Paper short abstract:

Exploring climate adaptation in Tehri Garhwal, this paper highlights the intersection of environmental injustice and colonial legacies. It focuses on local resilience strategies against climate impacts, offering insights into sustainable adaptation in vulnerable mountain communities.

Paper long abstract:

This study focuses on Tehri Garhwal, a region emblematic of the socio-environmental injustices emerging in the context of climate change. It critically examines how climate change mitigation and adaptation intersect with the legacies of colonialism, yielding distinct forms of environmental and social injustice. By exploring the adaptive strategies employed in Tehri Garhwal, the research illuminates the nuanced realities of climate resilience within mountain communities. The methodology integrates an ethnographic approach with a historical analysis, providing insights into the community's socio-environmental dynamics and their evolution in response to climatic changes. The novelty of this research lies in its detailed examination of how local knowledge and traditional practices contribute to resilience, thereby challenging the dominant narratives of climate action that often overlook these grassroots strategies. This study adds a critical dimension to the discourse on climate justice by highlighting the disparities in climate change impacts and the differential capacities for adaptation and mitigation. It underscores the importance of recognizing and integrating local knowledge systems into broader climate policies. The findings reveal the complexities of negotiating climate resilience in a landscape marked by historical injustices and current socio-economic challenges. This research contributes to the ongoing discussion by advocating for more equitable and just climate policies that acknowledge the diverse realities of mountain communities, often side-lined in global climate debates. It calls for a rethinking of environmental justice in the context of climate change, emphasizing the need for policies that are both inclusive and reflective of the intricate socio-environmental fabric of vulnerable regions.