New Delhi: Even as other experts asserted the need to break silos and work in collaboration across borders, ministries, departments and sectors to mainstream sustainability, a top scientist on Friday said though industrial development played a part in accelerating climate change, the solution to the problem also lies in science.
“Technology driven industrial development led to climate change. It is going to be Science and Technology (S&T) led coping strategy and clean technology that will help address climate change. The new S&T policy will focus on creating the STI ecosystem that meets the challenges of SDG goals and aligns with national priorities,” Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Advisor, Department of Science and Technology, said.
Gupta was speaking during the virtual curtain-raiser to the 22nd edition of the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2023) – the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to be held on the theme of ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Development and Climate Resilience for Collective Action’ – held ahead of the World Environment Day on June 5.
Prior to Gupta, delivering the keynote address, Ovais Sarmad, deputy executive secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said: “We have not inherited the environment from the previous generation, but borrowed it from the future generation. We have a huge moral and ethical responsibility to protect that. We have to keep the perspective of human development and the individual at the centre of it all. Unfortunately, sometimes the policies and discussions fail to do that.”
Pointing out that inclusive multilateralism is the only way forward to address climate change, recover from current conflicts and the crisis we are living through, Sarmad also added: “In both developed and developing countries, there is an increased importance towards mainstreaming the effects of climate change and addressing them in climate policies.”
S. Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Government of Bihar, gave an overview of how his state conceptualised and implemented the Green Budget while Sunil Nair, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India gave an overview of the central bank’s vision and policies for mainstreaming sustainable development and climate action.
Calling for the integration of sustainable development across sectors of climate policy, finance, science, technology and innovation, Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, said: “Perspectives from a variety of lenses and institutional vantage points become important when we talk about mainstreaming sustainable development.”
–IANS