ഊർജ്ജം (Oorjjam, Malayalam; English: Energy) Greetings from the Rainmatter Foundation! India faces a critical energy challenge: Despite our commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2070, we remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels, which account for 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, India imports nearly 40% of its energy needs, making it vulnerable to […]
সহাবস্থান (Sahābasthān, Bengali; English: Coexistence) Greetings from the Rainmatter Foundation! It’s been a minute. As I sit to write this, I grapple with mixed emotions. While I want to be elated to see how well our Sharing Cities campaign is being received, I come across a video of a wolf cub being bludgeoned to death […]
As soon as Nandini suggests meeting at the mangroves, my first thought is to cycle down. The morning I set out though, Goa is 14°; which for Goa, is COLD. I’m pedalling through ear-numbing winds on a foggy morning, but the ride to the mangroves close to Mapusa is surreal nonetheless. The sun is just […]
India is home to some of the world’s most populous cities with projected urbanisation figures standing at 43% of its population by the year 2035. The pace of urbanisation has brought along with it, the challenges of sustainability and the need to adapt and cope with the changing climate and the threats posed by it. […]
Fisheries play a vital role in providing food and livelihood security to millions in India, especially through small-scale fisheries. Today, World Fisheries Day, traces its roots to the small-scale fishworker movement and the birth of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples in 1997. At a time when the sector faces a multitude of challenges, including […]
Skrap has grown to become one of India’s leading sustainability firms in the last couple of years – with a number of big events like the NH7 weekender, SBI Green Marathon (Mumbai) and waste management at the IPL in Ahmedabad under their belt. In a chat we had with their team to get insights into […]
Waste is not easy Waste is not an easy subject to deal with. It’s hardly pleasant either. We know. We agree. Conversations ranging from the lack of infrastructure and the subsequent mismanagement of waste to upcoming innovative circular solutions and everything in between; and of course its impacts and intersections with the larger climate puzzle […]
In June, we initiated the Walking Lightly campaign, with people from all walks of life joining us in rethinking our relationship with our planet and how we could walk on it more mindfully and respectfully. It gave us the opportunity to delve into the stories of so many ordinary people doing extraordinary and valuable work […]
Rainmatter partner Civis recently launched the Climate Voices handbook. The foundation had supported Civis to create, publish and disseminate the handbook, that would be a how-to guide on environmental public consultation. Here is Civis’ story, their endeavour to make the voices of common people heard in environmental regulation through pre-legislative public consultation, and the relevance of […]
Imagine yourself walking in nature on a beautiful morning – the bright golden sun peeking through the mountains, a river dancing to its tune, a meandering road leading to a house surrounded by lush green trees. What does this remind you of? It’s one of the first artworks we learnt to draw as children – […]
I would’ve been about 16 or 17 when I came across Gavin Aung’s comic strip illustrating potentially the most famous excerpt from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot. To paraphrase, all of our pasts and futures, dreams and losses, wars and loves have taken shape on what is a mere speck in the gigantic scheme of […]
When the landscape of a city changes over time, when there is more demanded of it every day than it can provide, we risk reducing our natural environment to a mere reserve. How much of a thought can we spare it then? What happens to something that no longer holds our attention? We stop noticing […]
Below is Vikas’ account as he travels to three regions in Jharkhand and asks residents about their relationship to their ‘home’, pokes at the changing aspirations of rural India, and wonders if a transition from interventions to responses might be more meaningful. Indian villages are a treasure-trove of resources, cultures and skills, traditionally passed down […]
The climate crisis manifests differently across different regions. Its impact on varying wildscapes and species can take any form ranging from glacial melt in the snowy Ladakh, to the bleaching of corals along the coasts of India. That being the case, every region would have to ask its own questions, and explore its own unique […]