Climate Fallout: How India's Most Vulnerable Lose Land, Livelihood and Rights

Abstract

Climate change has reached a critical juncture, where its implications can no longer be overlooked. It has become a pressing global challenge demanding urgent and equitable responses to safeguard vulnerable populations and human rights. Rising seas, eroding coastlines, extreme heatwaves, and intensifying floods threaten livelihoods, homes, and the basic rights of marginalized communities. Even when environmental degradation affects all, the poor remain least equipped to cope, suffering disproportionately. By examining the interplay of ecological hazards and social vulnerability, this study highlights how India’s most affected people and regions are losing land, income, and dignity in ways often invisible to policy and governance. Through this lens, the paper underscores the urgent need for inclusive strategies, equitable resilience, and systemic reform. It offers a critical exploration of the human fallout of climate change, revealing the stakes for those who have contributed least yet bear the heaviest burden.