Climate Change and Conflict
Nepal has been amazing. I met with a number of different people working in the field of Environmental Protection, Climate Change, Tourism, and Political Journalism - not to mention the random conversations with locals and foreign travelers I was able to chat with. All of it paints a picture of a country in transition, facing many problems. But for my topic, climate change is ever present and will only get worse.
I also had a chance to meet with others, though given my poor photo taking mentality, I failed to capture photographs with these insightful people; but with who's insights and guidence I was better able to understand the challenges facing Nepal especial in the issue of Climate Change and future possible conflict.
Thanks To: Raj Kumar GC - at iDE Nepal (http://www.idenepal.org/) His work and the work of iDE Nepal is out in the villages trying to bring sustainable electricity to rural communities utilizing Green Technology. It was fitting that that the brief converstaion I had with him was while he was attending a conference at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a strategic development center in Nepal (based in Kathmandu) focused on strategic/sustainable and green development of the mountain communities in Nepal. ICIMOD with iDE are at the forefront of Climate Change in Nepal, working to combat the effects while developing Nepal. Parsu Ram Rai - with BlueDiamond Society Nepal. Blue Diamond is the overall umbrella organization working on LGBTQ issues in Nepal and Parsu is their Development Expert/counselor/government liason/senior advocate/ and all around grand high BUMPA of LGBTQ rights. In all my talks with every different organziation/leader/ and worker - education and advocacy are at the top of the priority list to change Nepal, both in terms of Climate Change and to avoid future conflict. Nepal is a fairly undeveloped nation yet leads in the world in LGBT rights, recognizing 3rd Gender and minority rights at levels the same or beyond even the Developed world and certainly beyond the US. Talking with Parsu allowed me to see the advocacy challenges. The biggest question to alleviate conflict and deal with Climate Change both is to change peoples perception. Parsu is a leader in this with very insightful thoughts on the current government. Amrit Rai - Manager Traverse Trekking and Guides. Amrit was Amazing. Talking with academics is one thing but Amrit comes from a family of Trekkers (Mountain Guides) that have been taking people hiking through the Mountains of Nepal for over 60+ years. He is the Manager at a family run Trekking Tourism company and acts as a guide during the two trekking season. While academics and policy analysts review numbers and report, Amrit and his family/guides see the effects of climate change in there work. From the drastic decrease in snow cover on the mountain tops to the increasing shrinkage of Nepals over 2000 Glaciers to the terrible flooding caused by glacier lake collapse, he has seen it all. Talking with him was getting a first hand account of the accelerated climate/weather/and ground conditions facing Nepal.
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I am not sure what I expected when I came here, but what I found is very different then anything I even remotely imagined. Kathmandu to me is a city of contrasts. It is a sprawling city stretching for miles, filling then entire valley from what I can see. While there are a couple of high rises, the majority is a sprawling mass of 2-6 level buildings made of brick and concrete. There is very little green and the roads look like little more then alleys. I am not sure city planning is even a concept they thought about as the city roads twist and turn. Because of the rolling power outages, there are no street lights or traffic signals. Not that they are dark, but that they are not even built. What would be the point? And the Dust... it is everywhere. But what can one expect when the city has grown in size almost 1000% in 40 years with much of the growth happening in the past 20?
On the other hand, the people. The people are warm and friendly - I would hazard to say more so then anywhere else I have been. Given all the challenges, they go about their daily lives and make the best of everything. I found myself walking down a "street" the other night on my quest for food. It was dark (no power), the streets were crowded and motor bikes and cars were racing up and down - headlights the only source of light. When they passed, the pedestrians were plunged back into darkness. Back in the US or many other places, this would be a cause for concern. Worry about pick pockets or people doing nefarious things would ever be on your mind. No one in their right mind walks down dark alleys in a sprawling city in the dark alone. But here, this is a fact of life. Women in colorful Saris walked near men in nice shoes and pants. children roamed, but not the roving bands of youth infamous for causing riots on the Metro in Washington, D.C. but kids in their school uniforms grabbing a bite to eat with friends and hanging out. I walked for almost a mile in my search for food and saw a city full of life, doing what we all do in all places, everywhere... living. In this, all of the "challenges" listed in the first paragraph are balanced by a rich life in the second. But this is just a surface impression. The observations of one westerner with only a few days of experience. I was very lucky as I was being hosted my first week by my fellow APLP G'14 Classmate and his family. Perhaps this has colored my view of Nepalese society. Yadav was a gracious host and his family (Brothers, Sister in Law, Father, Mother, Uncle and Cousin) all who I got to meet, allowed me to be part of the family, and I can honestly say, I have never eaten as well or as much in my life. This post is not about my GIST research regarding Climate Change and Conflict - that will come later. But I was able to talk in depth with his Father and His Uncle about what they have experienced here. It was most enlightening and helps to shape my view of this diverse society. Their insights as well as those others I will talk about in the next post show a different Nepal then the one we (rarely) hear about in the U.S. This is a place to come, to see a different world. One that may unfortunately vanish in the not to distant future. Since my GIST has a focus on conflict I feel that looking at all aspects that cause conflict are fair game.
I have been reading a book about Science and its potential impact on the future of human society. The book is entitled Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Looooong title by the author, Michio Kaku, who I have seen host or contribute to many different science and space documentaries on Netflix has a number of interesting case studies - some of which are already outdated as the technology is here now. However, one passage caught my attention for its social implications. Though most of this book would offer a full years discussion on various causes of conflict that will potentially emerge in the future, the issue of technology replacing humans in the work force is of particular interest to me. But I jump ahead. Here is the passage: "The majority of visits to the doctor's office can be eliminated in this way, greatly relieving the stress on our health care system. If the problem is serious, the robodoc will recommend that you go to a hospital, where human doctors can provide intensive care. But even there, you will see AI [artificial intelligent] programs, in the form of robot nurses... These robot nurses are not truly intelligent but can move from one hospital room to another, administer the proper medicines to patients, and attend to their other needs..." (pg. 89) OK, so why did this jump out at me? As technology increases, it can benefit society and help people. Preventative care would definitely become cheaper and so would health care costs where most routine functions are covered by medical robots. This is great for the short term as most of the developed world is looking at a gross surplus of the aged in the next two decades that far exceeds the young. However we still have a global population surplus world wide and a large unemployment rate in even the developed societies. How can society re-absorb these thousands of former employees? It is estimated that technology evolves every 18 months. Taking into account the amount of time it takes for society to absorb this new technology, which provides a little more of a lag time, can society keep up with the pace of change? Can new industries and areas of employment be created and displaced people retrained and put back to work at a fast enough rate to keep up with technological replacements? Or do we as a society have to choose to not implement the technology fully in order to allow people to retain their jobs, even if it means sacrificing efficiency and I higher standard of care (in the specific example of nursing robots and doctors)? Or is there a third alternative? (besides turning back the clock and not innovating. I refuse to believe that that is a viable option) Just a question. Anyone have any thoughts? Finishing up the work with the EWC opened some new doors in my mind. I found that I really enjoyed doing the Futures workshops and interacting with the participants as they discussed their common themes, concerns and ideas for their own personal future journey. I especially enjoyed the work with the High School youth. Their minds are completely open with no major preconceived notions on what "should" be. The only difficulty with them is to get them to open up more and share, but once you are able to do this, they really flourish and push the boundaries.
I have spent the time since then recovering from the two week travel fest and planning my next steps which are planned out through March. Next confirmed sites: Nepal :Feb 7 - Feb 21st Bangkok: Feb 21st - March 1st. Philippines: Early March... dates TBD. It has been exciting to start researching about climate change and conflict in these regions and I am looking forward to seeing our APLP classmate Yadav again. Any suggestions for who to talk to you in these areas would be greatly appreciated. |
AuthorI'm Dan. Climate Change and Conflict. Archives
April 2015
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