Who are we?
The Fair Climate Network is an international platform that tries to project the local environmental framework on Climate Change, as experienced by the rural poor negatively affected by erratic and unpredictable weather patterns.
The hundreds of thousands we work with genuinely believe that their grandmothers had it easy — that they didn't have to walk so far to gather firewood, that the thorns in those days were less prickly, and that forest guards were gentlemen who did not sexually harass them.
They also believe that their grandfathers had it easy — that rains were predictable and on time, that bumper crops grew on lush fields, and that food was healthier. These perceptions are as strong and as real as any scientifically proven/disproved fact.
The hundreds of thousands we work with search for a cause for the changes they perceive. They stumble upon Climate Change information we give, interpret/misinterpret, and "name their world".
This view of the changing climate through the prism of their local environment is one among many perfectly valid and legitimate positions. Not just valid, but an extremely powerful engine to sustain a prolonged attention span. It stands tall as an equal with all other frameworks.
The FCN is an open and welcoming Network. 120 persons, comprising Development Workers, Climate Change activists, environmentalists, scientists and other professionals from India and abroad have got together to form the Fair Climate Network. They represent 28 Grassroots NGOs who work with the rural poor, and 16 support organisations. 13 Network members participate in their individual capacity.
Our purpose is to facilitate and capacitate grassroots bodies to develop pro-poor CDM Projects in India and tap carbon resources for the sustainable development of the poorest of the poor. 33 of us have taken the plunge.
How do we support?
We are a multilateral body that offers ideas, support and solidarity to each other.
- Our Tech Team at Bangalore/Bagepalli handholds and assists in the preparation of pro-poor Climate Projects to reach out to rural poor and get them registered under international Carbon standards.
- Our marketing wing reaches out to Indian companies to foster a "Corporate Climate Responsibility" that advocates a dual approach — reduce their own GHG Emissions to the extent possible, and at the same time recognizes the vital environmental service that poor women can provide to society at large.
They pursue the second objective by purchasing yet-to-be-generated Carbon Offsets that will be generated, in advance, at the actual-cost-of-generation. - FCN Projects Managers and Facilitators train, facilitate, handhold and capacitate grassroots NGOs to develop the systems and procedures needed to implement these large climate projects to build domestic Biogas units, install fuel efficient Woodstoves, etc.
