THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
We have become a community who have forgotten the significance of living in tandem with nature, said renowned environmentalist Dr Vandana Shiva here today.
What we face today need not be termed climate change – it rather is a state of climate chaos and climate uncertainty. Change can be predicted, whereas uncertainty cannot be, and is beyond definition, Dr Shiva added, while speaking at a public lecture titled ‘Biodiversity and Climate Resilience’, organised by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA), Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, and Navdanya, as a forerunner to the International Biodiversity Congress (IBC 2020).
Stressing on the fact that biodiversity is the most important factor that helps keep the earth stay alive, Dr Vandana Shiva said the erosion in biodiversity is continuing unheeded. Everyone seems to prefer to be silent and ignorant about the dangers such damage would bring unto us.
Even those who talk on the dangers of plastic happen to be the ones that generate plastic waste. There lies the irony, she said. Adding that the biodiversity of seeds and forests are important, Dr Shiva said that it has become imperative that efforts to conserve biodiversity need to grow stronger. Seeds are not just the ones that create food, they also are the source of seeds that would feed us in the future, she reminded the audience.
Pointing out that three techs – Biotech, Infotech, and Fintech – have taken over the globe, Dr Vandana Shiva said all the three are one and the same. When the question as to ‘Amma or Alexa’ gets hoisted in our midst, we need to cling on to Amma, and that should be our answer. Reminding that we all live an era where increased instances of ignorance and catastrophes occur, Dr Shiva lamented the fact that the Brazilian President Bolsonaro, who incidentally may be blamed for the destruction of the Amazon rain forests, is India’s Chief Guest at this year’s Republic day celebrations. This speaks volumes about the state of the land we live in, she said. Prof A. Biju Kumar, Simon Thattil were among those who also spoke at the function.
