Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) is an India-led global mass movement and concept that seeks to inspire individual and collective action to protect the environment. The concept was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on November 1, 2021, and formally launched on October 20, 2022, at the Statue of Unity, Kevadia. It originated from the need to address the climate crisis by shifting from "mindless and destructive consumption" to "mindful and deliberate utilization," thereby replacing the "use-and-dispose" economy with a circular one.
The mission's mechanism operates through three phases: Change in Demand (Phase I), which encourages individuals to adopt simple pro-environment actions; Change in Supply (Phase II), where markets respond to the altered demand; and Change in Policy (Phase III), which influences industrial and governmental policies. It identifies 75 individual "LiFE actions" across seven thematic areas, including saving energy, reducing single-use plastic, and adopting sustainable food systems. The extensive goal is to mobilize at least one billion Indians and global citizens to adopt sustainable actions between 2022 and 2028.
Mission LiFE is anchored institutionally in NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It connects directly to the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and promotes the idea of "Pro-Planet People" (P3). India became the first country to incorporate the LiFE ethos into its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, which were updated in August 2022. Recently, during India's G20 Presidency in 2023, the G20 High-Level Principles on Lifestyles for Sustainable Development were adopted, giving the concept significant international traction.