Sunita Narain: Lifetime Achievement
Director General, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Sunita Narain has given India’s environmental conscience a powerful and lasting voice. For decades, she has challenged prevailing notions of development, arguing that climate security is a matter of justice and human dignity, not a privilege. Through pioneering research, fearless investigation and compelling public communication, she has reframed environmental concerns as questions of public health, livelihoods and policy.
Her exposure of pesticide contamination in common beverages triggered national scrutiny and significant reforms in food safety regulation. Because of her continuous efforts on air pollution, water security, sanitation, waste and climate change, these issues have moved from the periphery to the centre of public awareness and policy.
She has championed community-led solutions and climate justice, giving voice to those most vulnerable to ecological degradation. Above all, she has altered India’s understanding of progress, making environmental sustainability inseparable from equity, accountability and human well-being.