Veracity of Climate Change Movements in India

Dr. Prashant Khattri

Department of Anthropology

University of Allahabad, Prayagraj-211002

prashant_khattri2002@allduniv.ac.in

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The Climate Change movement has been defined as “an amalgam of loosely networked individuals, groups and organization springing out of the environmentalist, development, anti-capitalist, and indigenous movements, combined with a new wave of activists and groups that have no previous ties to other social movements” (Nulman, 2015: 2). This is to say that people already engaged with various environmental movements, issues of development and indigenous rights have taken up the cause of larger environmental damage due to climate change and are now addressing and trying to streamline the role of human beings in the context of global climate change. Andharia and Sengupta (1998) have attempted to categorize various environmental movements in India based on issues addressed by them. One would be surprised to note that none of the categories mentioned in the list deals exclusively with climate change. However, if one would look closer, one may find that several issues of sustainability, ecological imbalance, access to natural resources, industrial and automobile pollution, livelihood, displacement, development etc. that are directly or indirectly linked with the issue of climate change have found mention under various categories of environmental movements.

Some scholars have tried to see climate change movements in a more specific way (Nulman, 2015). According to these scholars, only those movements that directly address the impact of climate change on people and planet should qualify to be climate change movements. They must address issues of governance and public policy related to climate change and its impact on people. Movements that aim towards legislation regarding global and local carbon emission targets, movements that are against and oppose infrastructure that is carbon intensive and movements that aim for an increase in funding for establishment of renewable energy sources and infrastructure qualify to be climate change movements. This definition and typology of climate change movements are oriented towards and based upon the outcome of the movements. One of the central issues related to the consequences of the climate change movements is the issue of success and failure. Product of any movement can be defined in these terms, but in the context of climate change, the binary of success and failure may not be useful in understanding the outcomes. This is largely because a movement might be successful in bringing about a change in the legislation related to emission cuts, however, this change may not translate completely into visible change in the global climate change scenario.   

If one tries to trace the history of climate change movements, then one would find that it was not until late 1980s or the beginnings of 1990s that movements that directly addressed the issue of climate change were born. Issues of climate change before that were largely addressed by the scientists as they influenced the policy makers. It was only in 1989 that the Climate Action Network (CAN) came into existence. This was a network of organizations in Europe and United States of America that were engaged in issues of environment. Organizations like the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF); earlier called World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace International and Environmental Défense Fund were instrumental in the emergence of CAN. Another organization of importance was the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that was not directly linked to the emergence of CAN but played crucial role in addressing environmental issues through its focus on biodiversity and sustainability (Mehta and Weeks, 2009). Several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and civil society groups from various countries across the globe, came together to form and enlarge the CAN. It became as a common platform for environmental organizations for discussing and making strategies to address issues of climate change. Major goal of the organizations associated with CAN was to influence the policy that was supposed to be formulated in the Second World Climate Conference in 1990. The Greenpeace foundation and the Center for Science and Environment in India published reports on climate change in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The aim was again to influence the climate change policy (Nulman, 2015).

Besides Europe and the USA, countries in Asia wanted their voices to be stronger in the global negotiations. This prompted NGOs, mainly from Japan to form a Kiko Forum by 1997. The aim of this forum was to spread awareness about issues related to climate change and to help countries device mechanisms and policies for reduction of greenhouse gases. Just before the beginning of the Conference of Parties (COP) 6 that was scheduled to be held in November 2000 in The Hague, The Netherlands, a new organization emerged on the international scene of climate change activism. This organization was known as the Rising Tide. As the name suggests, this was a more radical organization that demonstrated against the capitalist interests and their influence on environment. During COP 6-2 in Bonn in 2001, activists associated with Rising Tide held demonstrations outside the conference venue and formed human chain to make their voice heard.

Before the COP 14, another group of NGOs and indigenous organizations formed a separate network of organizations mainly located in the global South. This network came to be known as Accra Caucus on Forests and Climate Change. This was formed in 2008 in Ghana. This network was mainly interested in highlighting and addressing the local issues and problems related to climate change. This group also advocated the interests of local indigenous groups in relation to climate change. Another network called as the Global Call for Climate Action was formed in the same year with similar objectives. In addition, this network also advocated for participatory action plan for reducing emissions that increase due to deforestation and forest degradation. They advocated for the participation of the local, tribal and indigenous communities.

A big shift in activism occurred just before the COP 15. Two networks joined hands- the Climate Justice Network (CJN) and the Climate Justice Action (CJA). They mobilized a large group of activists just before the COP 15 and advocated for a change in the system or the global capitalist economic structure. They addressed the change in the system rather than the climate change. They were of the view that climate change will automatically be addressed if we tackle its root cause. One of the consequences or the outcomes of this movement was that many international networks and activist groups were banned from attending and observing future climate conferences (Nulman, 2015).   

Data suggests that developing countries are more vulnerable than the developed countries in the context of losses happening due to extreme weather events because of global climatic fluctuations. Loss to life, property, land, livestock and livelihood due to climate change is much more in developing countries. This must be seen in the context of emission of greenhouse gases which is lower in case of developing countries in comparison to the developed countries. India, owing to its high population density and geographical location is vulnerable to extreme weather events that occur due to climate change. People must face a lot of hardships due to seasonal migration away from home, loss of cultivable land and livelihood and loss of loved ones. This agitates them and they demand their rightful claims from the governments. The kind of social movements associated with climate change in India therefore are different in nature as compared to the ones that happen in the West. Climate movements in the West or in the global North are broadly labelled as wilderness movements. These are associated with protection and preservation of vast landmasses that are neither inhabited by people nor are they cultivated. Northern movements were for recreation and luxury. In contrast to this, environmental movements and activism in India are largely labelled as ‘environmentalism of the poor.’ Mehta and Weeks (2009) have labelled such movements as pro-people justice movements. A sizeable section of the global population is dependent on natural resources for survival and sustainability. When these resources get depleted due to climate change, crisis occurs, and people are forced to come-out and protest to get back their rightful share in natural resources and their livelihoods. In other words, livelihood crisis leads to protest (Swarnakar, 2019).

In a major way, environmental activism in India is also related with the issue of development. Deforestation, displacement, and land grab that happen in the name of development, subsequently leads to environmental activism. It is also true that during the 1990s as mentioned in the previous section, when organizations and networks in the West were busy addressing issues related to climate change and global warming like loss of biodiversity and rise in sea-level, people and organizations in India were not very clear about engaging with such issues. It has been argued that as in the case of other developing countries, India focused more on developmental issues and their challenges rather than dealing with concerns of climate change. This scenario however changed during the early twenty-first century. Several NGOs in India working on environmental issues became a part of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change (PMCCC) in 2007. This gave them an opportunity to associate their work on environment directly with the issues of global climate change. This also led to an increase in the number of NGOs and civil society organizations engaged with issues of climate change. One of the reasons for this crowding-in effect as it is called was an expansion of networks of organizations working on climate change in the West and other regions across the globe and their direct and in-direct association with organizations working in India. Governments across the globe were also under pressure to support such activities of the civil society organizations and this gave them opportunity to come together and work for the cause of global climate change (Swarnakar, 2019).      

Climate change has always been a political issue both locally and globally. It is an issue that directly links with development and industrialization. Going against human induced climate change is also going against the carbon-intensive economy and big industrial houses. Another strategy to counter climate change is the production of environment friendly technology for sustainable use of resources. This two-pronged strategy to deal with climate change has also given rise to two ways in which social movements related to climate change have taken shape in India. First, there are concerted efforts by organizations towards convincing the governments and industries to adopt climate friendly technologies for sustainable development. This has been known as the climate sustainability framework. Organizations working within this framework do not go against the government and the state apparatus but try to work within the structural framework of the existing government. Organizations engaged in such climate activism sometimes work for the government at the international forum for better climate negotiations. Such organizations are also engaged in writing policy documents for the government (Swarnakar, 2019).

Second, there are organizations and groups that work for the climate justice framework. They advocate for a total change in the way we relate to our environment. For them, indigenous ways of life and living are the most sustainable ways and instead of looking for big technological solutions we must look for indigenous ways of relating with the environment. They also advocate for cognitive justice where solutions and ways of dealing with climate change essentially come from below. Cognitive justice framework implies that there are no single solutions to the problem of climate change. Indigenous knowledge and worldview regarding environment must also form part of the solutions to deal with climate change. Organizations like the Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change, Hazards Center, Environics Trust and Delhi Science Forum fall under this category. Such climate groups are critical of the government approach to climate change and their position in the international negotiations. The Delhi Science Forum together with Oxfam has published a paper on rethinking India’s climate policy and global negotiations in which it has called-upon various groups and activists to take-up the cause of equitable climate agreement and effective implementation of climate policies in India. Organizations supporting the climate justice framework follow the rights-based approach to understand and deal with the issue of climate change. They talk in terms of the rights of the people contributing the least to the changing climate but are affected the most by the consequences of climate change (Swarnakar, 2019).

If the climate sustainability framework is apolitical in nature, then the climate justice framework is very much political as it entails going against the organizations and other institutions that are contributing towards climate change. This involves going against the organizations both at the national and international level. This also includes a criticism of national governments on policy issues related to climate change and a criticism of going against the corporate lobbyist. State sometimes may retaliate in this context by repressing the movements as it may jeopardize their future election prospects.

References 

Andharia J. and Sengupta C. 1998. The Environmental Movement: Global Issues and the Indian Reality. The Indian Journal of Social Work. 59 (1).

Mehta S. and Weeks P. 2009. Globalized Environmentalism and Indian Environmental Organizations. Ludhiana. Unistar Books.

Nulman E. 2015. Climate Change and Social Movements. UK. Macmillan.

Swarnakar P. 2019. Climate Change, Civil Society and Social Movement in India. In Navroz K. Dubash (ed.). Indian in a Warming World. Oxford. Oxford University Press.