TARAgram Yatra¹ is a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform initiated by Development Alternatives and its partners to deliberate upon issues of sustainability in the context of green economy² and develop mitigation and adaptation practices to address climate change. The 2010 event was organised by The DA Group in partnership with Green Economy Coalition (GEC), the Ring Alliance of Policy Research Organisations and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

TARAgram Yatra 2010 kicked off with a curtain raiser event on 17th September 2010 in Delhi. It was followed by field visits to Bundelkhand and TARAgram Resource Centre at Orchha (18–20 September 2010), where the delegates engaged in discussion on environment-friendly livelihood solutions and how these can be applied at scale in the climate change context. An interactive plenary session was organised in Delhi on 21 September 2010, which was attended by the representatives of prominent Ministries of Government of India, policy practitioners, various UN representatives, Foundations, financial institutions, multilateral – bilateral agencies, national and International Civil Society Organisations. The TARAgram Yatra 2010 event was one in a series of global multi stakeholder consultation processes (Green Economy Coalition) leading up to Rio+20. The goal of these consultations is to capture diversity of thinking and action to inform national policy debate and enrich global deliberations towards creation of a Green Economy.

Our world faces two epoch defining issues - persistent poverty and environmental degradation - both being the inexorable result of adopting a highly lopsided economic growth model that depends heavily on exploiting natural resources and consumption habits that essentially affect the environment adversely. With rapid industrialisation and improvement in material living conditions in the developed countries, the system itself has kept millions in the third world countries deprived of basic necessities of sustenance. At the same time, about one third of the natural resource endowments have been degraded. According to the statistics of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are now 16,306 species threatened with extinction. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a further 65 are only found in captivity or in cultivation³. There is a growing international concern about the economic roots of environmental destruction. According to the 4th Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Global total annual anthropogenic Green House Gas emissions have grown by 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004, which is a major factor driving global warming. The Report warns that Africa, small islands and Asian and African mega-deltas will be "especially affected by climate change".

The facts clearly point out to the imminent danger that our planet is poised to face and the greatest impact of it will be on the vulnerable and the poor. This year’s focus of TARAgram Yatra, "Towards Green Economies – scalable solutions for people and our planet", cut right to the heart of contemporary public dialogue and resonated through every feature of DA’s efforts to promote and facilitate sustainable human development for the poor and the underprivileged. On examining the potential for "greening" of the Indian economy, TARAgram Yatra 2010 prioritised five sectors – renewable energy, eco-construction, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and water management – where investments towards greening may be directed.

It is a matter of concern that while emissions from energy generation in India are projected to increase, the poor in India do not even have the means to basic energy consumption. Renewable Energy, which can provide for 35 per cent of India’s electricity demand by 2030⁴, has the potential of filling in gaps of power deficit, creating green jobs and reducing carbon emissions.

Construction is another sector which uses great quantity of embodied energy⁵ in the form of materials that are used. Eco-construction is a concept that promotes economical use of construction materials such as cement and steel, which are excessively energy and resource intensive, while exploring alternative material sources, such as waste from industries and bio-systems, debris mining, etc. The Yatra considered eco-construction as an effective way to mitigate pressure on finite natural resources and reduce energy consumption.

In our country, almost 52 per cent of the workforce is dependent on agriculture and allied activities. The major threats to agriculture are depletion of natural resources and land quality, climate variability leading to crop failures, along with high input⁶ prices and an uncertain sale market for agricultural produce. For Sustainable Agriculture, the Yatra laid emphasis on measures, such as reviving traditional crop varieties by setting up more seed banks, less usage of artificial fertilizers, while relying more on natural manure and planning appropriate crop cycles, regulations for middlemen⁷ to increase the selling capacity and autonomy of farmers in choosing plant and crop varieties, providing Research and development to strengthen the small and marginal farmer’s knowledge for improved practices and mainstreaming efficient irrigation practices.

The Yatra considered Waste Management as a sector, which had tremendous wealth generation potential,⁸ especially for small community groups and entrepreneurs. Prominence was given to research and development to develop technologies for waste utilization, both at large-scale and small-scale collection and management. It was felt that the biggest challenges lay in integrating the different scales of operation and in establishing bench-marks for ‘green waste management’, while enforcing waste disposal and resource utilisation regulations at all levels of the value chain.

The Yatra was of the view that Water Management needs to be understood and addressed in its various facets of planning, budgeting, harvesting, optimal use, recycling and regeneration. For an efficient water management framework, the Yatra proposed to invoke the Dublin Principles in water management, which argue for a participatory approach in water management, gender sensitivity to promote women participation in managing and functioning of water management and distribution bodies and assessment of the economic value of water. It was argued that a participatory approach will bring about a mechanism of responsible use of water, which can be sustained over a long period of time, while women participation will allow the use of inherent qualities that women have regarding managing/using water, because water as a commodity influences the lives of women the most⁹.

Driving our growth path towards reaping the adaptation and mitigation co-benefits to protect environment in the face of climate change, while addressing livelihood concerns is a complex process, which necessarily has to adopt participatory approach involving all the stakeholders at various levels (local, national as well as global). The Declaration adopted in TARAgram Yatra 2010 recognised that green growth would need to strengthen people’s institutions, empower citizens, secure eco-system services, enhance purchasing power, reduce carbon foot prints, reverse the loss of biodiversity and revive the health of our eco-systems at a large scale. Such policies and mechanisms for scaling up of solutions to climate change impact and a transformation to a green economy require coherent overall vision, agreement on outcomes from all stakeholders, political will and a critical mass of public opinion to enable transformation at the scale required. The outcome of the TARAgram Yatra 2010 is a small, but significant step forwards an enriched policy engagement with governments and the private sector for creating a better future for all of us.  q

For further information please visit www.taragramyatra.org

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