‘Calling climate change a hoax is a good joke’: Nadir Godrej has a strong message to Donald Trump

Industrialist Nadir Godrej has criticized climate change deniers, including US President Donald Trump, saying that calling it a hoax is “a good joke”. Speaking at the ongoing Mumbai Climate Week, Godrej also suggested that OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman should develop smart AI that doesn't consume the level of energy it does now.

When asked if he had a message for the US President, Godrej said, “calling it a hoax is a good joke.”

Trump's climate change hoax claim

Trump, who is in his second term as the US President has repeatedly questioned the climate change, calling it a hoax and a giant scam.

Throughout his two terms, Trump has also pulled the US out of major international climate deals, including the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

‘Drill baby drill’

During the 2024 US Presidential campaign, one of the key promises Trump made was ‘drill baby drill’ to aggressively expand the domestic oil and gas production.

Trump, a strong advocate of fracking, also took several steps to fulfil this pledge immediately after assuming office. This includes an executive order declaring a national energy emergency to bypass regulatory hurdles and accelerate drilling permits and pipeline development and opening up millions of acres of federal land for leasing, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and new offshore areas in the Atlantic and Pacific.

The Trump administration has also repealed the EPA's landmark endangerment finding, which serves as the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

'Wind turbines are ugly'

Trump has also been critical of wind energy, one of the cleanest sources of renewable energy, calling it a green new scam and a hoax.

At the World Economic Forum 2026, last month, Trump continued his criticism of wind energy and claimed that wind turbines lose money every time they spin and labeled them ineffective.

He also called wind turbines "ugly," "disgusting," "garbage," and "bird-killing" machines that ruin landscapes.

Climate equity — An important issue?

Managing director of Godrej Industries, Nadir Godrej, said that ‘climate equity’ is a very important issue and India has been late to develop it. Recalling his MIT days, he said how his professor in the chemical engineering department asked him to write a paper on carbon emissions back in the 1970s.

Nadir Godrej mentioned how, back then, we did not have much of an economy, but people knew that the problem was eventually going to strike.

“They could see that the problem was going to come, we were emitting very little carbon in those days because we didn't have much of an economy. So there's an argument for equity, but we must remember that we have some benefits also as we are later on the journey,” said Godrej.

Climate equity is the fair distribution of benefits and liabilities associated with climate change around the world, along with its mitigation and adaptation efforts, both within and between countries.

Can India benefit from carbon trading?

With efforts towards making green energy cheaper, Nadir Godrej said that there are a lot of benefits to this transition, and it's better for people to find a useful alternative to energy.

He also said that India stands to likely benefit from international carbon trading by imposing a certain carbon price, while growing trees at lower costs to earn from carbon credits.

“One thing India could benefit from is international carbon trading. We know that some kind of carbon price can easily solve this problem, and India could benefit. We can grow trees very easily in India at very low cost and if we earn carbon credits for doing that it it would be a good solution. So let's find win-win solutions,” said the industrialist.

Godrej also highlighted how people believe in sacrifice to be really good, but since he is an engineer, he looks to optimise this for people. “So, I'm hoping that we can keep growing our economy and cars,” he said.