Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Addresses SMDS-XI

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav is attending the inaugural session of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-XI, (SMDS-XI) being held at Leh, Ladakh from 10-12 October, 2022. The theme this year is ‘Harnessing tourism for sustainable mountain development’. The idea is to negate the negative impact of tourism while promoting socio-economic prosperity.

In his address, he highlighted the establishment of G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment  and its one Regional Centre at Leh, under MOEFCC. In his address, he emphasised that unique landscapes of the country like the Himalayas, Western Ghats and Thar desert need special attention from the scientific community. The capacity building of youth was another important aspect that was mentioned while promoting the importance of culture and environment, while developing scientific temperament among them.

R&D organisations under MOEF&CC like GBPNIHE, ZSI, BSI, WII have been conducting research on various pertinent issues like plant genetics for rapid breeding, digitization of Indian flora and fauna and reintroduction of Cheetahs in India for correcting ecological wrong to ecological right. Government has schemes like Skill India and various portals like National Career Service Portal, e-Shram Portal, Udyami and ASEEM portals etc., which are promoting financial literacy and integrated capacity building even for remote areas of the country. National Career Service Portal already has 1 crore applicants with 10 lakh employers which provided 4.28 lakh employment opportunity, largest so far.   This portal is being further upgraded. Yadav stressed that Ease of living is as important as Ease of doing business and MoEF&CC is working on this. 

He emphasised that tourism should be expanded for various aspects keeping in mind environmental fragility, sports, mountaineering, cycling, peace etc. The recent World Forest Conference in US passed a declaration that forests are not only for enjoyment but are an important source of peace.  Himalayan forests are promoting peace for centuries. Tourism in the Himalayas should be promoted for nature seekers, pilgrims, and spiritual seekers. The involvement of local communities in the tourism is most important for integrating such initiatives. 

The responsibility of local tourist guides if deliberated in the summits shall have long-lasting impact. He announced that MoEF&CC has disposed of all Wildlife related proposals and applications submitted on the Parivesh portal to expedite the development journey of Ladakh. The Parivesh portal is further being redesigned to integrate all environmental clearances in a centralized manner. 

The minister also stressed that solar power is a big source of energy, and India has started International Solar Alliance which now has 106 members globally. In Glasgow, Prime Minister highlighted the concept of 'One sun, One world, One grid' which was praised by the international community. India with the United Kingdom had formed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) on climate change to address the issue of loss and damages due to climate change.

The Minister also informed that the work on connecting remote landscapes by building tunnels like Atal Tunnel and the ongoing Zoji La Tunnel will reduce carbon emissions in the mountain environment. He suggested that the youth should follow the formula of LiFE in true spirit to ensure a sustainable future for our country. He expressed confidence about achieving Prime Minister’s vision for “Carbon Neutral Ladakh”. “When every individual thinks of national good, when every nation thinks of global good, that is when sustainable development will become a reality”, the Union Minister quoted the PM in his concluding remarks.