At UN summit, India calls for global shift to sustainable living

New Delhi | Adopting sustainable lifestyles could tackle many of the challenges posed by climate change and global success is more likely if affordable solutions are offered, India has said at the United Nations "Summit of the Future".

Addressing the summit in New York on Friday, Leela Nandan, secretary in the Union environment ministry, also said that climate change discussions often focus solely on emission reductions, but "we are more likely to succeed if we offer affordable solutions, not simply impose decisions".

The Summit of the Future brings together world leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders to discuss global challenges and strengthen multilateral cooperation to tackle emerging threats.

Citing an estimate by the International Energy Agency, Nandan said, "If we were to put our actions into the right context in terms of saving energy, saving water, reducing waste, reducing e-waste, adopting sustainable food systems, we would have reduced annual global emissions by 2 billion tons by 2030." "This is such a significant step that would actually resolve a lot of the issues that are facing us today in the climate change scenario," she added.

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

She also said that over one million schools in India are now connected to eco-clubs aimed at raising awareness about sustainable lifestyles.

"Through these eco-clubs, constant sensitisation about the environment in general and our actions, in particular, is happening on a real-time basis," Nandan said.

She projected that by 2047, the clean energy sector in India could generate 30 to 35 million jobs.

"There is a huge potential out there, and India has taken the lead in establishing international organisations like the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuel Alliance. These are the sunrise sectors. These are the sectors for today and tomorrow, and we need to focus on bringing the right technical education into the curriculum from the school stage through to the point where youths can secure successful and sustainable employment in sectors that are intrinsically green in nature," Nandan said.

She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" or "Plant for Mother" campaign launched in June urges global citizens to engage in pro-planet actions, starting with planting trees.

In just three-and-a-half months, 750 million saplings have been planted in India as part of this extensive community-led campaign, the official added.