February 26, 2023, Sunday

12 noon – 1 pm

• Environmental degradation and climate change are global phenomenon and very much a reality. Actions in one part of the globe may affect populations and ecosystems worldwide. Everybody is affected and therefore it is the collective responsibility of everyone. There should be mass awareness about this.
• Estimates suggest that if requisite and timely action is not taken against changing environment then approximately 3 billion people around the globe could experience chronic water scarcity. This is already happening in many parts like South Africa, Chennai. 
• The global economy could lose up to 18% of GDP by 2050 if timely actions are not taken.
• Over the last two decades, several measures have been implemented globally by different organizations to adjust environmental conditions and climate change including policy reforms and economic incentives, regulations as well as awareness campaigns by various governmental & non- governmental organizations. 
• National Green Corps (NGC) is the initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Govt. of India.  
• An Eco Club scheme was successfully launched few years back in many schools and colleges. More than 2000 schools and colleges are still part of this campaign eco club scheme. 
• But actions are required at individual, community and institution levels. The impact is therefore not visible.
• The concept of Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) was introduced by the Prime Minister of India at COP 26 in Glasgow on 1st November 2021. It was launched last year in June.
• LiFE calls upon global community of individuals towards mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless and destructive consumption to protect the environment. The motto of this campaign is that it is the individual and collective duty of everyone to live a life that is in tune with the earth & does not harm it. Those who protect the environment are recognized as Pro Planet People under LiFE. 
• Changing lifestyle is however not easy. But by taking one action at a time and making one change daily, we can change our lifestyle. It has been suggested that practising an action for a minimum of 21 days helps make it a habit.
• LiFE has a 21-Day challenge. This includes various actions such as participation in clean up drive, join green club, discard gadgets in nearest recycling units, reusing unused  and uncooked left overs for cattle, creating kitchen garden, reusing water from RO/AC etc.; 75 actions have been listed in this drive.
• The LiFE is very good. The only issue is of awareness because the government has a limited way till the public adopts it. For example, the ban on single use plastics; in this case the government as well as other NGOs should also give alternates so that people adopt it easily.
• Lifestyle is society-driven. The scope of lifestyle is as applicable to the environment as it is to our health. The lifestyle should be sustainable not only for oneself but also for others. Sustainable for oneself means that individual health is good and sustainable to society means that the limited resources do not get depleted and everybody gets to use them. Limiting the use of water, electricity throughout the day is good for the environment as well as the economy. It will also have a good impact on health. Another aspect of lifestyle is creating a perfect balance in between work, recreation and rest. 
• Convenience is not good for sustainability. LiFE is not new; these are age-old practices that have been have been in our society for many years.
• The bridge between convenience and passion has to be reduced. Unless we are passionate about something, we will not adopt it.
• Out of the 75 lifestyle points in the mission LiFE, 25-26 points are applicable to all. These are all traditional practices. Around 9 to 10 points are applicable to industries where emission is a byproduct and they should try to control it.
• Teachers and schools have tremendous influence on children. So, taking school teachers on board for this activity will help in implementing our old traditions. We have to think about the future generation.
• We should try to be sustainable and  try to  curb our conveniences.
• If we do not try to copy the west or the developed nations then we can adopt a better life style. 
• It is important to make people aware that not living an eco-sustainable lifestyle has a direct bearing on our health. Because health is wealth.
• To identify the bottlenecks, it is important to go back may be three generations, to know the lifestyle of the people then. They ate mainly locally grown seasonal foods and used non-motorized transport.
• We are expanding roads by building flyovers, underpasses and are therefore creating more capacity for more emissions primarily. On the other hand, progressive nations are making it harder for a person to own a car.
• We need to devise ways to how to weave in LiFE into our infrastructure, into our policies and work out minute details for the same.
• Minimum of waste should be generated. There are zero waste shops, but they are very few. And whether they will sustain is a question. 
• There is a need to showcase that this is a very important issue internationally. It must be widely popularized and practiced. 
• Business houses need to turn into social entrepreneurs; their objective should not be only profit. This will automatically take care of recycling and circular economy. It should be a business model.
• The requirement of a change in attitude or personal behavior is by and large restricted to urban areas. Semi urban and rural areas are still better in terms of conservation of environment. 
• We have to implement it through educational curriculum in schools and MBA programs. 

Participants

Mr Paritosh Tyagi

Dr Anil Kumar

Dr Dipankar Saha

Dr SK Gupta

Dr M Dwarakanath

Mr Neeraj Tyagi

Mr Rajeev Sharma

Mr PK Jain

Mr Lovekesh Chandra

Ms Ruchika Sethi Takkar

Dr S Sharma