South Asia · IND
India Environmental Profile
India's environmental pathway is inseparable from development at continental scale. Territorial fossil and industrial CO₂ reached 3.19 billion tonnes in 2024, 453% above 1990, yet emissions per person remained only 2.20 tonnes and primary energy use was 7,573 kWh per person. Coal generated 74.5% of electricity, while renewables supplied 19.8%, increasingly from solar and wind as well as hydropower. FAO reports a modest net forest-area gain, but agricultural emissions were 808.7 Mt CO₂e and protected coverage of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas was just 6.3%. ND-GAIN exposure was high at 0.576 and adaptation readiness remained limited. India's defining challenge is to expand reliable energy, housing, transport, cooling, and industry for a growing population without reproducing the high-emissions infrastructure pattern followed by richer economies.
At a glance
Six signals, each with its own clock
Values are not forced into a false common year. The observation year and source sit on every card.
- Net forest-area change
- +86,000 ha/year
Net gain in the latest interval
Original interpretation
What stands out
Each insight connects multiple indicators instead of repeating a headline number.
Low per-capita emissions coexist with a fast-rising national total
India emitted 2.20 tonnes of territorial CO₂ per person in 2024, far below high-income country levels, while its national total exceeded three billion tonnes. Equity and scale therefore point in different directions: basic energy services still need to expand, but investment choices today will determine whether future demand becomes structurally fossil-dependent.
See the evidenceSolar growth is visible, but coal still sets the power profile
Solar generated 143 TWh in 2024 and renewables reached 19.8% of electricity, five percentage points above 2015. Coal nevertheless supplied nearly three-quarters of generation. The transition must manage reliability, grids, storage, finance, and regional employment while clean capacity grows faster than total demand and begins to displace coal output.
See the evidenceAgriculture, exposure, and biodiversity broaden the policy lens
FAO estimates 808.7 Mt CO₂e from agriculture, ND-GAIN places exposure at 0.576, and protected terrestrial KBA coverage is only 6.3%. These indicators show why an electricity-only narrative is incomplete. Climate resilience, farm productivity, water security, heat protection, habitat connectivity, and rural livelihoods all shape India's environmental outcome.
See the evidenceEmissions
A trajectory, not just a latest value
Territorial fossil and industrial CO₂, with total and per-person views using the same selected years.
India CO₂ history
3.19 billion t in 2024, compared with 578.0 million t CO₂ in 1990.
The complete values are available in the data table below. JavaScript adds the visual chart.
View emissions data table
| Year | Total (t CO₂) | Per person (t) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 577,986,560 | 0.67 |
| 1995 | 760,480,200 | 0.79 |
| 2000 | 987,065,100 | 0.93 |
| 2005 | 1,195,393,300 | 1.04 |
| 2010 | 1,678,529,500 | 1.35 |
| 2015 | 2,231,817,500 | 1.68 |
| 2020 | 2,422,732,000 | 1.73 |
| 2021 | 2,675,778,000 | 1.89 |
| 2022 | 2,831,131,600 | 1.99 |
| 2023 | 3,062,756,400 | 2.13 |
| 2024 | 3,193,478,100 | 2.20 |
Energy transition
Electricity is the leading edge—not the whole system
Generation shares show the power recipe. Primary energy per person supplies the wider context.
Renewable electricity share
19.8% in 2024.
The complete values are available in the data table below. JavaScript adds the visual chart.
View renewable-share data table
| Year | Renewable share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.05% |
| 2005 | 15.25% |
| 2010 | 15.11% |
| 2015 | 14.63% |
| 2020 | 19.01% |
| 2021 | 18.79% |
| 2022 | 20.19% |
| 2023 | 19.29% |
| 2024 | 19.81% |
Electricity mix, 2024
2,036.5 TWh of domestic generation; shares are derived from the nine source rows.
- Coal
- 74.53% 1,517.90 TWh
- Gas
- 2.77% 56.44 TWh
- Oil
- 0.20% 4.09 TWh
- Nuclear
- 2.69% 54.70 TWh
- Hydropower
- 7.69% 156.53 TWh
- Wind
- 4.00% 81.54 TWh
- Solar
- 7.03% 143.07 TWh
- Bioenergy
- 1.09% 22.25 TWh
- Other renewables
- 0.00% 0.00 TWh
Land and food
Net forest change and agricultural gases
Two useful indicators with deliberately separate accounting boundaries.
Net forest-area change
2025+86,000 ha/year
Expansion minus deforestation; this is not gross natural-forest loss. 2020–2025 average.
Agricultural emissions
2023808.7 Mt CO₂e
IPCC Agriculture greenhouse gases in CO₂e; excludes land-use CO₂ and energy.
Climate risk and biodiversity
Scores need direction, definition, and restraint
Exposure is kept separate from vulnerability and readiness; biodiversity coverage is not presented as ecological success.
Climate exposure
20240.576 / 1
0 is lower; 1 is higher
Modeled biophysical exposure component of ND-GAIN; invariant across the time series.
Climate vulnerability
20240.475 / 1
Down from 0.551 in 1995
Exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity combined; lower is better.
Adaptation readiness
20240.362 / 1
1 is more ready
Economic, governance, and social readiness to convert investment into adaptation.
Red List Index
20240.67 / 1
Down from 0.77 in 1995
Closer to 1 indicates lower aggregate extinction risk among assessed groups.
Protected KBA coverage
20246.3%
+4.9 points since 2000
Average share of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas.
Synthesis
Connections to watch
Watch 01
Track whether clean electricity grows faster than total electricity demand and coal generation.
Watch 02
Read low per-person emissions together with unmet energy needs and the long life of new infrastructure.
Watch 03
Connect heat, water, agriculture, and biodiversity policy rather than treating adaptation as a separate sector.
What these numbers cannot tell us: National indicators cannot resolve local inequality, implementation quality, ecosystem condition, or the lived impacts of pollution and climate hazards. They are a starting map for investigation, not a verdict.
Methodology and downloads
A reproducible, bounded snapshot
24Earth retrieved this snapshot on 14 July 2026 and stores it locally. Each source is refreshed on its own schedule, so every metric retains its observation year instead of being relabeled “current.” Values are rounded only for display; downloads retain source precision where reuse permits.
Indicator data dictionary and source ledger
| Source family | Coverage / update | License / reuse | Boundary and 24Earth treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Carbon Budget (2025), processed by Our World in Data Global Carbon Project and Our World in Data | Through 2024; source update 2025-11-13 | Source citation requested; OWID Chart API material is CC BY 4.0 where applicable, with original source terms continuing to apply. | Territorial fossil-fuel and industrial CO₂. Land-use change is excluded. |
| Yearly Electricity Data, compiled by Our World in Data Ember via Our World in Data | Through 2024–2025, depending on country; source update 2026-04-24 | CC BY 4.0 | 24Earth uses 2000 onward so the displayed generation data is within Ember coverage, avoiding legacy Energy Institute rows. |
| International primary energy consumption per capita U.S. Energy Information Administration | Through 2024; source update 2026 | U.S. government data are public domain; attribution requested. | EIA series INTL.47-33-{ISO3}-MBTUPP.A converted from million Btu per person to kWh per person using 293.07107. This is EIA, not IEA. |
| Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, processed by Our World in Data | Through 2025; source update 2025-12-05 | FAO open-data terms; attribution required. | Average annual net forest-area change for the latest assessment interval, not gross tree-cover loss. |
| FAOSTAT Emissions Totals — IPCC Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Through 2023; source update 2025-10-28 | CC BY 4.0 with FAO database terms | Item 1711, IPCC Agriculture; Element 723113, emissions in CO₂-equivalent using AR5 factors; FAO Tier 1. Source kt CO₂e values are multiplied by 1,000 for displayed tonnes. |
| World Population Prospects 2024 United Nations, processed by Our World in Data | Through 2023; source update 2024 | United Nations data terms; attribution required. | Historical population estimate used for context; it is not forced to the year of other indicators. |
| ND-GAIN Country Index 2026 release Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative | Through 2024; source update 2026-06-26 | CC BY 3.0 | Exposure is a modeled biophysical index from 0 (lower) to 1 (higher); it is not observed disaster loss. |
| Red List Index (UN SDG 15.5.1) BirdLife International and IUCN, distributed through UN SDG data and Our World in Data | Through 2024; source update 2025-10-29 | Original IUCN and BirdLife reuse terms apply. Display only; omitted from downloads. | A national aggregate from OWID's 2025-10-29 snapshot is displayed with attribution. It differs from a later live UNSD revision, so versions are not blended. Raw species data and this metric are excluded from 24Earth downloads. |
| Protected coverage of terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas (UN SDG 15.1.2) BirdLife International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC, distributed through UN SDG data and Our World in Data | Through 2024; source update 2025-10-29 | Original provider and Protected Planet reuse terms apply. Display only; omitted from downloads. | The national SDG aggregate is displayed with attribution. Raw protected-area and KBA data are not redistributed by 24Earth. |
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CSV is analysis-friendly; JSON preserves definitions, precision, and source metadata. Biodiversity aggregates are intentionally omitted from both files while original reuse rights are reviewed.
Licensing decision: This profile does not redistribute IEA data. Primary energy comes from U.S. EIA. Electricity history begins in Ember’s openly licensed modern coverage. Source access and reuse permission are treated as separate questions.
