ENV Day LinkedIn Article

Blue Skies, Clean Rivers,Crisp Air, Melodious Chirps: Creating a new normal.

This World Environment Day we are experiencing nature in forms which we considered impossible just three months back.We are witnessing blue skies, clean rivers,crisp air, melodious chirps of birds we never knew existed, in cities like Delhi!

In January 2020, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared this decade as the ‘Decade of Action’. At that time, none of us would have anticipated that nature would give us a loud wake-up call right at the beginning of the decade.

The last three months have changed the way we work, the way we live, the way we travel, and,most importantly,the way we pursue happiness. TheCovid19 crisis has forced us to identify and adapt to a different way of life.

We now need to chart our course for the ‘Decade of Action’. We now need to commit ourselves to creating a new normal. Creating this new normal would mean a deep change in ‘how we produce’ and ‘how we consume’.

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Producing ‘Better and with Less’

The making of products and services that have zero lifecycle impacts should be the new normal. All products and services ought to be water neutral, carbon neutral, with no toxicity, and must not lead to resource depletion. These goals have been considered aspirational for too long by the companies.

The companies that want to lead in this ‘Decade of Action’ must consider creating products and services that become enablers for change and lead to net positive lifecycle impacts. These products and services would enroll and inspire people, enable building of local communities and capacities, and most importantly leave space for the natural ecosystems to be.

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Consuming ‘Better and Wiser’

As individuals, the new normal requires us to become better and wiser in our consumption. We need to be considerate, buy less and better products and services that put no stress on nature. We need to be an active participant in making recycling a way of life. We need to pick up the learnings from the last three months and renew our work patterns, eating habits, travel, vacations, and find means to be happy which are beyond buying.

Today, more than ever before, we need to ask ourselves: What future do we want to create? What is really valuable to us? How do we inspire others and in turn be inspired ourselves?

Nature has shown us that change is possible. This ‘World Environment Day ’let’s commit ourselves to creating a new normal. Let’s make it possible. Karo Sambhav!

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