Where the Green Future Begins

Our common future will be shaped by the success of Indonesia’s and India’s vigorous efforts to pursue climate resilience and energy transition — through inclusive societal development that leaves no one behind

In the ancient cultural heartland of Kutri, in Bali’s Gianyar Regency, one climbs up moss-laden steps to a hilltop shrine far from the tourism circuit, in search of the rich connections with nature that shaped and sustained the people who have lived here for millennia.

As we climb, the eye turns to boulders amid the foliage: here are unmistakable patterns of waves, etched into the ancient sandstone eons ago, now lodged on a steep hillside in the verdant landscape of central Bali.

A strenuous climb brings one atop Bukit (hill) Dharma Durga, to the platform adorned with an 11th century stone carving of the Mother Goddess of the Universe slaying the buffalo-headed demon Mahisasura.

Mahisasura represents ego and arrogance, in the Balinese cultural tradition. The ancient bas-relief depicts the serene goddess performing an act of liberation, to free the universe from the demons of egotism and pride, so that we humans may acquire the knowledge and wisdom that all living beings are part of the same animating force.

Looking out from the hilltop to the vast sprawl of greenery all around, with the sea on the far horizon, one can marvel at how humans and nature so readily mingle in Bali. Long rambles take one to villages, nestled in forests, along the dikes of terraced rice paddies where the only sound is the gurgle of water, the buzz of insects, the tangled melodies of birdsong.

The living example of rural Bali shows that we are all cohabitants of nature’s bounty, even as life spent in large cities blinds us to the richness and value of a life lived in harmony with the natural world. In Indonesia itself, the rural life woven deep into the country’s traditions and culture carries coexistence with the natural world as its animating force.

This connection to the earth and its gifts, however, has not stopped human hubris from building a skyscraper-laden city like Jakarta on a sea-level…