Is there grass on the other side?

Posted on 11. Apr, 2010 by Leela Raina in India

Its April and feels like just the same. No decisions. No ground breaking, earth shattering outcomes and again the exam season back at University of Delhi where all of us start to open our books.

While the govt is busy with appraisals of the budget and fighting the naxalites and the extradiction of Headley, the public is busy with IPL - the big cricket league. I do somewhat agree that we have better things to worry about in our country but that doesn’t mean that we don’t even send a complete team to the UNFCCC negotiations. This April , the meetings are attended by the following:

Vijay Sharma- MOEF ,- a proposed (apparently ) contender for the executive secretary
Jayant Moreshver Mauskar MOEF0
Rajiva Misra MOEA
Rajani Ranjan Rashmi MOEF
Amit Agrawal PMO
Ashok Kumar Embassy
VRS Rawat ICFRE

Where is my lead negotiator? Shyam Saran?

Shyam Sir has a thick cloud of controversy surrounding him because apparently he wanted to be promoted to the position of National Security Advisor to the Government of India but due to his clashes with Jai Ram Ramesh and the nuclear deal he once negotiated, going in for discussion in the parliament the NSA slot seems difficult. He has officially resigned as the special climate envoy.

Nonetheless , it was hard tracking you sir and probably I might need to go the Gym considering I won’t be running around a while to find you.

Where is the rest of the negotiating team?
R K Sethi ?
Dr Ghosh?
Ambassador Dasgupta?

Has the knowledge center of the Indian Delegation been bombed since Copenhagen for being a little more flexible than usual? Has Jai Ram Ramesh asserted himself to be the lead on the climate negotiations?
I will miss my favorite negotiators who I respect wholeheartedly for their knowledge and negotiating skills. I hope the new negotiating team would be able to live upto even half what these men in black were.
Of course our environment minister must have wanted to attend this meeting but he’s doing a swell job with PR and getting into any scandal and controversy that he possibly can , ranging from BT Brinjal to Environmental clearances for projects and tussles with other ministries.

But as far as the Copenhagen accord , there is no constructive debate going on , neither in the Parliament and neither in classrooms. All what is , is UNFCCC butchering and government bashing on one side and big publicity events like earth hour which was in the news because Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit left Big star Abhishek Bacchan’s video message out at the event.( can you believe that?)

Is all of this really worth it? 1000’s of us sobbing over a deal which wasn’t in our hands?

Is it really worth for leaders to fly on fancy jets , live in fancier hotels , waste some more carbon and still take 15 long years for a decision?

Is it worth it? and what value are you adding to this process?

Maybe we all play our parts in a small way, being an environmentalist shouldn’t only be about going living in a disaster prone area but using what you do best and linking it to saving the environment , even if it be jewellery making. After all you could always be a eco- friendly waste and recycled jewellery maker?

Its a new beginning , a new life and a whole new whole new field to discover…..

I hope what once was greener grass on the other side , won’t even be grass…. ,
and people realise that
there is NO other side…
There is only ONE side

The side of Solution.

Stop goofing around and get hold of our own act. DO your own bit. Individually , as a community and most importantly as your country.

Tags: Bonn, earth hour, environment, Environment minister, India, IPL, Jai Ram Ramesh, new negotiating team, UNFCCC