TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Kartikeya Singh - My Blog
Kartikeya Singh - My Blog


A Future We Deserve
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

The following was part of a press briefing at the US Climate Action Network Organized press conference in Pittsburgh, USA coinciding with the G-20 Summit. International youth gathered together to voice concerns over the need to “green” the economic recovery of the planet–high on the agenda of the world leaders gathered there.

A Future We Deserve

Two years ago at the UN Climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, I happened to have the opportunity to attend as a member of the US youth delegation (because I was studying in the US). Upon arriving at the negotiations and after countless hours spent submitting our policy proposals to the UN Convention I realized that there is a growing and vibrant youth movement dedicated to the cause. These youth are actively trying to influence the negotiations. I became conscious of the fact that there were not any Indian youth in this growing international youth caucus present on the sidelines of the conference. I decided to introduce myself to the Indian Government negotiators as a “youth representative.” I was met with a cold and blank stare and then asked, “youth? Shouldn’t they have the same view as their elders?” I knew then that my life would never be the same again.

To be fair, I respect my elders and I know that there are many out there who are on the “far side of fifty” (age 50 that is) who have worked hard to make the world a better place. Generations have come and gone and nearly all of them have had a defining issue to tackle. My generation, labeled the “silent generation” by Thomas Friedman, is caught behind our computers and on facebook, having struggled to come to terms with the seemingly perfect world with an uncertain future of which we are not in control. Many in the climate movement are aware of the political deadlock between developed and developing nations over the issue of climate equity and historical emissions and responsibilities. Though we claim to be talking climate for the sake of future generations, nothing that we are doing is actually putting future generations in a better environment than that enjoyed by generations passed. So let’s get serious about generational equity because those in control sure aren’t.

While the climate crisis looms, we are currently consumed by a financial crisis that has gripped the planet. Just as financial institutions played with the public’s money, we are playing with the global commons that is our climate. We already know the impacts of unabated borrowing of money that does not exist. Can we play the same game with the lives of future generations as we borrow for our unsustainable growth today?

Global leaders are meeting at the summit in Pittsburgh and on the agenda is rebuilding the planet’s economy and hopefully, cooling down the planet. Let us turn this economic crisis into an opportunity of global proportions and usher a new era of genuine, sustainable development. I come from a young country—75% youth–that is facing many challenges. My own ancestral home in the desert sands of western Rajasthan only received electricity a year ago—electricity promised to my grandfather 25 years ago. Yet it is a land bursting with opportunity. Sure enough there is an army of youth in India that are ready to take that stand and that are dreaming of a clean, green country - one which will take this opportunity to build a green economy and support the growth of a green jobs movement. With 500 million people still in the dark, there are millions to be trained in sustainable energy enterprises alone. Let us not forget that this is a country that has half a million engineers graduating annually—a potentially potent force to engineer the country into the paragon of sustainable development.

While youth are 48% of the global population they are not an official part of the negotiation process at the international level. Though many of us are silent, many more are launching revolutions to transform our local communities. I was transformed by my experience in Bali and knew that in the labyrinth process of the negotiations all sense of urgency—of our future—is lost. This hopelessness was transcended through the creation of the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) which has grown in waves and caught the attention of young people, civil society, companies and the same government that questioned the role of youth on the topic two years ago. Similarly youth movements for the cause are rising across the planet—daring governments to break the deadlock. We envision a future which ensures the survival of all peoples and all nations. The debate is old and it is time for some fresh air. A bail-out for the planet is a bailout we will not regret.

September 25, 2009 | 1:14 AM Comments  0 comments



A Freedom Past Due
Related to country: India

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

There comes a time in our lives when we have to take a stand for something. Every generation is defined by some large event or movement. Ours is a unique case in that the event is something that has gained momentum with time with no clear victims and perpetrators. The damage caused till date and that which awaits us is on such a scale that to begin to comprehend it may leave you feeling helpless and in despair. We know the root problem and there is tension in the understanding for the need of a groundswell movement that will not only define us as a generation, but decide the fate of humanity.

There has been a lot of talk about freedom at this expo. Someone mentioned a “quit oil movement” and the Honorable Minister of MNRE also spoke from the heart about doing more than just business here. There is an apparent need to turn renewable energy into a movement. Let us go back to the “stroke of the midnight hour” and the tryst we had once made with destiny. Let us renew our pledge not only to ourselves but to the still larger cause of humanity. For this time, as the world slowly awakens, India must reignite its ingenuity and its drive for freedom to rid ourselves of the burden of foreign energy sources and those that will make the planet play dearly.

We as a nation stand at the crossroads of not only defining our own developmental future but the ecological future of the entire planet. Climate change is a simple call for humanity to unite and as youth we make up nearly 48% of the global population. In India with nearly 3/4ths of the population being below the age of 30, we ARE youth. It is our future that is on the line and we must get engaged in the debate. Youth around the world are uniting for the cause. They are vying for a seat as official stake holders (alongside the World Bank, the IMF and many civil society organizations) at the UNFCCC, the international body attempting to frame the next global deal to address this crucial matter. In Bali when the road map for this next global deal was unveiled there was no youth representation from India. A country who is coming under greater scrutiny for its current stand on the matter, and which is majority youth must see to it that its youth are found there.

The Indian Youth Climate Network was born out of this idea and with the belief that youth needed a platform to discuss and debate the issue of climate change in an attempt to drive consensus on the need to take action on the matter here in India. We can take our economy to new heights by pushing for green jobs. We can push for a cleaner, brighter future by engaging the government in policy. We can demand climate justice in the international forum but ensure that we are having it here at home as well. This is an andolan to beat all andolans as there is no time to lose. If we lose this one, we may not be around to have any more andolans. Recently a close friend of mine in the climate movement broke down and cried. Her words shook me: “I think what makes me sad is that I may not live to see the successful end of climate change.” I think those of us who are in their 20s know that grave danger lies ahead and that the least our generation can do is to take considerable steps to ensure that those younger than us can have a glimmer of hope.

The winds of change have started blowing. Over 150 youth and young professionals from across the country gathered in Hyderabad on the Infosys campus to draft the national youth action plan on climate change and the overarching Indian youth Declaration on climate change. The principals in this vision is what we as youth are advocating for and we want all sectors in society to take these commitments to ensure a future of hope for us. We want the government and industry to know that the youth have arrived at last. We are here to pave the way for green jobs but we will need enlightened corporations to come forward. We are here to take up civic duties and hunt for solutions but we will need the support of enlightened leadership in the government. We are here to give a voice to the voiceless and lend a hand to those who feel alone in the dark about how to take action. Join us and become an agent of change today!

August 27, 2008 | 3:09 PM Comments  1 comments



Who will Arise to the Climate Challenge?
About this event: Indian Youth Summit on Climate Change
Related to country: India

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Youth: comprising 48% of the global population, or roughly 3 billion people. It is our future that was at the negotiating table in Bali last December at the UN Climate Change Conference. Yet we the youth had no say about our very own future that according to some has already been burned away by the generations preceding us. It is important to note that the so called “developing countries,” where more youth are coming from simply because of demographic advantage and where more people directly depend on their natural resources for day to day survival, have more to lose from our changing climate than those in the industrialized nations. It is ok to sit back and not be phased by it if you are not sensing the change that is already evident around us. But to those youth of South Asia, where more than a billion people depend on an increasingly erratic monsoon and where the lives of hundreds of millions depends directly on waters sourced from the retreating glaciers of the Himalayas, we must arise to address this looming crisis of global proportions and unimaginable local implications.

When I embarked on my journey to Bali this last December with the US youth delegation (yes, youth representatives of the world’s largest emitter of green house gases), I was looking forward to bridging the voices of youth from the global North with those of the global South. Being an Indian citizen, it was a rather unique opportunity to be in the middle of one of the biggest road-blocks to the success of the negotiations: the as of yet irreconcilable US vs. rapidly industrializing country view on the “common but differentiated responsibility” for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, I found myself to be the only Indian youth present (and one of only a few from all of South Asia) at the historic talks which were supposed to define how negotiations would take shape in the post 2012 world. With this in mind, I helped form an Asian Youth Caucus on the sidelines of the informal “International Youth Delegation” which was dominated by well organized and well informed youth from Canada, Australia and the United States. In an effort to get increased participation from youth from the global South and give a more holistic angle to the youth perspective, it was apparent that we would need an unofficial Asian youth caucus which would help us share stories and ideas in the Asian context. Being the only Indian youth—I aimed to bring in the stories of and plug in the voices of youth from South Asia in this pan-Asian network.

The start of the conference was filled with high energy and high hopes—all of which turned into frustration in the second week. Recent polls in the US have revealed that approximately 80% of the population would now like to see firm action on climate change. Within the last year we saw major youth movements across the US in the form of the “Step It Up” campaign, and more recently, the largest public gathering on climate change, “Power Shift,” which saw nearly 6,000 youth from nearly every congressional district in the US converge on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Why then one would ask, is there a disconnect between the current administration and what the majority of Americans really want? The US negotiators in Bali asked of us whether we had the votes within the US to demand of them to make stronger commitment at the international negotiations (because it is the administration in power that dictates international policy). Thus the goal of our delegation was clear: go back to the US and mobilize the masses to take action at the polls—which we hope will happen in the coming elections. Regardless of the outcome, it is clear that change will only come with the spreading of awareness.

Meanwhile my interaction with the Indian officials can be summed up by sharing one simple interaction: upon my telling one of the negotiators that I was an Indian youth representative, he simply replied, “the youth? . . . Shouldn’t they have the same views as their elders?” This is one of the fundamental problems right now. The problem of climate change is so complex that politicians must realize that it goes well beyond the games they play. Its ecological implications are so far reaching that it is a problem that will cross-cut generations and be magnified for our generation. Youth of India, a young nation, must have their voices heard by politicians who are debating our very future. A nation at the cross-roads, while we must demand climate equity at an international level, we must also demand that we do not go down the pathway of the industrialized nations before we too find ourselves in a hydrocarbon trap.

Asian Youth Caucus, UN Climate Change Talks, Bali, IndonesiaSo where do we begin? There is hardly any debate amongst us youth here in India right now regarding climate change. Yet there are signs of the change all around us. Go to the rural areas and ask the struggling farmers whether they have noticed a change in the weather patterns within the past 10 or more years and the answer is always yes. Look to your cities—are they too choked with fumes from the growing number of cars in the back drop of a rapidly expanding concrete jungle with decreasing green cover? Make the connections and see where our country is headed. Some will argue of poverty and education being bigger priorities for our growing nation. Others will point at the US and the industrialized nations claiming they should take action, not us. While this is true, won’t our abject poverty make us even more vulnerable to the changing climate? Do we sit by and watch our own house burn? Shouldn’t we as Indians redefine the concept of “development” which we always associate with the West? Where do we begin? Perhaps we should start by discussing it in an Indian context and eventually establish an “Indian Youth Charter on Climate Change.” I hope that this all too important dialog will begin before it is too late.

Before the Bali conference, I never dreamed that a process on which the world's fate rests so heavily could be so complicated and so cumbersome to the point that all sense of urgency is lost in the labyrinthine process itself. I have never been so disappointed with the international political process. We did leave Bali with a victory of sorts with the US conceding to the need for deep emissions cuts. The youth present at the conference had made a stand in the final hours of the harrowing debate and we believe that our voices were heard. It is with this hope and our attempts to get official stake holder status with the UNFCCC (Framework Convention on Climate Change) that I am more determined now than ever before to become a part of this dialog and to make change happen from the bottom up. As youth from India, a country whose role in the process is becoming increasingly apparent, we must make our voices and our presence felt not just at the national but international level. Climate change is the biggest challenge any generation has had to face in the history of the planet and how we address it will define the fate of all humanity. Who then is ready to take up this climate challenge?

July 4, 2008 | 2:35 PM Comments  0 comments





Kartikeya Singh's Profile

Kartikeya Singh's Friends


Latest Posts
A Future We Deserve
A Freedom Past Due
Who will Arise to the...

Monthly Archive
July 2008
August 2008
September 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
bali cleantechnology climatechange economy g20 greenjobs growth india iycn renewableenergy renewableenergyindiaexpo unfccc usa youth youthinaction

Filter By Type
Events
Travel
Topics

Friends
Aashish Khullar
Aiden Abram
Amit अमित
Anant Dhillon
BEn M
Bernise Ang
Caroline Howe
Dave Matthews
Gunajit
Gyan
Hannah S. Lee
Joanna Dafoe
Kanchan Kumar Jha
Mutsumi Hirooka
Navneet Yadav
Sandesh Sathyanarayana
Stephanie Kwan
Vikram aditya

Links
Its Getting Hot In Here Blog


6063 views
Important Disclaimer