Sustainability development is conserving natural resources in the present to fulfil people’s needs without compromising the needs of future generations. It is crucial to protect our planet and win battles against overpopulation, climate change, pollution, global warming, etc. Pandemic has been a major obstacle to sustainable development goals. However, leaders like Pradip Burman are making valuable efforts to curb such issues.
Mr Pradip Burman, chairman of Dabur, Nepal and a board member of Aviva Life Insurance, is an influential leader, sworn environmentalist and a crusader of sustainability. He has been the director of FMCG major Dabur India, his ancestral company, and founded Ayurvet, producing herbal products for animals. Being around social leaders and philanthropists all his life, he has imbibed a keen interest in environmental protection and is currently working for various social causes.
According to Mr Pradip Burman, climate change and air pollution are the most significant sustainability challenges today. Due to rising levels of air pollution, the children are suffering from diseases like asthma and other lung ailments. Air pollution is also the main reason behind global warming and climate change. It is, however, linked to population because the more the population, the greater will be the amount of gases. It is a step-down effect that carries on and on.
The population is at an all-time high, and due to advancement in the medical field, the life expectancy rate has improved. In a way, it’s good news, but it does put pressure on the planet. Stating which he provides two solutions to this problem, i.e. recycling and using renewable energy. He says, “We have to recycle everything, and we have to use 100% resources that come from renewable energy.”
He explains that if we continue to live like this, the next generation will not survive. Today people are lacking clean drinking water and are breathless due to highly polluted air. Plus, the energy consumed is from non-renewable sources, and there are no proper waste management techniques. Soon there will be no energy to use, and a pyre of waste will be gathered around us. The only solution to such problems is adopting sustainable practices in our lifestyle.
In 2015, 119 countries came together to sign The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty to address climate change and its impacts. Each country has been given a sustainable development goal in which India has been given a target of 227 gigawatts of renewable energy. It was divided into solar energy, wind energy, and biomass energy. According to Mr Pradip Burman, India is well on its way to reaching that target.
He further says that he has dedicated the rest of his life to revive the planet in all the ways he could. So in 2015, he founded Mobius Foundation, Best NGO in Delhi, focus solely on conserving the ecosystem through spreading awareness about adopting sustainable practices. The 3 main initiatives by Mobius Foundation are:
- Project Akar: Overpopulation impacts practically sustainability and every other aspect of the planet. Therefore it works for stabilising the population through spreading awareness about family planning and the advantages of using contraceptives.
2. World Environment School (WESc): Spread over 100 acres of hills in Coorg, WESc is a green school built upon sustainability guidelines. Here, students will gain practical experience in sustainability issues.
3. Gyan Anant Vidyalay (GAV): It is a school set up in backward rural areas of India to bring awareness about the sustainable environment and the consequences of resource extinction in the next generation.
Sustainable development is not a one-man show, but we as a nation should come forward and successfully implement it. Explaining this, Mr Pradip Burman says, “We are at war to save this planet, and we have lost a battle. We must win this war by acting in unison for the survival of future generations.”
