Harjeet Singh

I'm a climate justice advocate, and people often ask me, Harjeet, how do you manage to stay positive and smile with all the doom and gloom around us?

Trust me, I do get angry, and there's plenty of evidence online.

There's no doubt that we are living through a human-caused climate crisis.

But I have immense faith in humanity and our collective superpower, which is our ability to adapt.

We've adapted for centuries, except the scale and speed that are required now are unprecedented, and each one of us has to play our part.

Let me share about Kamlesh Kushwaha's superpower.

He's an organic farmer from a drought-prone Bundelkhand region in India where people are dependent on rain-fed agriculture and traditional wells.

Having worked with Kamlesh,

Since 2017, through my organization, Fathat Sampada, I can tell you he's not a conventional farmer.

He's someone who thinks, who plans, who knows how to adapt.

Life could have been far worse for him during the deadly 2024 heatwave.

But his ability to choose crops wisely and adjust the timings as the weather changes

and installing a solar-powered irrigation pump with the government's support has been a game changer.

He has been able to adapt much better than many farmers who lost close to 50 percent of their production.

Kamle's story is not just about survival.

It's about the human spirit.

It's about the power of people to make a difference if they get the right kind of support and in a timely manner.

We know that climate impacts are increasing and we see devastation all around us, which means that we have to adapt.

So what is adaptation?

Adaptation means adjusting and being ready for a new climate reality, which is uncertain and unpredictable.