. It also urges stronger international collaboration that enables fair financing, technology transfer, and equitable participation in the green value chain. “The future green economy must not mirror the inequalities of the old one. The Global South needs not just a greener world but a fairer one, with economic resilience at its core, in hand with climate action,” says Narain.