"I earnestly appeal to you to include climate education as a compulsory section." Aditya Mukarji is a 17-year-old climate activist. Watch his message to Prime Minister Modi.
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00:00Dear Prime Minister, Namaste. My name is Aditya Mukherjee. I'm a 17 year old student from Gurugram, India
00:07And I'm taking small steps to protect my environment for a sustainable planet.
00:13I would like to start by congratulating you on your pro-earth stand with the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,
00:20India surpassing the Paris Climate Accord goals and your 15th August 2019 speech against single-use plastics.
00:29It is commendable that India will meet the carbon emission goals of the Paris Accord.
00:35Sir, I would like to draw your attention to the growing problems of open disposal of waste,
00:41excessive use of single-use plastics,
00:44deforestation, air and water pollution.
00:47We can overcome these problems easily
00:50under the leadership of a bold Prime Minister like yourself.
00:54The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan that you started in
00:582014 has been successful as it has helped make people aware of
01:03sanitation and has greatly reduced the problem of open defecation.
01:08Similarly, we need programs to tackle other such problems.
01:13One solution is that under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the government
01:17imposes heavy fines to dissuade open disposal of waste
01:22along with enforcement of proper waste management rules such as the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016.
01:30Since 2018, I have started a crusade against single-use plastics in the hospitality industry
01:37and I have been able to eliminate over 26 million plastic straws and few million other single-use plastic items.
01:45From personal experience, the solution I give is that there should be a combined public-government program
01:52which will include a ban on single-use plastics,
01:56people-awareness programs and promotion of the production of eco-friendly alternatives through MSMEs.
02:03The ban should be strictly enforced on the production and sale of single-use plastics
02:07along with the enforcement of extended producer responsibility to reduce plastic waste.
02:13Dear Sir, I earnestly appeal to you to include climate education in the National Education Policy 2020
02:21as a compulsory section in order to sensitize India's children to the problems of climate change
02:29and their solutions from India's perspective.
02:33This is to be done so as to ensure that they grow up to become citizens who are conscious of the environmental impact of their actions.
02:42Each child must be made to plant and nurture five native trees in their home or school localities
02:51under the purview of their schools for a minimum of five years as a compulsory requirement for a Class 10 Pass Certificate.
02:59Dear Prime Minister, we the youth of India look to you to try and help us protect our environment for a sustainable planet.