Water warriors lead the water revolution in countryside |
Amidst when the world climate change negotiators are busy pulling wires in Brazil at the UNFCCC CoP 30 summit, the world, especially those suffering most from climatic vagaries, is watching to see if there is a thaw between the divergent positions of developed and developing countries, especially in truly adhering to the cardinal principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. But this is a matter to be dealt with separately.
As this writer has been repeatedly warning government negotiators and policy makers about charting out South-South climate-resilient developmental planning to ward off the deleterious effects of climate change on the environment, especially on food, nutrition and water security of billions of people, Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) climate change fund of $125 billion to support tropical forests through government and private contributions, spending $4 per hectare on improving forests, is a welcome move. Brazil herself has committed $1 billion to this fund. India has supported it in principle. The fund may help in water and biodiversity conservation.
However, India should take the lead in focusing on creating a fund in collaboration with China and the Group of 77 to conserve and manage water for better climate management, as the temperature has already crossed the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold this year, as reported by Carlo Buontempo, the Director of the European Climate Agency Copernicus, and this is going to severely impact world hydrology. If India can take a lead as it did in creating the ‘Solar Alliance’ by creating a water conservation fund, forests will automatically be taken care of.
As the world is literally sitting on a hot spot, notwithstanding these CoPs, which are hilariously optimistic without any substance of change, we in India need to take drastic action at the level of civil society as well as in government, with a bottom-up innovative approach from the village level to the national level.
Already, the Water for Every Household scheme launched in 2019 by the Prime Minister is a resounding success........