India's climate conversation is organised largely around technological targets such as solar capacity, electric-vehicle sales and green hydrogen, but it is missing Gandhi's question of how much is enough, P Divya argues in a column for Down To Earth. The views are the writer's own.
Efficiency provides the same service with fewer resources; sufficiency asks whether the service is needed at that scale. Electric cars cut tailpipe emissions but do not solve congestion or the unequal use of public space, the writer says, and renewable energy has its own footprint in land, water and minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper. Efficiency can also backfire through the rebound effect, as cheaper running costs encourage more use.
The column places this within climate justice: millions of Indians still need housing, electricity, cooling and transport, and India's per capita emissions are far below those of rich countries. But development, it argues, should not copy resource-heavy lifestyles, and affluent households with larger footprints should carry more of the adjustment than the poor.
Among the proposals are buildings designed for shade, ventilation and passive cooling with the Energy Conservation Building Code built into urban design, cities that place homes, work and schools closer together, a practical right to repair, extended producer responsibility, and less food and material waste. Drawing on Gandhi's idea of trusteeship, the writer says land, water, minerals and the atmosphere should be treated as shared foundations held for future generations.
Source: Down To Earth
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