At UN summit, India calls for global shift towards sustainable lifestyles

The Future Summit brings together world leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders. (Photo: Bloomberg)

3 minutes of reading Last update: Sep 21, 2024 | 9:20 AM IST

Shifting to a sustainable lifestyle can help solve many of the problems posed by climate change, and the chances of global success are greater if affordable solutions are offered, India said at the United Nations’ Future Summit.

Speaking at the summit in New York on Friday, Leela Nandan, secretary at the environment ministry, also said that discussions on climate change often focus solely on reducing emissions, but “we have a better chance of success if we offer affordable solutions rather than simply impose decisions.”

The Future Summit brings together world leaders, decision-makers and other stakeholders to discuss global challenges and strengthen multilateral cooperation to confront new threats.

Citing estimates from the International Energy Agency, Nandan said: “If we put our actions in the right context in terms of saving energy, saving water, reducing waste, reducing electronic waste, adopting sustainable food systems, we would reduce annual global emissions by 2 billion tonnes by 2030.”

“This is a really significant step that will actually solve many of the problems that we face today in terms of climate change,” she added.

Nandan said earlier this year, during the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya, India’s resolution on sustainable lifestyles was unanimously adopted.

She added that over a million schools in India have partnered with eco-clubs to raise awareness about sustainable living.

“Through these eco-clubs, constant education about the environment in general and our activities in particular is happening in real time,” Nandan said.

According to her forecasts, the clean energy sector in India could create 30 to 35 million jobs by 2047.

“There is huge potential there and India has taken the lead in creating international organisations like the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuel Alliance. These are emerging sectors. These are the sectors of today and tomorrow and we need to focus on introducing appropriate technical education in the curriculum right from the school stage till the point where the youth can secure successful and sustainable employment in sectors that are green in nature,” Nandan said.

She added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” (Plant for Mother) campaign, launched in June, urges global citizens to engage in pro-planetary activities, starting with planting trees.

In just three-and-a-half months, 750 million saplings have been planted across India under this massive community-led campaign, the official added.

(Only the headline and image of the report may have been edited by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: Sep 21, 2024 | 9:19 AM IST