Chennai: Collaboration among nations is crucial for tackling complex and inter-connected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification and pollution, among others, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said here on Friday (July 28). He stressed the need to further strengthen the collective understanding of pressing climate and environment challenges, and to lead global efforts in tackling them, while addressing the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Ministerial meeting under the Presidency of India here.
All the G20 members are coastal states and have a serious responsibility to protect and conserve coastal and ocean resources and use them responsibly, he said.
India has consistently been a source of solutions, while historically not being part of the problems. We have taken decisive domestic actions, set ambitious targets, and actively guided international efforts through various initiatives like the ISA, CDRI, Mission LiFE and International Big Cat Alliance, the Minister said.
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As the world’s most populous democracy and a vibrant emerging economy, India sought to lead the global fight against climate change, together with the G2, he said.
The meet took up several new and important thematic priorities for deliberations and for the first time in a G20 forum, there was a discussion on the pressing issues of forest fires and mining degraded areas as priority landscapes, he said.
Our experiences and best practices to restore them are included in Presidency documents, and these can be useful in implementing measures to achieve our target for land degradation neutrality,Union Minister Yadav said.
The meeting also addressed the issue of integrated water resource management and captured best practices in the G20 in a compendium that can be a useful resource. The G20 nations have agreed on a comprehensive set of principles on LiFE styles for Sustainable Development, through the Development Ministers, he said.
We have worked on developing the ‘G20 High Level Principles for a sustainable and resilient blue or ocean-based economy.’ These principles could be used on a voluntary basis as a framework for bringing sustainability into the ocean economy, the Union Minister said.
Though significant progress has been made, the developmental and climate goals are yet to be reached, he said.
We need to further our efforts in reaching our sustainable development goal targets with focus on eradication of poverty, equitable access to energy and resources, food and water security, the Minister added.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
