Climate change is no longer a future risk that governments can debate in conferences and declarations. It is already shaping health outcomes, economic losses and everyday living conditions across countries, particularly in the developing world.
India’s experience with recurring heatwaves shows how climate stress is now translating into lost labour hours, rising hospitalisations and pressure on food production. Productivity declines during extreme heat are becoming routine, while public health systems absorb the burden of heat-related illness and mortality. These are not abstract environmental impacts, they are measurable economic and social costs.
At the same time, global dependence on fossil fuels continues, slowing the transition that could limit further damage. While renewable capacity is expanding, energy systems remain anchored in coal, oil and gas, locking in future climate risks. The result is a feedback loop where emissions drive extreme weather, and extreme weather deepens economic strain.
The debate is no longer about whether climate action is expensive. The evidence increasingly shows that delay is costlier. Every year of slow transition adds to healthcare spending, infrastructure damage, food insecurity and income losses.
Climate policy, therefore, must be viewed not as an environmental obligation but as economic risk management. Investments in clean energy, heat-resilient cities, public health preparedness and adaptive infrastructure are now core development priorities.
The longer governments treat climate change as a distant concern, the more it becomes a daily crisis for workers, farmers and urban populations alike. The choice is no longer between growth and climate action, it is between planned transition and unmanaged damage.
