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As calls for climate action gain momentum, governments and international organisations are committing to ambitious climate targets and scaling up their climate action. In this article, we argue that to address climate change, 'just' climate action is required which moves away from portraying local communities as 'victims' and/or 'beneficiaries' and focuses on investing in their social and material capabilities so that they determine their futures and pathways of change. Climate action will have little meaning or will produce counterproductive results unless it is mobilised to question deep-seated inequalities and unjust framings that feed into epistemic closures and foreclose possibilities of plural pathways towards radical social change. Drawing on our research with front-line communities in India, we emphasise the importance of processual aspects of addressing climate (in)justice. We underline why climate action must be steered from 'below' for transformative change, and why this requires attention to more 'vernacular' forms of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning to a net-zero world is one of the greatest challenges humanity may face across the world. Nonetheless, land-based carbon removal actions are vital to meet net-zero targets but involve significant trade-offs that may risk food security. The potential increase in demand for land in the near future for land-based climate mitigation methods across India could certainly threaten the right to land and food, especially for people and communities whose livelihoods depend on land. In the context of global efforts to address and combat the climate crisis and to improve food security, agroforestry is a sustainable land use with immense potential to achieve significant impact and synergy across priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]