Zehrish Iqbal
The globalization of capitalism has accelerated economic growth in the global South, creating exceptional wealth and innovation. However, in South Asia, this growth comes with a price i.e. the large-scale extraction of value from nature for profit is bringing ecological systems under stress that may lead to irreversible damage. From the submerged streets of Kerala to the drowning villages of the Himalayas, the region is currently at the receiving end of continuous extreme weather events that expose the fragility of its progress.
South Asia is home to over 2 billion people and 1/3rd of the world’s poor, with an economy that remains largely agricultural and highly vulnerable to climate change. As the region undergoes a structural shift toward increased industrialization, its energy demand increases rapidly.
To meet this demand, governments have adopted an ecologically blind “build-more” model, prioritizing four-lane highways, tunnels, and high-rises with no regard for the environment’s carrying capacity (Jamwal). Climate impacts like heatwaves, monsoon floods, droughts, and polluted air are not just inconveniences; they are eating into economic growth, harming public health, making poorest communities bear the burden, and threatening long-term social stability.
South Asia must redefine what development itself means. The contemporary build-more model; centered on fossil fuels, infrastructure expansion, and commercial agriculture intensifies climate vulnerability. This strategy follows the rhetoric of development and poverty reduction while locking in environmental degradation that, over time, will undermine the very economic gains it claims to pursue.
The evidence of this destructive trajectory is found in the massive infrastructure projects in South Asia. For example, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its local arm, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), are primary examples of “dirty” investment. Despite global calls for decarbonization, 77% of China’s overseas energy investments remain fossil fuel-based, while a mere 3% are channeled toward solar and wind. In Pakistan, CPEC has focused on building eight coal power plants, a move that locks the country into a carbon-intensive trajectory for at least 30 years due to long-term power purchase agreements.
Moreover, the “Gurgaon-model” of development is being forced upon the tectonically active and eco-fragile Himalayas. In Jammu and Kashmir alone, 5.84 lakh tress were cut between 2020-2025 as part of anti-encroachment drives, despite environmentalists warning of destructive consequences. Furthermore, even urban planning has failed. In India, the discharge of organic water pollutants increased dramatically between 1980 and 1997, and 70% of country’s surface water is now polluted.
Climate hazards have become everyday realities in South Asia. According to World Bank, around 750 million people have been affected by natural disasters like floods, droughts and cyclones in the past two decades, and this trend is set to worsen as the climate warms.
Furthermore, in 2024, Bangladesh faced nearly $1.8 billion in economic losses due to escalating heat impacts on health and productivity, equivalent to about 0.4% of its GDP. Cities such as Dhaka experience heat indices far above national average, increasing hospital visits and reducing worker productivity.
Additionally, countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal are facing intense short bursts of rain that cause flash floods and landslides. In 2024 alone, nearly 1300 people died in India due to heavy rain and floods, while glacial melt in the Himalayas raises the risk of catastrophic overflows.
The intersection of poverty and climate exposure is high. According to the 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, over 99% of the region’s poor live in areas exposed to at least one climate disaster, with millions facing multiple risks like heat, drought, flooding and air pollution.
The persistence of carbon-intensive projects in South Asia exemplifies how development policy can reinforce vulnerability rather than reduce it. investments heavily skewed toward fossil fuels lock countries into high emissions pathways that are incompatible with long-term climate stability and public health. This is not just a failure of execution but a failure of imagination. Governments still often view economic growth in narrow terms, GPD, infrastructure footprints, and foreign direct investment without fully accounting for environmental costs.
The result is a cycle where short-term economic gains obscure long-term losses in human wellbeing, resilience, and natural capital. In practical terms, this means countries may be developing in statistical terms while experiencing declining living standards, worsening public health, and deepening ecological fragility. Economic growth that leads to more frequent floods, heat stress, food insecurity, and water scarcity is a hollow victory if it leaves communities less secure than before.
South Asia stands at a critical crossroads. Continuing on the current trajectory risks unraveling decades of hard-fought progress. What it needs is not less development, but different development: one that integrates environmental resilience, equitable resource management, and climate adaptation at the core of national strategies.
This means rethinking energy systems towards cleaner sources, strengthening urban planning to cope with health and floods, investing in climate-smart agriculture, and elevating environmental risk into economic policy. Without this shift, “development” will remain a dangerous paradox, promising prosperity while undermining the ecological foundations that make life possible.
The author is a BS scholar of Social Development Studies at Aga Khan University. She is interested in social issues, development, and how policies affect people’s lives. She likes learning about world, writing, and wants to contribute to public discussions on sustainability and social change.
