It is ‘World Environment Day’ once again! Everywhere one witnesses a flurry of ‘activities.’ There is the usual jostle to plant saplings(trees), the plethora of long, boring speeches on the importance of the environment ‘ad nauseam’ and plenty of photo-ops with faces turned towards the cameras. The newspapers are full with advertisements about the environment; several of them are by Government agencies – the very ones who destroy the environment and our fragile biodiversity!
Plenty of ‘tokenism’ and ‘cosmetic’ action – most of which, will be forgotten tomorrow. Trees are necessary but is there someone who will nurture the saplings and ensure their growth? Public awareness on the importance of the environment is a prerequisite – but then words ring hollow when the ones who wax eloquent are the very ones who are in nexus with the land mafia who cover our waterbodies for their high-rise building and who cohort with the mining mafia to plunder our precious natural resources.
Interestingly, the theme for World Environment Day 2025 is ‘Ending Global Plastic Pollution’. It focuses on the widespread impact of plastic pollution, from visible waste to micro plastics in various ecosystems, and calls for action to reduce and eliminate it. But who cares? Some of the big manufacturers will continue rolling out their reams of plastic without any qualms of conscience – after all, they will always have the protection of the powerful. Our seas and rivers are polluted with plastic waste. There are practically no checks and balances, to ensure that plastics below 120 microns are not used as carry-bags or for that matter there is strict segregation of garbage disposal and nothing is dumped into our seas, rivers and other water-bodies,
On the 2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), India is ranked at a pathetically low position of 176 out of 180 countries. The low ranking is due to poor air quality, high projected emissions and low biodiversity scores. The EPI uses 58 indicators to assess a country’s environmental performance. Indicators, include biodiversity, air pollution, air and water quality, waste management, emission growth rates, projected emissions, etc., under the three main heads of ecosystem vitality, environmental health and climate change.
To assess how well countries are safeguarding their natural treasures, the EPI added a new category this year: biodiversity and habitat. This category revealed a worrying trend – many protected areas worldwide are being overtaken by buildings and agriculture. India’s heavy reliance on coal is a key factor hindering its environmental performance across multiple indicators. Coal use not only fuels high greenhouse gas emissions but also contributes significantly to India’s severe air pollution problem. This is reflected in India’s rankings: 177 for air quality (above only Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal).
This grim reality, cries for Environmental Justice! It is the cry of the poor! The cry of the earth! ‘Environmental justice’ is today a global social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has generated hundreds of studies showing that exposure to environmental harm is inequitably distributed. Additionally, many marginalized communities, including the LGBTQIA+ community, are disproportionately impacted by natural disasters.
The primary goal of the environmental justice movement, is to achieve agency for poor and marginalized communities (particularly the excluded and exploited) in making environmental decisions that affect their lives. The global environmental justice movement arises from local environmental conflicts in which environmental defenders frequently confront multi-national corporations in resource extraction or other industries. Local outcomes of these conflicts are increasingly influenced by trans-national environmental justice networks. In India we experience today how mega-corporations and the mining mafia are literally ruling the roost. What is happening in the tribal areas of Manipur and the Adivasi areas of Bastar, Chhattisgarh today are clear examples of how environmental justice is denied to these sections of people!
In a few days from now, the 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB 62) will convene from June 16 to 26, at the World Conference Centre Bonn in Germany. The outcomes of SB 62 are expected to shape the agenda and inform decisions at COP30 later in the year. The 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that is COP30 will take place from 10 to 21 November in Belém, Brazil. During this climate summit, governments must take new steps to limit the climate crisis and achieve the target of a maximum of 1.5 degrees of global warming.
In the context of the above two meetings, the Society of Jesus have launched globally ‘Jesuits for Climate Justice SB62 and COP30 campaign’ stating that, “the climate crisis can no longer be denied. Its most severe effects are felt in countries where extreme weather devastates communities, rising sea levels threaten coastal regions, and ecosystem collapse jeopardizes livelihoods. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warns of “a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” This crisis demands immediate and decisive actions, and COP30 is a critical event for the global community in addressing the climate emergency. In the spirit of the Jubilee of Hope, we call upon all people of goodwill to advocate for a just and sustainable future, urging delegates to COP30 and governments to:
- Cancel the debt of underdeveloped countries and strengthen the Loss and Damage Fund. Unjust and unpayable debts from underdeveloped nations should be cancelled so that resources could be free for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, and a grant-based Loss and Damage Fund must provide adequate resources to address the devastating impacts of climate change.
- Accelerate agreements and set targets for a Just Energy Transition to reduce CO2 emissions. A Just Energy Transition should consider historical responsibilities, respect Indigenous rights, value nature, and prioritize sustainable livelihoods over profit-driven models.
- Set concrete targets to build a Global Food Sovereignty System based on agro ecological practices. A system that promotes culturally adapted modes of production, transformation, distribution, and food consumption, applying ecological principles to agriculture.
The COP process is imperative for making international progress on the climate crisis. Pope Francis stated, “It is a matter of establishing global and effective rules that can permit ‘providing for’ this global safeguarding” (LD, 43). All are invited to join in this important campaign.
Long years ago Mahatma Gandhi reminded us that, “the world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed.” In his path-breaking Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, our beloved late Pope Francis echoes a similar sentiment “we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” These are genuine cries for environmental justice! But is the world listening? Are we listening? If so, radical and prompt action is demanded immediately – NOW!
(The writer is a human rights, reconciliation, environmental & peace activist/writer)