GUWAHATI, July 8 � A regional consultation on �Combating climate change in the North Eastern and lower Himalayan regions of India� was organized recently by Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA) and Oxfam India, in collaboration with Gauhati University and the North East Members of Parliament�s Forum.
The consultation brought together all the important stakeholders in a dialogue on the impact of climate change on public health, agriculture, displacement, water availability, and forest rights. The consultation also discussed the State�s responsibilities in this regard and the legitimate role of legislators, policy makers and citizens.�
The consultation started with an inaugural session that was attended by Tarun Gogoi, the Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Chairperson, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nisha Agrawal, CEO, Oxfam India among others, a press statement mentioned.
Nisha Agrawal recommended that such consultation was an important step towards taking debates around climate change to the state level and said that the salient action points that emerge from the consultation need to be taken up at the national level so that the State governments and the Union government can established an alliance to address the issue of climate change.
Pachauri criticised the current state of Indian research on climate change and argued that there is a need to learn from China, and constantly update the knowledge on India�s glaciers. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi underlined the importance of addressing climate change by arguing that swift action needs to be taken to reduce energy consumption by 20 per cent and by pursuing a policy of development that works in tandem with a dedicated environment related policy that can maintain an ecological balance.
Speaking during a session that was devoted to the impact of climate change on livelihood security, Dr. Anamika Barua from IIT, Guwahati, shared with the audience the preliminary results of a study that she is carrying out in Sikkim and said that climate change is becoming unpredictable and it is affecting the water retention of the land, adding to the vulnerability of the people.
Another speaker Madhu Sarin while speaking on the issue of forest rights said that Sikkim and Tripura were the only two states of India that have implemented the Recognition of Forest Rights Act. She added that most of the land in the North East has either not been surveyed or has been misclassified, which has compounded the issue of non-implementation and non-compliance of the Act.
Bamang Tago, chairperson of the Arunachal Pradesh� Citizens� Rights, also criticized the Forest Rights Act and said that the non-involvement of gram panchayats implies that access to forest land is restricted, because people in general are not aware of their rights.
The regional consultation ended with a session dedicated solely to the role that the legislators and parliamentarians can play in combating climate change. The session was attended by several Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies of the North Eastern States.
