Floods, droughts, disease and natural and man-made disasters beset some part of India almost daily. Yet despite these setbacks the world’s largest democracy is developing at a fast pace, and by 2010 could become the fourth largest emitter of CO2. Yet the Indian people, already suffering heat waves and sea level rise, will find their health increasingly threatened by climate change. Malaria cases are expected to rise as increasing temperatures speed up the parasite development in the mosquito, increasing the chance of transmission.

And already inadequate clean supplies of water are under threat. Some parts of India are responding, harvesting rain-water, using solar power, and tackling increasingly dangerous levels of air pollution which, as well as contributing to climate change, has health impacts that are exacerbated by warmer temperatures. For what will soon be the world’s most populous country, tackling these problems is a huge challenge.