Opinion
Sunita Narain Calls the Voluntary Carbon Offset Market a Fraudulent Scam
“So, you know, when I study, it's a scam. It's not even such a Fraud, I cannot tell you.”
Opinion
Narain: EU CBAM and US IRA will harm climate progress
“So in my view, these kind of taxation systems that are emerging in the world, the US has IRA, which is a subsidy system, works the same, because you're subsidizing your own industry versus other industry. Europe has a taxation system. I think those are going t…”
Opinion
Imposing Western Veganism Demonetizes Cattle for Vulnerable Indian Farmers
“Now, if you believe in the kind of vegetarianism, veganism, which is becoming an issue, what happens to the Indian farmer? You demonetize their cattle. You take away their ability to be able to use their animal, their livestock, for the value that they will ge…”
Assertion Partly supported
Western Nations Faked Emission Reductions by Exporting Manufacturing to China
“China became part of it in 2002, and it's a clear relationship between when China joined and how its emission curve went up. Now, the problem is not that China's emission curve went up, but the fact the rest of the world thought they had reduced their emission…”
Assertion Supported
Developed Nations Deliver 75% of Global Climate Finance as Loans, Not Grants
“So that's 75% is loans. So it's more or less loans.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Dec 2030
China's Per Capita Carbon Emissions Will Match US Levels by 2030
“So China will in 2030 equal the emissions of the United States on a per capita basis.”
Insight
Livestock Provide the Primary Climate Risk Adaptation for Indian Farmers
“For climate change, the animal is critical because the only risk mitigation strategy, the true adaptation strategy that a farmer has, is to make sure that the risk is not just in the crop, But also has an ability to keep animals, which then give it meat, which…”
Insight
Narain: EV adoption must focus on e-buses over e-cars
“Very much part of the solution has to be a part of the solution, particularly e-buses rather than e-cars.”
Assertion Supported
India Averages One Extreme Weather Event Per Day According to Data
“So we do something called extreme weather database. And we put together all the extreme weather events as defined by IMD and then produce a report at the end of each year. It's one extreme weather event a day, as defined by IMD.”
Assertion Contradicted
Narain: US emission reductions rely on switching from coal to shale gas
“The U.S. Has gone from coal, the use of coal, to the use of shale gas, ok? Now, most of its energy today comes from shale gas.”
Assertion Partly supported
Distribution Inefficiencies Inflate Indian Power Tariffs From Two to Eleven Rupees
“By the time it gets applied to a customer, it's about seven to 11 rupees. So the first question that we have is the inefficiencies in the system that take the supply from the one or two rupees to the 11 rupees.”
Assertion Supported
Narain: Michelin and Danone claim credits through tree-planting offsets
“So if you look at the offset programs, if you look at the analysis we did, so Michelin Danone, a lot of the companies that are claiming carbon credits are claiming it on the basis of the trees that they have bought the offsets from, the carbon credits from.”
Assertion Supported
Ozone-Depleting Chemical Substitutes Turned Out to Have Massive Global Warming Potential
“Yes, the ozone layer has repaired itself to a large extent, but the technology, the chemical which has come after all these variations is now being understood to have major impact on climate change.”
Insight
Narain: Root environmental crisis stems from creating non-destructible materials
“So actually our biggest problem is coming from the fact that we as human beings are still rewarding something that nature actually tells us should not be rewarded. Nature says that it should be destroyed. It should go back to earth. And yet we are the arroganc…”
Insight
Narain: Vegetarianism does not help the planet if crops are grown badly
“It may in the north, where you're eating a lot of bad food, too much meat, growing it badly, but if vegetarianism means that you eat vegetables which are also grown badly, it doesn't help.”
Insight
Grassroots Environmentalism in India Is About Survival, Not Just Protecting Trees
“I can never forget those words, because for me, that changed my whole idea of environment. It became from this sort of woolly headed, you know, let's protect trees to, this is about development. This is about the right to development. This is about Poorest wom…”
Assertion Contradicted
Narain: Delhi introduced 100,000 CNG vehicles in one year
“When we move to compressed natural gas in Delhi, CNG, we've brought in a 100,000 new vehicles in gas in a matter of a year.”
Assertion Supported
Narain: Most Indian cities lack underground sewage networks
“Most cities of India do not have underground sewage to intercept sewage and to take it to a sewage treatment plant, clean it up, and then take it to a river.”
Assertion Supported
Narain: Odisha state chose decentralized sanitation over underground sewers
“An entire state of Orissa has decided not to build underground sewage systems. But to take, so it's a very simple thing. You have septic tanks, but nobody cared about those septic tanks. So now you have trucks lifting the sewage, which you had earlier, but now…”
Insight
Sunita Narain: High-rise density limits Mumbai's rooftop rainwater harvesting potential
“You have high rise buildings, so your problem is you can't really do rainwater harvesting at the scale that we can do in Bangalore, for instance.”
Assertion Supported
Narain: ICAR research shows wheat and rice lost nutritive value over time
“In fact, our latest issue of Down to Earth has a cover story of, from where ICR scientists have done this amazing work looking at wheat and rice. And shown how they have lost all their nutritive values, ok, over the years.”
Assertion Supported
Urban Development Turned Indian Freshwater Rivers Into Open Sewage Drains
“Your mithi is declared a drain. Okay, it's declared a drain. It was a river, fresh water river. In Delhi, we have something called the sahibi. It was a river, a fresh water river, which came and joined Yamuna. It's called the Najafkar drain today.”
Assertion Supported
Narain: The US is the world's largest oil and gas producer
“The Americans today are the world's largest producer of oil and gas. They've beaten Saudi Arabia, ok?”
Sunita Narain