World Environment Day
India Moving Towards Productive Environmental Consciousness, Lauds Actor Dia Mirza
Actor and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza talks about how India has shifted its focus towards the environment, rather being ignorant
New Delhi: ‘There is a definite shift in the way people perceive environmentalism, from being obstructive to being productive, more and more people today are seeing the umbilical link between the ecology and economy. People are understanding the simple connection – if they are not able to secure the health of the planet, they will not be healthy and of course, the unhealthy workforce cannot be productive,” said Actor and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza while speaking to NDTV on 45th World Environment Day.
The actor also acknowledged the government and policymakers’ contribution in the last few days towards the environment. She said,
In India, what is becoming more and more apparent is that civil society has now started demanding that the government, industry and people at large, should put the planet first, people second and profit later. These are the 3Ps that will really define our economies and help us achieve the sustainable development goals. The great thing is that what we all have witnessed in last few days leading to the world environment day from the government and policy makers is also been very encouraging.
Also Read: World Environment Day 2018: Ministers And Politicians Spread The Message Of #BeatPlasticPollution
Talking about the challenges India as the country is facing today be it in terms of water pollution, air pollution or water crisis, the actor said,
India occupies 2.37% geographical land space, which is a very small landmark, and we have the world’s second-largest population that inhabits this landmark and in context, to that we just have 20% of forest cover and less than 5% of that is dense forest. These statistics put in perspective that how important it is to save our natural resources. There are issues with a lot of our cities, we know about Shimla water crisis, Bengaluru will soon follow the same suit and everyone knows what Cape Town just went through. I think these are the situations and conditions that should compel and urge the government to take more strict actions and make sure that the natural resources are preserved well.
With an appeal Dia said that together we can help the society by practicing 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle regularly. Along with these 3Rs we should include one more R and that is Refuse. The actor signs off by saying,
Youth, women, and mothers, in particular, today, are the most powerful constituencies in the world – if they demand and work towards the betterment of the environment, I am sure of one thing – this planet will definitely be a healthy place to live.
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