My very first memory of Earth Day dates back to April 22, 2009. I was in Class 8, and our entire class was taken for a field trip to the Teen Murti Bhawan where Earth Day celebrations were taking place. Once we reached the venue, we completed the registration and were given T-shirts which read “Be The Change You Wish To See In The World” and caps with “Earth Day 22nd April” printed on them.
We attended various sessions based on building awareness and some hands-on activities throughout the day. Thereon, with the guidance and support of my teachers, I participated in more and more dialogues about Global Warming, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, etc. Over all these years of interacting with various people from across the world and talking to them about Climate Change, the bottomline throughout has been that we need to re-balance our current relationship with nature. Human activities have caused an unprecedented destruction of nature, without realising that for a stable global economy and human health & well-being, nature is essential.
As per the experts, 80% of the Earth’s original forests have already been destroyed, and we need 1.6 Earths to support the way we are currently living our lives. Where does India stand in all this?
In November 2019, I had the opportunity to lead the Indian delegation for the inaugural ASEAN Youth Summit for Sustainable Palm Oil in Bangkok, Thailand, organised by Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), People’s Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze) and GIZ Thailand. This was where we were made aware of the fact that India is the No.1 importer of palm oil from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, 5th largest consumer of pulp and paper, and 4th largest consumer of soyabean.
If we focus only on the palm oil import for this article, this palm oil import leads to a lot of deforestation and forest fires in these countries. As a result of this, neighbouring countries, like Singapore, face the problem of haze, which is very similar to the smog we see in New Delhi every year.
Understanding the fact that it is a shared responsibility and all of us should ensure a more sustainable consumption of this commodity called Palm Oil, our Indian Youth Delegation, along with the Youth Delegations of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China, came up with the Joint Youth Statement to make “sustainable palm oil” the norm.
Later in November 2019, the Human Circle’s #DoWhatYouLove community, along with RSPO and members of our Indian Delegation, presented a statement for deforestation and exploitation-free products in India. They stated, “We Want A Future Full Of Hope Not Dismay.”
Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to be associated with the Human Circle and be a part of their community of Sustainability Warriors. Through this we have been able to inspire and motivate the youth across the country to take climate action and work towards Sustainable Development. The #YouthForSustainability initiative aims to strengthen the youth with the knowledge and resources required for them to take the lead in the fight against climate change.
With these initiatives and the work being done, it is safe to say that the Indian youth are at the forefront of climate action in Asia.