34 Asia TheEconomistNovember6th 2021
Delhi
Pa t n aLucknowPopulation-weighted
mean ambient
PM2.* levels
μg/m3, 2019Source: “Health and economic impact of air pollution in the states
of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019”, The Lancet*Particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter25 50 5 100The government has not ignored air
pollution. Strongly backed by Mr Modi, a
push to replace solid fuels with gas for
cooking has saved hundreds of thousands,
mostly women, from deadly indoor air pol
lution. India has ramped up solar and
windpower capacity. The government has
tightened vehicleemissions rules. In 2019
it launched a National Clean Air Pro
gramme, aiming to cut pollution in 122 cit
ies by up to 30% within five years.
Yet the same government has also stint
ed on many other measures. It has proved
particularly soft on coal, a domestically
abundant hydrocarbon that still accounts
for some 70% of power generation—and
10% of airborne particulate pollution. Un
der Mr Modi the stateowned Coal India,
already the world’s biggest producer of the
stuff, has been tasked with boosting output
by 40%. In Glasgow Mr Modi pledged that
by 2030 India will install a whopping
500 gwof renewable capacity to meet half
its power needs.But if the other half comes
from thermal sources, that would still
mean doubling their current output.
India’s government has also failed to do
some simple things to check daily pollu
tion. A study by a thinktank in Delhi
found that India could simply shut down
2030 of its most polluting coalfired pow
er plants without seriously disrupting sup
ply, since they also happen to be abysmally
inefficient. Mr Modi could also oblige oth
er plants to install the scrubbing equip
ment required by a law of 2015, instead of
repeatedly letting them off the hook. Per
haps most usefully, he could reshape In
dia’s bureaucracy to place pollution at the
forefront of concerns rather than seeing it
as an irritant.
As more Indians suffer, pollution is
gaining traction as a political issue. Dr Ku
mar, the surgeon, has enlisted doctors
across India to press local authorities.
Bhavreen Kandhari, a mother worried by
her own daughters’ health, helped form a
pollution action group called WarriorMoms. Among the first successes of such
citizens’ lobbies, at least eight states have
slapped partial or total bans on firecrack
ers, a noisy but deadly way of ringing in Di
wali, the Hindu festival of lights that marks
the start of north India’s pollution season,
and which fell this year on November 4th.
The weight of public opinion is one
thing. The rustle of cash may prove more
persuasive. Gautam Adani and Mukesh
Ambani, India’s richest tycoons, both builtcolossal fortunes from hydrocarbons. Far
nimbler than India’s government, they are
pivoting to green energy. Mr Adani, king of
Indian coal until last year, has gone on
such a binge that his greenenergy arm is
now India’s biggest renewablepower sup
plier. International investors are getting
into the act, too. So far in 2021 $9.67bn has
been poured intoIndian green bonds. That
is nearly as muchasin the previous five
years combined.nL
ee ji-hoon’syoungerclientshave
lately been making unusual requests.
“People in their 20s and early 30s showed
up and asked me to draw up these exces
sive training plans and dieting rules,”
says Mr Lee, who works as a personal
trainer at a fancy gym in Gangnam, a
posh part of Seoul, South Korea’s capital.
The clients, most of whom are women,
all have the same aim: they want to look
hot for their “body profiles”.
An Instagram search in Korean for the
hashtag “body profile” turns up more
than 2.5m results. Most of them are
glossy fullbody portraits of men and
women in their underwear, posted on
personal accounts (though a few belong
to celebrities). Some subjects are draped
over chairs, recline on beds or emerge
from pools and rivers. Others pose with
champagne and canapés, or with foliage.
The point, like so much on Instagram,
is to impress. Joo Sohyun, a 27yearold
in Seoul, says she booked a bodyprofile
photo session because she was bored
with doing nothing except work. “I want
ed that identity of someone who keeps
fit,” she says. Taking the profile shots wasa wayofprovingtotheworldthat she
had worked hard to achieve a valuable
goal. The whole thing, including the
training programme and photo session,
set her back more than 1.5m won ($1,300).
Others splurge even more. Mr Lee’s pack
ages start at 2.5m won; bespoke ones can
be 7m won.
Yoo Hyunjae, who studies youth
culture at Sogang University in Seoul,
thinks the trend reflects an obsession
with looks and social status. The atten
tion young people pay to their online
image mirrors everyday life, where look
ing your best in public is considered
polite and commenting on others’ ap
pearance and offering suggestions for
improvements remain common.
As in other countries, advertising
exploits the associated anxiety. A compa
ny hawking diet products plasters cine
mas all over the country with posters
urging patrons to “reconsider your pop
corn”. Seriouslooking plastic surgeons
admonish commuters in ads on Seoul’s
subway: “Think you’re pretty? Think
again.” Celebrity culture also plays a role,
says Mr Yoo. The first people to publish
body profiles were the pop stars from
whom many youngsters take their cues.
Some commentators worry that the
trend harms young people’s mental
health and fosters poor eating habits.
Even Mr Lee is concerned. “I was so
proud when they showed me the pic
tures, but some of them came back a few
weeks later looking worse than they did
before they started working out,” he says.
Mr Yoo is less fretful: “Those bodyimage
problems are not caused by the fact that
people are now taking pictures of them
selves while exercising.” Handwringing
will in any case do little to dissuade the
likes of Ms Joo. “Houses are too expen
sive and jobs are hard to come by. This is
one of the easiest and healthiest ways for
young people to feel a sense of achieve
ment,” she says.InstagramandyouthcultureHot shots
S EOUL
Why young South Koreans are posing in their underwear