Cross Dialogues: Gender & Climate Change

Nandita Shivakumar is a labour organiser and campaigner whose work has focused on gender justice, sustainability, and migrant rights in global fashion supply chains.

Most recently, she played a key role in developing and implementing the Dindigul Agreement to Eliminate Gender-based Violence and Harassment, the first enforceable, multi-party agreement to address gender- and caste-based violence within the Asian garment industry. She is also engaged in research and collaboration with trade unions across the garment and gig sectors to understand the impact of climate change on supply chain workers, ensuring their voices and demands are integral to just transition initiatives.

Nandita currently serves as an advisor to the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU) and as a Steering Committee Member of the United Nations Foundation (UNF)’s Accountability Platform.  She believes in reimagining a new era of work for women workers, where decent work, violence-free workplaces and living wages are a reality.

Bhumika Saraswati is a multiple award-winning Indian journalist, photographer and filmmaker whose work documents lives and landscapes often overlooked or erased. Raised in a Dalit household by her resilient single mother, Gita, her storytelling is both deeply personal and globally resonant. Her projects, such as Heat.southasia, examines the unequal nature of the climate crisis, and its impact on marginalised communities, especially rural women in South Asia. Published in The Associated Press, Outlook Magazine, SCMP Films, and others, Bhumika’s storytelling brings dignity and depth to lives of those whose histories are often overlooked.

Bhumika believes there is no climate justice without social justice.

Apekshita Varshney is a journalist, campaigner and founder of HeatWatch, a non-profit focussed on amplifying the unequal impact of extreme heat on marginalized populations in India and advocating for ground-up action. As a campaigner, she focuses on human and environmental rights, climate finance, and corporate accountability across Asia. She previously led communications for UNDP’s Business and Human Rights project and has worked with various nonprofits on human rights and social justice projects.

Apekshita’s journalism on questions of environment, urbanization, governance, and gender has been published in leading Indian and international publications. She is a graduate of University College London, where she studied on the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship.

Amruta SN is a Campaigner at Greenpeace India with special focus on looking at climate change and related issues from a social justice and gender lens. Her work in climate justice encompasses advocacy, storytelling, and responsive work to environmental disasters, with focus on sharing the lived experiences of most affected communities. Amruta is a storyteller and uses her visualisation skills to bring to life stories of climate change that would have otherwise been lost amidst the chaos of jargons and statistics. Her recent project, Museum of Memories, is a collection of everyday objects donated by families affected by climate disasters, each telling powerful stories of loss and resilience.