Climate Justice in India is a 288-page collection of articles covering various topics, such as intersectionality, environment, social justice, and women’s rights, focusing on the question: “Who is impacted the most by climate upheavals and why?”. The book highlights that the nexus of climate change and socioeconomic inequities underscore climate injustices. The most impacted populations are the poor, women, caste oppressed communities, and other marginalized groups. While 75 million people have been pushed further into poverty since COVID-19, India has also declared 55 new billionaires. Renewable energy, a focus of India’s energy expansion, is favoring private industry while its policies are ignoring marginalized groups, including women, in its distribution goals. India’s climate action policy fails to address climate injustices and increasing inequalities. Women have long advocated for water and fuel accessibility as the current distribution is incredibly inequitable; as water and forest biomass availability decrease due to climate change, women will be hit even harder. Dalit women and menstruating women are denied access to “pure” water sources. Dalit women often reuse wastewater or are subjected to sexual and physical violence while attempting to collect water. Climate justice in India must address existing social injustices to avoid further entrenching them.
