๐๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐
Dr. Soumitra Das
Dear All,
As we step into 2026, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year. A new year naturally invites reflectionโand for us at the Healthy Climate Initiative (HCI), 2025 was a year that clarified both the urgency of the climate crisis and the direction our work must take.
When we founded HCI five years ago, we were guided by a conviction not yet widely accepted: cutting emissions, while essential, would not be enough. Atmospheric COโ had already crossed safe limits, and without large-scale carbon drawdown, the climate system would remain dangerously unstable.
Our early work focused on advocacy and nature-based carbon removalโrestoring forests and ecosystems while strengthening rural livelihoodsโand on nature-inspired approaches such as marine permaculture.
About three years ago, accelerating Himalayan glacier melt forced us to confront the immediacy of climate risk. These glaciers sustain Asiaโs great rivers and over a quarter of humanity. Their retreat was driving devastating floods while threatening long-term water security.
In response, we expanded into glacier preservationโconvening scientists globally, hosting webinars, and culminating in a small-scale Himalayan field trial in 2024 to slow glacier melt by increasing surface albedo.
By 2024, the picture had darkened further. Delhi crossed 49ยฐC. Global temperatures effectively breached 1.5ยฐC. Emissions showed no sign of slowing. The world was heading toward 2โ3ยฐC of warming by mid-century, with the harshest impacts falling on India and the Global South. Mitigation and carbon removal alone were no longer enough to manage near-term risks.
Equally concerning was a profound gap in public understandingโacross communities, institutions, and leadershipโabout the scale, speed, and implications of the crisis, and why new response options may be necessary.
In 2025, we launched a multi-year Climate Intervention Awareness & Leadership Campaign to foster a nationwide dialogue on near-term climate risks. Through workshops, webinars, and public forums, we worked with civil society partners to build understanding, trust, and legitimacy.
Our goal is to strengthen scientific understanding, public legitimacy, and urgency around responsible climate interventionsโgrounded in evidence, ethics, and equity. In 2025 alone, we conducted seven workshops across India, alongside Climate Week events and webinars.
As we move into 2026, we will continue this work in India and expand into neighboring countriesโbecause our journey evolved not because our values changed, but because reality demanded it.
Best wishes for 2006 and beyond!
Soumitra
