India struggles to weave environment into development strategy

India has yet to adequately integrate environmental safeguards into its core development planning, limiting the influence of ecological concerns on major policy decisions, according to analysts at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Nitin Desai, a senior figure at the think tank, noted that while environmental issues receive rhetorical commitment, they struggle for meaningful space in actual policymaking processes. This structural gap persists even as climate-related challenges intensify across the country, from water scarcity to air pollution.

The integration gap reflects broader global challenges in climate action. Experts flagged significant hurdles in accessing climate finance, with developing nations facing difficulties in securing promised funding from wealthier economies. Simultaneously, international cooperation mechanisms have weakened, complicating coordinated responses to shared environmental challenges.

The disconnect between environmental planning and development trajectories has immediate consequences for India's ability to meet its climate commitments while sustaining economic growth. Policymakers face mounting pressure to redesign frameworks that treat environmental protection not as a constraint on development, but as fundamental to it.

Without systemic integration of environmental considerations into decision-making architecture, experts warn that India risks perpetuating patterns that defer ecological costs to future generations while compromising the resilience of development gains.