In an updated climate action plan recently submitted to the United Nations, India has cited an environmentally friendly lifestyle as one of the key ways to combat climate change. But can the country balance this with its economic ambitions?

Countries that have signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change must submit a plan every five years, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). It details how they plan to reduce carbon emissions to slow global warming and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

India's updated NDC includes, for example, reducing the carbon emission intensity of its GDP and decreasing the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation. However, at the top of the list is "LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment", a "healthy and sustainable lifestyle based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation, including through a mass movement".

"The vision of LiFE is to live a lifestyle that is in tune with our planet and does not harm it," the government statement said. It was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 summit held in Glasgow in 2021.

However, experts argue that there is a contradiction between this goal and the rise in consumption that is both encouraged and stimulated by economic growth.