Climate Change and You: A for austerity in a B for brittle world

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Climate Change & You is a fortnightly newsletter written by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to Mint’s newsletters to get them directly in your inbox.How much nations consume, and how extravagantly, has a direct impact on the health of the planet, via what is known as the carbon footprint of consumption.

The problem is that consumption is crucial to economic growth and job sustainability. Statesmen, therefore, call for austerity only in extreme situations.

The world is in one now due to the war in West Asia that has upended energy markets and disrupted the supply of many related commodities.So, it’s not surprising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to Indians to curtail consumption of certain products, primarily imported fuels and gold, as well as some behaviour change, such as avoiding foreign holidays (to save on forex since the current account deficit is widening) and using more public transport and electric vehicles.Two of these austerity measures are unusual. PM Modi has appealed to farmers to reduce the use of imported fertilisers by up to 50%.

Though farmers tend to overuse heavily subsidised fertilisers like urea, any sharp reduction in fertiliser application can severely impact crop yields. A transition to natural and organic farming can work when it happens gradually over several years, rather than suddenly.

This year, a below normal monsoon is likely to keep a lid on fertiliser use.Another suggestion is to reduce cooking oil use by at least 10%. That’s because global edible oil prices are rising—producer countries are diverting their supplies (like palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia) to make biofuels as a replacement of expensive petrol and diesel.