Time for Indian Church to Seriously Introspect Climate Change

M L Satyan –

The terrible heatwave spread across the country has been bothering me for a while as I too have experienced it in March-April this year. Here are some interviews by media:

A bicycle rickshaw driver Sagar Mandal of Delhi told CNN on June 20, 2024, that he has been getting fewer passengers because people opt for air-conditioned taxis over open-air transport.

“My body can’t take it, but I have to keep cycling. We are used to physical labour. We are not complaining about that. But this heat is not normal, something has to change,” the 39-year-old Sagar, who pedals people around the city, said. With a sad tone he further said, “No one cares if we live or die, no matter who you vote for. This is a problem no one wants to solve.”

Nikhil Kumar, an auto-rickshaw driver said his workdays are getting longer and tougher amid the heat. “It doesn’t get any better at night, even at night I am sweating. It rained a little last night but look how hot it is today, there is no relief,” the 26-year-old driver said.

“We have been living in this neighbourhood for 40 years, but we have never seen a summer like this,” said 60-year-old Kalyani Saha, a resident of the Lajpat Nagar neighbourhood of the capital city.

“There hasn’t been power for the last two hours, in the middle of the day that’s unbearable,” Saha told CNN, saying that power cuts also render their air-conditioning system useless. Further she said, “We get water only once a day, and it is scalding hot, unless you fill up a bucket and let it cool off all day before using it. You can’t bathe in this water.”

An official in the Ministry of Health told CNN, “At least 40,000 cases of heat stroke have been reported in India since March, and at least 110 people have died across the country due to suspected heat stroke as well.”

A staff from the NGO – Centre for Health Development India – said, “Between June 11 and 19, Delhi saw 192 heatwave-related deaths among its homeless population, a record high compared with the same period in the last five years.” 

Climate change, predominantly caused by burning fossil fuels and exacerbated by human interference, is making heatwaves hotter and more likely to happen everywhere in the world. India is being hit by one of its worst heatwaves streaks ever, with many parts of the country experiencing consistent temperatures of over 50ºC.

Extreme heat forced schools to close early for the summer in India. Temperatures in at least 37 cities exceeded 45ºC, with warnings of a “very high likelihood” of heat illnesses for the entire population. Night-time temperatures remained as high as 36ºC in some locations, which is particularly dangerous as it means people cannot cool off at night. The number of heat stroke cases is likely a huge underestimate.

Heat in India and South Asia is characterised by being extremely humid, which makes it more dangerous for human health. High humidity levels prevent the body from cooling itself through sweating, raising the risk of heat strokes and other life-threatening conditions. The combination of intense heat and humidity poses life-threatening risks to the population, exposing them to conditions that exceed human tolerance.

Here are some excerpts from an article by Sibu Kumar Tripathi published in India Today, on May 30, 2024. “Dr. Krishna Achuta Rao, Professor and Dean, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, says, “The widespread, long-lasting, and intense heatwave conditions over India and many other parts of the world are the direct result of climate change caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases. There is an urgent need to take adaptation steps to control the rising global average temperatures; else, the result is in front of us.”

“Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, says, “Heatwaves are clearly the single largest threat to India’s well-being today. Record-breaking heat of over 48ºC across north, west, and central India shows that the climate crisis is a nice-to-push rhetoric as long as one has not experienced a 50ºC heatwave. As more and more Indian cities develop faster, climate resilience needs to be incorporated immediately to reduce the compounding impacts of extreme heat on human health, the economy, and livelihoods.”

“Aditya Valiathan Pillai, Fellow, Sustainable Futures Collaborative, says, “Delhi’s sustained high temperatures nearing the 50s bring the focus back on its Heat Action Plan. In this infernal heat, millions of heat-exposed workers without access to cooling will struggle to earn their wages, protect their families, and stay safe. Heatwave preparedness and response measures in Delhi’s newly minted Heat Action Plan must be implemented immediately.”

India’s domestic policy on climate and environmental action includes protecting regional glaciers, greening the railway system, reducing single-use plastic and producing clean cooking fuel etc. How well are they implemented remains a million-dollar question.

The church’s response: Way back in 2015 in his Encyclical named Laudato Si, Pope Francis wrote, “I do not want to write this Encyclical without turning to that attractive and compelling figure, whose name I took as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically.

“Mother earth now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated.”

“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change. I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. The worldwide ecological movement has already made considerable progress and led to the establishment of numerous organizations committed to raising awareness of these challenges. Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest.”

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. Its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry.”

The Pope highlighted burning issues like pollution, water, biodiversity, quality of human life, breakdown of society and global inequality. He focused on an integral ecology. This is what our rishis, sages and saints called as “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (Universe as a joint-family). They always invoked, “Loka Samastha, Sukhino Bhavanthu” (let everyone in the universe live happily).

From 2015, has the Indian Catholic Church taken Laudato Si forward? If so, how far? What have been the church’s initiatives to protect Mother Earth? Do the church infrastructures and the Christian lifestyle bear examples of integral ecology? It is time for a serious introspection and transformation.