A ‘People’s Report’ on Climate Change in Karnataka

The report is termed as “people’s report” because it is based on wide ranging consultations held in different parts of the state in 21 meetings between 28th Jan and 5th May, most of them being public consultations covering all districts of the state.  People from diverse background such as teachers, college Professors, Doctors, engineers, NGOs, state govt. employees, college students, women, activists, industrialists, farmers and others participated actively in the public consultations.

Keeping in view that there were about 2,000 people who participated in these meetings, and more than 1,000 people have contributed to this report, it is reasonable to state that the report represents public’s expectations on the state’s developmental pathway keeping in view the issues of Climate Change in proper perspective. Few overarching principles with reference to successive governments in India are also described along with the state’s strengths and constraints. These recommendations are expected to be included in the state’s action plan on CC.Keeping in view the serious threats of Climate Change faced by our communities the larger civil society cannot afford to leave all such planning/implementation initiatives to the authorities alone, knowing well how such issues have been acted on in the past.  So it is in the collective interest that the larger civil society should do all that is possible to persuade the state govt. to prepare a specific and detailed action plan for the state to ‘mitigate’ and ‘adapt’ to Climate Change. It would be highly desirable if such public consultations are undertaken in every state effectively involving all sections of the society.

You can send your feedback on the report to: