Lets put it to a vote
The public response to climate change is way ahead of the political debate………Subhomoy Bhattacharjee
The public response to climate change is way ahead of the political debate………Subhomoy Bhattacharjee
There is something fascinating about the way our engagement with the rest of the world almost always gets hemmed in by the Us-versus-Them syndrome. The climate change agenda has also meshed beautifully into that chain.
I venture to think this form of engagement has become so much a part of our response to the current debates, the Indian government as in this case has put up a defensive wall about our position, without even bothering to accurately gauge the way Indian citizens have arraigned themselves on this topic.
It would be interesting then to inquire into the response of the Indian public to the issues of climate change through a referendum. The format has never been used by the Indian polity but there is absolutely no reason why this of all issues should not be voted upon by the people.
The government was within its rights to feel that the nuclear deal debate, for instance, was arcane enough not to lend itself to such methods. Also, despite the romance involved in asking an entire 1.1 billion population to vote on all and sundry issues, the scale involved would make the decision-making process impossible through such measures.
But I can think of just no other issue that lends itself to a nationwide vote more than the one on climate change. The implications are clear, the issues up for debate are clear too, as we shall see in a moment. Unlike any other topic that at best can involve only a section of the population in terms of the impact, the climate change agenda involves each person on this planet.
To then claim the people are not educated or nuanced enough to vote on it will be preposterous.
The other reason for a national referendum to determine our position on climate change is more compelling. Without getting into a debate on the content of the climate change discourse, it is clear that the Indian stand, along with that of the Chinese, has rapidly metamorphosed into an Us-versus-Them syndrome. The Indian government has argued consistently that the development needs of the Indian population cannot be made hostage to the need to put in climate safeguards, till the economy achieves a certain level of traction.
Here it is interesting to note that the government has been holding forth this position without much of a feedback from the people on the subject. Till now, Indian elections have been fought on myriad issues, but never on climate even on a tangential note. While most significant political parties have articulated their stance on climate issues, there are no visible differences among them. The position is basically tiered on the need to protect the interests of Indian citizens, especially the poor, against the demands made by the developed countries to meet emission standards.
It will be interesting to find out if we, the people also feel the same about the climate issues. My hunch is the Indian peoples response has evolved way ahead of this sort of political response. Whether at the farms or in the cities, citizens are much more perceptive of the role erratic weather patterns play with their life and, therefore, the need to take steps to take action. That this could involve a cost for them is possibly not understood as a logical corollary equally well, but the passions ranged against it are far more muted than the political parties would give credence for.
At this point I am not referring to a bunch of anecdotal tales, but simply a position that the average Indian is far more aware of the implications of weather patterns than possibly most communities in the world. Any changes in those patterns, like a drop in monsoon winds, are immediately discernible.
But let us assume that I am wrong, and the people are clear that a climate agenda cannot take precedence over their attempt to develop a reasonably assured lifestyle for themselves. So they decide to endorse the government position at the forthcoming Copenhagen summit.
That too would be equally impressive. An endorsement of the governments position by 1.1 billion people would be a very powerful statement that any concourse of global leaders will have to pay heed to. But this can only happen if we take steps to make the position evolve through such a national political ballot. The immediate impact of the ballot would be to strengthen the governments position in the debate, though I have my doubts that it could indeed be so. The process of leading up to the vote would be far more fascinating. For the first time, we can have a national debate that would be of relevance to each and every person, without being bruising to some sections.
It would also have a tremendous positive fallout. The climate change agenda has been one of the many also-ran issues that dominate our socio-political debate. Compared to most mature economies, our involvement in environment issues has been very minimal, whereas the fallout of an adverse weather pattern will impact India far more. The present ignorance suits fine the government of the day. But if a national ballot happens, it will force all parties to make clear where and why they do stand on the topic. It is easy to rail against the developed countries for their supposed cussedness, but it will be difficult to tell the multitudes in coastal areas that they should continue with a life-as-usual hypothesis, till the flood waters come in. The sight of the sky-high crashing waves against the doors of Haji Ali in Mumbai this July has, I am sure, brought home to the underbelly of that city what another such tidal wave can do.
It will make for a far more meaningful dialogue on climate change in this country than has happened so far. It would also tell the world where we stand on the most important issue of this century.