Speaking as chief guest at a national level webinar organized by NCUI, Suresh Prabhu former Union Minister called upon cooperatives to join hands with others in combating adverse impact of climate change.
Despite negative propaganda about cooperatives, the latter are the most credible institutions at the grass-roots levels, and they are the big vehicles to fight the threat of climate change, Prabhu said on the occasion.
Cooperatives for Climate Action’ is the theme of this year’s International Day of Cooperatives to address the SDG Goal 13 on ‘Climate Action’-one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations Transforming the World by 2030.
Pointing out the good work of IFFCO in environment protection and sustainable development, he said cooperatives must devise effective strategies to tackle the impact of climate change on their members. He said that all the cooperative organizations and cooperators should take a pledge to protect our planet.
Addressing the webinar as the key-note speaker, Dr US Awasthi, MD IFFCO said cooperative principles and values can be the best foundation to tackle climate change. Social accountability is also important in combating climate change, Awasthi said explaining how IFFCO has taken various steps like soil campaign, sustainable watershed management of IFFDC, adoption of nano-based technology fertilizers, use of bio-fertilizers, etc.
IFFCO MD said ”let all the cooperatives take a pledge to save our environment to leave a greener legacy for our future generation”. Emphasizing on the need to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, he said most affected by climate change are poor, so they must be well protected.
Mr Tomio Shichiri, FAO Country Director, said the Network for Development of Agricultural Cooperatives (NEDAC) plays an important role in protecting small farmers from the impact of climate change. He said FAO is committed to creating an appropriate legal environment for the development of agricultural cooperatives in the region.
Balu Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP said that climate change and Covid 19 affect every strata of society, and Asia-Pacific region is the largest disaster-prone region. Balu listed out a few important areas of work where cooperatives can step up their efforts in this direction like protecting cooperative identity, creating cooperative awareness, reducing carbon footprint, working towards greener environment through greater involvement of youth, creating a disaster management fund at Asia-Pacific region level, etc.
Dr Chandra Pal Singh, President, NCUI whose video was released on the occasion, pointed out the importance of International Cooperative Day celebrations, and the role the cooperatives can play in this regard. He called upon all cooperatives in India to work unitedly for saving the environment.
N Satya Naarayana, Chief Executive, NCUI speaking on the occasion said that cooperatives in general and agricultural cooperatives have been educating farmers about various climate mitigation and adaptation measures. He also shed light on the historical background of International Cooperative Day celebrations.