Some very absorbing discussions came up on the very first day of JLF. One such being a session on climate change with Sunita Narain.

Sunita Narain is an environmentalist and a social activist. She is the director general of Centre for Science and Environment, and editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth.

She has many achievements in her bag, the most recent one being featured in Time Magazine‘s list of 100 Most Influential People. Sunita has authored many books on politics, environment conservation and both of them combined.

People was pouring into Mughal Tent to listen to the Padma Shri Award winner, while I was struggling to carve a niche for myself.

Sunita began with emphasizing the need for localization.

She talked how all the sections of the society suffer due to the wealth disparity. Industries and plants are being established to fulfill needs of the rich. The underprivileged do not even get the basic amenities like water. Narain said, “People who are not the cause of the climate change suffer the most.”

She explained how “we are killing our rivers.” That we are reducing our once-God rivers to the meager level of a sewage drain. “Indian rivers are nothing but sewage canals,” she added.

She said, “Environment must go beyond pretty trees and tigers.”

She emphasized that this post-Trump Era was calling for localization. If Trump raises the walls against the world and chooses to de-globalise, we should take the full opportunity of this. To quote her: “Counter to de-globalisation is an opportunity for us.”

In her session, she mocked our nation for mistaking rise in pollution as development. She said, “Sign of civilization is plastic in India. We don’t want a civilization in which we are drowning in garbage.”

Sunita provoked the storm in the audience when said, “If you lose diversity in your wild, you will lose diversity on your plate.”

The seriousness and silent call in her words made me realize how much damage we’ve done to our mother earth. Then I squeezed myself into the crowd to reach out to her with my curiosity.

Me: What new opportunities do you think women could attain if the economic perspective shifts from globalization to localization?

Her: The shift from globalization to localization would bring many opportunities, first of them being, more jobs. India has really very talented people who do not get proper exposure in the current economy. When there is a shift to localization, local artisans will again hold importance as they did before the colonial era. If you come to Rajasthan, women prevailing industries like blue pottery and sanganeri print will flourish again. Likewise, in each part of the country, women will get opportunities because of their local culture. Also, this is how I believe women will play a key role in bringing about this revolution.

Her words left a deep impact on everyone present in the Mughal Tent, and she certainly did make everyone introspect on what we were doing.