Other States - Rajasthan

Sixth public hearing on climate change today

JAIPUR: The sixth regional public hearing on climate change here on Wednesday will record the grassroots voices and testimonies of people from the rain-fed and drought-affected areas of 11 States to find out the visible impacts of environmental degradation on the livelihoods and food security of small and marginal farmers, peasants and labourers.

The event – the sixth in a series culminating in a national consultation in New Delhi in the second week of this month – is expected to strengthen the process of inclusion of local agrarian communities into the climate change debate in the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.

Five public hearings have been organised in different agro-climatic zones of the country so far to inform the international actors of the impact of global warming on poor people in the developing countries who had very little contribution in climate change.

Vijay Pratap Singh of New Delhi-based Lokayan said here on Tuesday that the series formed part of the civil society initiative to draw the policy-makers’ attention to the need to protect the interests of the poor and marginalised sections during the deal in Copenhagen.

Sharad Joshi of the Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants’ Society – the host in Jaipur on behalf of Oxfam-India – said the public hearing would also generate demands for appropriate action and policies to support people in adapting to the impending consequences of climate change.

The public hearing, likely to be attended by about 300 people, will focus on the impact of climate change on agriculture, food and water security, livelihoods, biodiversity, natural resources, health, poverty and migration.

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