Sustainability beyond prejudice

India recently celebrated its 74th Republic Day as a Nation - and there is so much that the country has accomplished singularly in the past year.

From the moon to the sun, India’s space program has traversed lunar and solar boundaries in means and budgets that seem effortless. The country has become a hub for investment and opportunities, a leader in Southern Asia and have been succeeding in ways and through means earned with dedication and farsightedness.

While behind India’s progress, Education and Ambition, both play a major part – the people often forget the people beyond this bracket.

As a personal belief, there is intense luck and destiny behind where we are born, who we are born to and in the circumstances we are born. 

In a world where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and an approximate 240 years is a projection to absolve poverty – it is not an inclusive world to live in.

We as people, also continually fail to realise that it is the people who might not be doing exceedingly well in life as per a social standards are the real pillars of society.

Basic functions of life are hampered without security guards, cab drivers, delivery partners, small-shopkeepers, milkmen, newspaper delivery person or postman and we are progressively become lesser inclusive as we grow, and go.

Indian systems aren’t really equipped to be bias-free, prejudice-free and adept at making the world stronger for the vulnerable. But a lot of things are much beyond our usual understanding. I have had climate-action discussions with a rickshaw-wallah in Mumbai, his observations though the person not being exactly privileged or education, his solutions to the climate crises lied in Education and Conversation.

He told me about how he had experienced severe effects of climate change. How he followed a few YouTube channels on the same and how he taught his daughter in small and big ways to quit plastic, firecrackers and allied materials.

We talk about careers in Sustainability and ESG so much, about environmental education for students, about how sustainability is human but what about sustainability for every individual. And turns out, as a country, we are working at the grassroots. Here are a few organizations which are:

• Balajee Sewa Sansthan (BSS India)

Founded in 2002, BSS works towards creating awareness regarding sanitation, hygiene apart from social and cultural equality among the underprivileged. IT has also been working towards promoting sustainable equipment for better usage of renewable resources. The NGO has also collaborated with firms like Philips to promote smoke-free and solar-powered lighting through the state of Uttarakhand.They also work actively towards afforestation while educating their members and volunteers about apt climate conditions suited for the kind of plantations and soil.

• ASSIST

ASSIST was established in 1985 with the idea that India can progress only if its villages are developed. Focussing on the e education, sanitation and skill development of the rural people of Andhra Pradesh, ASSIST also works on other matters such as environment, water scarcity and the comprehensive development of society. It is now recognized as one of the leading NGOs working for climate change in India. ASSIST focuses on the provision of clean and hygienic water for domestic and industrial use and also helps disadvantaged rural populations build and refurbish drinking water sources for domestic consumption and restore water bodies for agricultural purposes such as irrigation of wastelands. They organise several awareness programs to educate the rural population regarding the importance of saving water, sanitation, optimum usage and maintenance of water bodies to ensure sustainable development.

• Haritika

Haritika is based in and around Bundelkhand and helps develop natural resource management and effects of climate change for agriculture. They teach local farmers and communities more sustainable methods for agriculture through nature based solutions for combating deforestation amidst the arid terrain of the region.

• Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE)

TIDE, as is presided by its name, aims to fight climate change through technology and innovation. Their major focus is on creating a better environment in terms of sustainability through revolutionary technology. TIDE attempts to develop the lives of people by creating equitable opportunities for the disadvantaged. Their path-breaking work has also brought a significant drop in the usage of firewood, each year apart from lessening carbon dioxide emissions. Even noticed by the UNDP, TIDE’s flagship initiative VidyutRakshaka, offers electricity-saving recommendations to people in a society or area.Volunteers adopt a “neighbourhood watch” approach and observe the  electricity consumption pattern of the local population. Based on the observations, they offer recommendations to ensure sustained savings and sustainable consumption. 

They also conduct many awareness programs on climate change at various schools in Bengaluru and Chennai and take in students as environment ambassadors.

• Abhinav

Abhinav essentially works around Muzaffarnagar working towards better social sustainability and hygiene apart from education towards the effects of climate change. They also have skill-development sessions for handicapped rural people and senior citizens for better agricultural techniques.

Apart from these NGOs, UNESCO recommended a fascinating concept of ‘GREEN SCHOOLS’. It is essentially an incentive programme for institutions incorporating better climate change education. The schools are awarded under various categories, which try to keep with the guidelines and ensure that they inculcate environmental sensitivity at an early stage via various activities that teach us how to be environmentally friendly. Various clubs at the school level help in propagating and creating awareness about the environmental issues typical of that area. 

UNICEF India has been actively working in the area, essentially towards water security through their Youth4Water Campaign, it has been dedicated towards working on issues concerning water security, environment and climate change for advocates as well as policy makers. The Youth4Water programme promotes young people’s actions towards securing water for the future and combating climate change. Started in 2019 by UNICEF Odisha and Water Initiatives, the programme has engaged 5,000 young volunteers and aims to reach 50,000 youth by 2025. Indian state governments have also collaborated with UNICEF, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan and Telangana. The states have set their own targets regarding education and beneficiaries around climate change and over 25,000 children from vulnerable backgrounds have benefitted till date.

This article is not essentially around climate change adaptation for vulnerable communities because that is something all levels and systems are trying to do. It is essentially more about communication and collaboration within components of a society, or essentially civilians, and how we can be of help to one another.

An excerpt on Shiv Prakash, a farmer from Rajasthan and how he, with the help of his father, formed a village development committee and collaborated with a grassroots organisation, all because he observed the change in rainfall patterns and realised that only he can find a solution.

I was also extremely inspired, by Kalpana. Kalpana from Mumbai has been living in a flood prone settlement with her three children. She and her neighbours started a disaster management awareness group along with a community organisation. They formed first response team and started conducting capacity building sessions for people of the community and have even collaborated with the government and civic departments.

The thing with climate change is funny. It does not discriminate. There is no conspiracy theory. We are doomed, until we don’t realise that we are together in this. 

The Hindi saying, ‘Anekta me Ekta’ or ‘Unity in Diversity’ is the crux of sustainability.

Hence, diversity and inclusion are much more than an ESG metric, they are the basis of sustainability.

There is still not much that has been done in India or globally for awareness programmes for the underprivileged. Yes, we have CSR initiatives in local schools and surrounding communities, but we don’t take into consideration the population which lives in urban boundaries - they are often forgotten. And here, we can’t afford to.

Sustainability is about trying collectively, and that is the main movement to begin with.

illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.