India’s next leader will have the chance to lead the world on climate

Indian readers make up a growing part of New Scientist’s audience – little surprise given the nation’s interest in and affinity for science and technology. The same is true more widely, with growth and development seeing India surge to become a major world power.

At the turn of the century, India ranked 13th in the world for GDP, fewer than 60 per cent of its citizens had electricity and it had launched a handful of satellites to orbit. As the nation goes to the polls this month, it does so as the world’s fifth largest economy. Nearly its entire population has electricity and it has sent uncrewed missions to the moon and Mars. In the next few years, India is expected to rank third for GDP, behind the US and China, and to launch its first crewed spacecraft.

Much of this rise is due to sheer demographics. Last year, India overtook China to become the world’s most populous country. But the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely expected to win a third term, have clearly played a role in India’s fortunes. In our special report, we examine Modi’s record on key issues including climate change (see “India is poised to become a climate leader, but is it up to the task?“), health (“India’s healthcare system falls short despite Modi’s improvements“) and other areas of science and technology policy.

While India’s approach to climate change is far from perfect, it is at least a relief that the basic science and need for mitigation aren’t up for political debate. The same can’t be said for elections taking place elsewhere. In the US, Donald Trump plans to dismantle environmental regulation should he win the presidency in November, which would produce an extra 4 gigatonnes of emissions by 2030, according to policy website Carbon Brief. Meanwhile, the UK’s ruling Conservative party, which is expected to lose the country’s upcoming general election, continues to push back against environmental policies.

All this means that whoever wins India’s election should grab the chance to play a key role in global climate negotiations. The nation’s growing power means that soon we will all be forced to sit up and pay attention.