Janak Prasad, 52, lives in Jasola, Delhi, from where he commutes to his office every day on a bicycle. He says it is convenient and economical, and it also saves a lot of time. However, his major concern is that there’s no separate lane for cyclists. “We have to ride on the main road which makes us prone to road accidents. And then there is air pollution. Cyclists directly inhale the pollutants. We do not pollute the environment but are the worst sufferers.” This very concern of Janak Prasad questions the government’s claim to have less per capita CO2 emissions in India than other countries.
In last month’s COP26 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that in India, CO2 emissions per capita are much lower than other major world economies. India has claimed this at several world conferences. He also talked about consumerism, and gave a mantra of LIFE—lifestyle for the environment. But a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center using World Bank data has estimated that the number of poor in India—with income of $2 per day or less in terms of purchasing power parity—has more than doubled to 134 million from 60 million in just a year due to the pandemic-induced recession. This shows that a large section of our society lacks the privilege of leading a decent lifestyle and they the contribute least to air pollution and CO2 emissions.
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