SPEECH BY HON'BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRIMATI PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL, ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY AND THE PRESENTATION OF THE INDIRA GANDHI PARYAVARAN PURASKAR

Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, 5th June, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to participate in this function organized on the occasion of World Environment Day, which is being celebrated across the world to raise environmental consciousness among the people. In India, it is also a day when the national awards for environment, named after our former Prime Minister - the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, are conferred. I would like to congratulate the awardees for their work and commitment to the environmental cause.

The international community is currently engaged in the process of negotiations on climate change. The slogan for the World Environment Day this year, "Your Planet needs you - Unite to respond to climate change" is thus extremely relevant. It is a reminder of the need for collective efforts to tackle the threats emanating from climate change, which is a major global environmental concern of our time. This challenge is global. It impacts each one of us in our habitats and affects our way of life. Hence, there is a responsibility on every citizen of the globe to contribute to the efforts to ensure the health and diversity of the planet as well as protect and conserve its resources, including for future generations. In this context, I am reminded of the wisdom contained in the shloka in the ancient Indian text - Varaha Purana.

This means that: -

As long as there are mountains and green forests on Earth,

Till then we and our future generations will survive and live happily.

In other words, if you want to save future generations, save the environment, otherwise they will perish. If we are to save the planet, we have to live in harmony with nature. Its bounties are there for us to use carefully, but not for us to exploit rapaciously. The principle of equity is important for a fair utilization of the Earth's resources, which are the common resource for all of mankind. Each person on the planet should have an equal entitlement to use its resources. It also means that all persons have to be responsible. Life styles which are driven by excessive consumption, are not sustainable.

In India, we have been practicing the spirit of reuse and recycle since time immemorial. It is a part of the Indian ethos not to waste anything. We were happy to note that the recent survey conducted by the National Geographical Society, ranked Indians as the most environmental friendly denizens of the planet. This is an acknowledgement of the environment friendly approaches adopted by Indian consumers. We should inculcate the spirit of economical and optimum use of resources - be it electricity, paper, water, or any other resource. This will be an important contribution of individuals to the global effort to respond to climate change.

I want to particularly draw the attention of the children present here in this function to the essence of today's message. Each one of you can take a pledge to plant a tree by the end of this season. Instead of throwing things no longer required, donate them to charitable organizations. Also imbibe the habit of carrying a cloth bag for shopping and say no to plastic. I hope it will be possible for the children and others to follow these suggestions in their daily life and promote and propagate these among their friends.

Just as we have to be careful in the way we consume resources, we have to bring changes in production methodologies to reduce carbon footprints. I will be speaking later in the day at TERI on Corporate Social Responsibility and urging companies to look at their role not only through the prism of business profitability but also from the perspective of their responsibility towards society and towards environmental protection.

At the policy level, no country can afford to ignore the issue of climate change. All countries are faced with the problem of adapting to the challenge of climate change. Developing countries, in addition, have to meet the aspirations of their people for better standards of living. Eradication of poverty and the imperatives of economic and social development have been recognized as the overriding priority for developing countries in all international conventions on sustainable development and environment. It must also be remembered that the climate change impacts that we are witnessing, are the result of the historical accumulation of green house gases emitted into the atmosphere. The contribution of developing countries to this has been minimal as compared to the developed countries. Even today the per-capita emission of green house gases of India is much lower than the global average.

As a nation, India is committed to contribute, in accordance with its capability, to the global endeavour to deal with climate change. We have in place the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which incorporates the vision of sustainable development and has identified 8 National Missions that will promote the development of the country while also yielding benefits for addressing climate change. Amongst these missions, those relating to solar energy, energy efficiency, water, sustainable agriculture and sustainable habitat will be launched this year. I also believe that there is need to create widespread awareness in the entire population, both urban and rural, about caring for the environment. This subject should be included in the academic curriculum of schools and colleges to sensitize the younger generation about the planet, its resources and the importance of caring for it.

India needs an international environment supportive of its endeavour for ecological sustainable development. The international community should collectively extend support to the efforts of developing countries through financial resources and technology transfer. It should be possible for existing climate friendly technologies to be disseminated at affordable cost. Similarly, there should be research partnerships between developed and developing countries to work towards cost effective technological innovations. All these essential issues must be included for a meaningful discussion and effective outcome of the discourse on sustainable development and climate change.

I once again compliment the awardees for their commendable work. It is notable that the nine awardees belong to different states of the country; they hail from Uttarakhand in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and from Rajasthan in the West to Assam in the North-East of the country. I am sure the recognition of their work will help spread the message of environmental conservation across the country. Let me also felicitate the National Museum of Natural History, which has instituted the Young Environmentalist award for its role in spreading environmental awareness about our natural habitat and environment amongst students.

On this World Environment Day, I conclude with the words of former Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi who provided global leadership to the cause of development and environment, and advocated the welfare of humankind and the planet. She said, "Will the awareness of 'One Earth' and 'One Environment' guide us to the concept of 'One Humanity'?

Thank you,

Jai Hind.