Small window of time for climate change – act fast

There are multiple solutions to bring about climate change and that is already happening India, says Ana da Costa Co-Director of the Indian ‘Climate Solutions Road Tour’. She was a member of the twenty-member team which under took part in the record breaking Electric Car ‘Climate Solutions Road Tour’ in India, covering 3500 kilometers for 30 days, travelling through 15 major Indian cities, to ‘Create, Communicate and celebrate’ the solutions to climate change. The aim of the trip was, to spread the message - a message of opportunity - that climate change is real and that solutions to climate change exist, and the greatest solution is our human capacity to act. The group travelled through 15 major cities, and numerous smaller towns and villages, documenting climate solutions, conducting climate leadership trainings at schools and universities, and holding concerts with our solar powered band -- Solar Punch - to celebrate the fact that solutions exist, and encourage people to engage positively and creatively in this global effort for change. Every one of the twenty team members contributed a huge amount to the journey, as well as the multitude of regional IYCN coordinators in each city that they passed through. See biographies - http://www.indiaclimatesolutions.com/road-trip-team The caravan of vehicles included three solar-integrated Reva cars, a biofuel powered truck (using CleanStar technology), a van that ran on spent vegetable oil, and a car with solar panels on the roof to charge the equipment. http://www.indiaclimatesolutions.com/climate-solutions-caravan The vegetable oil powered van (eco-auto), driven by Stanislav Miler, runs on spent vegetable oil. A large amount of this for the trip was Pongamia oil from Auroville and Waste oil from the ITC hotel in Chennai. The World’s first solar powered band added value - a creative and cohesive force, music, on the tour with the group, with a message that crossed all language barriers, raising awareness about clean energy and the need to reduce the environmental impact, was priceless. “Music, dance and art are all mediums that we need to use more as we seek to address this global sustainability crisis, as they speak to a different part of us all, and in the same way, we understand the messages in a different way. I saw for myself the impact of climate change that are already occurring, especially for farmers. Seeing how climate change will impact the poor has been a big lesson. It is completely different moving from the theoretical to the practical. Seeing these issues in front of your eyes - farmers struggling with failed crops, little water and little money,” says Ana da Costa. The tour members learnt that there are a MULTITUDE of solutions to climate change existent in India, across sectors, green buildings, sustainable agriculture, sustainable transport, clean power generation, sustainable waste management, energy efficiency technologies, environmental education initiatives.... these are all happening, already, now, in India, and there just needs to be a lot more awareness and support for these solutions, in terms of education, and incentivisation of them, by the government, by businesses, by NGOs, universities, investors and individuals. Across India, unplanned development of urban areas, as well as diminishing water supplies, poor waste management and a buildup of plastic are big issues. “Currently waste is a significant contributor to climate change. I think our principal responsibility is to minimise our waste as much as possible. However, for the waste we do generate, poor disposal is crucial to avoid, as poorly managed landfill sites - aside from being a source of major groundwater pollution and scars to our local environments - are also sources of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. We need to start recycling and reusing our waste - something that is already happening in many parts of India. As far as plastic is concerned, we need to minimise our use of it hugely and innovate towards truly recyclable and degradable forms of it,” adds Costa. There are particular solutions suited to particular situations. But there are multiple solutions, of which biofuels, when farmed sustainably, can be one. Biofuels can serve a particularly useful purpose when used as a decentralised source of stationary energy, particularly in rural areas where a reliance on diesel is costly and unreliable as a source of energy. In these situations, locally sourced biofuel can for example be used as a replacement for diesel gen set power. When farmed sustainably, biofuels can also be a means to generate livelihoods, and to reforest very arid un-farmable areas. This is something that CleanStar, and their Trust, has already demonstrated in Maharastra's Beed District. There is a need to bring about a transformative change in the way we use energy. “The road tour has been really inspiring and I hope significant in its impact, and is aimed to make a major contribution to this solutions based effort to address climate change. However, what is really exciting is that this is just the beginning. The Road Tour is the launch of something that will continue on, the Climate Solutions Project. We want to see a climate movement based on solutions and action in India, and across the world, a movement that highlights and catalyses best practice on climate change across sectors, and one that encourages the uptake of solutions at every scale, from the individual, to the household, village, town, city, nation, and globe. Each of these scales of action is crucial, and we need a lot more granularity around how to make these changes,” says US based Costa who traces her Indian roots to Goa. The aim of the Climate Solutions Project is to do just this, to collect and communicate examples of some of the most transformative, catalytic climate change solutions in India, and eventually outside India too. I hope, to raise awareness that they exist, to accelerate their uptake, to encourage people to take action, and, in the case of India, to show the international community that India is already acting on climate change. Acting on climate change is not only essential for the future of our existence in any recognizable shape or form, it also makes sense in terms of economics, our local environmental wellbeing and our energy security moving forward. About Anna da Costa: Anna graduated from Cambridge in 2006 with a BA in Zoology and Conservation. Since then, she has spent time in India and the UK, working and writing on climate change impacts, political and corporate leadership, and climate solutions with organizations including the Ecologist magazine, the Navdanya Trust, the St. Paul's Institute and The Climate Group. Anna is Co-Director for the Climate Solutions Project, and Advisor to the Cleanstar Trust on corporate engagement and climate policy. Read her blog here.