Kiribati

In December 2015, negotiators from around the world gathered in Paris at the United Nations COP21 conference, aimed at creating a binding agreement for countries of the world to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions. Ricky Kej’s “Shanti Samsara: World Music for Environmental Consciousness” was launched at the conference by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande in the presence of dignitaries from around the world.

One of the world leaders speaking at the plenary session was Anote Tong, three-time president of the endangered Pacific island nation of Kiribati, whose three minute speech called for bold action to address climate change. President Tong’s message to the conference could not have been clearer:

“Give us a proposition that will guarantee that our people will remain above the water.”

Kej has cited Tong’s speech as an inspiration for him to visit the gravely endangered archipelago and document what he saw there to raise global awareness of environmental issues. In April 2016, Kej and longtime collaborator, Sairam Sagiraju and his crew braved the nearly three days of ights and layovers to reach Kiribati from Bangalore. roughout, Sairam captured the desperate beauty of the sinking islands, with swooping drone shots. e visit concluded with Ricky being granted an opportunity to record an extended interview with President Tong.

For millennia, the people of Kiribati have lived in an island paradise. But over the last several decades, rising sea levels have slowly eaten away at the country’s 313 square miles, and now the country’s 102,000 people face the prospect of becoming the world’s rst climate change refugees.

“The land for the people of Kiribati is very much a part of our life” said Tong to Ricky Kej. “...for some communities, the time is over, they have had to move. ere are communities which I believe will have to move in 5 years and so the frequency will increase. e severity of what is happening will increase. We do not have any high ground to move to, so once it happens, it is going to be TOTAL.”

Ganga

When seeking a suitable inspiration for water for “Shanti Samsara”, Ricky had only to look to the Ganga, and immerse himself in her ancient, healing waves.

Beginning at its source high in the Himalayas, the mighty Ganga, ows for around 2,525 km before emptying to the Bay of Bengal. Known to her devotees as “Mother Ganga”, she is considered sacred and revered as goddess in Hindu mythology. e Gangetic plain is one of the most fertile areas on earth and almost 10% of the world’s population lives here. It is also home to some of the rarest creatures and species of India and the planet, including the Ganges River Dolphin, the critically endangered Gharial crocodile, the Barasinghas swamp deer and Royal Bengal Tigers. e Ganga is also one of the world’s most endangered rivers, as unchecked urbanization, industrialization and inadequate sewag treatment threatens her very existence.

In realizing his vision for Ganga, Kej immediately thought of his long-time collaborator and friend, the award-winning lmmaker Sairam Sagiraju who had previously worked on the music videos for Ricky’s Grammy® winning album, “Winds of Samsara”. Together with his team, Sairam takes us on a magical journey as we follow the “Mother of All Rivers”from her source through the heart of India and marvel at her timeless beauty.

Human elephant Conflict

India has been synonymous with her majestic elephants since time immemorial. Ancient Indian writings speak about the beauty, loyalty and intelligence of this majestic creature. We still continue to worship them and cherish them.

However, India’s elephants are facing a massive crisis. An exploding human population, unchecked urbanization along with rampant deforestation, human-elephant con ict has become one of the major challenges in the ght to save India’s endangered Elephants. With just an estimated 30,000 elephants left in the wild, there is a dire need for holistic solutions to be implemented.

In January 2016, wildlife photographer Amoghavarsha and Ricky Kej travelled to the Bandipur Forest, 150 kms from his hometown, Bangalore. With the help of his colleagues, Amoghavarsha created a music video for the song ‘Kudrat’ from “Shanti Samsara” to showcase the beauty of the elephant, and the devastating e ects of Human-Elephant con icts.

When we hear of man-elephant con ict and loss of life and property damage, most would agree that “capture” sounds like a logical and “humane” solution, but do we know the ultimate impact upon the animals? Is it really a solution and at what cost?

All of us have to play our part in understanding the role that Elephants play in the web of our ecosystem. e sooner we understand, thesooner we will love, protect and conserve. Otherwise, elephants face the grave threat of extinction. Can you imagine an India without elephants?

Images of a warming planet

Ashley Cooper is an award winning environmental photo journalist. In 2004 he decided to organise a speci c climate change photo shoot to Alaska to look at glacial retreat, permafrost melt and increasing forest res. As Ashley says, “I was blown away by how, in your face the impacts of climate change were in the Arctic, at a time when many people hadn’t even heard of the issue”. He returned and quickly started to organise another shoot, this time to look at the impacts of sea level rise on the tiny coral island nation of Tuvalu. is proved equally shocking and lead to Cooper formulating the idea of attempting to document the impacts of climate change and the rise of renewable energy on every continent on the planet. irteen years later this vision was achieved.

War against plastic

Developed in the 19thcentury, plastics slowly became a part of our everyday lives. From harmless looking disposable straws to plastic bags to bottles, theycomeineveryshapeandsizemouldedtocater to our needs. However, the world is slowly waking up to the monster that we have unleashed. Plastics take an extremely long time to degrade making it dangerous to our environment. Countries around the world carelessly dispose billions of tonnes of plastic in land lls, in our oceans, etc. When plastic waste enter our oceans, they break down into micro-plastics and this directly a ects the diet of marine creatures. Every other day, we witness photographs of birds, animals, sea creatures etc. succumbing to the menace of plastic pollution.

Single-use disposable plastics are a major contributor to plastic pollution and we can all consciously and collectively decide to say no to this in our daily lives. Taking small steps such as not using plastic straws, using cloth bags as well as seeking alternatives to plastic is something that is concrete and immediately actionable.

The theme for the World Environment Day celebrations – 2018 hosted by the Government of India and the United Nations in New Delhi in June was ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Ricky Kej was invited to perform at a dinner hosted by the United Nations Secretary General, Erik Solem and in front of the historic India Gate the following day to a massive audience of many thousands of people.

Kej addressed the gathering throughout his performance and highlighted the urgency of nding a solution to plastic pollution. Both his concerts was very well received and the audience pledged to take a stand against plastic.