CEED Organises Facebook live sessions to create awareness on restoring our ecology
Ranchi, 5 June, 2021: Celebrating the World Environment Day, Center for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) organised two online discussions through Facebook live sessions with the objective to raise public awareness for healing our environment and deliberate on farsighted and proven solutions around ecological restoration to make our planet more healthy and sustainable. The two sessions ‘Regenerating Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future’ and ‘Ecosystem Regeneration through Energy Efficiency’ were aligned with the official theme of ‘Ecological Restoration’ of this environment day. This event was an integral part of a month-long online social media campaign, ‘Heal the Ecosystem’ that gained a huge response from the notable people like Shri Shashi Ranjan, Deputy Commissioner, Palamu; Shri Kuldeep Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner, Pakur; Shri Manjunath Bhajantri, Deputy Commissioner, Deoghar; Shri Divyanshu Jha, Deputy Commissioner, Chatra; Shri Neeraj Kumar, Chief PRO, Ranchi Rail Division and several academics, public intellectuals, civil society organisations and citizens across the state.
Drawing attention on forging collective efforts to restore our ecology in “Regenerating Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future’ session, Padma Shri Prof Ravindra Kumar Sinha, Vice Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (Jammu), who is also popularly known as ‘Dolphin Man of India’, said that, “There is a greater need to rejuvenate our ecological systems through sustainable means for preserving natural resources and protecting aquatic life and wildlife, who are on the verge of extinction. We should not fall prey to materialistic gains at the expense of other beautiful creatures of natural habitat rather live in tandem like a vibrant family. A healthy ecosystem contributes in offsetting the climate impacts, prevents loss of biodiversity and secures livelihoods of all while making our world safer and peaceful.”
It is noteworthy to mention that the United Nations has also designated 2021-2030 as the decade for ‘ecosystem restoration’ and over 70 countries, including India, around the world have pledged to bring 350 million hectares of the deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2030. The recovery of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at such a
scale could generate US$ 9 trillion in ecosystem services and will effectively remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Highlighting the role of anthropogenic actions in catalysing climate impacts and degrading ecosystem, Mr Ashwani Ashok, Head-Renewable Energy at CEED said, “There are enough scientific evidences that suggest that indiscriminate use of natural resources and over-dependence on fossil fuel based development paradigm has debilitating impact on our social and economic lives. Recovery of our earth’s ecosystem is crucial to support the livelihood of millions of people at the margin and bring in a new era of sustainability. The efforts for protecting our ecology largely require multi-pronged strategies informed through proven scientific solutions and practices where every small effort of a common citizen contributes in meaningful ways.”
Speaking at the second session that revolved around a carbon-neutral world through technological innovations, Mr Rakesh Pratap Yadav, State Head, Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL), Bihar elaborated that, “The efficient use of energy and increasingly adopting cleaner, greener and renewable solutions in every sphere of lives is key to ensure a carbon neutral future. Considering the damages created by fossil fuel economy and catastrophic loss unleashed by accumulation of carbon footprint in the atmosphere, there is an urgent need to embrace the sustainable energy transition approach in development activities, which can bring prosperity and holistic development in our state.”
The online campaign of CEED will further continue to enhance the public awareness through a range of creative activities informed through local and global knowledge and best practices for ensuring a sustainable world.