TERI's Amit Kumar Thakur: Climate change is an economic issue for India's low-carbon transition
openthemagazine.comTERI executive Amit Kumar Thakur argues that climate change is fundamentally an economic and social issue for India, not just an environmental one. Speaking at OPEN Green Shift, he highlighted how heat stress cost India an estimated 419 labor hours per person in 2024, hitting outdoor workers in agriculture and construction hardest. He stressed that India's low-carbon transition must protect livelihoods and communities, not just cut emissions. Thakur also noted that corporate social responsibility spending in India has grown from about 8,000 crore rupees annually in 2014 to nearly 40,000 crore rupees, with companies moving from one-off projects to multi-year programs tied to Sustainable Development Goals. He pointed to ESG reporting as a key factor shaping investor confidence. The core message: climate action in India needs to be people-centric, balancing environmental goals with economic opportunity as the country works toward its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.