The world has witnessed another earth day go by and another environment day breeze past us with little or no difference to the day next. Symbolic actions for environment and climate have come a long way in the world with increasing participation from public and more pressure on the leaders, but Govt.’s across the world are still callous and work in denial of the environmental crises the world is currently undergoing. The Copenhagen conference is an example of the gross injustice perpetrated on the people of this world. The youth from India, China and the US have seen their nations fumble and falter at important negotiations and act for their own narrowed interests. The gauntlet has been thrown to the public and we need to be ready to take it up. It is time for climate solutions and the power of communities and groups to implement them with or without Govt. intervention. We are witnessing signs of it with key nations racing for clean energy and the examples are here

“Asian Nations Could Outpace U.S. in Developing Clean Energy” – The Washington Post, Jul 7, 2009
“Obama Says U.S. Must Win Clean-Energy Race” – The Los Angeles Times, Oct 24, 2009
“China surges ahead of U.S. in clean energy race” – The Hindu, Mar 26, 2010
“China leads world in clean energy investment” – The People’s Daily Online, Mar 29, 2010

The Great Power Race (GPR) is a clean energy competition between universities and other college/school campuses in India, China and the US. The aim is to kick-start hundreds of new climate solution projects on campuses and in communities in all three countries and to demonstrate to governments and businesses our generation’s leadership in transforming our world towards a green economy. 

From installing compost pits to solar panels to changing light bulbs to growing local food, campus teams are encouraged and trained to take up various projects that reduce their dependence on dirty fossil fuel and emit less greenhouse gases. The competition is a one of its kind where teams will be allowed to communicate with each other across nations and share best practices thereby learning and understanding the differences and challenges of executing clean energy projects.

The Indian Youth Climate Network, Chinese youth climate action network, Energy action coalition and 350.org are the main organizers of the competition in the three countries. The competition is in 4 phases and will last till April 2011. Phase I ends by June 30th and the race is on for the maximum registrations from countries. Phase II involves training and execution of projects with the winners being declared in Cancun, Mexico during COP16 and the final two phases will accept more registrations and the winners will be declared in mid 2011. Eminent personalities in the field of environment from all three countries will be chosen to judge the projects and an elaborate point system has been designed to evaluate projects across various criteria.

The Indian youth climate network, a registered society working on issues of climate change and sustainable development is the main organizer of GPR in India. With a wide network amongst youth in the country, IYCN aims at helping support multiple climate solution projects in India. 

Campus teams can register or follow the race at www.greatpowerrace.org or www.facebook.com/greatpowerrace and please help spread the word to your friends, family and the world.

Working in a youth organization that is striving hard to address a global issue, it has always intrigued me to witness first hand, some of the debates and arguments that young people have on the issue of Climate change in this highly inter connected world. Climate change has become synonymous with a lot of problems that plague the planet in the 21st century and this presents a vast framework to discuss and address serious issues that have now found a growing link to our climate.

While I sit and watch these debates, I cannot but feel the need to talk about the recent controversies that have surrounded the science behind climate change. I am not a scientist nor an expert on any science related to climate but these controversies and dilemmas certainly leave me to fetch for information and make up my mind! The climate gate scandal found an opportune moment to reveal itself just before the Copenhagen summit and the subsequent revelation of IPCC on its Himalayan blunder have only added to the voice of the climate skeptics. If we were to busy ourselves with refuting the refuters, the real issue of climate will never be addressed. A recent article in the Economist talks about the need for action more so because of the uncertainty in science to decipher the real nature of the problem.
All this leads to two simple questions in my mind. How does one gather accurate and unbiased opinion on critical issues? And how does one reconcile to the uncertainties that are unavoidable and identify key areas of work? Both these questions have risen from the fact that the elements that have made information accessibility easier have also given us the opportunity to present diverse and often contrasting opinions on an otherwise straightforward issue. The climate is definitely not simple but to a reader trapped in the world web of information, constantly bombarded by arguments and counter arguments, the dilemma is created and fortified every day. So what is right and what is wrong? What is fake and what is not?

So where do we get our information and how do we perceive it? Climate news to be specific is everywhere these days and thousands of organizations, web portals and media outlets have popped up in the last 2-5 years to occupy this new found advertising space. With the freedom to communicate in their choice words, the perception of the problem and how to tackle it, we are bound to expect misinformation, redundancy and sheer nonsense. The reader on the other end is taken for a ride and if his/her work depends on the accuracy of such information, we begin to see the trauma settling in. The ease at which information flows is sometimes shocking. The word virus gets a whole new meaning in this age where content creation is child’s play. An amusing yet baffling example is that of a woman MP in New Zealand who believed in an email hoax and wrote to the health minister to ban dihydrogen monoxide without realizing that it is plain water. Now one can easily imagine the embarrassment and the trauma of such a situation. Our perceptions are driven by multiple factors but wading through online trash to ultimately arrive at the truth is a tedious job that many are not prepared to take up. So how does one gather the right information? Is there a website or a hot line that one can access? Unfortunately, there is no one-stop-shop for all our information needs and there is no regulator to weed out misinformation. We are being made fools everyday but it is only up to us to remove the blinds on our minds!

The uncertainty in climate science will always prevail and while some sinister forces aim to detract any action on reducing emissions, the negative implications and the growing inequity of an unsustainable world are beyond doubt and this has to be the real basis for any action. Climate change is considered an umbrella to address many other grave issues and this aspect is vital in uniting voices against ill-intentioned skepticism. Development, inequity and justice are but a few issues that drive the moral and ethical argument under climate change and they need to be supported and persistent. And this is where I believe skepticism based on theories does not apply and cold reality that is irrefutable takes charge. One does not have to look far or depend on sketchy information to understand these ‘real’ issues, look keenly at your surroundings and it will all reveal itself.

“There is more to unlearn than learn for the current generation to tackle the existing problems”. This leads me to my second question of reconciliation and the focus area of work. What does an environmentalist, an activist, a student or any stakeholder in society do while addressing social evils? And how can banter be tackled that is rigorously working to keep your audience fooled? The simple answer again is to see the reality and speak about it in absolute terms. There are no two sides to social ailments and when one speaks out with conviction and belief that arise from upholding the truth, there is no skeptic that can bring them down.

On this fools day, I wish to open my mind to the real problems facing us and avoid getting defeated and fooled by the non-issues that are forced upon us.

Happy Fools Day!

The international negotiations on Climate Change were never set to give the world the real deal that it hoped for. All the world leaders, diplomats and statesmen made statements that could have made a cynic turn hopeful of an outcome of the negotiations but alas, here at the final day of the negotiations, the mood can be best described as confusing, conniving and sickeningly desperate.

Days and weeks before the negotiations began, a pale sense of gloom already crept into the minds of civil society and the negotiators themselves as the size of the task ahead of them grew gargantuan with every passing day. Nothing was done and now at the end, confusion and desperation prevails which is the result of a last ditch attempt to saving the COP and signing a deal.

As the news pours in, even a political deal seems to be a distant reality. India and China threaten to walk out of the negotiations for being continuously put under pressure to accept a Danish text and disobey the Kyoto and the BAP process. The third Danish was rejected and rightly so. Denmark is dragging its face through the mud to get a deal signed. The BASIC text which was to be reformed after taking into consideration the strong proposals by the African countries and the AOSIS is still in the docks. A COP15 Copenhagen declaration is expected that will only have the essentials with confirmed figures on issues like REDD that has seen good progress. Emissions cuts and finances are still in the dark and a shared vision under long term cooperative action may form partial Annex texts of the declaration.

The youth delegations and civil society is completely disappointed and angry at the negotiations and the world leaders who have once again failed to deliver. This is nothing less than a criminal offense on the world and the leaders have been caught red handed.

” Only a miracle can make sure we have a legally binging deal in Copenhagen” – Jairam Ramesh.

The national statement made by Wen Jibao, Chinese Premier spoke at the plenary of the conference of parties in Copenhagen today and his statement came after China was turning into the scapegoat at the negotiations with developed nations blaming it for not taking emission targets. In his long speech, he gave the world 3 reasons why China is doing as much as it can and to label it as a nation causing the deadlock is wrong and dangerous.

a) Maintain the consistence of the outcomes. Bali Action plan was adopted by all the nations of the world a couple of years back and to drift away from the road map and adopt new pathways only undermines the UNFCCC process.

b) Uphold the fairness of rules. Kyoto called for common but differentiated responsibility and here in Copenhagen we seem to be ignoring the fairness that is embedded in those principles.

c) Assess the practicality of the targets. ” A thousand mile journey starts with the first step”. ” Rome was not built in a day”. With these proverbs, he called for giving people hope by doing credible actions. Long term efforts are important but moving with a sense of practicality is important.

“China will honour the world with its actions”. The premier was hopeful of a deal in Copenhagen that will not undermine the efforts of developing nations.

The entire text can be read here.

The Green Jobs Fair 2009*

September 24 – 26, 10am to 6pm

India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

*Free and open to the public

At the Green Jobs Fair you will have the chance to meet with professionals from top firms to talk about low carbon and sustainable careers. Whether you are looking to be an architect, a consultant, an engineer or an environmentalist, or already pursuing a career, we will have companies able to offer you advice on how to fulfill your ambition. Some of our exhibitors include Godrej Properties, Dalberg Consultants, Biome Environmental Architects, the UNDP, the WWF and many more.

We will also feature eminent individuals who will speak about building a career in the green space. Speakers include Bahar Dutt (investigative reporter), Kirit Parikh (ex-Member, Planning Commission), Dr. Ravi Singh (CEO, WWF-India) and many more.

Apart from exhibitors and speakers, we will have demonstrations on how to make your own eco bricks (Biome architects), how a parabolic solar cooker functions (Barefoot college) and how to maintain a solar lantern (SEWA).

Finally, Pukar theatre will be performing The Green Bollywood Theatre Show, over-the-top, must-watch spoofs filmy style on “going green” at 12pm and 4pm on all three days (see attached poster)

We understand that it can be a tough thinking about next steps, so the Green Jobs Fair has been put together to help you make informed decisions about your future. With India emerging as the third biggest market in what’s set to be a $2.740 trillion global industry by 2020, we think that whatever you decide to do, sustainability will play a part.

For details on the Green Jobs Fair, follow this link: www.greenjobsforindia.com

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

The Urban Habitats Forum Fellows Program is designed to provide talented students and young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 with an interest in urban issues with financial sponsorship covering their delegate fees to attend the 1st Habitat Summit.

Young professionals include but are not limited to – journalists, development professionals, policy makers and social entrepreneurs. We also strongly encourage students from the liberal arts, management, engineering and IT related fields. This sponsorship will be provided through the nomination and pairing of these applicants with interested organisations, donors and benefactors.

THE PROCESS

Applicants are required to complete the application form (which includes a personal bio, 4 short questions and a most recently updated CV). The application can be submitted either online or via email to fellows@mirabilisadvisory.com. Dead line for submitting applications is 31st August 2009.

The selection committee will review all completed applications and select 300 Fellows for the 1st Habitat Summit, 2009 programme. Selected candidates will be notified on or before the 5th of September and will be awarded financial sponsorship covering the delegate fees to attend the 1st Habitat Summit.

There are no restrictions on becoming a Fellow, except that nominees must be between 18 and 35 years of age. Students and young professionals from all backgrounds can apply to the Fellows Programme. Young professionals include but are not limited to – journalists, development professionals, policy makers and social entrepreneurs. We also strongly encourage students from the liberal arts, management, engineering and IT related fields.

HYSoCC

The IYCN in Hyderabad is organizing the Hyderabad Youth Summit on Climate Change ‘09 on June 20,21. The summit is open for young students and professionals between 16-30. The applications for the participants are out and can be downloaded at the above mentioned links.

Objectives of the summit:

1. A Hyderabad Youth Charter on Climate Change that will reflect the aspirations of the youth and young professionals regarding development and CC.

2. To facilitate exchange of ideas and sharing of techniques and practices on climate change mitigation and adaptation that can be replicated by youth across Hyderabad.

3. Create a network of youth and create an agenda for the coming year along with govt. bodies like the APNGC.

4. To serve as a platform for further in depth policy analysis and proposals on the key development issues facing Hyderabad in the wake of climate change.

5. To create an environment that will engage youth in policy issues of the capital and encourage youth leadership to find the solutions.

Participants at this conference will include:

1. Youth from educational institutions, organizations or young professionals from across Hyderabad who have a passion to create change in this subject.

2. Selected specialists and eminent speakers on key development challenges facing Hyderabad from a range of sectors.

3. Teachers and social activists working on climate change and sustainable development related issues.

For more updates on the summit, venue, organizers,speakers and more related info, please visit  this . Join the hysocc facebook group here

Learn.Engage.Change and spread the word on the summit and help us making it bigger.

The final report of the Consultations of the Civic Soceity on the Strategy for Climate Change in South Asia has been submitted to the World Bank. The consultations that took place in Kathmandu from March 19th to 20th brought together over 35 civic society members from South Asia and organized by CANSA.

After two days of deliberations over the draft report from the World Bank, the recommendations have been duly submitted. Please find a copy of the recommendations here or here.

Some key points:

a) The report appreciates the initiative of the WB but calls for more innovative and bold measures/strategies to tackle the problem.

b) The policy of lending is not acceptable anymore. Financing must be compensatory grant form and the financing strategy must compliment and not compete with the efforts of the UNFCCC,UNDP, DFID etc.

c) More focus and support to traditional methods of development in certain areas of South Asia. Dalits, tribals, indigenous communities cannot be out of the planning equation.

d) The strategy needs timelines and needs to weigh its decisions on GM crops, biofuels etc based on sound local knowledge.

e) Working better with local governments, civic societies etc in better distribution of funds.

Read the whole document and add your comments.

The draft will now go under changes based on feedbacks. The implementation of this strategy may depend on the outcomes of the COP15 or may begin early.

The world bank has recently come out with a draft report on the Climate Change impacts on South Asian regions (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan) and the role it would play in financing mitigation, adaptation and other climate risks facing us in the future. The report is a bulky 255 page draft document that seeks feedback from different Environmental and Financial institutions to modify and better the report for immediate implementation.

Around 35 delegates from 6 Countries have gathered in Kathmandu to consult on the report and come out with recommendations for the world bank to introduce in the report being organized by Climate Action Networl South Asia (CANSA). The conferene began on March 19th and will end today(20th). Representing IYCN, I am here in this beautiful city trying to understand the civic society take on the report and also give my feedback on it. I shall try and briefly summarize the report before I submit a report on the proceedings.

The report carefully outlines the impacts of climate change and the vulnerabilities of South Asian regions. Dealing in chapters on Health, Energy, Urban regions, Transport, Natural Disasters, Financing and a few other areas. The report is well backed up by scientific reports taken from IPCC and other reliable sources but with an underlying caveat that predicting climate change and its impacts are quite unpredictable. The report goes into much detail on the effects but the remains vague on the exact role the World Bank would play in the financing. (One could take it as the national action plan on climate change, which has missions outlined for implementation but the “Strategy” to do so is unexplained and the same goes with this report)

Some of the issues raised were the use of terminology and the language of the report in talking about the “poor” without defining them properly and the use of “Funds/ Grants/compensation/loans”, which can change the way the countries look at the money coming from developed nations. where the report can be appreciated is the importance of local communities and empowering local governments in taking better action that has been identified.

A more detailed report on the outcomes of this conference will be coming soon. check it out and comment.

One of the Side events at the conference of parties was on an interesting topic called “Greenhouse Development Rights”. Organized by “Ecoequity” and its representative Mr Sivan, the event discussed the critical issue of development in the 21st century and energy equity amongst nations. The following is a brief note of the event and the outcomes after the discussions.

Climate talks have not succeeded at the conference of the parties owing to the developing nations calling on the developed nations to have higher emission cuts and follow their commitments following which an emission reduction from the developing nation can be thought of. The debate has been about the right to development of the developing/poorer nations and thus a right to emit carbon in the process. The solution to the problem as proposed by ecoquity was to impose a “Development Threshold” on all global citizens and nations. The parameters taken into consideration included the responsibility of a nation towards climate change, its capacity to act and a connecting link that is formed using income levels. (more…)

Notes from the “Technology development and deployment to tackle climate change”. Mainly from FICCI’s representative, Mrs. Rita Choudhary and her presentation from the panel.

A technology development and deployment model needs to ascertain these following points:

1) A Regulatory Framework.
2) Research and Development.
3) Market based mechanisms.
4) Financing.

The main drivers for running such a model include the usual criteria of cost, availability of technology, raw material, framework,risk appetite and capacity to manage risks. These criteria need to be fulfilled in order to successfully run a model that enables adequate flow of technology.

The situation in India (more…)

The Indian Youth Delegation met with the general secretary of the UNFCCC, Mr Yvo De Boer on the 3^rd day of the COP. This was indeed a rare opportunity for us as we prepared an impromptu questionnaire and walked in to meet him flanked by a couple of other delegates who shot the whole interaction on tape. The discussion began with the Secretary asking us of the latest UNEP survey on India’s youth and its response to climate change. The survey showed contrasting figures and a clear disengagement of the youth in India to take action on climate change. But considering the small sample size of the survey with only 400 people while a bigger, better survey from IYCN is nearing its final stage; a better perspective on the youth of India is yet to be reached.

Following which our delegation launched a barrage of questions ranging from the role of youth in these negotiations to the current deadlock amongst certain groups of nations. Answering with poise, he spoke of continuing the work that the youth currently were doing at the COP and try to make their voices heard in more innovative ways. Answering to Deepa’s question of the recent financial bailout by the US govt. and its lack of action on climate funds, his answer was simple and obvious while stating that money induced would gain more voters and thus a political advantage. Having visited India before and having interacted with the bureaucrats and politicians, he seconds India’s right to develop but propounds the need for a sustainable growth.

Speaking of engaging youth in a bigger way at the conference, he was a little less forthcoming by asking the delegations to meet him with a “spectacular proposal” that if approved would take the youth delegations inside the private sessions of the official delegates. Quite a challenge, one might say! The meeting in the whole was a positive experience and a quiet motivator for all of us to work harder. Hopefully, the days to come will allow more delegations to meet and interact with their governments on a regular basis and create an atmosphere for mutual exchange of opinions.

During the Conference of Youth, one of the delegates had rather casually commented on the lack of interaction between the people from the global south and the global north. This was a comment that rang true and not surprisingly, there was more to this then just the fact of one party keeping to itself. So how does one bridge this divide if it’s ever possible? And how does this co-relate to how we can make it in the future.

One of the obvious reasons for this is the language barrier that hinders interaction in any common language(in most cases English) thereby creating a void between the two speakers that only grows with repeated fending off of a possible conversation. This is aggravated when one realizes their position in a conversation with someone who supposedly speaks better than him/her. So instead of creating an atmosphere that encourages more interactions, many cases rise that leave the individual, who in this case could be a person from Asia or Africa, annoyed and frustrated. So how can this language barrier be resolved? Simply by more meaningful interactions where both the people are equal in all respects and neither explicitly takes advantage of his/her ‘eloquence’. (more…)

Kartikeya Singh & Avipsa Mahapatra, youth representatives as part of the Government Delegation

After all one has heard, learned and virtually seen of the UN and the UNFCCC talks every year at the COP, it was huge if not historic to have India’s first ever youth delegation making its presence felt at the COP. The talks began in Poznan on the 1^st of December and the next two weeks are expected to set the ball rolling and facilitate a smooth decision making process in Copenhagen for the COP15.

The youth delegation has felt the need to make its presence felt at the COP while trying to fruitfully engage itself with the official Indian Government delegation. The Government is well represented at the COP with a mix of politicians, policy makers, environmentalists and academia. Surya Sethi from the Planning Commission, Anand Patwardhan from IIT Mumbai, Prudipto Ghosh from ‘The Energy & Resources Institute’ are some of the delegates representing India.  Kartikeya Singh and Avipsa Mahapatra are two of the Youth Delegates who were taken into the official delegation and this has helped us bridge the gap between the government and the youth delegation. (more…)