Watch video

Pushpanath Krishnamurthy

At a learning event in Bangladesh, a country literally in the 'eye of the storm' of climate change, I met many people, from South Asian countries, and from Europe, and from grassroots workers, to policy makers.

One thing was clear - the impact of climate change is not something in the future. The stories I heard captured both anguish and shattered lives, and the great resilience and courage of many organisations and communities.

Every flood or cyclone sets back families so much. Women, children, and the more vulnerable people in communities are suffering most.

Adaptation is costly, and we urgently need to support people to adapt. But no matter how much we adapt, it is not going to help if we do not attack the fundamental cause - carbon emissions.

Here is the first of three voices from India (the others will be posted over the next couple of weeks). Usha is the coordinator of Thanal, an Oxfam partner organisation in Trivandrum, in the Indian state of Kerala. Thanal is a public interest research, advocacy, education and action trust. You can watch an interview with its director on YouTube.