Global Foundation (GFAEHW) and Care Luit had jointly organized a multi-stakeholder dialogue aimed at inspiring collaborative climate action under the concept of Mission LiFE.
A group of highly regarded experts and practitioners had participated and discussed a number of cross-cutting issues of contemporary relevance. The topics of the dialogue were Environmental Crisis and Communication Challenges, NetZero Transition and Industry Interface, Sustainable Fashion – a need or a want, Green Skill-ing & Entrepreneurship, and lastly Importance of Music and Culture for the Environment.
We at Care Luit feel that the climate emergency has evolved as a common crisis for communities worldwide and has become even more profound in recent times. The impact is getting manifested across geographies, hitting societies and economies globally. We are almost racing against time to contain global temperature rise by 1.5° – 2°C. To ensure a sustainable future for everyone, it is essential to catalyse youth engagement and provide opportunities for them to become environmentally informed and active citizens, and be part of a long-term climate action movement.
India has an ambitious target of becoming NetZero in carbon emissions by 2070. As the current president of G20, it has been able to wield goodwill and build momentum across parties to commit to Green House Gas emission reduction combined with measures to protect our natural resources.
In view of the same, considering the increasing climate vulnerability of Assam and Northeast India, Global Foundation (GFAEHW) and Care Luit have jointly presented a multi-stakeholder dialogue aimed at inspiring collaborative climate action under the concept of Mission LiFE. The Honourable Prime Minister of India has launched the concept of Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) at the Climate Conference in Glasgow. The Mission calls to lead a sustainable lifestyle by making pro-planet choices in all aspects of our daily lives. The Mission is envisaged as an India-led global mass movement that nudges individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment by making environment friendly individual and organizational choices.
Assam and the neighbouring areas, a well-known biodiversity hotspot, urgently needs action to protect its unique environmental resources and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is expected that this deliberation by Care Luit & GFAEHW will help generate awareness, inspire environmentally informed decision-making, and ignite concrete actions and strategies for localized climate change adaptation.
Thematic Discussion Topics at the Care Luit & GFAEHW Event
The discussion and the speeches of the invited expert speakers were moderate by Dr. Pranab J Patar. The topics that were covered are as follows:
- Climate change impacts and its plausible strategies in respect of Agriculture and livelihood improvement in north-east India – Dr. Dipjyoti Rajkhowa
- Nature Climate Solutions – Swapan Mehra
- Climate Resilience & Urban Living – Anurag Rudra, ACS
- Environmental Crisis – Communication and Outreach Challenges – Dr. Arup Kumar Misra
- Sustainable Fashion – a need or want and Indigenous Practices –
- Sanghamitra Kalita (Econic Clothing)
- Rituraj Dewan (7 Weaves)
- Green Skilling & Entrepreneurship – Hemanta Borah
- Artist and the Environment – Joi Barua
Speaker Profiles – Care Luit & GFAEHW
Dr. Arup Kumar Misra: A passionate technocrat, Dr. Misra likes to do science communication in print and electronic media and teaches in many institutions. He shaped the Assam State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) to be one of the best in the country. He’s also the founder Secretary of North East Technical Education Society (NETES), which founded the NITS Mirza. He was the former Director of the Assam Science Technology & Environment Council (ASTEC) and Assam Energy Development Agency (AEDA). Dr. Misra is the Chairman of the Pollution Control Board, Assam.
Anurag Rudra: Anurag Rudra is a Civil Servant with strong interests in Policy, Research, Governance, and Administration centric issues, he is deeply involved with teaching, coaching, and mentoring students. He is involved in various nonprofits in education and academia and holds key positions including management and administration, capacity building of grassroots stakeholders, etc. A Harris School of Public Policy (University of Chicago) Fellow, Anurag is currently posted as the Officer on Special Duty at Guwahati Metropolitan Drinking Water and Sewerage Board.
Rituraj Dewan: Rituraj Dewan is the co-founder of 7Weaves, a community-based organization working on sustainable and ethical textiles. At 7Weaves, he leads business development, eco-system restoration, community connections, and synergies with all stakeholders. He has earlier worked with the pharmacology industry and designed market entry strategies for innovative healthcare products across various regions. He has over 17 years of experience working with Social Health Care companies across the world.
Sanghamitra Kalita: Sanghamitra Kalita is an assistant professor at the Department of Fashion Design at Guwahati Institute of Fashion Technology- Guwahati with 5 years of teaching experience in the field of fashion, textile design, and manufacturing. She also has a hands-on industry experience of 7 years and has worked with reputed national and international brands like Vero Moda, ONLY, and FBB (future group). She is also the co-founder and partner of a sustainable women-wear clothing brand “ECONIC Clothing LLP” working with hand loom fabrics and natural dyes. A deeply rooted creative person, Ms. Kalita is not only passionate about her profession but works towards the preservation, conservation, and protection of the environment by following sustainable practices. She promotes the same through her work in the field of design, manufacturing, and teaching.
Hemanta K. Borah: H.K. Borah is the Founder and Managing Partner at PICO – Pan IIM Consulting Organization. Since its inception in Jan 2022, PICO has raised over Rs 250 Cr for its portfolio startups. It launched its investment platform – PICO Investment Labs in August 2022 with over 120 EV startups and is on its way to raising an India-focused technology fund by Jan 2023. HK Borah was previously the Chief Investment Officer of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. In this stint, he was responsible for the development of the startup ecosystem in NE India, and has played a pivotal role in setting up 10 startup incubators. HK’s corporate career spans multiple industries and geographies with large companies like HP, HSBC Bank, Aditya Birla Group, and Accenture. HK is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and a Certified Lean Six Sigma MBB from ISI Bangalore.
Dr. Dipjyoti Rajkhowa: Dr. Rajkhowa has recently retired as Joint Director & Principal Scientist at ICAR. He specializes in Agronomy. His field of research is Natural resource Management, Climate Change, Weed Management, Water Management, Integrated Farming Systems, soil health management, etc. Dr. Rajkhowa published more than 139 Research articles in Journals of repute and is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Agronomy, Indian Society of Weed Science, and Indian Association of Hill Farming.
Swapan Mehra: Swapan Mehra is an environmental finance and climate policy expert with over 16 years of experience in developing climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. He is the Founder-CEO of Iora Ecological Solutions, one of India’s leading environmental advisory firms that enables climate action through integrated nature-based solutions. He is a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader (2020), a Donella Meadows Fellow at the Balaton Group, a LEAD India Fellow, and a FICCI Young Business Leader. Furthermore, he was a technical reviewer of UNEP’s Green Economy Initiatives, a major UN project demonstrating how REDD+ can support a green economy, and is a key jury member for the UNDP Equator Prize.
Dr. Pranab J Patar: Dr. Pranab J Patar is an award-winning environment & sustainability professional with nearly 25 years of experience working in the non-profit sector. Recipient of about a dozen prestigious awards, Dr Pranab has led and contributed to over 50 environmental projects at the national and regional level. He is currently the Chief Executive of Delhi-based environmental & social impact organization– Global Foundation for Advancement of Environment & Human Wellness. Dr Pranab speaks and writes regularly on a range of environmental topics at various forums globally and has trained over 10,000 educators, students, NGO professionals and corporate executives on key environmental issues. A member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corp – USA, Dr Pranab sits on a number of national and international bodies including government-appointed committees, IUCN Commissions and Specialist Groups. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and a Ph.D. in Management (Biodiversity & Tourism issues).
Joi Barua: Joi Barua is an Indian artist whose music encompasses Rock, Soul, Jazz, and World Music. His original music is inspired by folklore, mythology, and the history of North-East India. He works in the Indian movie industry as a music composer/singer and has been part of genre-defining and multiaward-winning films. He has lately been involved with the London Symphony Orchestra & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra-London in creating orchestral music around a story of artificial intelligence and future life. Recently Joi Barua has been involved with the Indian Army in developing anthems around critical war zones and wars of the last century. His forays into understanding Assamese ethnicity have taken him into the histories of Assam’s plural tribal identity in particular and N-E India in general. Joi Barua has also been an active voice in speaking up for the Rain Forests and the conservation of forest belts, and the indigenous identities of its citizens. As a passionate environmentalist, he has communicated with the youth on environmental conservation over the years. He is concerned about the depleting forest cover and as an artist, aims to drive collective action for forest restoration, environmental consciousness, and preserving the natural heritage.
