The global South -though being the lowest energy users- suffers most from unpredictable weather events which are now commonplace: heatwaves, storms, cyclones, forest fires, floods and droughts affecting agriculture, causing hunger and disease. There seems to be a race to extract the last fossil fuel, metal and minerals to satisfy our endless need for raw materials to manufacture and power more appliances –so we return back to coal fired power plants emitting ever more CO2.

And all this is made worse by the latest war to add to the many ongoing conflicts across the world. The World Food Program warns of shortage of food grains and oils and fears arise for hunger-spiked civil unrest. Climate change, hunger, war and migration seem to be the new normal. It’s a matter of time before the next pandemic hits…

And what did we experience in Auroville these summer months? If trees could speak (or humans could listen) we might have heard cries of anguish and terror, as bulldozers ripped through Bliss forest and Darkali in a construction frenzy much like the one cutting down Aarey forest in Mumbai or Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo forest.

The National Green Tribunal order saved us -or at least bought some time for the humans to come to their senses. But did they? Farm and forest stewards are painted in the media as old-fashioned and stubborn obstacles to progress (or in the words of the Auroville Foundation lawyers “squatters” and “meddlesome interlopers”) and recently their right to care for the very trees they planted was challenged by a faction of authoritarians who embody the typical leadership style of a centralized power. In the recent court ruling they even referred to the Governing Board as “Supreme Authority”. Now where did we hear such language before??

Human institutions and our relation to the more-than-human environment are deeply interwoven. Rather than the foresters being old-school, one could argue that the authoritarians are. They reject grassroots participation out of fear for disorder. To suppress the danger of diversity they revert to the oldest trick in the book: divide and rule. Use intimidation and fear to exhaust the people and break their resolve. Their aim seems to be to break the bonds of solidarity between city dwellers and foresters and turn those who love Nature into scapegoats, to be sacrificed for others to gain material wealth and freedom from persecution.

They were not so “Supreme” when other Auroville forests (Pitchandikulam, Eternity and Evergreen) were attacked by JCB’s and local land mafia. The message seems clear: when you pledge allegiance to the “Supreme” leadership you will receive a seat at the table. If you ask too many questions or have an inconvenient opinion we will destroy you or let you be destroyed by others.

What is going on around us? A quick search on climate crisis show us the following:

-In India, Iran and Pakistan temperatures soared to about 54℃ (measured in the shade!) leading to immense suffering for outdoor workers and the elderly.

-In the horn of Africa monsoon rains have not fallen since 3 years causing hunger, disease and mass migration and adding fuel to local conflicts.

-Soot from forest fires darkens the sea ice which in turns warms it up leading to more melting and heating and acidification. This leads to fish dying, marine ecology becoming dysfunctional, losing its capacity to store carbon. Which again leads to more extreme heat and fires and so on and so on.

Such feedback loops lead to tipping points beyond which the changes are no longer controllable. More and more people are asking: could we create social tipping points in our society? Old school politics are not going to stop the Climate Crisis. No Carbon tax or hydrogen battery is going to save us. But what else does humanity have and can we awaken it fast enough in enough locations to stand a chance of survival?

“That we are in a severe crisis is clear, but the question remains whether we revert to barbaric behaviour or we find stories together to find new ways?”
(Carl Folke, Swedish scientist)

Sources: de Groene Amsterdammer, Stockholm resilience centre

Gijs & Lisbeth