Climate and environment

Context

The global ecological crisis is the greatest existential threat to humankind, but also to many other species, life forms and ecosystems. Climate change has already had a significant negative impact on the region of Central Asia. According to GIZ, the region is suffering from the consequences of climate change more than most other regions of the world. It is predicted that the expansion of deserts and arid areas will continue; a grim statement, considering they already make up 80 percent of the total territory of Central Asia. On top of that, aboveaverage increases in temperature combined with water shortages and extreme weather events are also being frequently observed. A continued business-as-usual approach to the ecological crisis could lead to a Central Asia, that, within decades, will be much less hospitable to human communities, potentially leaving many areas uninhabitable. At this moment, regional security and economic growth remain at the spotlight of the region’s political discourse, while the growing threat of climate change is largely being overlooked or ignored.

What we did during the year

In 2019 the board decided to create a new thematic program area centered around climate, environment and ecology. The reason for this decision was, of course, the severity and urgency of the ecological crisis and, more specifically, the very negative impacts of climate change on the Central Asian region. Based on extensive research, board members, Ildana Ruzybayeva and Gustaf Sörnmo, developed our publication Climate Change in Central Asia: history, current trends and adaptation, which will guide the future work of Central Asia Solidarity Groups in this thematic area. Additionally, we are building new partnerships and collaborations in Central Asia and Russia with actors working in this thematic field in various ways; for example, local struggles for environmental protection and justice, climate justice activists, youth strikers, ecofeminist groups, environmental lawyers and initiatives working with ecosystem restoration. In 2020, we plan to launch several major projects on environment and climate.

Declaration of climate emergency

Central Asia Solidarity Groups co-founded a campaign at the end of 2019 that calls for civil society to declare a climate emergency and mobilize their resources to contribute to the transition to more ecologically resilient societies and communities. Obviously, this declaration can imply many different things depending on the niche of the participating organization. For Central Asia Solidarity Groups it entails developing new projects and partnerships in Central Asia around various ecological issues; support environmental activists in the region; mainstreaming a climate-oriented perspective in the organization and our activities; building internal skills and knowledge; radicalizing our environmental policies, and much more. The campaign recognizes the failure of the political and corporate spheres to do anything meaningful about reducing greenhouse emissions and stopping the global destruction of ecosystems. Instead, civil society should lead the way and “prefigure” the kind of society we need. The campaign will formally be launched in January 2020 and will initially include organizations such as Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Sweden, Vardagens Civilkurage and Forma with the ambition of involving many other civil society actors.

Climate activist residence in Osh

For two weeks in December, a group of members and staff of Novi Ritm met daily to participate in workshops about climate change and climate activism. The residence was coordinated and facilitated by Central Asia Solidarity Groups, through activist Eva Beal. The workshops focused on gaining a deeper understanding of what the climate crisis is and why it’s happening, from both scientific and socio-economic perspectives. Additionally, workshops looked at the impact the crisis is having on individual, community, societal and global levels, and why some communities are being impacted more drastically than others. In one of the workshops, time was provided for reflection on participants’ own connections to nature, how they’ve experienced the climate changing in their

own lifetimes, and how that has impacted them. The workshops culminated in a conversation about how to take action on local environmental issues, such as air pollution, trash and plastics pollution, and low water levels, and how these issues are connected to solutions to the global climate crisis. Learning about young climate activists and movements from around the world provided inspiration for the participants. One day was spent out in the city documenting local issues and collecting plastics, experimenting with repurposing plastics to see what kind of products could be made. After the training, participants felt more informed, understood that their actions can make a difference, and felt excited to continue with ideas that came up during the workshops.

New methods and approaches on masculinities and ecology Trainings on climate conversations in Sweden

We have collaborated with Chalmers University and MÄN (Men for Gender Equality) during 2019, developing a new methodology on the intersections of destructive masculinity norms and ecology. Dominant social constructions of masculinity are problematic from multiple ecological perspectives, and the methodological material aims to create spaces for alternative constructions and expressions of masculinities, primarily among men. The material is currently being pilot tested in Sweden and in 2020 it will be used in Russia and Central Asia. Central Asia Solidarity Groups will coordinate the implementation of the method among three partner organizations in Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Our close partner and ally, Vardagens Civilkurage, has since 2018 conducted many workshops and training sessions related to the ecological crisis. These sessions are practical and interactive – often using methods such as role playing and forum theater – and revolves around everyday life situations, such as how to create constructive climate conversation with family and friends and how to intervene in climate denialism, apathy and greenwashing. They can also be oriented toward more activist-related topics such as nonviolent campaigning and civil disobedience. Central Asia Solidarity Groups has participated and contributed to several of these trainings, and also to the methodology development. Much of the material can be found at the website Klimatprata: www.klimatprata.se