Kerala activists are holding a climate march in Vazhachala on November 16, here’s why

On Saturday, November 16, hundreds of people concerned about the global climate crisis and its impact on the state of Kerala will gather at Vazhachala in Athirappilly panchayat for a climate march. Organized jointly by People’s Climate Action Keralam and Chalakkudy River Protection Forum, Climate March 2024 will demand the state government to strengthen climate action and environmental protection policies.

November 16 is also the day of remembrance for Dr. Lata Anantha, the founder and driving force behind the River Research Center. A scientist who devoted his life to the cause of free-flowing rivers, Lata died in 2017 after battling cancer for more than a year. The event will also coincide with the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, currently underway in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“Climate marches emerged as a manifestation of youth demanding climate action. In this sense, it is quite important. In 2019, more than 40 million people took part in marches around the world during the week. This would have continued in the coming years if not for the quarantine and other problems related to Covid-19, unfortunately there was a break and now it is coming back,” said General SP Ravi, the organizer of the event.

Over the past decade, climate rallies that demonstrate public support for urgent climate action have become a tool for activists to build solidarity, unite local environmental groups, and build networks. Nearly eight million people took part in the Global Climate March, which took place in various cities ahead of the Paris COP21 summit on November 29, 2015.

In January 2023, Sonam Wangchuk embarked on a 500-kilometer climate march from Leh to Delhi to draw attention to the pressing environmental issues facing the region.

In Kerala, the first climate march took place in 2015 when people marched from Vazhachala to Athirappilli. It was organized in the backdrop of Athirappilly’s agitation for the protection of Chalakkudi river basin.

“Since 2016, Kerala has been regularly facing extreme weather events. We had a drought in 2016, followed by floods in 2018 and 2019, followed by a series of massive landslides. We have reached a point where immediate and substantial climate action is needed. In this context, we have decided to organize the seventh anniversary of Lata’s death as a climate march,” said Ravi.

To draw attention to the climate crisis and spur action, organizers plan to roll out the campaign across the state for at least 10 years. “We will also work with researchers who are doing human-centered research and make it open and lobby the government for more action,” Ravi said.

In 2022, the state of Kerala revised the State Climate Change Action Plan, which outlines measures to protect vulnerable geographical regions from the effects of global warming and climate change. But climate activists believe that not enough is being done on the ground.

“They revised the climate change action plan, but it was not discussed with the public. They can do a series of interactions on state climate action and get input from the public, especially from places that have had disasters in the last few years, and then revise it accordingly,” Ravi said.

There is a reluctance to address critical issues as the government seems to blame everything on the climate crisis but does nothing to mitigate it. “Not all disasters occur due to heavy rainfall or extreme weather events. “Land-use change plays a major role in these disasters, but it is not addressed,” he said.

The devastating floods of 2018 were caused by several factors, including land-use changes in the Western Ghats and rice reclamation in the middle belt. Dams also played a role, and the disaster response mechanism failed.

“The massive floods were the cumulative effect of all this, which multiplied the scale of the disaster. All this needs to be resolved. The Western Ghats is one of the most critically vulnerable regions,” said Ravi.

The rise in temperature in the Western Ghats region is believed to be greater than the average part of the country, and even a small change in temperature or rainfall patterns can significantly affect biodiversity. “The state is under the protection of the Western Ghats, without it Kerala as we know it would not exist. But this critical importance of the Western Ghats is unfortunately not acknowledged or recognised,” said Ravi.

The coastal region experiences frequent storm surges and tidal flooding in many places. “The whole coastal area with high population density has become extremely vulnerable and we don’t know when the big disaster will happen.”

Climate activists in Kerala want critical importance to be given to regions where more action is needed. They also want to make sure that all government projects, starting at the local government level, are climate-crisis tested. “Specific measures are needed to mitigate the consequences and increase resilience, it cannot be indefinite. And instead of just having an action plan at the state level, we may have to break it down to the local level. Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) development of climate change resilience plans for gram panchayats, but I don’t know how much of that has trickled down to the ground level,” said Ravi.

Participation at the level of local authorities and communities, as well as the involvement of youth, are central to this approach. “Monsoon rain monitoring, which is now happening in many places, should be included in the national action plan and taken into account when taking measures. The youth must be at the forefront of this. These things need to be included in the curriculum. because it’s being taught now, it’s mostly a peripheral scenario that’s no longer possible,” he said.

The climate march will be held on a five-kilometer stretch from Vazhachala to Athirappilly on November 16 after the Lata memorial rally at 10.30 am.