Climate Solutions Project
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Communicate
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Shakin' it for the Planet
Dance for the Planet?? That sounds familiar!
Having spent the first five weeks of this year dancing from Chennai to Delhi to the solar beats of a New York band as we celebrated, created and 
communicated India's Climate Solutions, I was delighted to hear about an upcoming event in London aimed at raising money for a tree planting and livelihood generation project in India.
communicated India's Climate Solutions, I was delighted to hear about an upcoming event in London aimed at raising money for a tree planting and livelihood generation project in India.The event was one of a series of dance parties being held across the globe to support the ecological, social and economic regeneration efforts of Worldview Impact.
This group is one of the trailblazing organisations emerging from India, who are working around the world to help the poor to help the planet, simply put, by planting trees with some of society’s poorest communities.
Through working with local stakeholders to plant trees on areas of degraded land, they are helping to regenerate locally eroding environments – with benefits including better local water retention, soil regeneration and a return of local biodiversity – whilst sucking carbon from the atmosphere as each tree grows (at a rate of one tonne per tree).
But the projects don’t end with the environment. By working with some of the world’s poorest people, these projects crucially help to create local employment opportunities and in turn reduce poverty.
In the case of Worldview Impact, the projects largely revolve around rubber tree planting. Local trainees learn how to grow and nurture the trees from seeds, and once fully grown, how to tap the rubber for sale. This material can be turned into condoms, which protect against sexually transmitted diseases and support family planning, boots, which protect farmers’ feet from harmful worms in the soil and rubber gloves, which help to sanitise healthcare. All of these products are fully biodegradable, unlike most of the synthetic rubber products we use today, and they, as well as any additional products produced through the newly regenerating ecosystem are a valuable source of new income for the local populations, which can only be sustained through looking after the trees.
The trees themselves, through their capture of carbon, are also a source of income through the earning of carbon credits as part of the Clean Development Mechanism. This is a mechanism by which high emitters in developed countries (who emit more than their ‘fair share of carbon’) pay projects in developing nations that support the capture of carbon from the atmosphere, and at the same time, the development objectives of the country.
The projects also support conflict resolution, particularly in areas of historic unrest, such as Sri Lanka and Rwanda, and also support improved healthcare, through education of the many stakeholders.
Crucially each of these projects is evolved in consultation with local populations, to understand what they need from the local projects and what kind of tree mix and products best support the local needs and ecology.
Dance for the Planet events have emerged as a means of connecting people around the world with the creation and support of these projects, educating us all about our impacts whilst engaging us with the projects in a personal way. People can come and dance together whilst their entry fee (enough to purchase one tree) helps to offset their own carbon footprints.
In this case, the project being danced for was in Meghalaya, a district in the North Eastern State of Assam, India. But each event will be supporting projects in a different part of the world, including Mexico, Brasil, Egypt Ghana, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. In each case, the party includes a performance and dance class from an artist from the part of the world where the project being supported exists. This time, it was Indian dance, and we had an incredible class to the beats of ‘Kajra Re’.
The project Founder and Director, Bremley Lyngdoh, says that the average high emitter needs to plant ten trees a year to offset his or her own footprint; so ten dances a year, and you're 'carbon neutral'! This is not to say we high emitters don't need to address our own resource use too if we are to address climate change - but you get the idea!
This initiative has given rise to a new swathe of carbon neutral artists, professionals and athletes who make it their mission to promote and support the cause of climate change solutions that help the poor to help the planet through their work. The first carbon neutral artist for Worldview Impact is Karen David, herself from Meghalaya in Assam.
So what next? We need scale!!!! We need to get artists, party holders and promoters around the world to start linking this concept to the work that they do; taking clubs, bars and venues carbon neutral; and getting people dancing for the planet every time they shake it!
As the tide turns across the world, a growing wave of creative entrepreneurs, forward thinking businessmen, ecological artists, astute politicians, green-fingered farmers, passionate communicators and most importantly, inspired individuals are sweeping our planet with opportunity. Change must happen now; and what's more it can!
Projects such as this and the many others that are emerging from across India and around the world, provide the real evidence that change is possible. Let’s make sure that every time we dance, whether around our room, along the street, with our friends, at a party or in a club we remember to dance for the planet; celebrating our way to a safer, better future.
To find out more about Worldview and Carbon Neutral Dance, watch this great video:
......and make sure to visit http://carbonneutraldance.blogspot.com/
To plant trees with Worldview Impact, visit: http://www.worldviewimpact.com/login.php
If you have ideas, if you are an artist, if you own a venue, if you promote, if you want to connect with this work from anywhere in the world, please also feel free to email us at indiaclimatesolutions@gmail.com, and we will work to connect you with others who can support and work with you towards this aim!
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