By Dr Asangba Tzudir
The announcement of the Nagaland Climate Action Forum 2026, scheduled for January 21 in Dimapur, comes at a moment when climate change is no longer a distant or abstract concern for the people of Nagaland. A little more than a fortnight into the New year and Dimapureans especially is feeling the heat. It’s already getting hot. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and flooding when it pours, and associated public health risks is only increasing. Discussions and engagement with Climate change is important as it comes to shape everyday life, particularly in crowded urban centres like Dimapur. The forum’s stated aim which is going to translate discussion into relevant outcomes is therefore both timely and necessary.
When we look at the way in which the issues related to climate change is addressed, the conversations have largely been confined to awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops and commemorative observances starting with World environment day. While such efforts can be said to have helped sensitize the public, what has really fallen short is the fact that it has failed to trigger sustained policy action or community-level participation and transformation. Now, the Nagaland Climate Action Forum is signaling a shift from this pattern. By positioning itself as an action-oriented platform, it attempts to bridge the long-standing gap between climate knowledge and governance response.
Looking at Dimapur as Nagaland’s commercial and urban hub, needless to say but it stands at a critical crossroad. While rapid urbanisation seems to have brought economic opportunities, it has also intensified environmental vulnerabilities. Heat stress, inadequate and improper drainage, infrastructure strain, and destruction of green spaces for construction now pose serious risks to public health and urban resilience. The forum’s theme, “From Heat to Action: Rethinking Urban Resilience in Dimapur” rightly captures and situates and the city at the centre of the climate conversation, while recognising that urban areas will bear a disproportionate share of climate impacts in the years ahead.
A significant aspect of the forum will be its emphasis on data based policy. The proposed release of a Working White Paper with localised findings on urban heat stress, land use, and surface temperature mapping is a very important foundational step. Climate policies that rely on national or global data often fail to address local realities. Dimapur specific evidence backed by data will help policymakers design targeted practical interventions through urban planning, green infrastructure, or public health preparedness.
A striking feature is the forum’s acknowledgement of climate injustice. As highlighted by Earth Alliance Nagaland, extreme weather events disproportionately affect vulnerable communities lie families with low-income, children, daily wage earners, and those living in informal and scattered settlements. Climate resilience, therefore, cannot be separated from social equity.
The involvement of multiple stakeholders including the Dimapur Municipal Council, youth groups, civil society organisations, and district authorities offers a ray of optimism though caution needs to be exercised. While the public generally look up to the government, Climate action cannot be the responsibility of government alone. Community participation in responsible ways is integral to ensure accountability and continuity beyond events or policy declarations. It is also rightly pointed out that, citizens must also act as pressure groups thereby encouraging and pushing institutions to do what is needed rather than one of convenience which may be only convenient but without impact or hardly any.
However, the real test of the Nagaland Climate Action Forum lies in what lies beyond January 21. Forums and conclaves have value only if their recommendations translate into financial appropriation and budgeting, bylaws, and most importantly behavioural change and our attitude towards the environment and climate change. Urban planning must continue to improve drainage systems, strategies that mitigate heat, and a regulatory check on the land-use patterns.
Nagaland cannot afford to delay. The impact of climate is not only real but intensifying each year, and therefore delaying will only add to the cost of inaction which will outweigh the costs associated with reform. For now, we can hope that the Nagaland Climate Action Forum succeeds in turning dialogue into durable policy and inject a sense of collective responsibility and action. It will mark a defining moment in launching the state’s climate journey. The challenge now is to ensure that this initiative create a start in the right direction but not another missed opportunity.
(Dr. Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com).
