The Diversity Blog

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Praveen Gupta: ‘Bright New World’ – what made you write this book for children?

Cindy Forde: I wrote a book for children because I believe the stories we tell our children and how we educate the rising generation is key to creating a brighter future. Einstein famously said, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them. Even though our ecological systems teeter on the brink of collapse, threatening the stability of our global economy and society, most national curriculums are based on the industrial revolution, the system at the root of these problems. A model based on endless growth when we have finite resources, that fuels climate change, extinction, and almost unprecedented inequalities in wealth within and between countries and people. We must urgently re-design education.

There has probably never been a greater opportunity for transformation to a brighter future for humanity than now, nor the urgency to seize this been more acute.

In the midst of so much ecological breakdown and despair, there is much more than hope, there is a clear road map to a safer, kinder word.  If we learn to read that map, to step out of powerlessness, bewilderment and anxiety and orient ourselves in new directions of thought and action, we can all be part of shaping a brighter future.

I wrote ‘Bright New World’ to give children, their families, and teachers the tools to read this map and to be part of building new pathways for humanity.

PG: Climate Crisis makes us all anxious. Particularly the children – who will be our inheritors. Is that why you opted to explain the social, political, and environmental issues facing the planet and how we got to this point?

CF: Yes, absolutely. To have hope and to enable children, all people, to realise their own ability to be part of co-creating the world they want, it is vital to understand how we got to this point and that most of the blocks in our way out of this crisis are social and political.

Most of the solutions, or mitigation, to our major global problems already exist. Earth still retains the resilience and abundance to support the human family and all her other life forms in harmonious co-existence.  She is damaged but can regenerate. What must change for this to happen is how we think.

Anxiety can be caused by a sense of powerlessness, of things being out of our control, that nothing is being, or can be done. Instead of fear and anxiety, I asked myself, what if we changed the story for our young people and enabled them to see this as one of the most exciting times to be alive? System change begins with how we teach our children to think. What if the stories we tell start to draw new maps, to equip the rising generation to navigate themselves safely through innovation, social and political change, towards a world with a future?

PG: Would you call it a holistic view – as you choose to go beyond climate change?

CF: Climate breakdown is a symptom of our wider systems crisis. It is a by-product of how our economic and social systems have evolved over centuries of colonisation and industrialisation and cannot be tackled as an isolated issue. Earth is an interconnected web of life, just like our bodies, what happens in one part of the web can have a huge, often unforeseen, impact on another. The solutions must be systemic, holistic.

By inviting children to step into a not-too-distant future where these solutions have been able to take effect, they have the opportunity see what is possible. To visit a world where we collaborate with nature and our natural systems to create thriving cities, wild spaces, oceans; where we use our incredible technological abilities to enhance and support the genius of the natural word; where we have reengineered our systemic issues that currently cause the greatest problems, such as energy, food, travel, economics, how treat and educate girls, to become the biggest part of the solution.

PG: What are the key messages for young people?

CF: That they can be part of creating a brighter world.

Throughout the book, children are asked questions about their own ideas for how to do this. At the end of the book there is list of 10 simple things they can do to use their own power to make change. Some of these are practical lifestyle actions like what we eat, how we travel, how much stuff we consume. Others are about having self-belief, using your creativity, your voice to ask for change. I summarise this as Care. Share. Dare.

Care for Earth, collaborate and dare to think differently about the future you can create.

I frame this in a real-world context that shows that the disaster that we are facing is causing much awakening to the short-sighted folly of ‘endless growth at any cost’.  Around the world people are rising up with innovation both in how we do and make things and in how we think. This evolution in mindset is the greatest key to change. The book showcases brilliant young activists at the forefront of this transition and the innovations they are developing at a local and global level, to demonstrate this change is real and already well underway.

The catastrophic imbalance in our planet is mirrored by the catastrophic imbalance in voices in national and international decision making. Decisions that affect our survival as a species are being taken predominantly by a single interest group, the old guard powerbase of the industrial global north. These voices tend to come in an older, white male package.

PG: How important is educating girls so as to take an equal place in society?

CF: I dedicate a section to this called ‘Voices for Girls’. It shows that educating women is one of the leading ways of mitigating climate and ecological breakdown, as demonstrated by the research of Project Drawdown and Population Matters among many other world leading organisation. When girls are educated, they have more control over their reproductive systems and choose to have fewer, or no children. As David Attenborough said, “All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible, to solve with more people.”

And it is not just population numbers. The catastrophic imbalance in our planet is mirrored by the catastrophic imbalance in voices in national and international decision making. Decisions that affect our survival as a species are being taken predominantly by a single interest group, the old guard powerbase of the industrial global north. These voices tend to come in an older, white male package. The outcome of this monocultural world view is, as with all monocultural ecosystems, unsustainability, and collapse. We have a fight on our hands to change this, as it is a fight against an entrenched status quo reinforced by billion-dollar corporate interests, that lobby governments and pay politicians across the globe.

Educating girls is a vital part of this fight to enable women around the world to mobilise, recognise their own value and take full part in decision making. Including the holistic, collaborative ‘feminine’ world view, and many men also hold this, as opposed to the current dominant model of relentless competition and extraction to extinction is crucial to our survival. So, educating boys to understand the value of woman and girls is also essential.

PG: Women are the ones most impacted by the Climate Crisis, how can their voices be heard? Why are they poorly represented in leadership roles at the likes of the COP?

CF: As outlined, in my previous answer, this is a deeply systemic issue. The current power structures have been put in place by and to maintain a patriarchy.  The domination and exploitation of nature in many ways mirrors the domination and exploitation of women. Even in 2021 the British government saw no issue in sending an all-male delegation, at decision maker level, to the COP26 negotiations, even when challenged hard on this by influential women globally. When women in countries where we have considerably more franchise face this kind of political erasure, the devastating level of exclusion faced by women in more overtly discriminatory societies operates like a deadly bog. 

Exclusion of women is hard baked into the extant model of colonisation and exploitation of countries, people, nature that has led us to the brink of extinction. Our dominant myths and cultural narratives have been shaped to support this world view and the myth making industry has only grown more powerful as media oligarchs consolidate their influence over the news, to an extent film, digital and social media. The collaborative, ‘feminine,’ natural systems world view does not support the vast profiteering for the elite at the top of the current dominator paradigm that has driven our society for so long.  It is, therefore, a worldview that must be repressed, silenced, discredited.

Many men who also hold this world view are also excluded and discredited accordingly.  Orchestrated violence, corruption, obscene lobbying, for example by the fossil fuel industry, is all at horrifyingly well-funded play to hold this system in place, and as it now implodes this becomes more extreme and vicious, as evidenced by the petro-state wars now reaching the level of nuclear threat, and the terrifying backlash again women’s rights, in the devastating decision of Roe vs Wade.  It takes great courage, collaboration, and commitment to systemic change to get marginalised voices heard. This involves the mobilisation of influence in the diplomatic, corporate, and political sphere such as COPs, campaigning, collaboration and amplification of work and message through well organised, focused global networks of mutual support. It also takes significant funding.

Exclusion of women is hard baked into the extant model of colonisation and exploitation of countries, people, nature that has led us to the brink of extinction. Our dominant myths and cultural narratives have been shaped to support this world view and the myth making industry has only grown more powerful as media oligarchs consolidate their influence over the news, to an extent film, digital and social media.

PG: What needs to be done to ensure a key role for indigenous people and women from Global South?

CF: As outlined, in my previous answer, we need to build strong, cross global networks to influence and campaign. Where people who have power and resources understand how vital it is to include the voices of indigenous people and women from the global south, they must use it. Our time to achieve the meaningful dialogues, listening and action essential to changing our trajectory is extremely short now. We must mobilise in effective and coordinated ways to have an impact at places like COP, which are riddled with corporate interest and have a track record of failure. So, we must also build alternative platforms for global governance where voices from the global south, indigenous people, and women are built in as core constituencies.

I am on the Steering Committee of She Changes Climate https://www.shechangesclimate.org  whose aim is to spearhead women’s participation in climate negotiations working in global collaboration. I also support the work of https://www.foundationearth.co, currently incubated by Climate 2025 https://www.climate2025.org to support the emergence of global governance of our biosphere.

PG: Any plans for translating the book into other major global languages?

CF: Absolutely, the rights have already been acquired by a German publishing group, and other international rights are under discussion. I would obviously like to see ‘Bright New World’ in all major languages so its message can reach children and their families in all countries of our beautiful, shared planet.

PG: May this brilliant vision for a ‘Bright New World’ become a reality soonest, Cindy!

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https://illuminem.com/illuminemvoices/a9c523b0-82f3-4268-a8df-26b86fafa023

September 23, 2022

My response to the Reserve Bank of India consultation on Climate Change.

Major Wall Street banks have threatened to leave United Nations climate envoy Mark Carney’s financial alliance over legal risks, according to the Financial Times. So in these flip flop times, from COP26 when everyone rushed to follow him as he played the pied piper – to COP27 – when the biggest of fossil fuel financiers are reportedly ready to abandon GFANZ and jump the ship.

World Bank President David Malpass came under heavy criticism earlier this week, according to Reuters, after he declined to say whether he accepts the scientific consensus on global warming, rekindling concerns about the bank’s lack of a deadline to stop funding fossil fuels. After dodging questions on climate, Malpass told CNN ‘I’m not a denier’.

The scrutiny is on and will get more intense. Not just for banks but all financial institutions. The systemic risk that they pose collectively will only get exacerbated by the systemic nature of climate risk. It disregards geographical or political boundaries; who emits how much GHG; intergenerational implications; and ironically the Global South ends up paying a disproportionate price.

“RBI’s waking up to Environment risk or climate change is a most welcome move, even if the initiative is perhaps a decade too late”, says Dr. V. Raghunathan – renowned author, former banker and an expert on behavioural finance. “But of course, better late than never”. Perhaps it’s also time for RBI and other financial services regulators “to close hands, given the many cross pollination” between various sectors, as Raghunathan puts it.

I draw in some world-wide good practices. Needless to mention, more than the implications of Climate Change on balance sheets of financial institutions, it is the adverse impact of the money pipeline on environment and society that really matters. RBI’s solo performance is too late in the day. It is time for a concerted rapid action.

However, it does not stop here. There is hope in the form the ‘Bridgetown Agenda’ – Barbados’ PM Mia Mottley’s efforts towards building a global coalition to make financial system fit for climate action. Designed to reform the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), institutions set-up at the end of World War II and still dominated by the US and Europe.

 

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Praveen Gupta: What drew you towards nature and conservation?

Mehreen Khaleel: I have always found solace in nature. I believe it were my parents who were more inclined towards nature and that’s why i find my peace in it. I remember the excitement on my mother’s face whenever she would see a new bird. That was something I missed the most while pursuing my higher studies. But very fortunately, I have had mentors who would encourage to spend some time watching birds on campus. It not only kept me occupied but helped me develop interest in nature and conservation. Very luckily, I could pursue my interests and now I am trying to sow the same seed of conservation in many young minds. The passion which many of our students show is infectious, and I think that keeps me going. 

PG: What did you have in mind when you created the Wildlife Research and Conservation Foundation (WRCF)?

MK: During my PhD research, I realised Kashmir’s wild flora and fauna is less studied. General awareness about wildlife in Kashmir was lagging among the younger generation. Unfortunately the traditional environmental knowledge wasn’t given much importance and maybe that was the reason behind this lag. When we started WRCF, we wanted to start a conversation about wildlife of Kashmir, and bring in ideas from the locals. We are a team of dedicated researchers who use scientific knowledge to explore, understand and tackle various issues related to wildlife conservation. 

When we started WRCF, we wanted to start a conversation about wildlife of Kashmir, and bring in ideas from the locals. We are a team of dedicated researchers who use scientific knowledge to explore, understand and tackle various issues related to wildlife conservation. 

PG: Which animals are most affected by the Human Wildlife Conflict? Is any of it the focus area for WRCF?

MK: In Kashmir it’s the Asiatic Black Bear which has been affected by the Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC). There could be many reasons to it, be it the shift in agricultural practices to cash crops, unregulated garbage management in fringe zones, seemingly increase in the number of bear population etc. WRCF has been trying to understand the dynamics of this conflict scientifically. We have been focusing on mitigating HWC with the appropriate use of technology. We have been in constant consultation with the local stakeholders as we address this issue.

PG: What is the impact of Climate Change in the Himalayan region – visible & invisible?

MK: I remember seeing snow clad Mahadev peak in Srinagar hold its snow till the next winter, which nowadays looks naked as July sets in. It’s disheartening to find such abrupt changes in just very short span of time. Reports of new tropical species of birds and insects is a hint to the wise that “Not all is well in the Himalaya”. Many of us would not be bothered by Climate Change but for an ecologically sensitive place like Kashmir these things matter a lot.

There are too many things which at the inception can be attributed to the Climate Crisis and need immediate ponder. Every year during summers, more than a dozen places witness flash floods, erratic rains. The four seasons (Spring, summer, autumn and winter) which Kashmir was known for, have no longer a clear demarcation. We have seen winters getting warmer with none or very less snow. There is a substantial shift in the phenology of native flowering species in response to climate change. 

The four seasons (Spring, summer, autumn and winter) which Kashmir was known for, have no longer a clear demarcation. We have seen winters getting warmer with none or very less snow. There is a substantial shift in the phenology of native flowering species in response to climate change. 

PG: Any specific learning from your work: ‘Distribution & feeding ecology of Himalayan gray langur’?

MK: Himalayan gray langur is the least studied high-altitude primate. Not much was known about its ecology and distribution from Kashmir. Previously it was known to occur in Dachigam National Park, but my work establishes its presence in a wider range. They were found in the mountainous protected areas of Kashmir (Kazinag NP, Wangath-Naranag CR, Tral-Shikargah CR, Rajparian WLS, Overa WLS) preferring an elevation range of 1600-3000m. This work served as baseline for various scientific studies and management policies towards the conservation of this high-altitude primate. I also tried to understand the feeding ecology of these primates in seasonal habitats of Kashmir Himalaya. They mostly depend on tree bark, seeds of native tree species found in Kashmir forests.

PG: Do smaller animals, birds, insects and the flora also get your attention?

MK: Yes of course. WRCF has started research projects pertaining to smaller animals, such as Kashmir Flying Squirrel, monitoring local and migratory bird populations. We have already worked on the floral diversity in one of the protected areas of Kashmir, and are expecting a publication on it sometime soon. Last year, in collaboration with WWF-India, we conducted a Wetland monitoring of Odonate survey. We are the first organisation from Kashmir which started the moth week and butterfly month citizen science surveys in partnership with National Moth week and Big Butterfly Month initiatives respectively. 

PG: Any thoughts on how to popularise nature conservation and biodiversity protection with the masses?

MK: We have been trying to work out some very conventional models such as use of audio-visual in conducting lecture workshops, nature camps. Mass awareness on social media engages more people at the same time and has turned out to be more effective as well. Since our focus is on the people living in the fringe zones, we have conducted these programs in local languages. Benefits of using local language is that people can easily relate and they can come up with better ways and suggestions about biodiversity protection.     

PG: Don’t you think women from Global South should play a much bigger role in environmental matters in the likes of COP27?

MK: I definitely believe that women should play a much bigger role in environmental matters. The likes of COP27 should recognise and encourage such women leaders who would be a source of inspiration for many. 

PG: Your thoughts on the role of indigenous people as stewards of nature?

MK: I believe indigenous people have the best knowledge for nurturing biodiversity. They have been the stewards of nature but we have failed to acknowledge their efforts. They have mastered coexistence with nature. Be it agricultural practices, use of natural resources, or dealing with human-wildlife interactions, indigenous people have had the best of practices. This knowledge should be transferred to their younger generations. But somehow this flow has been hampered due to modernisation. 

PG: Many thanks for these wonderful insights, Mehreen! My best wishes to you and the team.

The Journal, Chartered Insurance Institute: September 9, 2022

https://thejournal.cii.co.uk/2022/09/09/calm-storm

Delighted to co-author this think piece with the brilliant Zaneta Sedilekova. London based biodiversity and climate risk lawyer. she is the Founding Managing Director of Climate Law Lab Ltd.

We analyse the role that climate liability risk can play in shaping the insurance industry. We look at the main trends in climate litigation against corporates, and its impact on the insurance jargon, wordings and investment outlook. We conclude with some practical suggestions on how climate liability risk can be mitigated on both underwriting and portfolio levels.

Zaneta’s work entails strong focus on risks and opportunities climate and biodiversity crises present to the financial system as well as individual decision-makers. “Most importantly”, as she puts it “I help clients turn these risks into opportunities for their business and wider stakeholders”.

“If we don’t do everything right, that “near to two degrees” will actually be nearer three degrees Celsius, which is five or six degrees Fahrenheit, which is a world where civilizations won’t be able to function in the ways we’re used to them functioning. That civilizational breakdown – a political and human phenomenon, not a scientific one – could come sooner; we don’t know where the civilizational red lines are, only that we’re close”. Warns ecologist and activist Bill McKibben. That would surely redline much of what insurers do!

Very dark times

“We face dark times. Very dark times. All of us… What is coming is especially difficult for those under 40 or 50 years old. They have never experienced this level of adversity that is hitting their ways of life, homeland, communities, and all they take for granted… Closing eyes and a belief that somehow, we can ignore what is fast overwhelming us are simply not options. Highlights Nik Gowing – Founder & Co-Author, Thinking the Unthinkable.

UK-based litigation funders have amassed record war chests to finance the growing interest in class action law suits, according to a new study by RPC. Litigation funders’ assets jumped 11% last year to hit £2.2bn, almost double the £1.3bn that had been built up in 2017/18 and a more than ten-fold increase over the past decade… This is a game changer for GC, Companies. Boards and Law Firms and is not filing anywhere but up.

“I approve of the idea of class action law firms and litigation funding as they do something towards creating equality of arms which is critical to the Rule of Law”. Observes the renowned Prof Paul Watchman.

Insurers with fossil fuel fixation, affinity for biodiversity destroyers and purveyors of pollution – wouldn’t be taking their loss reserves and all the attendant greed of executive rem and board rewards for granted too long. If only they start following what lies in store. A lip service to NetZero Insurers Alliance (NZIA) is a farce and only hastens the encounter with the “very dark times’’.

“Nature merely sends warnings, then consequences… no judgements. The four Horsemen of our impending Apocalypse – ignorance, arrogance, avarice and apathy – are in full gallop today”. Thank you Bittu Sahgal, you couldn’t be louder and clearer!

For those seriously wishing to follow what next, please do track Zaneta’s work. The rest might as well enjoy the calm before the storm!

Praveen Gupta: What got you interested in Climate Change?

Robina Abuya: I trained in climate change (MSc) from Heriot-Watt University, U.K. Beyond that, I have practiced for over 10 years in various capacities at different institutions in the listed thematic areas of climate change. I got interested in climate change during the late 2000’s when Africa and Kenya in particular were facing challenges due to rising impacts and risks of climate change. After completing my undergraduate studies in Biology, I registered for post-graduation in climate change. I was fortunate enough that the commonwealth identified me for sponsorship. During that time, there was no concrete syllabus and specific studies in climate change – especially on policy, adaptation and mitigation.

These roles sometimes put women at risk, but they have over time learnt to adapt and mitigate, so they have vast knowledge on traditional adaptation and even mitigation approaches which they can share with a larger audience.

PG: Don’t you think more women from Global South need to be inducted into global climate leadership, including the COP?

RA: Yes, more women from the Global South should be inducted into global climate leadership, because:

1. Women form a high percentage of vulnerable groups, facing multiple vulnerabilities due to various circumstances and risks.
2. They interact more with the natural systems and, therefore, any risks due to climate change impact them substantially.
3. The various cultural set up and roles played by women in the communities they come from. These roles sometimes put women at risk, but they have over time learnt to adapt and mitigate, so they have vast knowledge on traditional adaptation and even mitigation approaches which they can share with a larger audience.
4. Women’s voices need to be heard because they have first-hand experience and, therefore, applicable solutions to some of the risks posed by climate change.  
5. Leadership of women at that higher level will give confidence to the vulnerable groups because those who understand their plight would be representing them.

PG: How do you think a more expansive role for women would make the desired difference to the Climate agenda?

RA: Women will be able to incorporate practical climate actions. With a visible leadership presence of women, this will give confidence to especially those at the grass-roots that their voices would be heard and incorporated into the various policy initiatives.

Women will be able to incorporate practical climate actions. With a visible leadership presence of women, this may give confidence to especially those at the grass-roots that their voices would be heard and incorporated into the various policy initiatives.

Not only would women be not looked at as a vulnerable population, but will be also recognised as a people that are able to offer solutions and contribute policy mechanisms. This will enable them to relate better with the policy decisions and translate the actions better at implementation level.

The expanded role of women will also mean that they are able to demand for better approaches, mechanisms, compensation etc.

PG: Do you expect to continue your Climate related passion in your new role at the Red Cross?

RA: Yes, my profession is in climate change and environment. I endeavor to continue pursuing this at various lengths and in my new role.

PG: Many thanks, Robina. My best wishes in all your endeavours.

Read on illuminem: August 31, 2022

https://illuminem.com/illuminemvoices/a8382ea2-7424-4c6a-9449-e556e8ce4577

In an in-depth interview, Praveen Gupta spoke with Dr. Kinnari Bhatt on the importance of land rights and the protection of local communities. The interview was originally published on www.thediversityblog.com.

Dr. Kinnari is a widely published & influential solicitor, and the founder of Surya Advisory, an ethical business and just transition legal advisory firm.

Praveen Gupta: Don’t you think more women from Global South need to be inducted into global climate leadership including the COP?

Lilian Motaroki: Given the gender differentiated impacts of climate change, women need to be at the fore front of climate action. For them to do this, inclusion must start from the local/community levels where the impacts are felt most, through to the national, regional and global levels.  In the agriculture sector, where I have worked for a few years now, there are serious gender gaps in productivity owing to the constraints that women face in production despite contributing most of the labor. Inducting more women into global climate leadership will lead to better prioritisation of gender dimensions decision making, policy and in implementation programmes.

Global forums like the conference of parties (COP) that happens every year and the constituted bodies of the UNFCCC continue to exhibit limited engagement of women owing to different structural issues and barriers.

Global forums like the conference of parties (COP) that happens every year and the constituted bodies of the UNFCCC continue to exhibit limited engagement of women owing to different structural issues and barriers. The number of women that are represented in national delegations or serving as heads or deputy heads of delegations, robbing them of positions with the most power. The 2020 UNFCCC gender composition report showed that only 27% of all the heads and deputy heads of delegation were women and the numbers dropped further when considering women from developing countries.

Both the preamble of the Paris Agreement and the Lima Work Programme on Gender acknowledge the critical need for the participation and meaningful engagement of women in climate action. This will ensure that women’s needs and priorities, their voice as well as leadership are taken into account in policy and decision-making processes, ultimately enhancing sustainable climate action and closing gender gaps in production sectors like agriculture. 

PG: How do you think a larger role for women would make the desired difference to the Climate agenda?

LM: The meaningful engagement and participation of women is vital if we are to achieve gender and socially transformative climate action. There is adequate data in literature to show the positive implications of giving women a larger role in climate leadership in for example policy making, research, implementation among others. In the agriculture sector for example, estimates show that closing the gender gap through actions like increased access to resources would increase agricultural output from 2.5% to 4% and reduce the number of hungry people from 12% to 17% globally.

Participation and meaningful engagement of women in decision-making at national and global level will ensure the formulation of gender responsive policies with clear action plans for implementation. Women in the global south also have high knowledge and skills owing to their stewardship roles for natural resources, especially land and water. That can be leveraged to build resilience and conserve the environment. By taking on a greater role in climate leadership, women can create wins for many areas including climate action, gender equity, food security, poverty reduction among others, contributing to not only climate goals but also sustainable development goals.

PG: Africa has borne the serious repercussions of colonialism. The Global North continues to exploit the abundant resources of Africa. How would you like COP27 to address this?

LM: We have to acknowledge that although people in the global south have contributed the least in causing the climate crisis, they suffer the most from the impacts, owing to limited adaptive capacity and high levels of vulnerability. If those responsible for the climate crisis do not support the global south with means for building resilience and cutting emissions, there is a risk that the global south will get on the same development pathways used by the West, driven by dirty fossil fuels. This would make it impossible to realise the Paris Agreement ambition to maintain global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius, spelling a code red for humanity.

The colonial legacies of the past continue to be seen in the actions of developed countries today, where despite achieving their ‘developed’ status by exploiting resources from the south, they continue to burden them with debt, even when addressing issues like climate change for which they are most responsible. Currently, governance for climate finance is oppressive and has not worked to advance global climate justice.

COP27 should consider options for making new and additional financing accessible to the global south to address other challenges beyond climate change, including sustainable development and disaster risk reduction, without forcing the countries to accumulate more debt.

The West failed to deliver their $100 billion by 2020 commitment. A key priority for COP27 should be to consider a new quantified climate finance goal, built on trust to ensure that there is adequate and predictable financing accessible to the global south to facilitate effective climate action. COP27 should consider options for making new and additional financing accessible to the global south to address other challenges beyond climate change, including sustainable development and disaster risk reduction, without forcing the countries to accumulate more debt. Moreover, COP 27 should call for debt cancellation for developing countries so they can use their domestic revenue to advance climate action and pursue sustainable development.

Importantly, it’s about time that the global north realises the need to pursue more ethical and equitable partnerships with their partners in the global south. This will ensure that communities in the global south have a say in their adaptation investment priorities and that funding gets to those that need it the most. Equitable partnerships will also help to transform the financing landscapes with donors providing adequate and more predictable financing with minimal transaction costs and limited use of intermediaries so that at least 70% of climate finance gets to the local level where action is most needed.

Ethical and equitable partnerships are key to climate justice and decolonising the climate agenda. The new quantified goal on climate finance is an opportunity for the developed countries to redress past failures…

Ethical and equitable partnerships are key to climate justice and decolonising the climate agenda. The new quantified goal on climate finance is an opportunity for the developed countries to redress past failures, ensuring there is accountability, ethical and equitable partnerships and getting support to the poorest and most vulnerable.

PG: Given your work in the science-policy interface within the context of climate change, agriculture and gender – how do you facilitate long-term low carbon climate resilient development (LTS)? How do you blend this with gender and social inclusion.

LM: The Paris Agreement calls upon countries to formulate their long-term low carbon climate resilient strategies (LTS). The LTS provides a bold vision for adaptation and mitigation within which countries can formulate short, medium and long-term investments for enhanced resilience and low emissions, while guiding countries to update their nationally determined contributions. The LTS also ensures that countries undertake their long-term development planning in the context of climate risks, using a multisectoral and whole of society approach, working across all segments of society and using an integrated approach to adaptation, resilience and mitigation.  

With my unique positioning at the science policy interface, I am currently supporting the implementation of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE AR). LIFE AR is an LDC-led and LDC-owned initiative, that is using a business unusual approach to achieve the LDC 2050 Vision for climate resilient people, economies and landscapes.

The initiative is hinged on 5 key principles including the LDCs and development partners working together on a shared and equal platform, using an integrated approach to adaptation, resilience and mitigation, providing adequate and predictable financing for climate action with at least 70% reaching the local level, strengthening in country climate capabilities, systems and structures at national and local and promoting gender and social inclusion (GESI). This is meant to ensure effective governance in climate decision, leaving no one behind. The initiative is currently being implemented in 6 front runner LDC countries that will work to identify delivery mechanisms to flow funds to support adaptation and resilience investments that will contribute not just to climate action but also to the long-term vision for development in their countries.

PG: Many thanks Lilian for these fantastic insights. My best wishes for your leadership.

Praveen Gupta: Why are land rights so important? Particularly forest lands? What makes indigenous people a critical component of this?

Kinnari Bhatt: Simply put, because of the relationships that indigenous peoples, local communities and forest dwellers have to land. It is a non-monetary, reciprocal and respectful relationship of human tendering, stewarding and protection of intact forests. That is not something to be explored and exploited based on economic commodification of land.

We know that the successful human tendering, stewarding and protection of intact forests, nature and forest landscapes is now directly linked with secure, formal or customary community tenure over land, territory and resources.  And heavy hitting science publications tell us that securing indigenous peoples and forest dwellers rights to land, particularly in forested areas will go a long way in reducing carbon emissions, protecting our largest carbon sinks and keeping carbon in the places where it is meant to be.

Climate change generally tends to frighten people but nature strikes a different chord in the heart. It is valued and this is a very different narrative. If we value nature, we value intact forests, biodiversity in all its forms. Securing land rights, strengthening local indigenous led governance and sustaining those has to be our number one priority.  Sadly, I think that the international community has largely left out the important role of indigenous peoples and forest dwellers from climate conversations.

Lawyers also need to get on board but I think that this topic falls into the ‘too radical’ box for many of them. Actually I think it would be very helpful for lawyers to start to understand property rights in their relationship with indigenous rights as our legal frameworks are systemically rooted in dispossessing indigenous people. Many practising lawyers sitting in global legal centres like London do not see these connections or do see them and think of them as part of normal costs of doing business. This is an out of touch legal mentality and at its essence, quite colonial.

We need to understand these problems at the root and find solutions which go back to first principles of equity, inclusion and sustainable development. This means re-writing basic rules. So it’s radical but that sort of transformative change in legal thinking and practice is urgently needed. It cannot be ‘Business As Usual’ (BAU). Lawyers need to support this although for many that’s a controversial proposition.

PG: How effective is the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)?

KB: I think it’s been an effective law and development tool for two reasons. First, as it finally puts the rights of indigenous peoples to social justice, equality, non-discrimination, development and dignity into a legal document –  albeit one that is not binding on states.  Crucially, the UNDRIP places indigenous peoples’ rights into part of an historical set of rights based on land and a history in which indigenous peoples’ had rights forcibly removed. That includes the right to freely pursue ones economic, social and cultural development and the right not to be forcibly removed without consent or just compensation.

Second, I see the UNDRIP as a living document which has been valuable for articulating the special rights of indigenous peoples’ and placing them in both an historical and contemporary lens. These are as important today as they were in the past. Indigenous peoples’ face threats from governments and companies for scaling up projects for natural resource extraction, biodiversity preservation, energy and infrastructure needs and the critical minerals needed for our capital and technology heavy energy transition – think of all those batteries and components for solar, for instance.

Toady’s conflicts, even killings and criminalisation, are actually still based on the same historical problem – the lack of legal recognition of land rights at the local level. This lack of legal recognition creates a vacuum which can be framed by governments, politicians and companies as trumped up charges of indigenous peoples’ causing environmental or biodiversity destruction, being anti-development or anti-green.

In our pursuit of a sustainable future it is imperative that decisions around the land and resources needed for our global transition and to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include at the earliest stage of planning, local community and indigenous led participation. For that we need to build multi-level and multi-stakeholder capacity about the social, environmental and developmental value of indigenous rights and I think for this endeavour the UNDRIP is useful. Especially when it is discussed alongside things such as the IPCC report which makes the strong case for indigenous rights and stewardship as a natural solution.

That said, there is room for improvement in the implementation of the UNDRIP as part of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). This hasn’t been comprehensively looked at yet. As a starting point we need to conduct large scale private sector awareness raising and then go deeper into a number of practical issues such as the development of effective mechanisms at project and national level and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) protocols for engagement.  The UNDRIP has not had a fruitful ‘implementation’ conversation with the UNGPs yet but hopefully this will change.  

PG: Local communities and indigenous people continue to live under several threats. Scaling-up efforts to secure community land rights represents the world’s single greatest opportunities to act?

We also now know that there is a link between protecting land rights, keeping forests intact and the prevention of future pandemics. So there is a multiplier effect and securing land rights is a completely viable option.

KB: Yes, I agree. We know that ensuring indigenous land rights leads to two to three times less deforestation, increased levels of biodiversity and reduced emissions – making this approach more effective than virtually any other strategy. We also now know that there is a link between protecting land rights, keeping forests intact and the prevention of future pandemics. So there is a multiplier effect and securing land rights is a completely viable option.

Many great organisations and people have been working in this area for years. I think the global community has to give them far more support so that they can continue this and double down on the work that has already been done. This entails not only using policy, law and legislation that recognise rights to land and biodiversity but also nail that through the lens of intergenerational guardianship. We now have to take and apply this to many different contexts of just transition, business and finance.

PG: How do the design and coherence problems within financial & commercial legal and regulatory frameworks work to routinely displace land rights?

KB: There are a number of design and coherence deficits. Corporates and financiers have developed a variety of tool and standards aimed at identifying, measuring and mitigating the risks of investing in sustainable development projects that have the potential to harm local communities and indigenous people (LCIPs). I think that these tools have the potential for empowering and including LCIPs in development projects but current market standard legal terms and ESG frameworks are focused on shifting ESG risk away or relegating risks from the responsibility of financiers and companies. Over 20 years of complaints to ombudsman mechanisms that while these instruments are good at identifying and mitigating risk to corporations, investors and financiers – they are not adequate for producing human rights or environmentally compliant outcomes for communities.

There are shortcomings in the content, timing, authenticity and a lack of understanding of the private financial architecture in which they are embedded. Here are three design and coherence problems:

1. Current tools and standards are embedded within the private financial legal architecture of a given project and its surrounding terms, practices and culture – all of which have the capacity to sideline LCIP considerations at key moments in the project life cycle.

2. Market practice around the design and implementation of action plans, performance standards and loan agreements, mean that the legal content fails to capture the full constitutional, national, regulatory and ombudsman legal ecosystem which applies to a project.

3. Action plans and lender performance standards enter the project ecosystem too late to make any meaningful impact. Project timeframes do not allow for developing preemptive and practical FPIC policies and protocols, land and benefit sharing agreements or for inserting a culture of do no harm at early design stage.

There are more. I am producing a policy paper on this issue (coming out soon) and what we can do to fix it.

PG: Why are communally held land rights or those under traditional and collective ownerships often not recognised? What in your view is the status of women?

KB: Many reasons but in my experience, most of them come down to economics – governments and investors want to exploit land and natural resources – and prejudice that indigenous people are not capable or able to govern their own territories. This has been the rationale since colonial times and it continues – those with power treated the indigenous people as dispensable and forests as commodities. Governments were and continue to be instrumental to dispossession and criminalisation of communities, and now more and more so along side with companies and financiers. Our economic and legal systems are weighted in favour of continuing this situation.

I think things are changing (slowly) due to societal pressures, litigation and investor concerns. And we also have growing attention to these issues within EU laws and the British government is taking indigenous rights seriously in its international climate finance agenda. We need to see if the commitments are honoured and how the money is disbursed.    

From what I understand, women face specific barriers to accessing their land rights so it is important to look at these issues. Experiences of indigenous women are different from indigenous men and women’s issues tend to be neglected or subsumed by male perspectives.

From what I understand, women face specific barriers to accessing their land rights so it is important to look at these issues. Experiences of indigenous women are different from indigenous men and women’s issues tend to be neglected or subsumed by male perspectives. I think that women’s land rights are being talked about more now. However more investment is needed to help NGOs on the ground address legal barriers and provide legal, institutional and empowerment support for reforming and implementing land frameworks to take women’s issues into account.

I mean we can all find commercial and constitutional laws of a country but is it that easy to find family , inheritance and succession laws – laws governing household and familial relations, if they even exist in the first place.  And this is a problem but a problem that lawyers can help to fix.

I would like to stress that I am not a women’s rights expert and for those that are interested in knowing more I encourage them to follow to the trailblazing work of Resource Equity.  

PG: What needs to be done to secure land rights as part of the ESG?

KB: Well we need to get to the heart of the matter – money and the economic incentives and supporting legal structures which cause dispossession and deforestation.

At the national and local state level there is a need for legal and institutional capacity building and then policies/subsidies that incentivise protection and sustenance of land and forest rights.  There is also the work that need to be done in empowering local communities to know and use their rights. This obviously comes with hazards for those communities and so this needs to be done and scaled very carefully. 

Another pathway would be for companies to first of all educate themselves on the ‘S’ in ESG and do risk assessments of whether there are human rights and land related exposures within their supply chains – not just tier one but further down. They need to allocate money and time to this process. They need to set up funds to assist suppliers further down the chain to do the due diligence and they need to think about their supply contracts. There needs to be a more than compliance ‘tick the box’ approach but I think the vast majority of companies and C-suite first need to educate themselves on this issue and take it seriously by devoting senior time and budget to the work and hiring of experts if those are not available in-house.

Beautiful corporate policy statements will no longer cut it and in fact, companies should be far more concerned about litigation, negative publicity and loss of customers if they are unable to back up their statements with action and implementation.  Or for banks that invest in these sorts of projects – worried about having to put more money into their prudential regulatory obligations for maintaining capital as that is coming, I think.

PG: Why and how are land rights coming under pressure from greenwashing – say carbon credit projects?

KB: This is an area that we need to be really mindful of. There is so much to say. I’ll start with what we don’t want and then what we do want.

What we do not want at any cost are situations where any type of investment and finance to or with communities is done through traditional market based legal and compliance methods which can have disastrous impacts on communities.  We need to heed lessons from some of the awful outcomes of microfinancing in places like India where vulnerable people lost land and livelihoods and committed suicide because they could not repay loans. Any investment vehicle designed for sustaining long term stewardship and economic independence of communities must be structured and governed in new ways.

We need new finance norms and principles based on trust and crucially, rooted in legal norms found in the human rights and loss and damage fields. This is not unheard of as the mandate of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the funding mechanism for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is grounded in principles of equity and addressing vulnerabilities. And the GCF emphasises transformation and paradigm shift approaches to finance – not BAU.

We need to translate these broad legal principles into indigenous led structures and compliance mechanisms so that direct access to finance for communities becomes possible and scalable.  I think that this is going to be a challenge for our legal and economic structures and BAU mindsets –  we need more spaces for radical thinking. Large donors and funders must be prepared to give up space by re-thinking traditional modes of compliance and verification requirements, if they want to be part of this solution.

We will need to investigate what types and kinds of partnerships are possible with different players and whether they are open to being more flexible. We need to do things differently – that is a big responsibility and a challenge but an exciting one. I think that for too long they have overestimated risk and underestimated the benefit of giving direct funding to groups.

I am also quite concerned about the push towards conservation and biodiversity finance and the overall 30×30 agenda as this has the potential for new forms of encroachment and displacement. I am beginning to see human rights principles being developed but as with all things, the devil will be in the implementation. But with all of the instruments that will be put on the table soon – carbon credits, cooperatives, debt for nature swaps etc, the essential point is that they must be driven by indigenous communities and local intermediaries that hold trust with those communities. 

PG: Many thanks Dr. Bhatt for throwing light on some very critical and sensitive areas of your work. Also, appreciate insights into your book. I am sure it will prove to be a pathbreaking work.

Sanctuary Asia Cover Story: August 2022

https://www.sanctuarynaturefoundation.org/articles

Honoured to co-author this essay for Sanctuary Asia with its founding editor and an iconic champion of Nature – Bittu Sahgal! The Sanctuary Debate 2022: Do YOU Believe That Environmentalists Have Become Merchants of Dystopia and Doom? forms the backdrop to the essay.

As I sat down to write my part, the temperature had breached 45C. Did it really matter how far up the mercury moved from there? Frequent power cuts – nudged me to return to Mumbai. I thought there was nothing dystopian about the timing of the debate hosted at the Experimental Theatre, National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). It was an established reality. That this could be the ‘coolest’ summer ever – going forward – was indeed dystopian!

For a change the monsoon arrived in nick of time. Despite all the attendant woes, Mumbai felt heavenly. The heat-wave rapidly drifted across to Europe. The stage seemed set for Act 2. ‘NetZero’ was a molten resolve, coal reignited to beat the cruel heat and the case for ensuring a Greenhouse Gas buffered winter warmth was settled. A place each for gas and nuclear seemed assured in the hallowed portal of euro taxonomy.

What a coup for the fossil fuel industry! Is there a future for renewable energy? Yes, there is – if only we are serious about the well being of coming generations. There is enough science, knowledge and wisdom to get our biodiversity & eco-system back on track. Just one catch. Greed gets in the way. The choice is simple – survive or perish as a specie. The Planet can return to health, if left to itself.