World Environment Day an attempt to reach out to people: Official

New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) World Environment Day being hosted by India this year is not a token celebration, but an attempt to reach out to a large number of people, a top environment ministry official said today.

Union Environment secretary C K Mishra emphasised on the need for building a movement to connect people and getting them on a single platform in the run-up to World Environment Day celebrations.

The United Nations has entrusted India with the responsibility of hosting World Environment Day on June 5 with focus on finding alternative to plastic in different parts of the globe.

The celebrations will be held from June 1 to 5 in the national capital and across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to chair the plenary session on June 5, where all the state environment ministers will also be present.

"World Environment Day is an attempt is to reach out to a large number of people and is not merely a token celebration," Mishra said while emphasising on the need for building a movement to connect people and getting them on to a single platform.

Addressing stakeholders at an interactive session, jointly hosted by the Environment Ministry and the FICCI, he said the knowledge sessions being held as a part of WED celebrations, are an attempt to know what suggestions do people including experts, industry, NGOs and civil society have in mind.

Senior officers and officials of the Environment Ministry, FICCI and United Nations Environment attended the interactive session.

The ministry said the knowledge sessions will comprise, among other things, 11 thematic areas including air pollution in Indian cities present status and future action, local green enterprises and their role in greening the economy and Himalayan ecosystem.

It will include sustainable urbanisation resilient cities; CII and EU on plastic pollution, marine litter and integrated coastal zone management, the new plastic economy - eco-solutions for balancing economic and environmental sustainability and sustainable lifestyles towards enhancing resource efficiency and circular economy.

It will also include launch of TERI's consortium on waste proofing the future, corporate sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Extended Producer Responsibility, sustainable urban landscapes and smart cities, galvanising finance for India's development, Waste to Resource (W2R) and natural capital accounting or global nitrogen assessment.

These sessions will be held from June 1-4.

An exhibition by various institutions and organisations will be put up in the back lawns of Vigyan Bhawan from June 2-5.

In accordance with the theme of this year's celebrations, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan has urged people to give up single-use plastic and said the fight against plastic menace did not require big actions, but only minor behavioural changes and adopting 'Green Good Behaviour'.

Highlighting the menace posed by plastic, he had recently said that 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste is generated every day in the country, with 40 per cent of those being uncollected, while 60 million tonnes of solid waste is generated in one year. PTI TDS NSD NSD