Card Gracias: as one of the most polluted countries, India needs a serious commitment to the climate

The archbishop of Mumbai is among 260 religious leaders who signed an appeal to world leaders asking them to implement immediately the Paris climate agreement. Citing Pope Francis’ Laudato si’ encyclical, he stresses that it is the poor who pay for pollution. “Step outside in India, and often you will be breathing some of the dirtiest city air on the planet,” he writes.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Some 76 million people lack access to safe drinking water in India; this is the largest number in the world. Periods of extreme drought affect various States every year – six of ten of the most polluted cities in the world are in India. Their residents breathe air that is up to 15 times more polluted than the maximum allowable limit.

This has pushed Card Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, to sign a declaration asking the world’s heads of state to put into practice immediately the Paris climate agreement.

More than 260 religious leaders signed the declaration. In it, they urge governments – which ratified the historic agreement on climate change last week in New York – to accelerate the elimination of subsidies to fossil fuel as part of the transition to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.

Card Gracias is one of 20 Indian religious leaders who signed the Interfaith Climate Change Statement. Writing in The Hindustan Times about the appalling conditions in which people live in his country, he reminded his fellow citizens of “how humanity is abusing our planet, a gift from God.”

“Faith communities are already working hard to alleviate many of the world’s problems, but we can do even more by reducing emissions in homes, workplaces and centres of worship, and to divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable sources of energy.

Citing Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’ on the care of creation, the cardinal notes, “Immorally, it is of course the poor who have contributed least to these problems that are worst impacted. For their sakes, the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, coupled with unabated and unplanned urbanization, must cease soon as possible. Twenty-one countries have already proven that it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while keeping the economy growing — India could be among them, but is not.”

In a reference to Earth Day, which was celebrated on 22 April, the prelate pointed out that "the current state of our planet means we must rather bemoan its condition and act to rectify them.”

“Almost a year on from the Pope’s Encyclical, Laudato Si, which I invite everyone to read, how much has the world and India changed?” he asks. The answer is depressing.

“Pope Francis wrote that, due to pollution and climate change, ‘our home is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth’. Step outside in India, and often you will be breathing some of the dirtiest city air on the planet. Take a walk through our towns and villages, and you will see the foulness of our rivers.”

Of course, there are some signs for optimism. “The government’s ambitious targets for renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are noble, and worldwide renewable energy investments are increasing at an astonishing rate. With the cost of solar energy plummeting, the situation can only get better. And Delhi has recently trialled its car pollution-reduction scheme to great success.”

Yet, “This is simply not enough”.

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