India calls for global change for ‘sustainable lifestyle’- Secretary, Ministry of Environment at UN
New Delhi| Speaking at the UN “future summit”, India said the challenges posed by climate change can be addressed by adopting a ‘sustainable lifestyle’. Not only this, if affordable solutions are presented to the world, the chances of global success will also be higher. Addressing the summit in New York, Leela Nandan, Secretary in the Union Environment Ministry, said that ‘often discussions on climate change focus only on reducing carbon emissions. But if we offer affordable solutions to the world instead of imposing our decisions, we are more likely to succeed
“If we work on energy saving, water saving, reducing waste, reducing e-waste, adopting sustainable food systems, we can reduce annual global emissions by 2 billion tonnes by 2030”, Leela Nandan said, ‘citing an estimate by the International Energy Agency He said, ‘This is an important step that will actually provide solutions to many of the problems we face due to climate change.’
The Secretary in the Union Environment Ministry said, ‘India’s resolution on sustainable lifestyle was unanimously adopted at the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this year. More than one million schools in India are now associated with eco-clubs that aim to raise awareness about sustainable lifestyles.’
In her address, Leela Nadan said that through these eco-clubs, sensitivity towards the environment in general is being done on real time basis. He estimated that 30 to 35 million jobs could be created in the clean energy sector in India by 2047.
Nandan said that India has played a leading role in setting up international organizations like International Solar Alliance and Global Biofuel Alliance. These are emerging areas. These are the areas of the times to come. We need to focus on bringing the right technical education into the curriculum at school level, so that young people can achieve successful and sustainable employment in areas that are inherently green.
The Environment Secretary said the “One Tree in Mother’s Name” or “Plant a Plant for Mother” campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June. In which he had appealed to the citizens of the country and people around the world to plant trees. PM Modi due to this campaign, 750 million saplings have been planted in India in just three and a half months which is a big achievement in itself.
