LAUSR

The nature and magnitude of the impacts of climate change on human health have become clearer in recent times. The effects mediated through the disruptions to biodiversity and agroecosystems are of particular concern in several contexts. Climatic hazards such as floods and droughts can worsen food insecurity and malnutrition in vulnerable human populations.1 In India, governmental policy and programmatic interventions for biodiversity, agriculture and health increasingly recognize and reflect the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation.2,3 While this policy attention is necessary and timely, we examine some of the common approaches used to address climate change in India using a climate justice lens. In other words, we describe how the cost of popular mitigation and adaptation measures are sometimes disproportionately borne by marginalized communities, further jeopardizing their already vulnerable situation. This pattern of injustice and disproportionate costs was also observed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, where vulnerable populations had more difficulties in accessing food, livelihood and health care due to the abrupt movement restrictions instituted across India.4 Using examples of projects on renewable energy, afforestation and coastal embankments, we briefly describe how the unintended negative health impacts of these interventions are mediated through agriculture and biodiversity, alongside other pathways. We argue that active recognition of injustices in climate action is a crucial step towards designing equitable and fair responses to large-scale environmental crises. Doing so is important to countries such as India, where a large proportion of the population is already vulnerable to climate change and endures poor health outcomes. Renewable energy