India’s 2024 general election delivered a stark wake-up call for policymakers worldwide. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost its outright majority, a result widely attributed to the electorate’s frustration with uneven economic growth. For a government that rode to power on promises of prosperity, the rebuke underscores a fundamental truth: welfare alone cannot sustain political support when the economy shifts beneath people’s feet. As the UK contemplates its own green transition, the lesson from Delhi is clear. Climate policy must be woven into the fabric of economic resilience, not treated as a separate endeavour.
India’s economic story is one of staggering ambition. Over the past decade, GDP growth averaged around 6 per cent, lifting millions out of poverty. Yet the benefits have been lopsided. Agriculture, which employs nearly half the workforce, grew at just 3 per cent annually. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector, despite the vaunted Production Linked Incentive schemes, accounts for only 17 per cent of GDP, far short of the government’s target. The result is a vast pool of underemployed labour, concentrated in regions that voted against the incumbent party sharply.
The parallels with the UK are instructive. Both nations are grappling with an energy transition that promises long-term gains but imposes immediate costs. In the UK, the shift to net zero is sparking similar regional disquiet. Voters in the Red Wall are just as vulnerable to the economic dislocation of green policy as Indian farmers are to monsoon failure. The lesson is that climate action cannot be sold on abstract promises. It must deliver tangible economic security.
India’s ruling party attempted to cushion this blow with generous welfare programmes: free grain, cash transfers, and loan waivers. These are noble in spirit, but they treat the symptom, not the disease. What workers need are jobs in industries of the future, not handouts. Britain faces the same dilemma. Its welfare state can compensate for coal mine closures or shrinking steel towns, but it cannot replace the dignity of meaningful work. Without a parallel industrial strategy, net zero will remain a political liability.
The Indian election also reveals a deeper structural challenge. The economy is polarising between a high-skill service sector and low-skill agriculture, with a manufacturing middle ground disappearing. This is the same hollowing out seen in Western economies, exacerbated by automation and globalisation. For the UK, the green transition must reverse this trend. It must create middle-skill jobs in solar installation, battery production, and retrofitting buildings. If it merely accelerates service sector dominance, social fractures will widen.
Data from the International Energy Agency shows that global energy investment must triple by 2030 to meet climate targets. For India, this means an estimated $1.4 trillion in clean energy spending. Yet current political signals are mixed. The new government will likely push for domestically produced solar panels and electric vehicles, but it remains heavily dependent on coal for baseload power. In the UK, the story is similar. The government has committed to decarbonising electricity by 2035, but grid bottlenecks and planning delays obstruct renewable deployment.
There is, however, a technological lifeline. India is leapfrogging into energy storage and green hydrogen. Its national hydrogen mission aims to produce 5 million tonnes per year by 2030. The UK has similar ambitions but lags in deployment. Here is where policy must pivot. Instead of subsidies that prop up incumbent industries, both countries should invest in scale. The cost of electrolysers has fallen 40 per cent in five years; bulk procurement will drive it lower. The same logic applies to battery storage. The UK currently has under 5 GW of installed storage, but estimates suggest 30 GW is needed by 2030. That gap represents jobs and resilience.
Britain’s advantage lies in its financial sector and regulatory stability. Yet hesitancy risks ceding leadership. China already dominates solar manufacturing and battery supply chains. Europe and the UK are scrambling to catch up. The Indian election confirms that voters will not wait for distant rewards. They demand prosperity here and now.
The biosphere does not pause for elections. Atmospheric CO2 continues its relentless rise, now at 427 parts per million. Each month of delay locks in decades of warming. The science is settled. The politics is not. The only path forward is to make the transition palpable and personal. That means cheap electricity. That means good jobs. That means a government that ensures no community is left unplugged.
In the end, the Indian verdict is not a rejection of climate action. It is a rejection of poorly managed change. The UK would be wise to listen.