Decade of Parliament data shows low focus on climate change

Climate change made up only 3.3 percent of all environmental questions raised in the Indian Parliament over a ten-year period, according to a new study. The report, titled Climate on the Floor: India's Parliamentary Discourse on Environment since the Paris Agreement, was authored by Hajira Puthige and released in New Delhi by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.

Key Findings

The study examined 8,702 parliamentary questions asked in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha between December 2015 and December 2025. Out of these, 713 were starred questions and 7,989 were unstarred questions. Clean energy and decarbonisation took up the largest share at 37.7 percent. In contrast, climate finance received just 0.3 percent of the attention, while global climate governance made up 1.3 percent.

Disaster Focus

Parliamentary interest spiked mainly after major disasters rather than through steady, long-term planning. The Uttarakhand glacier burst in February 2021 brought a rise in questions about glacier melt and cloudbursts, while record heat in 2022 led to the first major discussion on heatwaves. Ruling NDA members mostly asked status questions on programmes like PM-KUSUM and Green Hydrogen, while opposition MPs focused on implementation gaps and funding shortages.

Context

Parliamentary questions are a key tool for lawmakers to hold the government accountable and demand official data on pressing national issues. Reports that analyse legislative records help citizens understand how much time elected representatives spend debating specific long-term challenges like climate adaptation.