@ThinkTank · 2:10
Environmental Education and India: In Conversation with Padma Shri Award Winner Kartikeya Sarabhai
Towards this end, there is no one in this country who is a bigger authority and champion on environmental education. Winner. Winner. Kartikeya Sarabhai. Sarabi is a winner of the illustrious PADMASTER Award in 2012 for his efforts in environmental education. And you know, it's safe to say that he is one of the world's leading environmental educators. He's a dedicated community builder and you know, he's also an astute and well regarded industrialist
kartikeya sarabhai
@Kartikeya · 1:22
The ministry of environment was formed in 84. And it was in that same year that many of us who were working on education as a as a means of doing change really had argued that one of the pillars of environment, india strategy to to transform itself to a more sustainable society has to be education. And by education, we didn't only mean formal education, but we also meant public awareness. We meant communities learning about how to deal in environmental crisis, how to work towards a positive environment
@ThinkTank · 0:55
And as per the promise, India pledged to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 45% of GDP by 2030. How realistic has the government's pledges been on this front, sir, and taking into account the Paris agreement and the other areas that India has kind of negotiated with the UN on, how have we fared in our journey in combating climate change thus far?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
kartikeya sarabhai
@Kartikeya · 3:51
The Prime Minister has given very ambitious targets and I would say that these are ambitious but are achievable. And I think as a result of those targets, I think India is working hard to see that our development strategy actually goes on a different path from being imitative of the way in which the waste developed. Now, that does not mean that we will stop producing from coal, for instance, overnight. We really cannot afford that
@ThinkTank · 0:33
As an industrialist yourself, sir, what do you make of the government's push towards renewable energy and adopting sustainable modes of power generation? Because a lot of big companies are entering into the sphere and I think renewable energy has been a key initiative that a lot of companies have undertaken over the last five years. So are there any underlying dangers when massive corporations enter this field? And what do you make of this new push by the government?
kartikeya sarabhai
@Kartikeya · 1:31
But I would also add here that companies need not only to think in terms of production of energy, but also the consumption. And I think there's a tremendous in demand side management both in the corporate sector as well as household and urban sectors. So I think we should see this problem together, both the production of renewables but also the managing the demand side better
@ThinkTank · 1:06
Thanks for pointing out the various sides to the renewable energy push, sir. One question in terms of which is linked to closer collaboration in this sphere is the role of the United Nations. Now, as someone who's been a stakeholder in the UN and who's been awarded by the UN, and, you know, you've really witnessed it over the decades, it's a journey, not just the global south, but across the world
kartikeya sarabhai
@Kartikeya · 5:00
So if you see the last couple of years I think the United Nations has to some extent lost its ability to call to order things which are going wrong. A very simple example would be that everyone realizes that women's education and education as a whole does lead to tremendous benefits. But one of those major benefits is that it decreases population growth. Wherever you've had even within India
@ThinkTank · 0:44
And I'm so honored to have hosted you this evening on Swell. So it's been a privilege having this conversation, and I really hope to have you back here once again on the think tank's forecast. Until then, thank you again, sir, and have a wonderful evening