Bhanvi Bansal
“ Today there is a need for all of us to come together and take Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) forward as a campaign. This can become a mass movement of environmental conscious Lifestyle”
PM Narendra Modi
Abstract
Environmental sustainability refers to ecological balance, and for nearly two thousand years, humans have been carbonizing and degrading our planet, which has contributed to global climate change that is making existence on this planet worrisome. To cope with this issue and achieve a sustainability mission, LiFE was introduced with its proactive global implementation that will bring substantial co-benefits in terms of reducing inequalities in energy consumption, mitigation of air pollution, cost savings, and improvements in well-being and health. Our country is witnessing various challenges, such as a rise in atmospheric CO2 that had never crossed 300 ppm for the last 800,000 years has reached 420 ppm and is still rising, Himalayan ice sheets are melting at a very high pace that is 10 times faster at the last 4 decades than in the last 7 centuries, global sea level is expected to rise 2-6 feet by 2100, and global economy will lose around 18% of GDP by 2050 if no climate action is taken. (Source: Swiss Re)
Keywords– sustainable, environment, emissions, climate change
Introduction
Mission LiFE( Lifestyle for Environment)is an India-led global mass movement that will focus on individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment. The focus of this mission is to democratically address the issue of climate change by adopting smaller measures and trying to curb the rural-urban divide, as policies that are formulated are usually urban-friendly. According to the data from National Family Health Survey, it is evident that the consumption of non-renewable sources such as electricity by urban households as compared to rural ones will directly impact the pollution and damage created to the environment in the form of harmful gases and turn global warming. In order to make the mission successful, the following mantra has been given by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narender Modi – “Mission LiFE can be successful only when it reaches every corner of the world. We have to remember this mantra—Prakriti Rakshati Rakshita—that is, those who protect nature, nature protects them. I believe we will build a better world by following Mission LiFE”.
Background
Having a population of more than 1.4 billion people, India accounts for nearly 18% of the global population(UN Data, 2023) but uses only 6% of the world’s primary energy consumption (IEA, 2021) that, which is expected to increase to about 9.8% understated policies by 2050. According to the Global Carbon Budget Report, published during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt estimates, in 2022, that China and the European Union (EU) are estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively, contrary to India’s emissions are expected to increase by 6 per cent. The major greenhouse
gases that are responsible for global warming are Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide. Global Warming is the main cause of climate change that, in turn, impacts people, ecosystems, and the environment. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), estimated that if one billion people of the total population of the world adopt an environment-friendly approach, then global carbon emissions would reduce by 20 per cent. Concerning this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign LiFE at COP26 in Glasgow on 1st November 2021 to make LiFE an international mass movement towards “mindful and deliberate utilization, instead of mindless and destructive consumption” to protect and preserve the environment.
Need
India has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and is home to nearly one-sixth of the population. Its growth momentum is integral to global development and is critical to meeting the world’s sustainable development goals. Climate change is one of several challenges confronting India’s development agenda. Several steps have been taken at the macro level to cope with environmental degradation and climate change, such as policy reforms, economic incentives, regulations, etc. Individual and community behaviour plays a crucial role in determining environmental and climate crises.
According to the UNDP report 2020, The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene’(https://www.undp.org/belarus/publications/next-frontier-human-development-and-anthropocene) states that “Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before. In the wake of COVID-19, record-breaking temperatures, and spiralling inequality, it is time to use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbon and consumption footprints are no longer hidden”. To address the environmental issues, several measures have been taken, such as Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar Campaign, the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ujjwala Scheme, Give-It-Up Campaign. Budget 2023-24 also focuses on green growth as it is one of the seven saptarishi or priorities that will guide India into Amrit Kaal.
“India is moving forward firmly for the panchamrit and net-zero carbon emission by 2070 to usher in green industrial and economic transition.”
Nirmala Sithraman
There has been a tremendous increase in the budget allocation for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change from Rs 2,478 crore last year to Rs 3,079.4 crore in 2023-24. A separate budget for the National Mission on Natural Farming has also been allocated, at Rs 459 crore. The budget for controlling pollution increased from a revised estimate of Rs 600 crore last year to Rs 756 crore in the latest budget, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has witnessed an increase of more than Rs 3,000 crore. It rose from a budget estimate of Rs 6,900 crore (and a revised estimate of Rs 7,033 crore) last year to Rs 10 222 crore in the Union Budget 2023-24, and the budget for solar energy central sector schemes has now increased from Rs 185 crore in the last fiscal to Rs 361 crore, as per the latest budget.
Ensuring these necessary conditions mission LiFE was planned with the objective of mobilizing at least one billion Indians and global citizens to look into the matter of preserving and protecting the environment by taking individual and collective action by 2027.
Implementation
In harmony with the above measures, a campaign on Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) was introduced that emphasizes the individual and collective duty of everyone to live a life that is in tune with Earth and does not destroy it. The active enthusiasts who live a sustainable lifestyle are recognized as Pro Planet People (3P’s) under LiFE. LiFE was also introduced as NDCs in August 2022, as
“India will put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation, including through a mass movement for LiFE–Lifestyle for Environment as a key to combating climate change”.
LiFE was introduced with the vision to create a measurable impact by mobilizing at least one billion Indians and other global citizens to take individual and collective action for protecting and conserving the environment in the period 2022-23 to 2027-28. India aims to make at least 80% of all villages and urban local bodies environmentally friendly in 2028 under the mission LiFE. Mission LiFE will be implemented in a phased manner-
- Change in Demand (Phase I): It will focus on inspiring people all over the world to take simple but effective environmental actions in their daily lives.
- Change in Supply (Phase II): It emphasizes bringing in changes in large-scale individual demand that are expected to gradually impact industries and markets to respond and alter supply and procurement as per the revised demands.
- Change in Policy (Phase III): It ensures the influence of the demand and supply dynamics of India and the world, on the other hand, the long-term vision of Mission LiFE is to activate changes in large-scale industrial and government policies that can support both sustainable consumption and production.
Mission LiFE will be executed by coordinating the actions of various ministries and departments. Complement a comprehensive and non-exhaustive list of 75 LiFE actions for individuals, communities, and institutions will be completed. A baseline survey will be conducted to gain insight into the baseline level of all LiFE action indicators, and success will be measured by identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the impact of LiFE actions. For easy access to the lifestyle campaign and various initiatives under it, a dashboard will be created that will be easily accessed by everyone.
Source: Niti Aayog
Impact
With the mission’s help, LiFE India aims to achieve a citizen-centric approach to a sustainable lifestyle as well as judicious consumption of resources, as India ranks in 5th place in terms of the production of renewable resources. India took various initiatives for a sustainable future as United Nations has declared 2023 as an International Millet year for the various benefits derived from them, such as health benefits as well as they are environment friendly with low water and input requirement. To reduce our dependence on imported fuel, India has decided to be self-reliant by shifting towards bio-fuel and other renewable energy resources and by creating awareness through the LiFE 21-Day pledge challenge that was launched to motivate Indians to take one simple environment-friendly action per day for 21 days as according to various research it is believed that it takes 21 days to completely adapt to a new habit that will end up in making citizens adopt environment-friendly methods.
India’s per capita carbon footprint is 60% lower than the global average because our lifestyles are based on traditional, sustainable methods.
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), under the MoEFCC and UNDP, jointly launched the “In Our Lifetime” campaign that will encourage youth between 18 to 23 years to become message-bearers of sustainable lifestyles. This campaign aimed to recognize youth from around the world who are involved in climate action initiatives that align with the concept of LiFE.
India witnesses a climb of two spots by bagging the eighth position out of 63 in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023. The vision of the government to correct ecological wrong to ecological correct has been reflected through the successful implementation of Project Cheetah in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on 18th February 2023.
Challenges
Analyzing current India’s energy consumption, it is estimated that energy demand will be sky-rocketing in the coming decades, so policies need to be formulated to reduce demand and develop sustainable alternatives. India’s strong energy efficiency program has been successful in lowering energy consumption across the board. As a result, India’s energy intensity for the economy as a whole and key sector is already lower than the G20 average. There has been constant danger of around 3 billion people being exposed to experience chronic water scarcity due to droughts at 2°C warming along with an estimation of around loss of up to 18% of GDP by 2050 without immediate action taken by the people and government.
Solution
The LiFE initiative could be strengthened by anchoring it in the G20’s current framing of energy transitions and initiating processes to gather experience and best practices of policies and programs that G20 members are already implementing. With the focus on LiFe India has sold 1 million units of electric vehicles and has set up a record annual growth rate of over 200%. Some simple steps can also contribute towards sustainable development for our economy as it is estimated that simply finishing the food on our plate can avoid 90 kgs of food waste per person in a year, recycling 1 ton of newspaper can avoid 25,000 liters of water wastage and 3,500 kg of the landfill that in nutshell have a significant impact on the environment.
India has achieved the status of the third largest producer of renewable energy with an average capacity addition of about 12 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power per year for the last five years.
What can be done to shift to a sustainable lifestyle?
Various low-emissions zones in cities should be introduced, aid should be given to consumers for investments in clean energy technologies such as efficient air conditioners, heat pumps, or solar PV panels. Various guidelines should be introduced and implemented, such as reducing the water temperature of domestic boilers or raising air conditioning temperatures, which can be achieved through awareness campaigns. Emphasis should be put upon behavioural insights and social science that can ensure the implementation of policies effectively. Environment-friendly infrastructure should be developed to facilitate the measures of the LiFE campaign. Such as the development of public transport infrastructure in urban areas, high-speed rail infrastructure, and the opening of more EV charging stations, etc. Transport contributes a major part to the GDP, so to achieve sustainable growth focus should be on improving fuel efficiency, the modal shift towards public and less polluting modes of transport as well as effective demand management. Moreover, there should be an enhancement of forest and vegetation cover with socioeconomic and ecological development. LiFE needs to be turned into a Global Mass Movement (Jan Andolan) by shifting from a throwaway economy, ‘take-make-use-dispose to a circular economy, which is the need of the hour.
References-
Lifestyle for Environment – LiFE. (2022, October 11). MyGov.in. https://www.mygov.in/life/
Climate Change in the Indian Mind, 2022. (n.d.). Climate Change in the Indian Mind, 2022 – Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-indian-mind-2022/Shri Bhupender Yadav says that under India’s G20 Presidency, the concept of ‘Green Growth’ being a priority area validates how sustainable development has been mainstreamed in the Indian policy-making process through a visionary approach. (n.d.)
Read more by the Author: Mission Karmayogi: Civil Servants Capacity Building Program
