Economic growth and sustainability co-exist
By Saidul Khan, Oh! Meghalaya
NEW DELHI, OCT 6: Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines minister of state Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) truly works towards a sustainable future. Addressing the summit gathering in Delhi Goyal said, "I don't see any conflict between economic growth and sustainability. TERI has been working on setting standards for the private sector in the area of sustainable development".
Goyal felt there is no conflict between economic prudence and sustainable development and businesses today are realizing this. He told the gathering "Sustainability cannot be a department in any organisation and businesses should not look at sustainability as compliance, but as a self-regulatory mechanism and a desire to contribute."
Goyal said sustainability should not be small number of people trying to impose rules on a large section and must be ingrained in the organisation. The way forward for sustainability is self-governance and not enforcement by law or police and we have to design products that are moving towards sustainability," he added.
US representative on climate change Rachel Kyte said that energy is a problem common to all living beings on the planet; hence, solution for the same should be regime based. Renewable energy mix is a big part of the solution.
In 2016, 2.9 million people, mainly women, will damage their lungs to provide food to a household. It is a health and economic hazard as the opportunity cost for these women to earn a living is lost because of the time they spend in collecting firewood.
Kyte said felt green energy is needed to be competitive in a world that is shaped by climate change.
-From Our Correspondent