AIPSN Environment & Development Desk
Work Plan: July – December 2021
[This Work Plan based on an initial Draft by the Convenor,
revised after discussions among Desk Members over e-mail and finalized at the
virtual Desk Meeting on 14 July 2021]
1.
Goals The
Work Plan is designed towards achieving the following goals:
i) build or upgrade capacities
of a "core group" of PSM activists at the National level (AIPSN desk)
and especially at the State/Member Organization level (State Environment Desks
or Environment Sub-Committee if one already exists) such that they are enabled
to work independently (to the extent possible) to understand and respond to
Environmental issues or problems in their States/regions and at the national and
the international level where applicable.
ii) intervene in major Local, State, Regional and National
Environment-related issues in the form of Position Papers and Statements, Policy
Briefs and advocacy regards policies/ programmes, and popular campaigns
including through broad-based coalitions of like-minded organizations/groupings
iii) work towards AIPSN emerging, in the longer run, as an influential
voice and action platform on issues of Environment and sustainable, equitable Development.
2.
Long-term Plan Towards
this end, the following types of activities are suggested over the longer-term.
i) Building & Strengthening State Environment Desks/Teams: Each State/ Member Org would identify
4-5 Activists who will continuously follow and thus develop “expertise” or specialized
capabilities in the area of Environment & Development. Activities proposed
here, and other activities to be taken up later, would be designed and
implemented by the (national) AIPSN Environment Desk in such a manner as to build
and strengthening such capabilities at the level of the State/Member
Organization.
ii) Major State-level Issues and Campaigns: each State/MemOrg Desk/Sub-Committee
would identify 4-5 major Environmental problems/priority issues confronting
their States/regions, including issues they are already engaging with as well
as newer ones. Some States/MemOrgs have done
this, but they would be asked to review these and re-submit them. The
State/MemOrg Desks/Committees would study these Problems and prepare a 2-3 page
Note (total) on these Issues. States/MemOrgs would be assisted by the AIPSN
Desk to develop, these short Notes into Position Papers, Policy Briefs or
Statements. The State/Org Desks would consistently follow these issues, update information
and base documents, and launch advocacy/ popular campaigns along with
like-minded organizations, with the assistance of the AIPSN Desk as required. These
studies and related campaigns could lead to preparation of “State of
Environment and People” Reports for each State prepared by the State Desks with
assistance of the AIPSN national Environment Desk.
iii) Climate Change and State Action Plans on Climate Change AIPSN has historically been at the forefront of studies and
engagement with policy issues and public understanding in relation to climate
change. AIPSN and partners have issued
major policy statements on climate change, especially as regards India’s
position at the International Negotiations and related policies and programmes
in India towards emission reduction (mitigation) and moving towards a
low-carbon development pathway. As the situation is evolving rapidly, it is
necessary that AIPSN pays increasing attention to policies and actions dealing
with emissions reduction and climate impacts in India and related need for
adaptation and building of climate resilience.
Among of the key aspects in this regard are the State
Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC). SAPCCs have been released for almost
all States and are available on the internet for downloading. Most of the focus
in India hitherto has been on the international negotiations which deals with
reducing emissions to acceptable levels such that temperature rise is
restricted to well below 2 degrees C, therefore the Government’s focus too has
been almost exclusively on mitigation i.e. emission reduction measures.
However, India is expected to suffer enormous impacts of climate change. It is
expected that these would require to be taken up at State level with ample
financial assistance and capacity-building by the Union Government. Many of the
SAPCCs deal with these aspects, but many aspects have been left out and
modalities are very uncertain in the absence of commitments by the Union
Government. The State/Org Desks should study these and, with the assistance of
the AIPSN Desk, advocacy and popular campaigns would be launched as
appropriate. This would be a major activity in the coming year.
iv) National, Thematic and Regional Webinars and Actions: The AIPSN Desk would
plan and organize Webinars to discuss these above State-level issues and place
them in a regional/ national context. Regional/Thematic Webinars would also be
held based on known problems. For example, a highly successful Coastal Regions
Workshop was organized in Ennore near Chennai in 2019 just before the
first wave took off. The proposed Webinars on Thematic and/or Regional Issues
could follow this model, although a Report or Position Paper is not yet
available, which the AIPSN Desk will pursue in the coming weeks. A Webinar on
Himalayan and Mountain Ecosystems and related Issues planned before the
pandemic is still pending, with Desk Member O.P.Bhuraita of HP as the nodal point. Many of the State-level issues identified and
studied would lead to Regional and/or Thematic Webinars and Campaigns, and
further to Position Papers, Policy Briefs and Campaigns. On the other hand,
many National issues discussed may also filter down to State-level issues and
campaigns.
3) Work Plan for next 6-12 months With the above perspective and long-term plan, the following
activities are proposed for the next 6 months:
i)
National Capacity-building Webinars
on Overarching Issues A set of National
Webinars are proposed during August-October for updating the knowledge and
building capacity of AIPSN/BGVS MemOrgs at National and State level. Focus
would be on major overarching issues which all PSM activists working on
Environment & Development should be familiar with as a base for all other
studies and campaigns. Each Webinar
would be of 90-120 minutes duration and the Series may therefore stretch over
5-6 weeks. AIPSN Desk Members would contribute as Resource Persons to these
Webinars depending on their expertise, and would also suggest other like-minded
Resource Persons as Speakers. Proposed topics are:
a) Environment & Development: a PSM
perspective
b) Environmental Policy and Regulation in
India: history, laws and peoples movements
c) Status of Forests and Rights of
Forest Dwellers
d) Wildlife Conservation: status,
regulations and issues
e) Climate change: global status,
international negotiations and agreements and India’s NDC Commitments
f)
Climate Impacts in India and Adaptation: status and problems
ii)
Thematic Webinars A
set of Webinars on Themes cutting across States or regions would also be
conducted as part of the capacity-building process. These Webinars would inform
activists at State/MemOrg level on broad conceptual and policy perspectives on major
Regional, State- or Local-level issues. Follow-up work on these issues at the
State/local levels may be taken up by State/MemOrg Desks. Also, additional
Thematic Webinars may also be conceptualized and organized based on common
issues identified at National/State/ Local levels. Apart from Resource Persons identified
by the AIPSN Desk, Members of State Environment Desks/Committees or Resource
Persons identified by them would also make presentations on issues they have
already faced in their respective States. Apart from Coastal issues on which a
physical Workshop has already been held in Ennore (near Chennai), TN in March
2020, the following topics are proposed:
a)
Himalayan
Ecosystems
b)
Inter-linking
of Rivers
c)
Human-animal
conflict
d)
Western
Ghats
e)
Air
Pollution especially in Cities
f)
Water
shortage and pollution
g)
Regional
Airports & other Infrastructure
h)
Power
Projects and Environmental Issues
Webinars would be in English and
Hindi, with adequate arrangement for either bi-lingual presentations or for
brief translations.
Inputs: Attempt would be made by Desk Members or
identified Resource Persons to prepare 2-page written Background Paper for each
of the above Overall and Thematic topics. This material would be made available
to State/MemOrg Desks in English and Hindi as required for study and use as
reference material.
Outputs: Policy Briefs or Position Papers as appropriate would
be evolved as Output of each of the above Webinars, and different AIPSN Desk
Members would take responsibility to prepare the same.
Campaigns would be developed and conducted on the above
issues as required.
4)
State-level Issues and SAPCCs A series of virtual or physical Workshops/ Webinars would be
held, perhaps in the last quarter of 2021, where issues at the State-level have
been or are being faced, or have been studied, or where campaigns/struggles are
underway involving State/MemOrg
Environment Desks/ Committees. These issues would be discussed with the
assistance of AIPSN Desk Members and invited resource Persons and appropriate
directions evolved for Policy Briefs, Grassroots Campaigns and Advocacy
Campaigns.
The
AIPSN Desk would also be enlarged in weeks/months to come by inducting capable
PSM activist-scholars in gap areas.
