Go Green campaign goes beyond borders

Economic Times , Friday, September 14, 2012
Correspondent :
NEW DELHI: The Earth Care Awards' fourth edition this year moves beyond borders, drawing into its fold India's neighbours for the first time since the Times of India launched the Go Green India campaign in 2008 with these awards.

In association with the JSW Foundation, the JSW-TOI Earth Care Awards honour communities and corporate houses engaged in creating practices and processes towards sustainable living.

This year's eminent jury — including agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan — will judge green initiatives from seven nations. A host of environment friendly projects from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Bangladesh vie alongside Indian initiatives for the coveted awards that highlight local-level activities to address the impact of climate change.

The idea behind including neighbouring countries for this year's honours is to encourage partnership within the region's communities, non-governmental organizations and corporate houses to care for the environment across borders. Earth Care Awards 2012 aims to enable nations to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

The awards will be given out on Friday at a glittering ceremony hosted by partners ITC Maurya. Multiple stakeholders — aware citizens, political leaders, grassroots workers, corporate entities and government departments — will be present.

Minister of environment and forests Jayanthi Natarajan, chief guest on the occasion, will be joined by power minister Veerappa Moily as guest of honour. Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav will be at the awards as will key stakeholders from other countries such as Japan, the United States, Australia and Germany. The sponsors of the annual awards are the JSW Foundation helmed by chairperson Sangeeta Jindal.

The evening will see several dignitaries from the region participate, including Saarc director M Sridharan and joint secretary Vikram K Doraiswami. High commissioners of Pakistan, Salman Bashir; Bangladesh, Ahmed Tariq Karim; and Maldives, Dnyaneshwar Mulay, will cheer for their contestants, while Nepal will have N Adhikari, charge d'affaires and political counsellor Tirtha Raj Wagle root for their community participants. India's high commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal will also be present.

The awards are given to NGOs, communities and corporate houses in three categories. Community-led action on facing climate change in terms of water resources, land use, changes in land-use and forestry is the primary category. The second category rewards industry for reduced emissions: large-scale and small-to-medium enterprises. The third measures the potential/ impact of innovative technical solutions to mitigate climate change.

The jury for the awards comprises renowned environment specialists and experts: UNEP's Rajendra Shinde, Kartikeya Sarabhai of the Centre for Environment Education, Aneeta Bennigner of the Centre for Development Studies & Activities, Anil Manekar of the Nehru Science Centre, William Dar of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics, IndAsia Fund Advisors' Pradip Shah, Mckinsey's Rajat Gupta and Shailaja Chandra.

A book on the significance of conservation and greening of arid regions will also be released on the occasion. The book, 'Daroji — An Ecological Destination' chronicles the efforts and successes of the efforts of the Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary set up in 1994 on 55sq/km of Bilikallu East Reserve Forest to restore the environmental balance to the region.

 
SOURCE : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/developmental-issues/go-green-campaign-goes-beyond-borders/articleshow/16390209.cms
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us