‘Punishing summer’ in India driven by worsening climate crisis, says UN climate chief

Large swathes of India are already enduring a “punishing summer” of extreme heat driven by worsening climate change and the continued burning of fossil fuels, the UN climate chief has warned, as temperatures and electricity demand surge across the country.

Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the heat was inflicting “severe human and economic impacts”, particularly on people without access to cooling and those working long hours outdoors.

“The main culprit is worsening climate change, largely driven by the world burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas,” Stiell said in remarks released on Wednesday.

The warning comes as parts of northern and central India continue to reel under intense heatwave conditions, with power demand climbing to record levels in recent days.

Stiell pointed to India’s soaring electricity demand as another sign of the mounting strain extreme heat places on economies and public infrastructure. He said solar and other renewable energy sources had helped meet daytime peaks in electricity use, adding that India’s rapid expansion of solar power was already yielding benefits.

“Solar and other renewable energy sources have helped in meeting day-time peaks,” he said.

At the same time, he warned that heat extremes were likely to intensify further in India and elsewhere as the climate crisis deepens.

“The heat extremes over India are a reminder of the potential of homegrown clean energy and energy efficiency measures,” Stiell said, arguing that cleaner energy could help deliver affordable electricity, cooling and greater energy security.

He also linked the pressures caused by extreme heat with rising global fossil fuel prices amid conflict in the Middle East, calling it “a double-reminder” of the need to accelerate the shift towards renewable energy.

India has faced increasingly severe and prolonged heatwaves in recent years, with scientists repeatedly warning that climate change is making such events more frequent, more intense and longer lasting.

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