Mumbai Climate Week: Panchayat leaders showcase grassroots climate solutions

Grassroots leaders from six states in Mumbai on February 19 showcased how Indiarsquos most impactful climate solutions are emerging from village councils during a special lsquoPanchayatrsquo session titled ldquoPanchayats Leading Indiarsquos Climate Chargerdquo at the Jio World Convention Centre as part of Mumbai Climate WeekThe session demonstrated some of Indiarsquos most effective climate solutions emerging from village councils not conference roomsBuilt on the Conference of Panchayats CoP initiative led by Asar Social Impact Advisors and Policy and Development Advisory Group PDAG it focused on strengthening local selfgovernment institutions to tackle climate risksSharada Gaydhane Sarpanch of Bela Gram in Maharashtrarsquos Bhandara district shared how her village became Indiarsquos first netzero PanchayatShe asserted ldquoClimate change can be felt in the water we fetch the food we grow and the air we breathe It affects our health and it is my responsibility to do whatrsquos best for my village For us climate action begins at home When the Panchayat takes responsibility and people participate change becomes realrdquoUnder her leadership nearly 90000 trees were planted solar panels were installed on Anganwadis and Panchayat offices LPG adoption replaced traditional chulas waste segregation was implemented at the doorstep level and singleuse plastics were rejectedldquoEvery village festival wedding and birth of a child was marked by planting a tree and taking care of it Over time we planted almost 90000 trees We made concrete efforts to move away from chulas to LPG We used panchayat funds for solar panels over Anganwadis and panchayat offices While waste began to be segregated at every doorstep we took a vow to reject singleuse plasticsrdquo she further addedBela Gram won Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar in 2024Leaders from Jharkhand Kerala Karnataka Bihar and Odisha also presented communitydriven initiatives Ramvriksh Murmu from Siyari village in Bokaro highlighted solar lighting and pumping solutions to tackle power shortages Sachith K K from Perinjanam in Kerala described the transformation into a lsquoSolar Gramam with 850 households adopting rooftop solar systems Jayanti Nayak from Koraput Odisha detailed how indigenous women restored over 10 hectares of unused common landCommunityled Solutions in Focus Shift to renewable energy restoring ignored landsFrom Jharkhand Ramvriksh Murmu Mukhiya of Siyari village in Bokaro district described how Gram Panchayat Help Desks strengthened local governance and enabled the adoption of solar lighting and pumping to address frequent power cutsSachith K K former Panchayat President of Perinjanam in Keralarsquos Thrissur district spoke about the villagersquos transition to lsquoSolar Gramamrsquo with 850 households becoming rooftop solar prosumersRepresentatives from Karnataka and Bihar also highlighted efforts to integrate sustainable livelihoods strengthen village governance systems and advance rural development collectively demonstrating that effective climate action is being shaped at the level of local selfgovernment institutions across the countryJayanti Nayak an elected representative from Koraput Odisha described how a collective of indigenous women documented land use and identified over 10 hectares of unused common land for restorationThe power of Panchayats in climate actionKeynote speaker Jagadananda cofounder amp mentor Centre for Youth and Social Development speaking about the power of Panchayats and frontline leaders in shaping climate action said ldquoThe future of climate resilience lies in climatesmart Panchayats where land water livelihoods and people converge at the local level A climatesmart India begins at the Panchayat closest to the risks resources and resilience Our collective future depends on investing in and strengthening these institutions where people ecosystems and democracy come togetherrdquoBuilding on this vision of climatesmart Panchayats Arindam Banerjee cofounder and partner PDAG outlined how the Conference of Panchayats was conceived to strengthen local governance systems where climate impacts are felt most directlyArindam Banerjee cofounder and partner at PDAG said ldquoThe Conference of Panchayats was designed to explore ways to enhance the capacity of local selfgovernment institutions and actors to address emerging climate risks It focuses on developing local evidencebased solutions and implementing longterm climate initiatives anchored within the local socioeconomic and climate realities We hope that this CoP will help drive a uniform nationwide local climate action platform by 2028 with the proposed global CoP33 to be held in IndiaEchoing the vision of locally anchored climate governance Vinuta Gopal CEO Asar said ldquoFrom the farthest corners of six states gram panchayat leaders took the stage to show that climate action is already being built on the ground ndash through every tree that is planted solar panel installed and village action plan formally adopted Rooted in the institutions of local selfgovernment these efforts are protecting lives and livelihoods as climate pressures intensify Such grounded models for scalable climate action offer hope that the most lasting and credible solutions are those that begin within communities and grow outwardrdquoThe Mumbai Climate Week marked Indiarsquos first platform dedicated to accelerating climate action empowering Mumbai India and the Global South The initiative reimagined critical climate solutions as interconnected scalable innovations rooted in the complex dynamics of the region and its economies