"Climate change is the defining challenge of our age. The science is clear; climate change is happening, the impact is real. The time to act is now".

The crisis of climate change is a reality with potentially devastating impacts on millions especially the poor who are least responsible for the problem. Scientists predict that in the immediate future climate change will: lead to the intensification of tropical cyclone events such as the one in Bangladesh (thousands of lives and millions of livelihoods have been lost as a result of frequent cyclones); make rainfall more variable (with disastrous implications for rainfed agriculture in India where over 85% of cultivated land is dependent on rain, directly and indirectly) and ensure the rapid melting of glaciers (threatening water security in large parts of India).

Despite initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol there has been no reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (the major contributor to global warming). Between 1990 and 2005 emissions of rich industrialised countries increased by 11 per cent. This is not surprising because the Kyoto protocol is not geared towards reducing emissions; rather it is a trade agreement that allows rich countries to trade in carbon emissions with big business in the global south.

At Bali, the Indian delegation forcefully argued against the imposition of binding targets for carbon emissions on developing countries and asked the rich, industrialised nations to provide funds and support transfer of clean technology to poor and developing countries. The Government of India said it would not accept emission reduction targets because it cannot sacrifice its right to economic growth. This policy stance of the government of India will have a major impact on policy making and policy implementation across a wide range of economic, environment and social sectors.

Carbon trading in various forms is being pushed by the developed world as one of the key solutions to the problem of emissions. Carbon trading which has been criticised for allowing the North to continue emissions while shifting the onus of emission restrictions to the Global South was met with approval by the Indian delegation. Bali unsurprisingly also saw a huge representation of big business in the conference, especially as big business is closely tied in several ways to the emissions trading scenario of dealing with climate change.

Despite the emergence of climate change on the policy map there have been very few initiatives in India so far focused on bringing these issues in a systematic way to the level of activists and movements. It is also important to hear from groups who have already initiated work on this issue. Without the active intervention of constituencies such as trade unions, social movements, farmer's organisations, environmental groups, academicians, scientists and NGOs, the response is likely to be highly skewed in policy terms. Apart from the inherently undemocratic character of such a situation, it would also be inimical to formulating a politically, socially and economically just response to the challenge of climate change.

In promoting a wide-ranging societal debate on climate change and the response to it, there are several challenges. Among these are:

i) Transmitting the scientific and technical information and assessments in a manner so as to promote broad-based participation in informed decision-making.

ii) Detailed knowledge of the economic and social impact of current policy directions that are being considered by key states, multilateral organizations and dominant economic and social interests.

iii) Promoting the generation of responses to climate change impact from the viewpoint of different constituencies, particularly from the ranks of the working people, the poor and the marginalized.

iv) Integrating response to climate change with other pressing needs and concerns of these sections and formulating them as to avoid real or potential sources of conflict between climate change response and the entire spectrum of human development concerns.

While these challenges are large and tackling them a major long-term endeavour, a beginning needs to be made to et in motion the process of a wide-ranging societal debate. To this end, this workshop envisages a first modest initiative that will deal with some of the challenges listed above namely i) and ii) at least in a preliminary way and underscore the importance of dealing with iii) and iv).

To this end, the idea is to organize a major teach-in/ workshop with the participation of activists from movements and NGOs, concerned scientists, both from the natural and social sciences interested in improving their knowledge base on these issues.

The resource persons will include those working on the technical issues of climate change, those who can adequately and critically review current policy initiatives and the state of policy implementation in this area, and those who have already undertaken some preliminary considerations on the intersection of climate change and human development concerns. Resource persons who can address the question of larger theoretical frameworks in which to conceptualize issues of climate change would also be welcome.

This teach-in which we hope will create a momentum for more active engagement on climate justice in the country is a joint initiative of the Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), Focus on Global South and the Delhi Science Forum.

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Best wishes,

T Jayaraman (Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
Prabir Purkayasta (Delhi Science Forum)
Benny Kuruvilla (Focus on the Global South)