Part II of Episode 14 is an exploration into more foundational questions which attempt to understand the land acquisition law, its colonial origins, how people’s movements have managed to create laws, and what environmental justice even is
Today’s episode attempts to understand development, not through conceptual lectures, but through the eyes of a foot soldier, through the mind of a thought leader, through the life of a woman who, in her own words had a clueless entry, into the world of activism, for fighting for people’s rights, who went on to achieve so much, but what she set out to do, was attempt to understand the injustice she saw before her.
In Part II of Episode 13, we dive deeper into our understanding of modern lifestyle diseases, with Mugdha Pradhan, as she teaches us about the root causes of nearly every illness known to man, and how her team works to make humanity healthier.
As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we continue our journey back in an attempt to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, this time with Episode 01 with Prithwiraj Ghorpade.
I have often asked myself, What is the number 1 solution to climate change? What is the single most effective use of the limited time that humanity has to effect any kind of tangible change on the single greatest threat to our peaceful existence? Within the grander scheme of things, In what way can I best help fight against this seemingly apocalyptical future that we’re steadfastly marching towards? Well it turns out I’m not the only one to ask that question. Although there exist a multitude of answers to these questions. I now realize that the only real way we can help to restore nature to its former glory is by unequivocally and wholly extracting ourselves from certain spaces and thereby allow nature to operate its highly sophisticated and finely tuned technology. It is our hubris that makes us believe that we have it in us to “save the planet”. That being said, There are however, some things that individuals can do to facilitate this transit back to the state of nature. Join me as I talk to Mr. Prithwiraj Ghorpade, an organic farmer, as we attempt to unearth man's relationship with land, nature, and the eluding dream of sustainability.
Find out more @WhatUnEarth
linktr.ee/whatunearth
As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we continue our journey back in an attempt to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, this time with Episode 01 with Prithwiraj Ghorpade.
I have often asked myself, What is the number 1 solution to climate change? What is the single most effective use of the limited time that humanity has to effect any kind of tangible change on the single greatest threat to our peaceful existence? Within the grander scheme of things, In what way can I best help fight against this seemingly apocalyptical future that we’re steadfastly marching towards? Well it turns out I’m not the only one to ask that question. Although there exist a multitude of answers to these questions. I now realize that the only real way we can help to restore nature to its former glory is by unequivocally and wholly extracting ourselves from certain spaces and thereby allow nature to operate its highly sophisticated and finely tuned technology. It is our hubris that makes us believe that we have it in us to “save the planet”. That being said, There are however, some things that individuals can do to facilitate this transit back to the state of nature. Join me as I talk to Mr. Prithwiraj Ghorpade, an organic farmer, as we attempt to unearth man's relationship with land, nature, and the eluding dream of sustainability.
Find out more @WhatUnEarth
linktr.ee/whatunearth
As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we look back and try to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, starting with Episode 08 with Dr. Gurudas Nulkar.
In Episode 08 Dr. Nulkar and I had explored the fundamental problem of modern economics and how it is designed to be antithetical to ecology. That a diamond cost millions but basically does nothing. While a trees are source for eternal life, we clear them faster than a teenage boy clearing his search history. The problem is not money by itself, the problem is when we assume that everything that can be valued is in fact valued, correctly, in money, by the market.
Dr Gurudas Nulkar is the Sir Ratan Tata Post Doctor Fellow at ISEC Bangalore, the Endeavour Executive fellow at Deakin University Melbourne, and currently working as the Head of Department for Strategy and General Management at SCMHRD Pune. He is also a trustee at the Ecological Society, Pune and has written several books on the intersection between economics and environment.
Dr Nulkar helped me understand that reasons for why the modern economic system, why the gdp is by itself ineffective in understading the level of human prosperity, why farmers continue to get the short end of the stick, how genuine alternatives to our current economic system exist, are real and thriving, but more importantly, why ecology and economy start with the same three letters in this week’s What UnEarth.
Fine out more @WhatUnEarth
As Season 2 of What UnEarth sets off, we look back and try to learn from some of the most popular episodes of the first season, starting with Episode 08 with Dr. Gurudas Nulkar.
In Episode 08 Dr. Nulkar and I had explored the fundamental problem of modern economics and how it is designed to be antithetical to ecology. That a diamond cost millions but basically does nothing. While a trees are source for eternal life, we clear them faster than a teenage boy clearing his search history. The problem is not money by itself, the problem is when we assume that everything that can be valued is in fact valued, correctly, in money, by the market.
Dr Gurudas Nulkar is the Sir Ratan Tata Post Doctor Fellow at ISEC Bangalore, the Endeavour Executive fellow at Deakin University Melbourne, and currently working as the Head of Department for Strategy and General Management at SCMHRD Pune. He is also a trustee at the Ecological Society, Pune and has written several books on the intersection between economics and environment.
Dr Nulkar helped me understand that reasons for why the modern economic system, why the gdp is by itself ineffective in understading the level of human prosperity, why farmers continue to get the short end of the stick, how genuine alternatives to our current economic system exist, are real and thriving, but more importantly, why ecology and economy start with the same three letters in this week’s What UnEarth.
Fine out more @WhatUnEarth
In part 2 of Episode 12, we delve a little deeper into the aspect of understanding climate change and ecological disharmony from the perspective of traditional Hindu philosophy.
As What UnEarth has pledged to do from Episode 11, we’re raising funds for any cause, NGO, or civil society organization, our guests deem worthy.
Dr Meera Baindur, our guest for this episode, feels intensely for the cause of our street cleaners and garbage pickers, a class of society so important to us, yet equally often taken for granted and ignored in their times of need. I’ve prepared a list of several organizations across India working towards the betterment of these same frontline warriors, which you can find on our instagram page. Check it out. Donate generously.
And stay tuned till the end of the episode to find out how you can be a better hindu, a better climate activist, and how both those things might just be the same.
Find out more @WhatUnEarth
The NITI aayog SDG Report has put out hundreds of pages of data on how sustainably developed Indian states really are.
This is surprising for many reasons. Because as country, we are starved for data. And as per the Report itself reveals, we’re also starved for food.
Topping the charts for the worst performing Index out of the 17 SDGs, is that of achieving ‘zero hunger’ a target that India is missing by nearly 200 million people. Which means that if ‘undernourished people in India’ was a separate country by itself, it would be the 8th most populated country..in the world.
The report has some startling revelations – over one third of our children under 5 are underweight and stunted, while over half of India’s pregnant women are anaemic. No wonder the second worst performing index, is gender equality
There’s a lot to uncover in the 350 pages of niti aayog’s 2021 report on india’s performance in achieving the UN sdgs.
Here’s an outline in under a minute.
The report is essentially divided into 4 chapters. Three of these are pretty much entirely made up of data, comparing how sustainably developed India states really are. we’ll get to those.
The other chapter, however, deserves some attention. Because what it repeatedly stresses about, for nearly 50 pages, is the importance of government ‘partnerships’ with NGOs in ensuring India sustainably develops. At one point, the report outright says “Civil Society Organizations play an essential role in providing a voice to the vulnerable”.
That’s beautiful…maybe now the government will stop cracking down on NGOs, and arresting protestors? Or is the only vulnerable voice in need of protection that of the incumbent?
The NITI Aayog has put out its annual report detailing India’s progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. This Report, however, is of particular importance, not just because its one of the rare occasions in recent times when the central government has put out comprehensive data, but it also acknowledges that we only have a decade left until things get really bad. The report basically compares the different Indian states and their performance against each other in achieving various SDG, such as No Poverty, Zero Hunger, and Climate Action. Guess which Indian State performs the best! Hint: its kerala.
Since the government has been generous with the data, I’m going to be as detailed in analyzing the report. Watch this space through the next week.
Why do we celebrate 5th June as World Environment day? Because nearly half the year has gone and you’ve miserably failed in your new years resolution of segregating your trash. It’s a reminder to be a better person in the second half of the year.
No, okay, seriously though. 5th June is celebrated as world environment day as it marks the beginning of the UN Stockholm Conference, the first real global acknowledgment of humanity’s polluting effect on our ecology. In many ways, the Stockholm declaration, a result of the conference, has shaped many of the ideas central to the climate movement, including the idea of sustainable development. That’s right, we’ve been talking about sustainable development since 1972. 50 years later, how is India doing in achieving that goal? Watch this space to find out.
Here’s proof for why bad ecology leads to bad economy.
A recent report has revealed that 7 of the top 10, and 43 out of the 100 cities most exposed to environmental risks are in India. This isn’t news though. We’ve heard it year after year, and frankly, it seems like nobody -really- cares. It’s okay a couple million die each year because of polluted air, at least we’re getting that 5 trillion economy right? Well, maybe not.
Because this report isn’t by a human rights organization, it’s a research firm analysing business risk, and they recommend that global companies should invest in low risk cities across the world. If this anti-national report is to be trusted, india’s is going to have to become a lot more aatmanirbhar a lot faster.
The Delhi High Court recently held that the construction of Central Vista Avenue is of national importance and cannot be stopped. owing to the fact that no rules were being broken and the project has to be completed by November 2021, or else we risk causing hindrance to the Republic Day celebrations 2022, guys the Republic day celebrations! There’s so much to celebrate about our republic this year…right?!
I personally welcome this judgment, and the strict adherence to timelines of national importance. this is the judicial activism that was missing! Finally we can enforce the Supreme Court mandated deadlines for rejuvenating river Yamuna, or cleaning the air in Delhi, both of which have been pushed forward indefinitely for past 30 years or so…right?
Remember the Draft EIA 2020? The law that reduced public participation, exempted projects from seeking approval, allowed for post facto clearance, basically destroyed environmental protections? Yeah, that draft EIA 2020.
Well, a government report has analysed 20, 42, 157 objections in 10 different Indian languages, sent in by the Indian public for over a period of 5 months, and for some magical reason, they’ve concluded that there ‘this EIA might not be the best idea’, and that the government should reconsider the law in the larger interest of environmental protection