India can become the innovator in the Global South as it leads the fight against climate change from the frontlines, said Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State of the United States of America and board member of the Clinton Foundation, during the Mumbai Climate Week on Wednesday.
Calling for the need to shift resources from the Global North to the Global South, Clinton said that the Global South is all ready to set the climate agenda.
“We have to focus attention on solutions in the places which are clearly most affected by climate change. While the world is impacted, including the United States, where we are witnessing more wildfires, severe storms, and unusual heat patterns, the frontlines of the fight against global climate change are right here in the Global South. I have full confidence that India can become an innovator and implementer of that,” said Clinton.
She further said, “I want to be a cheerleader for the efforts that can come out of India, and it will require partnerships between government at all levels, businesses and corporations, philanthropies, family offices, activists. We have to quit the talk, talk, talk and start to act, act, act.”
Clinton was speaking in a fireside chat with Shloka Nath, CEO of the India Climate Collaborative (ICC), during the ongoing Mumbai Climate Week, where she spoke about the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) work in India.
Launched two decades ago by former US President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Foundation has been engaged in bridging gaps between the public and private sectors to resolve concerns surrounding climate, health, and women.
While talking about CGI’s work, Clinton called for allied efforts from governments, corporations, and philanthropies to counter the rising climate risks.
‘A political view of a dinosaur’
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Referring to US President Donald Trump’s policies, Hillary Clinton said, “Just because the President of the United States does not want corporations to care about climate change doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about climate change. That’s a, frankly, political view of a dinosaur. It is just so out of touch with everything that we know, how we are living, what we are breathing, what we are seeing.”
Calling climate a ‘health issue’ and not just an energy issue, Clinton added that climate change goes beyond fossil fuels.
“When we say climate change, it deals with talking about pollution that fills the air in Delhi or Beijing. I’m talking about the clear evidence that pollution is impacting our health and not just among poor people, but among all of us. The particulates and what we breathe in are affecting our health and particularly the health of our children,” added.
‘Indian women on frontlines of climate crisis’
Speaking about her experiences in India, Clinton pointed out that women are on the front lines of the crisis as they are exposed to extreme heat.
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“The effects of extreme heat, particularly on women in India, are well documented, be it the women raking salt in the deserts of Rajasthan, a waste picker, or at a construction site,s amongst others. During our visit to Rajasthan and Gujarat deserts, women pointed out that working post noon has become extremely difficult during extreme heats, nudging them to start work during the dead of the night.”
Clinton said that in India, the CGI has been engaged with groups like SEWA, which have led initiatives to raise money from women and put it into a fund to create an insurance product. “Today, we have 500,000 such insurance holders here in India, and India will be the model for the rest of the Global South because of this CGI commitment,” she added.
At a time when Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) impact on the environment has emerged as a concern, Clinton also called for government regulations on AI companies before it is too late.
