Agarwal’s biggest contribution has been the development of one of India’s most influential and highly vocal environmental NGOs, the Centre for Science and Environment, which does its home work, respects people, respects science, and which promotes rational approaches to environmental management based on science and social justice. CSE is a product of India’s democracy and Agarwal was very proud of it.

CSE’s work has had wide impact in India and outside. Founded by Agarwal in 1980 to analyse and study the relationship between environment and development and create public consciousness about the need for sustainable development, the Centre publishing its pioneering citizens’ report on the State of India’s Environment in 1982 which provided the first national overview of the level of environmental degradation in the country and its impact on the people. Not only the contents of the report but also the concept of a citizens’ report was widely appreciated. This report not only shocked Indians and catalysed nationwide interest in the environment within the country’s civil society, it also had a global impact. Several institutions like the Worldwatch Institute and the World Resources Institute followed with their State of the World Report and the World Resources Report, respectively. NGOs in countries like Bangladesh, Nigeria, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nigeria have since prepared similar national reports. NGOs in Indian states like Orissa and Goa have put together state-level reports. The Karnataka government promoted a government-sponsored state-level report. And NGOs in Hyderabad and Ratlam produced city-level reports.

CSE has worked closely with the civil society both in India and abroad. From 1983 to 1987, Agarwal chaired the world’s largest network of environmental NGOs based in Nairobi, the Environment Liaison Centre. In 1987, the United Nations Environment Programme elected Agarwal to its Global 500 Honour Roll for his work in the national and international arena.

For the first 16 years, Agarwal had largely concentrated on creating awareness about environmental problems and, of course, solutions. He had waited for this awareness to sink into the nation’s consciousness with the hope that one day it will result in action. In 1972, during the Stockholm Conference, eminent Swedish economist, Gunnar Myrdal, had told Agarwal that ‘books are like time bombs. If they contain ideas that are correct, then one day they will explode. And if they don’t, they will be consigned to the dustbin of history.’ In an effort to shorten this fuse, Agarwal conceptualised CSE’s knowledge-based activism built around generating books and ideas. Its numerous programmes and campaigns put precisely this principle into practice.