Expressing his concern over the unprecedented scale of environmental degradation and its drastic consequences, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu called upon all nations to collaborate and cooperate in an equally unparalleled manner to ensure sustainable development.
He said that inclusive development was central to sustainable development. It also encompasses sustainable agriculture; sustainable mobility solutions; sustainable urbanization; sustainable energy security and clean energy; sustainable waste management; sustainable efforts in wildlife conservation and sustainable green innovations.
Addressing the World Sustainable Development Summit 2019, organized by The Energy and Resources Institute – TERI, Naidu said that India’s traditional practices reflected a sustainable lifestyle and the Vedic philosophy of India always emphasized the undeniable connection that human beings share with nature.
The Vice President said that every individual must contribute to sustainable development, whether by turning the ignition off at long traffic stops or by recycling and composting or by cycling to work in congested cities.
Emphasizing the importance of judicious use of resources to save them for future generations, Naidu said that one must realize that we are not inheritors but merely trustees of this earth. It is our prime responsibility to pass it on to posterity in its pristine glory, he added.
The Vice President quoted the ancient Indian adage – “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah”. If you promote righteousness, it will protect you and if you protect nature, it will protect you and nourish, if we don’t, we run the risk of perishing, he added. Naidu further said that the earth is our mother and humanity should collectively rise above our trivial differences of race, religion, and power, and act in unison to save her.
