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New Delhi : Reiterating India’s commitment to sustainable development, Prime Minister  Narendra Modi on June 5, 2018, said that Indian experience shows that development can be environment-friendly and need not come at the cost of our green assets.

In his address at the Plenary Session of the global celebrations of World Environment Day 2018 here, the Prime Minister emphasised that plastic threatens to become a menace to humanity and is already having a deadly impact on our marine ecosystem and a lot of it is non-bio-degradable. “Marine litter especially micro-plastic is a major trans-boundary problem,” the Prime Minister said. He underlined that the choices that we make today will define our collective future. He added that the choices may not be easy, but through awareness, technology and a genuine global partnership, we can make the right choices, according to a PIB release.

The Prime Minister said that India is privileged to be the global host for the World Environment Day, 2018.  “We believe that the entire world is but one family – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,”PM Modi said adding that it is in this spirit of universal brotherhood that we are hosting this day this year.

“For us in India, respect for nature is an integral part of our value system. We treat nature and natural resources as sacred,” the PM affirmed. The Prime Minister observed that environmental degradation hurts the poor and vulnerable more than the other sections of the society and it is our duty to ensure that in our quest for material prosperity of some, the ecosystem services that environment provides to us is not compromised with.  “Let us all join together to beat plastic pollution and make this planet a better place to live, as we have only one planet,” PM Modi said.

In his address, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan reaffirmed India’s commitment to defeat plastic pollution.  He said that for long-term sustainable living, the global community needs to rethink its energy and resource consumption patterns.  The Environment Minister stressed that to beat plastic pollution, we need to completely rethink our approach towards designing, manufacturing and disposal of plastic products. He informed that plastic packaging accounts for around 50% of global plastic waste with much of it being single-use plastic.

Executive Director, UN Environment, Erik Solheim, expressed his gratitude to the people and Government of India for such an elaborate organization of the World Environment Day 2018, which is unprecedented. He shared his experience of rich valuable interactions with people during his visit to various parts of the country in last few days especially Taj Mahal, Agra. ‟In India, there are many initiatives against plastic waste and pollution going on like the one led by grassroot communities, government and local population, corporate sector and enthusiastic environmentalists amongst others, which are both a source inspiration and encouragement for the international community,” Solheim said.

The Prime Minister released a commemorative stamp, first-day cover and brochure on the theme of World Environment Day 2018 – “Beat Plastic Pollution”. Five publications were also released titled – “Plant Discoveries 2017” published by Botanical Survey of India, three publications by MoEFCC on “Compendium of Traded Indian Medicinal Plants”, “Plastics in Life and Environment”,  ‟Animal Discoveries 2017” published by Zoological Survey of India, and “Beat Plastic Pollution: Good News from India.”

The CEOs of six corporate houses shared their efforts to partner with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and pledged their support to reduce single-use plastics as part of their operations.

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