Delhi : Actions for Restoring Environment (ARE) Conference, organized by Energy Swaraj Foundation in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education is one-of-its-kind conference started with a bang on 24th November 2022 at Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The inaugural ceremony saw Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director-General International Solar Alliance, Mr. Rajiv Kumar, Member Secretary, AICTE, Dr. Anjal Prakash, Research Director and Adjunct Associate Professor, Indian School of Business & Lead IPCC Author and Mr. Anurag Sharma, Director Onshore, ONGC. Prof. Chetan Singh Solanki opened the session with the relevance of the conference and setting the premises of it. He commented that in no scenario should the rate of problem be greater than the rate of solution.
While Mr. Atul Bagai, Country-Head India, UNEP joined the inauguration ceremony virtually, asserting even though the actions are taking place at some level, the individual action will matter the most while it comes to climate change mitigation. Dr. Anjal Prakash on the other hand gave insights on the current climate conditions, making the audiences understand the vulnerabilities that mankind is exposed to. Dr. Ajay Mathur spoke about how this basic question of asking ourselves that are we taking enough action will lead to self-realisation about how we are using the energy sources, making us more mindful of them.
It was amazing to see the intellectual minds coming together to pose the most basic, yet a complex question of the current times – ARE we taking enough actions. The inaugural session also saw the unveiling of the 200 Kgs, – two sacks of 100 kg each, pained with black color, to create awareness amongst the participants that every month we emit lot of carbon in atmosphere, which we are not aware of which is equivalent to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted per capita per month.
The conferences is divided into various sessions – each session representing one sector each – like academic, government, NGOs, spiritual organizations on climate action. The second session saw Dr. Satish agnihotri, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, talking about the people who have not achieved optimal growth should continue to grow, however, but those who have crossed the limit should be appropriately penalized.
Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog talking about the urgency on acting on climate change and further, the importance of youth to be actively involved in these efforts. This session also saw the unveiling of the Climate Clock for the first time in India. In order to bring sensitivity about climate change, the Energy Swaraj Foundation will prepare a DIY kit of climate clocks and encourage students across the country to assemble their own climate clock. Dr. Chintan announced that over 10000 climate clocks will be assembled across the Atal Tinkering Labs across the country on 24th January 2023.
The conference will continue until 25th November 2022 at the AICTE Campus with more compelling sessions and discussions. The conference has also put on display solution desks for climate mitigation and exhibition of innovative solutions. The Energy Swaraj Yatra bus, a solar powered bus wherein Prof Solanki lives for the term of 2020-2030 is also on display at the conference to exhibit the viability of solar solutions to fulfil our all energy needs.
