Hazardous levels of air pollution are continuing to persist in India’s northern states. Citizens are looking to governments to urgently tackle what has now been officially declared as a public health emergency.
Jarnail Singh, India Director, The Climate Group says:
“Air pollution is a year-round issue in the National Capital Region. Every winter, however, the focus remains on stubble-burning by farmers in states neighbouring Delhi. While that’s a clear issue, the consistent pollution from fossil fuels – and in particular, diesel vehicle emissions – remains a significant constituent of the toxic smog throughout the year.
“We can see governments taking steps to address the issue, including bringing in the odd-even rule in Delhi – however, this is not enough. We urge governments to speed up the adoption of renewable energy and electric mobility (public and commercial) to help put an end to the pollution crisis and risk to human health.
“Through our work with Indian businesses and governments, we can see that good progress is being made in adopting renewable energy and electric mobility, through our initiatives RE100 and EV100. Leading Indian companies like Tata Motors, Dalmia Bharat Cement and Infosys are making efforts to source 100% renewable electricity. On the other hand, companies like State Bank of India, Wipro and Shuttl amongst others have committed to move to 100% electric vehicle fleets by 2030. As we enter a critical decade for climate action, we encourage even more companies to join these initiatives to supplement the efforts of the governments in accelerating climate action.”
