Although parts of his instant classic were written here, Amitav Ghosh wasn’t thinking specifically about Goa in his urgent, game-changing The Great Derangement (University of Chicago Press, 2016). The great novelist and writer’s ambit was more expansive and ambitious, ranging across the full extent of contemporary global imagination. And yet, it cannot be denied his analysis strikes painfully true about what is happening in India’s smallest State. Every scrap of evidence indicates an existential threat is already upon us, from rising ocean levels triggered by global warming, but no one in-charge ever pays any attention at all. One more tragic data point in “the broader imaginative and cultural failure that lies at the heart of the climate crisis.”
In an excellent interview with The New Statesman earlier this week, Ghosh warned that “climate change is essentially becoming an all-out war and this is just the beginning. When you come from a poor country such as India, you learn not to listen to what politicians say, but to look at what they do. They are basically preparing for war. No one is even pretending anymore.” He said “nationalism, military power and geopolitical disparities are fundamental to the dynamics that have repeatedly stymied efforts to reach a global agreement on rapid decarbonisation (and) rich, powerful countries assume that the people who will be affected will be black and brown people in faraway places. This is another great delusion.”
Ghosh’s interview is in an issue guest-edited by Greta Thunberg, in which the resolute teenager continues to pull no punches: “The world’s political leaders are in denial, actively delaying change and distracting the electorate. Rather than coming together to combat the crisis, the global community is fragmenting as wars are waged and great powers compete for control over scarce resources and territory. We should abandon the illusion that our politicians will come to the rescue of planet Earth, especially those who delight in calling themselves climate leaders. Time and again they have betrayed the faith that has been placed in them – using greenwashing and PR strategies disguised as politics.”
Pay close attention to Thunberg’s conclusion: “A critical mass of people – especially younger people – are demanding change and will no longer tolerate the procrastination, denial and complacency that created this state of emergency. I believe in democracy and in the power of collective wisdom. It is not too late. We have a duty to help as many of our fellow citizens as possible understand the dire situation we are in. We must all do more to explain, inform and educate; public pressure can create profound change. At the age of 19, I already feel like a broken record – but we need to keep repeating the message on climate action, constantly. For hope begins when we open our eyes and swap the impotence of words for the power of collective action.”
Those are stirring sentiments, accompanied by Thunberg’s trademark call to action, but can it work in places like Goa, where the leadership is in lockstep in the exact wrong direction? I thought to ask Puja Mitra, of the superb North Goa-based conservation and social impact enterprise Terra Conscious, and MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from Oxford, who is an invaluable force for good in Goa’s fledgeling movement towards responsible tourism. Over a solid decade – starting with breathing new life into WWF-India’s outpost in Miramar – this tireless 38-year-old has constantly advocated for best practices and better thinking about nature, the marine environment, and the ever-present crisis of climate change.
Mitra sent me the State Action Plan on Climate Change, 2020 by the Goa State Biodiversity Board, which looks ahead to 2030 with this shocking assessment: “Goa stands to lose a large percentage of its land area, including many of its famous beaches and tourist infrastructure.” She said the plan clearly lays out “threats and vulnerabilities” but “without any clarity” on solutions. “The language is vague. How are sea walls 'natural mechanisms'? What do you mean by 'climate proofing'? There is a very real and tangible disconnect between the devastating concretisation being unleashed on the ground, and the rhetoric of ecotourism, and wanting to preserve heritage and culture.” If we do not act fast now, “whatever is laid out in the state action plan will happen, and we will have no ability to withstand it.”
How can one tiny State sustain so many high-impact projects, asks Mitra, “and still become climate resilient simultaneously” to the extent required to face its own official predictions about what’s just around the corner? “We state that we want to 'climate proof' but we also refuse to abandon our vision of ‘development’ or even ‘progress’. Plans mean nothing without action, which requires awareness and consensus. This state action plan has been around for a year, and many may not know it even exists. I am very wary of how its projected mitigation measures can be implemented soon, in order for them to have any real value in terms of actually reducing the impact of what is already hitting us.”
Thunberg keeps the faith about collective action, but Mitra is less sanguine about its prospects in our part of the world: “Here in India, there’s so much hatred and divisiveness in the political and media discourse. When the people are so polarized about religion and identity, accountability has become largely non-existent. The average person watches the rich and powerful get away with whatever they want. We get meaningless mega-events, that completely overshadow the voices of the marginalised and displaced, who are already facing the brunt of climate impacts. In this scenario, where is the big wave of awareness and action supposed to come from?”
The bottom line, says Mitra, is “many of the privileged are signing on to campaigns that are clearly nonsense, while going on with business as usual. Buzzwords are being thrown around a lot, but where is the actual, verifiable, credible action? We can clearly see that there is no political will at any level about climate change. In such an environment, it's hard to feel empowered, to feel heard, and to act. We can all agree that individual and community action is necessary and important, but the really significant changes will have to be led by governance at the state and national and global scale.”
(Vivek Menezes is a writer and co-founder of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival)