Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Ramachandra Guha Traces India’s Environmentalism From Chipko to Climate Change
Ramachandra Guha spoke about how environmental protection developed in India.
He focused on the Chipko movement, in which villagers worked to protect forests.
Guha said the movement showed that poor communities also care deeply about nature.
He explained that forests were important both for the environment and for people’s livelihoods.
In 1974, women led by Gaura Devi stopped loggers from cutting trees.
The movement helped increase public awareness about environmental problems.
It also helped encourage new pollution laws and government institutions.
Guha said environmental progress slowed during the liberalisation period of the 1990s.
Ramachandra Guha described the Chipko movement as an “environmentalism of the poor” linking sustainability with social justice.
At a September 19 talk in Bengaluru, Guha traced the development of Indian environmentalism from Chipko to climate change.
He said British and post-independence forest policies promoted pine over oak and beech, creating ecological and economic tensions.
Women led by Gaura Devi stopped forest department loggers in 1974 while village men were away receiving land-acquisition compensation.
Guha said Chipko helped spur environmental awareness, new laws and institutions, although liberalisation later weakened that momentum.
- Who
- Historian Ramachandra Guha, with Greenpeace India as the organiser, addressed the history of Indian environmentalism.
- What
- Guha discussed the Chipko movement, its social and ecological significance, and the past and future of Indian environmentalism.
- When
- The talk took place on September 19; the article does not specify the year.
- Where
- The talk was held in Bengaluru, India.
- Why
- Guha aimed to explain how grassroots movements connected environmental protection with economic concerns and social justice.
- Speaker
- Historian Ramachandra Guha
- Event
- ‘From Chipko to Climate Change: The Past and Future of Indian Environmentalism’
- Organiser
- Greenpeace India
- Location
- Bengaluru
- Key movement
- The Chipko movement
- Important 1974 event
- Women led by Gaura Devi stopped forest department loggers in Gopeshwar district, now Chamoli district.
- Institutional change
- The Department of Environment was established in 1980 and is now the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.