Inclusive development central to sustainable development: Vice President

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said that inclusive development is central to sustainable development for which he stressed the need for "unparalleled collaboration among all nations."

Expressing his concern over the unprecedented scale of environmental degradation and its drastic consequences, Naidu called upon all nations to "collaborate and cooperate in an equally unparalleled manner to ensure sustainable development."

He said: "Inclusive development is central to sustainable development. It also encompasses sustainable agriculture, sustainable mobility solutions, sustainable urbanization, sustainable energy security and clean energy, sustainable waste management, sustainable efforts in wildlife conservation and sustainable green innovations."

Addressing the World Sustainable Development Summit 2019, organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), here, Naidu said that India's traditional practices reflected a sustainable lifestyle and the Vedic philosophy of India always emphasised the undeniable connection that human beings share with nature.

The Vice President said that every individual must contribute to sustainable development, whether by turning the ignition off at long traffic stops or by recycling and composting or by cycling to work in congested cities.

Emphasising the importance of judicious use of resources to save them for future generations, Naidu said that one must realise that we are not inheritors but merely trustees of this earth. "It is our prime responsibility to pass it on to posterity in its pristine glory," he said.

"If you promote righteousness, it will protect you and if you protect the nature, it will protect you and nourish, if we don't, we run the risk of perishing," he said. Naidu further said that the earth is our mother and humanity should collectively rise above our trivial differences of race, religion, and power, and act in unison to save her.

Pointing out that the immediate impact of climate change was felt by developing countries, because of higher dependence on climatic variables, Naidu said that everyone must join hands to minimise the impact of climate change.

The Vice President lauded the efforts of the government for initiating efforts to create an International Solar Alliance with France for promoting clean energy. He said that India was on the course to achieving 175 GW renewable energy target and 40 per cent of India's electricity generation is set to be from non-fossil fuels, by 2022.

Saying that working with farmers to increase awareness on climate change was crucial, he also stressed upon the need to move towards more efficient systems of irrigation with 'more crop per drop' as a mantra. "Greater thrust has to be placed on organic farming and on the use of natural means of pest control," he said.