India lost $141 billion worth of income due to heat in 2023: Lancet study

A new Lancet study released Wednesday pegs potential income loss in India from labour capacity reduction due to heat in 2023 at $141 billion.

The agricultural sector was the most affected, with more than $71.9 billion in potential losses, according to the country-level findings from the 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown for India. The potential labour hours lost due to heat exposure in 2023 stands at 181 billion, an increase of 50% from the 1990-1999 average.

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change annually takes stock of the evolving links between health and climate change through 50+ peer-reviewed indicators.

It found that from 2014-2023, each infant and adult over age 65 was exposed to an average of 7.7 and 8.4 heatwave days per year, respectively. These are 47% and 58% increases respectively, compared to 1990-1999.

One the air pollution, energy transition and health co-benefits, the assessment shows that renewable energy use in India has grown since 2000, supplying a record 11% of the country's electricity in 2022. However, 71% of electricity still comes from coal, emphasising the need for a faster transition away from these harmful fuels and to clean energies.

“In 2022, India contributed 15.8% of the world's consumption-based PM2.5 emissions. For production-based accounting, India contributed 16.9% of the world's PM2.5 emissions. India was the world's second-highest emitter of PM2.5 based on both consumption- and production-based accounting,” it added.

As much as 1.6 million deaths were attributable to anthropogenic air pollution (PM2.5) in 2021 in India. Fossil fuels (coal and liquid gas) contributed to 38% of these deaths. The monetised value of premature mortality due to anthropogenic air pollution in 2021 was $320 billion.