OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (OneWorld.net) - A team of Indian and international environmentalists have embarked on a 2,000 mile cross-country road trip to raise awareness and mobilize Indian youth around climate change.

• A farmer tends to his crops in India, where climate change poses a particular threat to the predominantly rural population, which relies on agriculture for survival. © antkriz (flickr)With more than 60 percent of agriculture dependent on rain-fed crops, even modest alteration in the intensity, frequency, and timing of rainfall should cause concern in India, writes OneWorld UK. Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace is striving to raise awareness by campaigning in India's coastal cities where it says 50 million people are at risk from rising sea levels. Adaptation plans are conspicuous by their absence; the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra K. Pachauri, himself an Indian, has expressed the view that India is completely unprepared for the impact of climate change, which he believes could lead to social unrest. In 2008, monsoon floods -- described as the worst in 50 years -- forced 3 million people in the state of Bihar alone to flee their homes. To read more about climate change, development, and human rights in India, visit OneWorld UK's India country guide.

• India sits on both sides of the table in climate change negotiations. Already the world's fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, at current rates, India's emissions are projected to treble by 2050. The country has no obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and has stipulated that it is unwilling to agree to any targets that deny its right to per capita energy use on par with that of the current major emitting countries, says the OneWorld UK India country guide.

• If serious action is not taken to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the average global temperate will increase by an estimated 12 degrees Fahrenheit (6.4 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century, reports the environmental think tank Earth Policy Institute. Global warming, in turn, has been linked to rising sea levels, stronger storms, and severe droughts, all which impact communities around the world, particularly by depressing food production at a time of global scarcity.

Climate Road Trip: An Indian Movement for Change

From: Worldwatch Institute

January 5, 2008

Anna da Costa

Anna da Costa, co-director for the India Climate Solutions Project, reports on the launch of the Indian Climate Solutions Road Tour, aimed at catalyzing and inspiring climate change solutions across India.

As clocks ticked past midnight on December 31, signaling the start of the new year, a group of seven passionate individuals from India and around the world gathered in the eastern city of Chennai to begin an epic climate journey.

The team was embarking on a month-long road tour across India to raise awareness about local climate solutions and to empower Indian youth on one of the greatest challenges of our time: global climate change.

Representing an expanding network of youth and young professionals known as the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN), the travellers will traverse more than 3,500 kilometers through 20 cities to reach India's capital, Delhi, on February 4. They will be accompanied by a solar-powered electric band, Solar Punch, and will travel in a medley of alternatively powered vehicles, including solar plug-in Reva electric cars, a sustainably produced plant-oil powered truck, a solar-roofed jeep, and a waste vegetable oil-powered van.

The group's message is clear: climate change is real, but many of the solutions to this challenge already exist-with the greatest solution of all being the human capacity to act.

During visits to colleges and schools in each city, the team will conduct structured climate leadership trainings to encourage young people to create solutions in their local communities, envisioning and acting on the future they wish to see. To support communication of solutions, the travellers will document the innovative approaches they encounter, along with additional commentary, on their website. Events held in each city will celebrate local climate solutions, honoring the most inspirational and innovative expressions of this message through dance, music, and art.

The Climate Solutions Road Tour is the first call of its kind to India's youth. It is a positive, collaborative, and questioning search for a future that youth can aspire toward, take a lead on, and be proud of. It is also the launch of IYCN's India Climate Solutions Project, which will continue to highlight some of India's most transformative climate solutions as well as conduct campus-based leadership programs across India moving forward.

The project aims to accelerate the uptake of climate change "best practice" and innovation across sectors in India. It will also provide a forum for dialogue around how to capture low-carbon opportunities most effectively, and to demonstrate that India has a unique opportunity to become a low-carbon leader. Most crucially, such a climate response can support environmental sustainability, economic development, and energy security simultaneously.

With the clear and unflinching international message that 2009 must be a year for change globally, and in the face of the ongoing collapse of the global auto industry, the team is also turning outward and calling on decision makers around the world to seize this unique opportunity to become a low-carbon leader, transforming automobiles to run on zero-carbon systems.

The importance of true international collaboration and a solutions-based climate movement is beyond question. This urgency is particularly great in light of the upcoming Copenhagen climate negotiations in December, where an ambitious, equitable, and effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol needs to be established.

It is clear that we have the potential and opportunity to address the climate crisis, yet there is still a vast gulf between our knowledge and action. The Climate Solutions Road Tour aims to start the year with a cohesive, positive, and impactful call to India and the globe, encouraging us all to be the change we wish to see in the world.

Updates from the road will be posted daily on the group's Climate Solutions Blog. The trip itinerary is also posted online.

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