First step towards saving the planet has to be ours

BMC workers clean the beach of tar balls. Pic/Anurag Ahire

The German ambassador to India recently had a press interaction on his two-day visit to the city. One of the standout statements of that meet was him saying that climate change needs Indians and India. Future government policies across nations may be looked through the green prism. He said the world needed India to save the planet with reference to climate change. This is also because every fifth person is an Indian.

In his statement lies the call to tackle climate change and find ecological balance. This though is not just by the government, though our policies and laws must factor this in. We can bring about a difference through people power.

This is about numbers in the country, driving the green movement. Citizen initiatives are already present but we need more people to get involved. Fighting the green, good fight should not be relegated to a few eco warriors who take up cudgels every time, in the see saw battle between development and saving our green, or even increasing them. With a wider base of energetic, aware people, the movement gets a real shot in the arm and is incredibly strengthened.

We have witnessed authorities pushing waste management, but we have also witnessed citizens not adhering to those laws. Let us be the change we wish to see in the world, and take onus too. Beach cleaning initiatives have caught on, but we need to focus on prevention too. Why have our water bodies become one huge dumping ground for garbage, and can anything be done to stop this?

Can we bring in just a few changes into our lives and join the green, stop climate change movement? What the diplomat was saying was simply that climate change is not just podium, politics and policies. In essence, it is people driven. Given the numbers in our country, people are our strength, let us leverage that to telling effect.