The Focus Odisha Forum (FOF) turns down outright the State’s Draft Climate Change Action Plan (DCCAP) allegedly prepared under the aegis of the World Bank and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The FOF claims, it does not consider the common Odias’ concerns and interests nor reflects the State’s seriousness towards self-discipline, sobriety and adaptation.
The DCCAP vociferously reiterates its nexus with the neo-liberal lobby which propounds reckless industrialisation and unwarranted investment, the FOF further claims, demanding that, a new decentralised and inclusive process be initiated from below with multi-stakeholders’ participations and with a spirit of Odia nationalism rather than under the influence of alien agencies.
There has been no involvement of civil society and other non-Government stakeholders including academia, researchers, legislatures, PRIs, NGOs and the important climate refugees and vulnerable communities from different parts of the State in the drafting processes.
Even the comments and suggestions, provided by some of the stakeholders who were invited to the hurriedly called stakeholder consultations, have been ignored and not incorporated, it is alleged.
The FOF, with activists Sudarshan Chhotoray, Dr SN Patro, Achyut Das, Biswajit Mohanty, Bibhudhendra P Das among others, also alleges, the authors of the DCCAP treat the State’s victims as ‘climate criminals’ while allow the ‘real criminals’ to expand and multiply their crimes.
