Skip to main content

Why rapid transition to green energy should be people-centric and community-led

Synthesis Report of IPCC AR6 is a warning call: Grounded action needed to ensure social and ecological justice: ActionAid Association note:
***
The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report is a warning call for action on the quickly closing opportunity of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees centigrade. Unless fossil fuels are rapidly retired, the impacts of climate change already faced by vulnerable communities will become difficult to handle. The IPCC report also highlights that we have the renewable energy technology, policy tools, and financial capital required for a just transition; however, “both adaptation and mitigation financing would need to increase many-fold”.
The loss and damage caused by heat waves, crop failures, and rising sea levels suffered by majorities of India’s working peoples are already significant and uncompensated. News reports tell us that due to heat, India already loses around 101 billion hours yearly. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a letter to all states and union territories warning of the potential health impacts. This year was the second successive spring that saw early heatwave conditions threatening the wheat crop. “Lost to Sea”, ActionAid Association’s recently concluded study in coastal districts of Odisha, captures people’s narratives testifying to loss of land due to sea intrusion, increased migration outflow, loss in mobility and increased salinity of groundwater.
ActionAid Association underlines the need to create a National Framework for Climate Change Induced Loss and Damage, which would incorporate a fund to provide compensation for loss and damage and a framework for assessing and computing the damage. At the global level, of course, this needs to be supported by the “Loss and Damage” Fund agreed to set up at the Twenty-seventh Conference of Parties, to which the most industrialized nations should contribute. ActionAid Association is fully conscious that the elusive promises of technofixes or carbon offsets have allowed the biggest polluters to continue with business-as-usual, supported by what has tragically been reduced to greenwashing exercises. Thus ActionAid Association would like to recognize, celebrate and further enable communities and sections of society that have taken up the custodianship of ecological resources and, through their living traditions, protected these precious resources for centuries. Furthermore, we call on the need to secure the dignity of labour and livelihood for all those who provide ecological services – these include rag pickers and waste recyclers, and small farmers and agricultural labour practising agroecology.
We must cut greenhouse gas emissions to half and stop carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. We must make the use of fossil fuels history much sooner than planned, and such transitions must be just. Prioritizing phasing out coal will only shift the burden away from the Global North, which has had the majority role in causing climate catastrophes. To have a reasonable chance of preventing warming beyond critical levels, we need to make a rapid and drastic shift away from all fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal now, a point argued by India and supported by the G77 in CoP’27. There can be no new oil and gas development, and disinvestments from existing developments should be scaled up rapidly. Meanwhile, planned investments for new oil and gas should fully finance the necessary scale-up of wind and solar. Financial and technology transfers from the Global North to the Global South must rapidly scale up to phase out coal and halt further investments.
Rapid green transitions mean energy transitions to solar and wind and investing several folds in such transitions above the current levels in towns and the countryside. However, keeping the principle of social justice as our primary guide, we must ensure that all such efforts are people-centric and community-led projects. We need to remain wary of vested interests that seek to make the issue of climate change another way to earn profit without caring for the ultimate impact on our increasingly fragile world.
Sandeep Chachra, Executive Director, ActionAid Association, says, “The synthesis report of the IPCC AR6 re-affirms that the world is facing the impact of climate change at a scale that was not anticipated to happen so soon. It also confirms that those least responsible for the crisis bear the greatest burden. However, we must recognize that so far, all of us, civil society, business and governments, have failed to bring a feminist transition to climate justice. We need to bring vulnerable communities and sections of society into the climate change discourse to ensure that grounded action can bring both the social and ecological justice the world needs.”

Comments

TRENDING

Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan raises concerns over Jharkhand Adivasis' plight in Assam, BJP policies

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (Save Democracy Campaign) has issued a pressing call to protect Adivasi rights in Jharkhand, highlighting serious concerns over the treatment of Jharkhandi Adivasis in Assam. During a press conference in Ranchi on November 9, representatives from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh criticized the current approach of BJP-led governments in these states, arguing it has exacerbated Adivasi struggles for rights, land, and cultural preservation.

Promoting love or instilling hate and fear: Why is RSS seeking a meeting with Rahul Gandhi?

By Ram Puniyani*  India's anti-colonial struggle was marked by a diverse range of social movements, one of the most significant being Hindu-Muslim unity and the emergence of a unified Indian identity among people of all religions. The nationalist, anti-colonial movement championed this unity, best embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, who ultimately gave his life for this cause. Gandhi once wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched-up thing but a union of hearts... Swaraj (self-rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce... It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.”

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Green Revolution’s reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides contributing to Punjab's health crisis

By Bharat Dogra, Jagmohan Singh*  Punjab was once synonymous with robust health, particularly in its rural areas, where farmers were known for their strength and vitality. However, in recent years, reports from these villages tell a different story, with rising cases of serious health issues, including cancer. What led to this decline? The answer lies largely in the erosion of good nutrition, once a hallmark of Punjabi village life. The health of a population is closely tied to its nutrition, and Punjab's reputation as a provider of high-quality nutrition has suffered greatly. The loss of biodiversity in agriculture has led to a decrease in the variety and quality of crops, resulting in poorer nutrition. Pulses, a key source of protein, have seen a steep decline in cultivation due to the disruption of traditional farming practices by the Green Revolution. This has had a detrimental effect on both soil and human health. Although pulses are still available in the market, they are exp

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.