UNESCO releases movie on Earth Day 2015
We all have observed and realised the tremendous change in climate, however we fail to see the major effects of such an event on someone who hails from a small region or earns his living through farming. In observance of Earth day 2015, Unesco released a film called ‘Changing Climate, Moving People’ which talks about disasters and climate related migrate. The movie which is of 35 minutes of duration and has been made by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) has focussed three major areas: Uttarakhand, Bundelkhand and Odisha.
These three states have been a major contributors when it comes to internal migration and have been hit by extreme weather events like floods (Uttarakhand), drought (Bundelkhand region) and cyclones (Odisha), which are likely to become more recurrent and stronger as a result of climate change. The film looks into all three areas and investigates the reason of migration from these regions.
The film aims at increasing awareness, engagement and advocacy on the intertwined and complex linkages between moving people and changing climate, and to support the mainstreaming of migration into climate change policies. This has been built on from the policy recommendations of the National Workshop on Migration and Global Environmental Change in India jointly organized by UNESCO and the Government Office for Science, Foresight (GOS), United Kingdom, in Delhi last year (the Summary Report can be downloaded here:http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002285/228502e.pdf).
Stressing on the responsibility of government towards Migrants, Mr Shigeru Aoyagi, UNESCO Director and Representative for Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka says, “People do migrate and will continue to do so in the future. It is primarily the Government`s responsibility to plan for current and future migration and to take into account the impact of climate change on population mobility in India”.
The approach of film is to show how climate change is and will contribute to the multi-causal nature of migration, and establish the triggers behind migrants’ choice to migrate or not to migrate while living in areas affected by environmental change. There are multiple questions that rises when we talk about migrants like- How do households, communities and individuals decide to migrate? What is the threshold or the build-up of push and pull factors that lead to the decision of migrating? The movie Changing Climate, Moving People, gets the real life story hailing from the migrants and their families to know what triggers their choice to migrate.
Avinash Rout, one of the migrants interviewed in the film explains how whether patterns have an impact on his life. “We grow rice and vegetables. Sometimes the crops get damaged by cyclones and floods, at other times by drought. All we grow is just about enough for us. My wife stays with me at home while my children go outside to study and now they are working too. My son sends me 5000 rupees a month.” But not everyone is able to migrate, just like Satti Devi who says “Where can I go? My children are young and there is no one else to look after them”.
The movie also showcases the environmental mishaps that have happened recently like Hud Hud storms, Kedarnath Cloud Burst and so on. And have expertise on the panel to talk about the climatic change and what should be done about it. The movie is available on UNESCO New Delhi website (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/newdelhi), UNESCO Facebook page ((https://www.facebook.com/unesconewdelhi) UNESCO Gender Youth Migration (GYM) portal (http://www.solutionexchange-un-gen-gym.net/)
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