‘People will be exposed to extreme health risks…’: Prof. Joyeeta Gupta on India’s climate crisis

Prof. Joyeeta Gupta, at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025, argued that even the 1.5°C goal is not “just” and that a truly fair climate target should be 1°C of warming. Drawing on work from the Earth Commission presented in top scientific forums, she said a 1°C ceiling would limit severe climate impacts to less than 1% of the global population, whereas harm rises sharply as the world moves toward 1.5°C. Framing this as a justice issue, she implied that India’s updated NDCs and global climate policy should be benchmarked not just to feasibility, but to what genuinely protects vulnerable people.