We meet more climate change observers than sceptics: EDN's Karuna Singh

India is home to some of the world's most polluted cities and rivers on the planet and the problem is only getting worse. But there are reasons to be hopeful as awareness about environment is growing. KARUNA SINGH,regional director for South Asia and country director, Earth Day Network, a global environmental protection and conservation chairty, tells Ritwik Sharma about the network's people-based approach to tackling climate change and the impact it is having on the country. Edited excerpts:   

Earth Day Network (EDN) has been in India for nearly a decade. How do you gauge India in terms of general awareness to environmental concerns? Which population segments have shown greater awareness and involvement?
 

Over the past decade, we have seen a quantum rise in awareness in India about environmental issues — whether it is in urban or rural spaces or among different genders. The extent may vary but there is no doubting the fact that people are conscious of changing weather patterns, reduced natural wealth, the need to manage waste, and of pollution levels. The greatest awareness and involvement was noticed amongst the youth. That youth are conscious of the role they can — and must— play for a greener and cleaner Earth is evidenced by our Rising Stars initiative. Under this campaign, we award youngsters whose efforts make Earth a better place to live in. Their stories are amazing. Have you heard about the young girl in Kashmir who helps clean up the Dal Lake, or the boy from Chhattisgarh who calls himself a “Cool Calculator” and has so eloquently explained ways to lead low carbon lifestyles to over 10,000 students? They are indeed India’s climate champions — not of the future, but of the present.
 

How do you seek to increase climate literacy in India? Is there a problem of climate change scepticism?
 

India mandates the infusion of environmental education in the curriculum of varied subjects taught at schools. In 2017, Earth Day Network India organised 28 roundtables across the country to examine whether these aims were being achieved. Unfortunately not. Several recommendations on methods to help students move from mere learning to environmental literacy and then to stewardship for the environment emerged from the roundtables. A summary of the recommendations was presented to the Human Resources Development minister who was very receptive to our efforts and asked his office to see what could be done. We have come across more climate change observers than sceptics. This is especially true of rural areas where people live closer to nature. Almost every person we interact with reminisces about the good old days when the rivers were full of fish, when harvests coincided with festive seasons, when trees bloomed to provide shade and when rivers flowed and taking a dip in their pure waters was refreshing. In urban spaces, as well, people are aware of the changes. In their case, it is more dramatic as existing data about levels of pollution, heat indices, etc stare them in the face every day. 
 

How can EDN help change mindsets in India so that people are more aware about environmental problems and sustainable living?
 

Ours is a bottom-up approach and our mantra is “green acts are good for you.” Helping people understand that environmental issues need to be addressed because these will benefit them, and not because a law has been passed, has been one of our key focus areas. That said, as someone once told me, “in India, environmental issues tend to be the privilege of the rich, not of the many who are more concerned with getting a square meal, and ensuring they have a roof over their heads.” Keeping this in mind, we try to see how there could be an economic benefit to people by going green. For example, we distributed 51,000 fruit trees in Lalitpur, one of India’s worst drought-affected districts. We explained the economic benefit people could get from selling the fruit of the mature tree. In the Jethian Valley in Bihar, we understood that people have no other recourse but to cut down trees for firewood as they were so poor. So, along with planting saplings we looked for ways to enhance their incomes.
 

Why has there been scant progress in cleaning up the Ganga, which was one of the touted projects of the current government? How does EDN plan to help in this regard?
 

Our analysis is that people at the ground level are not sensitised enough about the fact that they also must play a role for a better environment. Governments cannot keep cleaning while people keep littering. With this in mind, we launched on this Vaisakhi in Devprayag, The Great Global Cleanup initiative, a people’s approach for the river Ganga. For nine days after the launch, people walked from village to village along the route of the river, calling upon residents to bin their waste, not strew it. On the eve of Earth Day, the rally culminated in Haridwar. All along the way, many ashrams came forward to lend their support. Many other places along the river held similar programmes. We will continue this initiative and are looking for ways to fund the setting up of plastic waste management centres so that plastic waste gets managed. We want these centres to be run by rag-picker associations as entrepreneurship models.