State of India's Environment in Figures 2025

Context

On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, the Centre for Science and Environment released its annual report, 'State of India's Environment in Figures 2025'.

About the Report

• The report highlights the serious crises facing India in areas such as environment, agriculture, public health and human development.
• The report is based on 48 indicators analysing the situation in 36 states and union territories.

Key Findings

Environmental Crisis

• Extreme weather events: 2024 was India's hottest year, with 88% of the days affected by extreme weather events. Disasters such as floods, droughts and storms displaced 54 lakh people, with Assam being the worst affected.
• Greenhouse gas emissions: India’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions has reached 7.8%, the highest since 1970.
• Emissions growth rate accelerated between 2020-23.
• Water crisis: 135 districts in the country are now extracting groundwater from depths greater than 40 metres, double the rate in 2014. Toxic heavy metals were found in rivers at half of the monitoring sites in 2022.
• Waste management: E-waste has increased by 147% in the last seven years and plastic waste has reached 41.4 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. Despite the 2026 deadline, only half of the legacy waste has been disposed of.
• Forest destruction: 29,000 hectares of forest were cut down for development projects, disrupting wildlife corridors and increasing human-wildlife conflict. Deaths from elephant attacks rose 36% in 2023-24.

Agriculture and rural crisis

• Sikkim topped the agriculture rankings due to organic farming and sustainable land use, but farmer welfare remained lacking.
• Large states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had low agricultural productivity and farmer incomes, adding pressure on the rural economy.

Public health

• Air pollution: Life expectancy has been reduced by nearly 8 years in Delhi and 6 years in Lucknow due to air pollution, with 13 capital cities recording unsafe air every third day.
• Health infrastructure: India needs 36% more community health centres, and there is an 80% shortage of specialists.
• Pandemic impact: 30.6 lakh excess deaths were recorded in 2020-21, six times the official Covid death toll.

Economic and social inequalities

• Income decline: Real incomes of the salaried and self-employed declined between 2017-23. 73% of the workforce is informal, and half of regular employees do not get basic amenities.
• Gender inequality: Only 20% of women are in full-time employment compared to 60% of men, and their working hours are also shorter than men.

Performance of different states

• Andhra Pradesh: Top in forest and biodiversity conservation, but poor performance in sewage treatment and river pollution control.
• Sikkim: Leader in organic farming, but lags in farmer welfare.
• Goa: Top in public health and infrastructure, but lack of hospital beds and weak female labour participation.
• Large states: States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal perform poorly in all categories, which poses a risk to the large population of the country.

Challenges

• Lack of data: Lack of reliable and transparent data is a hindrance in policy making.
• Policy implementation: Delay in goals like waste management, river cleanliness and emission control is worrying.
• Climate risk: Increasing natural disasters and displacement are threatening economic stability.

Suggestions for solution

• Data collection and transparency: The government should increase investment in data collection, so that accurate policies can be made.
• Sustainable development: It is necessary to strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development. Apart from this, organic farming and renewable energy should be promoted.
• Health improvement: The report underlines the need to increase investment to strengthen the public health structure and reduce private health expenditure.
• Climate adaptation: Regional plans for flood and drought management and disaster preparedness need to be strengthened.
• Women empowerment: Promoting gender equality in employment and education is important for economic development.