‘Earth Talk Series’ features renowned Indian writer Amitav Ghosh

The staging of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has helped place the Middle East in a positive perspective, according to renowned Indian writer Amitav Ghosh, who spoke Wednesday at the ‘Earth Talks Series’ at the Bin Jelmood House in Msheireb Museums.
The ‘Earth Talk Series’, an annual event organised by the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQA), featured Ghosh, who discussed the ‘Climate of War: Global Geopolitics in the Anthropocene’.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event, Ghosh lauded Qatar for doing “a great job” in hosting the World Cup and for delivering “an incredible event with perhaps the greatest soccer match ever played.”
Ghosh said: “It really showed that when such events are held in these parts of the world, it creates a completely different atmosphere; it creates new possibilities.”
He added: “In the same way, if the Qatari leadership were to approach these other issues with the idea of bringing a different point of view and opening up these global negotiations to voices from the global south, I think that would be an important thing that Qatar could do.”
Hessa al-Noaimi, director of strategic partnerships at AYCMQA, said: “The event aims to bring forward thinkers, scientists, writers, and artists mainly from the global south to talk about the environmental and climate crises from their perspective.
“We see the need for this because we can tell that most of the information that we receive surrounding these topics comes from the north. And it is also offering a platform for conversations that are not usually discussed in this region as much as we should.”
She added: “As AYCMQA, we believe that the programmes we run and the kind of awareness that we raise will bring about some significant change because we believe in research, data, and the necessity of understanding the problem before answering it. We also address the potential young people have in becoming faster and better learners on how to mitigate the climate crisis.”
Dr Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, said LuLu sponsored the event as part of its efforts to encourage and promote discussions on environmental protection, sustainable development, and climate change.
He said, “LuLu is always trying to be ahead of the game, and our commitment to sustainability is very strong. Only recently, we have announced that LuLu's Al Meshaf store has become the first carbon-neutral hypermarket in the GCC.
Althaf added: “Notwithstanding our commitment to address the cause of climate change, we also think that it is very critical to our industry because these environmental crises are directly affecting the food supply chain and other resources.
“So, this is part of our community engagement and we will continue to expand this relationship with more non-governmental organisations, schools, and wherever engagement is possible.”