Balancing Grassroots Action and Government Intervention in Climate Solutions

Topic by Mary Adams

This excerpt is taken from an interview by Mary in March 2024 with Vivek Gilani. She discusses the question of whether change will come only from the grass roots/bottom up or top down? Is government /state intervention also required? This is an ongoing debate. We would love to hear your thoughts or experience on this question.

3rd Space: Isn’t this where we need government intervention? The affluent elite controlling global industries have the power to destroy. If they’re boiling the planet, no matter how much mitigation or regeneration is happening, don’t we need some form of government intervention to protect this?

Vivek: One can’t survive without the other. However, the form that government intervention takes and the animating spirit of it, to me should be decentralised – that is, rooted in locally political solutions.

So, yes, government intervention. But one that is in conversation with civil society, a very vibrant civil society that can hold government intervention to account.

For example, green policies are being used right now in India to depopulate certain areas for conservation purposes. There’s an ‘anti-poor’ version of climate policies. To build your solar park, you are driving out indigenous people. That solar park is being used to power electric cars. This needs to be questioned, right?

What are your thoughts on this topic?