New Delhi: To catalyze youth action for climate change as a build-up to June 5 – World Environment Day, Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav launched a mobile application called “Meri LiFE”.
The app is inspired by the concept of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), envisioned by the Prime Minister at COP 26, which emphasizes mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless and wasteful consumption.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav said that this app will showcase the power of citizens, especially young people in saving the environment.
He also mentioned that through this app, simple actions in daily lives can have a larger climate impact. The Minister expressed his hope that the portal and app together drive a national movement for LiFE.
Also Read: Climate Change: Cyclones Intensifying And Retaining Strength For Longer Duration
Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched by the Prime Minister on 20th October 2022 at Kevadia, Gujarat and focuses on bringing about behaviour changes in individuals through simple easy-to-do actions. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal ministry for national-level coordination and implementation of Mission LiFE.
As part of their implementation efforts, the Ministry has mobilized Central Ministries, State Governments, Institutions, and private organizations to align their activities with LiFE and spread awareness about the sustainable actions that individuals can undertake. In order to further catalyze pan-India advocacy and awareness about LiFE, a month-long mass mobilisation drive is currently underway and will culminate on 5 June 2023 in a mega celebration of World Environment Day.
In 10 days, more than 1,00,000 LiFE-related events have taken place across India mobilizing over 1.7 million individuals to take pro-planet actions. These include cleanliness drives, bicycle rallies, plantation drives, LiFE marathons, plastic collection drives, composting workshops, and taking a LiFE pledge. Many schools and colleges are also undertaking cultural competitions such as street plays, essays, paintings, and youth parliaments.
At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to an ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity to generate half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reduce emissions by one billion tons by 2030.
Also Read: India’s Cost Of Adapting To Climate Change Needs Seen At $1 Trillion By 2030 – Report
India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. India has committed to net-zero emissions by 2070.
India banned several single-use plastics starting in July 2022. Single-use plastics are typically items that are discarded after being used only once and do not go through the recycling process.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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 – the LGBTQ 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 current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) 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, fight malnutrition, 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 like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
