‘A wellbeing economy is not a fantasy but a necessity’: Push gives COP29 a nudge during Cambridge walks
The global South has very little leverage at COP29 because “opportunistic businesses and oil rich lobbies have systematically infiltrated the last four COP conferences”, says ‘Push’ Pushpanath Krishnamurthy, whose Cambridge walks are raising awareness for global environmental causes.
COP29, the climate change conference, is taking place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The agenda appears to have stalled following the arrival of at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists who have been granted access to the summit.
The process of UN climate negotiations is no longer fit for purpose and requires a comprehensive overhaul, leading experts have warned.
Countries that do not support fossil energy phase out should not host future summits, said scientists, advocates and policy experts including former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, former executive secretary of UN Climate (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres and former Irish president Mary Robinson. COP29 at Baku follows COP28 in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Both are petrostates.
Pushpanath Krishnamurthy started walking in Cambridge, where he has a family base, in 2016. His walking protests, which originally began in 2009, have included campaigns in India, Scandinavia, Africa and the UK. After working for Oxfam for many years, he has walked more than 40million steps to raise awareness of the impact on climate breakdown on farmers in India and other neglected communities.
His COP29 walks to raise awareness of climate injustice in the global South at Jesus Lock on the day COP29 started, 11 November.
Following National Cycle Route 51, he exited the common heading north.
“Green fields stretched out, cows, horses and sheep grazed peacefully. Ducks gathered in flocks, and elegant swans glided over still waters,” Push said of the occasion. “It was all too easy to forget that, somewhere in Baku, world leaders were convening, ostensibly to save this planet. Across the Atlantic, the US election threatened to swing the pendulum in the wrong direction - a brazen reminder of the battle between short-term gains and long-term survival.”
On day two, Push was accompanied by Friends of the Cam campaigner Sue Buckingham.
“We reached Nine Wells, where chalk streams weave an irreplaceable ecosystem,” Push said. “These waters are the lifeblood of Cambridge, yet they face an over-abstraction crisis. The real story is the relentless growth driving this demand.
“I was reminded of the similar battles in my home town of Bengaluru, India. There. Reckless development and a plummeting water table echo Cambridge’s story. Both are ancient cities gripped by urban pressures that threaten their very existence.”
On day three, Push was joined by Prof Jason Scott-Warren, a climate protester of some standing in the city, for a walk to Grantchester.
“He is a quiet force, bridging academia with activism,” Push said of the encounter. “In 2019, he made headlines for his arrest during a climate protest, embodying a Gandhian dedication to civil disobedience against government inaction.”
Also on the day three walk was Thomas Lingard, “a steadfast friend from my Oxfam days”.
“Walking with these two meant traversing a unique conversational tapestry,” said Push. “Jason’s soft-spoken insights, punctuated by Thomas’ quick wit, floated through the chilled air.
“At one point, they humoured me by singing ‘Nade Munde’, a Kannada song of resilience that translates as ‘Walk Forward’. Even the Cam cattle - the famed Red Poll breed - paused from grazing to cast amused glances at this impromptu cross-cultural chorus.”
Later, on a tea break, the walkers “reflected on Covid-19’s peculiar lessons, reshaping family dynamics and the way we perceive time”.
Push picked up a muscle injury on day three and had to rest on day four.
On day five (15 November) Push, 73, reported that his left foot, “though not fully recovered, was functional enough to carry me forward”, so he walked to Ely. As always, he engaged with pretty much everyone he met on his way and, as always, he encountered responses from the indifferent to the alarmed. One passer-by, asked if he thought the climate is changing, retorted: “Absolutely, it’s November, and it’s still warm!”
He wrote in his blog: “Each step pressed forward with a purpose, driven by thoughts of the people whose lives I’ve touched during this walk. For them, pain is normal. Their daily lives are punctuated by water scarcity, leaking foods, and overburdened health systems. A wellbeing economy - a shared, sustainable vision - is not a fantasy but a necessity. At 1.5 degrees [of temperature above pre-industrial levels] the Earth already boils, and the poorest pay the highest price. It is the cruellest paradox of our time. Loss and damage must go hand in hand with adaptation, but mitigation and ‘de-warming’ cannot wait. As the Cam flows, so must we. Relentless. Resolute. For justice cannot be delayed - it must rise now.”
Meanwhile, the COP29 agenda also rolled on, with all the usual delays, compromises, backroom deals and false trails that COP-watchers have come to expect.
“Short-term political exigencies have become normalised,” Push told the Cambridge Independent. “Opportunistic businesses and oil rich lobbies have systematically infiltrated the last four COP conferences. Carbon trading bandits are also part of the problem. Deniers and delayers are ruling the discourse. Developing economies have very little leverage. The sense of urgency gets diluted. We cannot wish away the COP structure but need to reimagine it in terms of a new power structure. Global citizen and civic groups need to be able to award countries and organisations yellow and red cards, as they have in football. The youth movement needs to start a ‘show and shame’ programme.”
More than 190 nations plus the European Union are registered at COP29, which concludes on Friday (22 November).
The walks will recommence on Monday.
