For India, a nation experiencing unprecedented urbanisation and a booming commercial real estate sector, evidenced by our office market now exceeding a billion square feet, COP30 isn’t just about global commitments. It’s an opportune moment to look inwards, rediscover our roots, and present a uniquely Indian perspective on sustainability that could offer a profound blueprint to the world.
The Timeless Code of Indian Sustainability
The narrative around climate solutions often feels rooted in modern technology and Western frameworks. Yet, many of India’s traditional practices, often dismissed as archaic or unscientific, embody sustainability principles that predated contemporary environmental movements by centuries. This isn’t about blind adherence; it’s about scientific rediscovery and refinement of our indigenous knowledge.
Consider our traditional architecture and village culture. Concepts enshrined in Vastu Shastra, for instance, inherently promote energy efficiency through natural ventilation, optimal light utilisation, and intelligent site planning. Our ancestors built structures that breathed, using locally sourced, biodegradable materials like mud, bamboo, and stone resources that modern green construction is now belatedly embracing. The efficacy of mud for its thermal insulation, or bamboo for its rapid renewability and structural integrity, are problems solved long ago in India. These weren’t sustainable choices then; they were simply intelligent, integrated ways of living in harmony with nature.
We extended this philosophy beyond just shelter. Our ancestors crafted everyday items from jute, palm leaves, and natural fibres. Think of the ubiquitous village basket, a zero-waste solution for carrying goods. Medicinal knowledge, embedded in Ayurveda, utilised biomaterials like neem for health, reducing reliance on resource-intensive pharmaceuticals. Even the humble cow dung, often looked down upon, was historically a central sustainability factor: a source of fuel, fertiliser, and a building material, contributing to a circular village economy. The dismissal of such practices, partly influenced by colonial perspectives, pushed us away from incredibly efficient, localised, and regenerative systems.
A Holistic Indian Offering to COP30
For India, COP30 presents a unique opportunity to lead by example, showcasing sustainability not as a singular issue of energy consumption or green buildings, but as a comprehensive lifestyle approach:
- Beyond Energy & Home: Our dialogue on sustainability must expand to encompass food systems (organic farming, local consumption), traditional medicine (herbal remedies, natural cures), and materials science (bio-based packaging, traditional crafts).
- Scientific Validation & Refinement: We need to invest in research to scientifically validate the efficacy of traditional materials and practices. It’s about understanding why they worked, adapting them to modern engineering, and scaling them responsibly, rather than merely imitating the past.
- Decentralised Solutions: Many Indian sustainable practices are inherently decentralised and community-driven, offering a powerful antidote to large-scale, often resource-intensive, industrial solutions.
As global warming intensifies, India must pivot. We need to look inwards, not with nostalgia, but with a scientific and entrepreneurial lens. The solutions to many of today’s environmental crises might not lie in inventing entirely new technologies, but in rediscovering, refining, and globally sharing the ecological wisdom that has sustained Indian civilisation for millennia.
This means that while our commercial real estate market embraces global standards for green buildings, we must also encourage architects and developers to learn from Vastu and local materials. While we debate carbon footprints, we must also champion indigenous sustainable practices in our supply chains, our urban planning, and our daily lives. India has the potential to walk into COP30 not just as a demander of climate justice, but as a confident purveyor of time-tested, holistic sustainability solutions, refined for the modern world. Our next act must involve honouring our roots to build a truly resilient and green future.
Aashit Verma is Founder of Hanto Workspace.
