India: Women's charter calls for government action on climate justice
A five-member civil society delegation met India’s minister of environment and forests to present a women’s charter on climate justice. They conveyed their concerns to press the need for a people’s agenda to protect the interests of the masses both at the domestic and international fronts.
New Delhi: A five member delegation comprising Aditi Kapur (Oxfam), Nafisa D’Souza (INECC), Sandhya Venkateswaran (Convener-Wada Na Todo Abhiyan), Siba Sankar Mohanty (National Campaign Coordinator-Wada Na Todo Abhiyan) and Walter Mendoza (DOCCENTRE) met Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests.
The Memorandum on Climate Justice (see below) from the perspective of the people evolved out of the deliberations on testimonies presented by more than 1,000 representatives of marginalised women from across the country.
It contains a women’s charter on climate justice and several other pertinent issues related to policies of the government on climate change, adaptation strategies and long-term mitigation.
The delegation conveyed the need to take forward the people’s agenda to protect the interests of the masses both at domestic policy level and in international forums.
It was also discussed that the delegation would make further efforts to provide critical inputs on four major missions of the government related to agriculture, forest, water and energy.
The minister endorsed our demand for “equity” to be the guiding principle for formulating domestic policies on energy, infrastructure and public services.
As articulated in Para 12 of the Women’s Charter on Climate Justice, which reads: “While India is rightly pursuing an ethical position based on equity, and the right to development of its large majority, this position needs to be translated into its domestic policies on energy, infrastructure and public services. This is not happening. There is a disconnect between its international stance on equity and inclusive development, and the national policies and practices it promotes at the domestic level. Hence the National Action Plan on Climate Change must reflect measures that while adapting will lead us to a low-carbon path to development.”
After the meeting, members of the delegation entrusted the responsibility of proactive engagement on agriculture and water with OXFAM and on forest and energy with INECC.
In its attempt to uphold the interests of the most marginalised sections of the society, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan shall provide a gender lens to these responses.
