2025 in India: From Street Uprisings to Policy Backtracking — A Year of Environmental Crisis

As 2025 ends, India’s environmental crisis has been defined by fierce citizen protests and alarming policy shifts that serve economic and corporate interests at the expense of people and nature. Across the country, communities took to the streets — from Delhi-NCR where hazardous air pollution triggered sustained public outrage, to Nashik and Hyderabad where people mobilised against rampant tree felling and forest clearance. These grassroots movements stood in stark contrast to policy trends that weakened forest protections and opened the door for more diversion of critical ecosystems for infrastructure projects. While the government did announce India’s first greenhouse gas emissions intensity targets and new Environment Audit Rules, critics warn these measures fall short of tackling the climate emergency and risk enabling further industry collusion. Meanwhile, extreme weather battered India throughout the year, underscoring that climate breakdown is no longer theoretical but a lived reality. In 2025, public protests exposed the deep disconnect between people’s demands for environmental justice and a policy direction that often prioritises corporate interests over planetary health.
👉 Source: https://thewire.in/environment/from-street-protests-to-policy-shifts-indias-environmental-year-in-review