Environment

‘Green growth & harmony with nature ingrained in Indian ethos’

Environmental issues are now dominating the discourse, as climate change has been causing a fair amount of damage and destruction in many parts of the world. In such a scenario, sustainable development model and climate resilience have become need of the hour, which are possible only when people in general start realizing their importance and take corrective measures. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, threw sufficient light over these issues at the World Sustainable Development Summit 2023 held in New Delhi.

Development & environment go hand in hand

Yadav said that continuing last year’s theme and discussion, the summit, this year is premised on ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action’, which came at no better time when India has assumed the G20 presidency. He said that at a time, when the world is tackling the issues pertaining to climate action, environmental protection, and sustainable development, India is emerging as an inspiration for countries across the globe, particularly on the fact that how economic development and conservation of environment can go hand in hand.

Vision of ecological harmony

The vision of correcting the ecological wrong into ecological harmony is taking shape by being reflected at the grassroots, where the successful implementation of Project Cheetah is an example among many. He said that second batch of cheetahs from South Africa was successfully introduced in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on 18th February 2023.

Evidence-based policy making

Combating climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation transcends all political boundaries and hence is a shared global challenge. On multiple occasions both at the domestic and international stage, through evidence-based policy making and implementation, India has demonstrated that it has never been a part of the problem, but is contributing significantly to become a part of the solution.

Vision for ‘Green Growth’

The union budget 2023 also lays down the vision for ‘Green Growth’ across multiple sectors, with the underlying thought being that all future growth in the country has to essentially be green. With the concept of ‘Green Growth’ being a priority area in the union budget, it validates how sustainable development has been mainstreamed in Indian policy making process through a visionary approach, said Yadav.

Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy

Speaking about India's commitment to address climate change, Yadav said that India has already submitted its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy document at COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh which is premised on two major pillars of climate justice and sustainable lifestyles alongside principles of CBDR-RC. With this, India has joined list of select 58 countries who have submitted their new or updated LT-LEDS.

Coalition for disaster resilient infra

India has created and been nurturing the CDRI or Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. India has been making concerted efforts to engage various stakeholder institutions and individuals to promote innovation and resilience in infrastructure. One such initiative is the “DRI Connect” which will be a web-based platform for stakeholders engaged in infrastructure sectors. The platform is envisaged to harness the collective intelligence of coalition membership towards the creation of new knowledge and actionable solutions to address challenges in resilient infrastructure and foster an environment of action-based learning and innovation on disaster resilient infrastructure.

Global South Summit

The minister said that the voice of Global South Summit launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which saw participation of 134 countries distributed across 10 sessions, gave the global south a platform to discuss the pressing concerns of developing world. This was yet another testimony of India’s leadership, especially becoming the leading voice for global south. The sub theme focuses on the mainstreaming sustainable development in India’s national development trajectory. Yadav said that with India taking over the G20 presidency, the discourse around sustainable development especially in the UN Critical Decade of Action has caught the global attention.

Lifestyle for Environment

Yadav said that living in harmony with nature has been traditionally ingrained in Indian ethos and same has been reflected by the mantra of LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment. The mantra which focuses on nudging individual behaviour towards leading a sustainable lifestyle, has received attention and appreciation from world leaders and leading experts across the globe.

Here, circular economy offers a new paradigm that emphasizes on the need to take a comprehensive view of products and processes. This leads to sustainable growth which is a key to an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. India has been actively formulating policies and promoting projects to drive the country towards a circular economy. India has already notified various rules, such as the Plastic Waste Management Rules, e-Waste Management Rules, Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, Metals Recycling Policy, etc, in this regard.

Despite being the fastest-growing economy in the World, India is taking giant strides at the domestic and international levels in tackling the triple planetary crisis in form of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

 

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