F.a: Climate justice, energy policies and natural resource dependent communities in India The project continues the work on climate justice and community rights that Siemenpuu supported through DISHA during 2012-2013 (11018AAS). In this new project the RVC will function as the host organization and legal holder, but the project involves support
 to the same network, India Climate Justice (ICJ) forum. Also the person responsible for the project, research-activist Soumitra Ghosh, is same as in the previous DISHA’s project.  The project will be implemented by a group based in North-East India, wit
h a long track record of working on climate and natural disaster issues.In spite of the revival of the ICJ and the work made by other groups, however, climate change has not become a mainstream political issue and neither do the affected communities percei
ve it as a life-threatening chain of extreme weather events, which it really is. The process needs a continuous support to remain visible and effective. The present project is conceived with the limited but strategic focus of making the ICJ (or any other c
ollective programme that might lead to a strong climate justice movement in India) effective and ensure that the work made under the previous projects is followed up adequately and more collectively. This would ensure that affected communities and the Indi
an civil society can come together on the crucial climate justice issue.       In the present project the aim will be to build on the previous work and reach out to more groups and people to strengthen peoples’ understanding and response to the interrela
tionship between the prevailing neo-liberal model of unbridled energy and capital intensive economic development with the climate crisis. Efforts will include studies and collective campaigning with emphasis on thermal power and coal mines (mainly Maharash
tra), hydro power (mainly Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Northern Bengal and Sikkim), large-scale wind and biomass energy projects (mainly in Maharastra and Karnataka)and also the methods of adaptation and disaster readiness of the communities in mountain areas
. One important task will be to exchange information and experience with groups/movements engaged in similar programmes in other parts of the globe, including global networks like Financilization of Nature, World Rainforest Movement, and Global Forest Coal
ition, as well as more regionally focussed groups such as MEE Net in the Mekong region.The project is expected to generate new knowledge on the impacts of large-scale energy projects, foster the climate justice movement in India, contribute to internationa
l networking, as well as empower communities for adaptation to climate change on the local level.  Rural Volunteers Centre (RVC) was established in 1993. Its office is located in Akajan, Arunachal Pradesh. The main goals of the organization are based on th
e Millennium Development Goals, with the emphasis on poverty eradication, education, gender equality, child + maternal health, as well as environmental sustainability in RVC's local working areas. The environmental work focuses on empowering vulnerable com
munities of upper Brahmaputra River basin towards preserving natural resources, adaptation to climate change and address risks of disasters. RVC has also participated in the NGO Forum on ADB (project 12034AAS supported by Siemenpuu) by undertaking a study 
on Environmental Impact Assessment processes and climate change. RVC cooperates through several regional and international networks such as South Asian Network for Dam, River and People (SANDRP), International River Network (IRN), and India Climate Justice
 (ICJ) forum. It has about 40 full-time employees, of whom 11 are women. Total income during the latest financial period was about 223 000 EUR. RVC has a wide range of donors, the most important being Oxfam India, Catholic Relief Services, European Commiss
ion, Christian Aid and Action Aid India.