A Climate Warning to India from Europe, Prepare for a Warmer World
The European Union’s top global warming advisory body, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (ESABCC), has issued a sobering call to the bloc’s members: find ways to deal with rising temperatures. The agency’s advice to prepare for a temperature rise of about 2.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 is particularly stark.
For decades, Europe’s climate policy has focused on emissions reduction commitments—the pursuit of mitigation. The advisory, issued on Tuesday, acknowledges that mitigation must be accompanied by measures to build resilience against the worst effects of a warming world. It is also a tacit recognition that the Paris Pact’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is increasingly out of reach.
Most studies identify Europe as the fastest-warming continent. Floods, lethal heatwaves, and devastating forest fires almost every year of this decade are warnings that EU policymakers must find ways to save lives and protect livelihoods. Their counterparts in India face similar challenges. Extreme weather events tend to mirror across continents in terms of intensity and unpredictability. That’s why ESABCC’s recommendations to embed climate resilience in initiatives across policy domains ring true for planners across the world.
Different Contexts, Shared Challenge
That said, the social and economic contexts within which meteorological phenomena unfold are vastly different. EU nations have effective early warning systems, and their social safety nets are stronger compared to those in countries of the Global South. Agriculture in EU countries contributes a far smaller share to GDP and employs a significantly lower proportion of the population compared to India.
Planners in almost every part of the world must balance the needs of coping with climate change with the imperatives of creating jobs, infrastructure, and public services. However, in developing countries, policymakers have to protect vulnerable populations while continuing to lay the foundations for economic prosperity.
India’s agriculture sector employs nearly half the workforce and contributes around 15-18% to GDP. A farmer in Vidarbha or a fisherman in Kerala does not have the same buffers as a farmer in France or a fisherman in Norway. When extreme weather destroys crops or disrupts fishing seasons, the consequences are immediate and devastating. There are no crop insurance schemes that fully compensate for losses, no social safety nets that catch those who fall.
The Infrastructure Opportunity
Developing countries may be better placed in one respect, though. Much of Europe’s highways, buildings, rail tracks, water and energy supply systems were built for a stable climate. Retrofitting this infrastructure to withstand higher temperatures, more intense rainfall, and stronger storms is enormously expensive and disruptive.
India’s infrastructure development, in contrast, is still a work in progress. ESABCC’s warnings should, therefore, push planners to incorporate climate resilience into development projects at the outset. Every new highway, every new building, every new power plant can be designed with a changing climate in mind.
This is not just about avoiding future costs; it is about building smarter from the beginning. A road built to withstand higher temperatures will last longer. A drainage system designed for more intense rainfall will prevent flooding. A power grid hardened against stronger storms will keep the lights on.
The opportunity is real, but it requires a shift in mindset. Infrastructure projects are typically evaluated on upfront cost and immediate economic returns. Climate resilience is often treated as an add-on, a nice-to-have if the budget permits. ESABCC’s warning suggests it must become a core design criterion.
The Adaptation Imperative
The recognition that mitigation alone is insufficient is an important shift. For years, climate policy has been dominated by the goal of reducing emissions. The logic was straightforward: if we could cut emissions enough, we could prevent dangerous warming. That logic remains valid, but it is increasingly clear that some warming is already locked in. Even if every country met its Paris commitments, we would still be on track for around 2.7°C of warming.
Adaptation—building resilience to the impacts that are already happening—must therefore move from the margins to the mainstream. This means investing in early warning systems, developing drought-resistant crops, building flood defences, protecting coastlines, and strengthening social safety nets.
For India, this is not an abstract concern. The country is already experiencing the effects of climate change: more intense monsoons, longer heatwaves, more frequent cyclones, changing rainfall patterns that disrupt agriculture. Every year, these events cause deaths, destroy livelihoods, and set back development.
The Political Challenge
Building climate resilience is not just a technical challenge; it is a political one. Investments in adaptation often lack the visibility of new highways or power plants. Protecting a community from a flood that may happen in the future is less politically rewarding than inaugurating a new bridge today. The benefits of resilience are often invisible—things that didn’t happen, disasters that were averted.
This makes it difficult to sustain political will. But the costs of inaction are mounting. Every flood that devastates a city, every heatwave that kills thousands, every cyclone that destroys coastal communities is a reminder that the price of ignoring climate resilience is paid in lives and livelihoods.
A Shared Responsibility
ESABCC’s warning to Europe is also a warning to India. The climate does not respect borders. What happens in the Arctic affects the monsoon. What happens in the Atlantic affects cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. The challenge is shared, even if the contexts are different.
But the responsibility is not equal. Developed countries have contributed the most to historical emissions and have the greatest capacity to act. They have a moral obligation to support developing countries in building resilience. This means providing finance, technology, and expertise. It means fulfilling the promises made in Paris and elsewhere.
For India, the task is to integrate climate resilience into every aspect of planning and development. ESABCC’s warning should be heard not as a distant alarm but as a call to action. The opportunity to build a climate-resilient future is still within reach. But it requires urgency, commitment, and a willingness to think differently about what development means.
Robert Duvall and the Art of Understated Greatness
Robert Duvall, who died this week at the age of 95, was not the scene-stealing type. He once remarked that playing a strong supporting part—”probably a better part anyway”—was preferable to playing the lead. “You don’t have the weight of the entire movie on your shoulders,” he told The New York Times in a 1979 interview.
A surprising sentiment to express in a profession where attention is the main currency. But then, Duvall had talent enough that the beam of the spotlight always, inevitably, found him.
Two iconic roles illustrate how Duvall, despite never being a typical Hollywood leading man, earned his place among the screen greats. In Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), his brief screen time as the ruthless Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore captured the nihilism at the heart of the film, encapsulated in one of its most quoted lines: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” It was a finely balanced yet formidable portrayal of evil, and his believability was key.
Just as it was in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), also by Coppola. In both, Duvall’s portrayal of the calm, reasonable Tom Hagen, consigliere and unofficial member of the Corleone crime family, was the necessary counterpoint to the violent outbursts of other characters. Hagen was the voice of reason in a world of chaos, the lawyer trying to keep the family within the bounds of some kind of order. Duvall played him with a quiet intensity that made every scene he was in feel grounded.
In these and other roles, including his Oscar-winning turn as a country music has-been in Tender Mercies (1983) and his screen debut as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Duvall excelled thanks to his chameleon-like ability. He could disappear into a character, becoming unrecognisable from one film to the next.
He may not have wanted to carry the whole weight of a film, but his performances, always sure-footed and true to the story, helped lay the foundation for many a cinematic classic. The spotlight found him because he was too good to ignore. And in an industry obsessed with fame, he reminded us that greatness sometimes comes from those who prefer to stand in the shadows.
Q&A: Unpacking the Climate Warning and Duvall’s Legacy
Q1: What is the significance of ESABCC’s warning about preparing for 2.8°C warming?
ESABCC’s call for Europe to prepare for 2.8°C warming by 2100 is a tacit admission that the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal is increasingly out of reach. It marks a shift in climate policy from an exclusive focus on emissions reduction (mitigation) to include building resilience (adaptation). This is significant because it acknowledges that some level of warming is already locked in, and societies must prepare for its consequences, even as they continue efforts to reduce emissions.
Q2: How does India’s challenge differ from Europe’s in building climate resilience?
The social and economic contexts are vastly different. Europe has effective early warning systems, stronger social safety nets, and agriculture contributes a much smaller share to GDP. India’s agriculture sector employs nearly half the workforce, and vulnerable populations lack comparable buffers. However, India has an advantage: much of its infrastructure is still being built, so climate resilience can be incorporated from the outset, unlike Europe which must retrofit systems built for a stable climate.
Q3: What is the “infrastructure opportunity” for developing countries like India?
Since much of India’s infrastructure—highways, buildings, power grids, water systems—is still under development, planners have the chance to design for a changing climate from the beginning. This means building roads that can withstand higher temperatures, drainage systems for more intense rainfall, and power grids hardened against stronger storms. While this may increase upfront costs, it is far cheaper than retrofitting later and prevents future losses from climate-related disasters.
Q4: What made Robert Duvall’s acting style distinctive?
Duvall was known for his understated, chameleon-like ability to disappear into roles. Unlike scene-stealing performers, he preferred supporting parts where he didn’t carry the entire film’s weight. Yet his performances were always sure-footed and true to the story, grounding films like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. He could play ruthless (Lt. Col. Kilgore), reasonable (Tom Hagen), or vulnerable (the has-been country singer in Tender Mercies) with equal conviction.
Q5: Why is Duvall’s preference for supporting roles significant?
In an industry obsessed with fame and leading roles, Duvall’s preference for supporting parts was a reminder that greatness doesn’t require being the centre of attention. He understood that strong supporting performances often provide the foundation for cinematic classics. His philosophy—that you don’t have to carry the whole weight to make a lasting impact—offers a counterpoint to celebrity culture and speaks to the value of craft over fame.
