As much as we deny or ignore the reality of climate change, its impact can be seen in our daily lives. It’s a black cloud constantly hovering over our heads, ready to take the most vicious of forms. Recently UK residents experienced frightening effects in the form of an unprecedentedly sweltering heat wave but other parts of the world, particularly ones away from the west, have already experienced climate change first-hand on numerous occasions.
It is also a fact that any calamity will have a greater impact on certain communities with indigenous people, and racial as well as ethnic minorities particularly taking the brunt. Within such circumstances, urgency often leads to individuals and organizations finding global solutions. In India, the most climate-vulnerable states — Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand have inspired such leadership.
CEEW’s (The Council on Energy, Environment and Water) upcoming project, ‘Faces of Climate Resilience’, in partnership with the India Climate Collaborative and Edelgive Foundation, is a short documentary series that captures their voices. It aims to kickstart a movement and collectivise support for the unseen and unspoken.
With a goal to create awareness and strengthen commitments to climate action solutions, the documentary drives the narrative for climate leadership in the context of India. It covers communities such as women’s collectives in Odisha replanting trees along a cyclone-prone coast, a mahila mangal dal (women’s organisation) in Uttarakhand working with local forest officials in combating forest fires, and a youth group in suburban Mumbai sensitising slum dwellers about climate change and more.
It is vital to shed light on the power and potential of local climate changemakers. Episodes will drop every Friday in the run-up to this year’s climate summit, COP-27 (The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference), and beyond.
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