John Paul Jose: Making Regional Climate Issues Mainstream 🇮🇳
While climate change and its extreme weather events affect everyone, communities living in the coastal regions are the ones that are most hurt. John Paul Jose is a climate activist from the coastal state of Kerala, India. His journey in climate action began in his school days at only 10 years old. Growing up in a family who was into agriculture and farming, he was always inclined towards nature. He would spend his time observing waterfalls, rains, and various species in his area.
As John moved to the city for higher studies and began living in a hostel, he felt like he was losing his connection with nature. In cities, he noticed that there was less greenery around him and he could not spot a lot of birds and other creatures. In an attempt to reconnect with nature, John started volunteering with various NGOs and formed a civic group which took the initiative to plant trees, protect urban trees and conduct various other campaigns. During a vacation when he returned to his hometown, John witnessed ecological destruction occurring right where he grew up.
He came to understand that pollution or environmental degradation was not centralized to urban areas, but was also causing great destruction in rural areas. As trees were being removed and quarries were coming up, an ecological imbalance resulted. Around this time, John learned more about climate change and realized that it is much bigger than the environmental issues on the local level. He learned that even the smallest of actions he'd take at the local level would have global impacts.
Humble Beginnings
John at the Brazilian embassy protesting the deforestation of the Amazon.
He started volunteering with Greenpeace and working on a research project with the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Both were great opportunities for him to bring local issues to a global stage and the mainstream arena. John then worked on organizing climate strikes, raising voices to have a conversation on climate change in the public domain. His actions inspired many and sparked conversations on India's stand in climate action and addressing its vulnerabilities. The 2018 flood in Kerala was an event that the locals had never experienced and the disruption in the rain patterns during the monsoon encouraged John to get more involved in climate action. His work in climate activism brought him to a collaboration with TED Countdown and he became a High Seas Youth Ambassador focusing on the Ocean Conservation Treaty. Along with all of these actions, John also engaged in other activities like rewilding, traditional agriculture, and various other awareness drives.
Speaking about the challenges he faced during activism, John mentioned that most of his activism was disguised. The conventional attitude at home expected him to focus on his studies only and not to divert to other areas. He added that his parents did not know about the seriousness of the issue even after learning about climate change. Another challenge faced by John was ageism, where youngsters were (and still are) kept out of policy-making discussions. "During conferences, youth are mostly sidelined to smaller side-events and they are not included in high-level meetings where actual policy decisions are made," John elaborated. Talking about the problem of regional issues not coming to light, he noted:
"We need to find out exactly where these issues exist and encourage the locals to raise their voice." Talking about a memorable moment in activism, he narrated one of his internship experiences where he traveled to the state of Goa in India. A lot of activism was taking place there because of the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Plan which would destroy the ecological system of Goa. He walked up to 10 kilometers every day to spread awareness amongst locals about this issue and took photographs about how these issues are affecting life there. Through this activism with the help of the locals, the local authority has not yet implemented the CZM Plan.
Advice for Asian Environmentalists
In Asia, all are vulnerable and have experienced climate change in some way or other, whether it's through cyclones in the coastal regions or through changes in rain patterns and agriculture. John said:
“It is very important for people to start sharing these experiences either through social media or through activism. When it comes to the Asian region, there isn’t any comfort zone and it’s much more connected to nature. People should get involved with organizations to raise their voices.”
The more platforms we have and the more collaborations we get involved in will also provide us a wider arena to share our stories. The climate crisis will affect those directly connected with nature more than anyone else as natural patterns change.
In Asia and the Global South, many people are dependent on the natural world for their livelihood and its destruction will create socio-economic insecurity: in fact, a 2020 study from the McKinsey Global Institute found that by 2050, somewhere between $2.8 trillion and $4.7 trillion of Asia’s annual GDP will be at risk due to the effects of the climate crisis — a terrifying statistic.
We ask John: what should more people work on?
In the Global South, existing socio-economic issues are only going to get worse under the climate crisis — current social activism should incorporate climate activism as well, because even in climate activism, we are fighting for social justice.
“People are aware of social issues, their causes, and problems; but when it comes to the climate crisis, many know that it’s happening, but only a fraction of them know the cause and solutions. That is why we have more support for social causes and less for climate actions.”
Talking about his future goals, John said that for the short-term, he would be scaling up individual actions, networking, and collaborations as the continued one-sided focus on governments and corporates as the sole climate saviors would further delay concrete actions.
His short-term actions support the long-term by building up momentum for future movements, leaderships, or reforms as they translate into a collective force of various individuals of diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. With these goals in mind, John aims to create a sustainable economy that's reliant on nature where indigenous traditions continue with effective leadership.
With determined and passionate activists like John Paul Jose in the region, the climate action and fight for climate justice seems to be in the right hands. Sharing our experiences, stories and raising our voice against the climate crisis will not only bring light to the issues but will also inspire many to come up with solutions.
Written by Nikhil Kamath
