The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu has called upon all citizens to collectively strive for building a greener and cleaner planet saying environmental protection is a pious civic duty of all.

In a message today on the eve of World Earth Day, he said: “Let us accord prime importance to protect Mother Nature, re-orient the development models and consumerism-driven lifestyles”.

The Vice President said that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to revisit and reinvent our development and economic strategies.

Pointing to the unprecedented health crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic, he said the sweeping lockdowns brought the world to a near halt, reduced the pollution levels and improved the air quality, making us realize the extent to which man has disrupted the ecological balance.

Referring to World Earth Day 2020 theme’s focus on Climate Action, the Vice President said: “We must learn from our past mistakes and understand the importance of the symbiotic co-existence between man and the nature. We are living in an inter-connected world and cannot continue with business-as-usual approach in the quest for development and modernization as every action impacts the environment”.

He urged the people to become pro-active warriors in the protection of nature.

Observing that the way forward is to build a sustainable planet by adopting climate friendly policies in different sectors, Shri Naidu quoting the UNDP said the green house gas emissions were more than 50% higher than the levels in the 1990.  He also referred to UNDP’s projections that bold climate action could trigger US$ 26 trillion in economic benefits by 2030 and that by focusing on sustainable energy, 18 million more jobs can be created by 2030 in energy sector alone.

Stating that air pollution reportedly claims seven million lives every year globally, he said the need of the hour is to move increasingly towards renewable energy, green building concept, clean technologies and the use of electric vehicles.

Calling upon communities at the grass root level to take up projects like tree planting on a massive scale and adopting the mantra of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to conserve natural resources, he said “as a society we need to move collectively towards a more sustainable way of life”. The Vice President also stressed the need to protect nature and preserve culture for a better future.

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VRRK/MS/MSY/RK