New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General, H.E. Mr Antonio Guterres and subsequently launched Mission LiFE at the Statue of Unity, Ekta Nagar, Kevadia, Gujarat.
The Prime Minister and the UN Secretary-General also paid floral tributes at the Statue of Unity.
The Prime Minister expressed delight at the support that has been showered upon India for taking up the Mission LiFE initiative and thanked the heads of all nations for sending in their congratulatory messages on this gracious occasion.
Highlighting the importance of unity in the fight against climate change, Modi said that the launch of Mission LiFE is taking place before the Statue of Unity, a colossal statue of the pride of India, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
“The world’s largest statue will be a source of inspiration in achieving the set targets”, he said.
“When the standards are exceptional, the records are huge”, the Prime Minister remarked. Highlighting the significance of the launch taking place in Gujarat, the Prime Minister informed that Gujarat was the first state in the country to initiate steps in the direction of renewable energy and climate protection. Be it installing solar panels on canals or initiating water conservation projects for the drought-affected areas of the state, Gujarat has always come forward as a leader and a trendsetter.
The Prime Minister pointed towards the prevailing notion that climate change is an issue only related to policy that leads to a thought process that leaves this all-important issue only to the government or international organisations. He said that people are experiencing the effects of climate change in their surroundings, and in the last few decades unexpected calamities were witnessed. This is making it amply clear that Climate change goes beyond only policy-making and people themselves are finding that they should contribute as an individual, families and as communities to the environment.
Noting that Gujarat is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister said “He was one of those thinkers who long ago understood the importance of environmental protection and living life in harmony with nature. He developed the concept of trusteeship. Mission LiFE makes us all trustees of the environment. A trustee is someone who does not allow indiscriminate use of resources. A trustee works as a nurturer and not as an exploiter”
The Prime Minister elaborated that Mission LiFE emboldens the spirit of the P3 model i.e. Pro Planet People. Mission Life, unites the people of the earth as pro planet people, uniting them all in their thoughts. It functions on the basic principles of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet’. The Prime Minister remarked that the way to the future can only be paved by learning from the mistakes of the past. He recalled that India has had a tradition of worshipping nature for thousands of years. The Vedas precisely mention the importance of elements of nature like water, earth, land, fire and water. The Prime Minister quoted the Atharvaveda and recited, “‘Mata Bhumiah Putroham Prithivyah’ that is, the earth is our mother and we are her children.”
Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and UN Secretary-General, H.E. Mr Antonio Guterres were those present on the occasion among others.
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