SHILLONG: The third bi-annual seminar of John Roberts Theological Seminary, Mawklot, started on Monday at Rev. Kelvinell Memorial Chapel on the theme ‘Climate Justice in the context of Climate Change’.
Resource persons both from within the North Eastern region and mainland India presented papers on various perspectives of climate change.
Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, gave the keynote address on Day 1 of the two-day seminar. Mukhim dwelt on the fundamental premise of climate justice, a phrase coined in 2000 when the first climate justice summit took place at The Hague (Netherlands).
She elaborated that climate justice is something that countries and governments tend to avoid speaking of because it raises the level of discourse to the moral and ethical dimensions of climate change and pushes them to take hard decisions to mitigate the adverse impact in the form of natural disasters like floods, droughts, new diseases, food, water and energy insecurity, among others. “Climate Justice means not just talking about climate as an environmental issue but looking at its impact and who it impacts the most and how economies dependent on depletion of natural resources need to be restructured,” Mukhim said.
“Climate justice is based on the premise that it is the unjust political and economic system that creates societal inequities and climate change. Hence unless there is focus on correcting the injustices unleashed by climate change we would only be addressing the symptoms, and not the root causes,” she added. She also stated that climate change affects the poor, the indigenous peoples in whose lands the bulk of natural resources are found and those living along coastal areas in particular, due to rise in sea levels. The seminar is an attempt by the Church to take stock of the adverse impacts of climate change and to propose action plans. On the occasion, a book titled ‘Tribal People and Globalization: A Theological Perspective’ by Rev S Hayong, Associate Professor, JRTS, Mawklot was released by Mukhim.
