Prof. Dr. Father Paul Fernandes, S.J., Vice Chancellor, XUB expressed his concerns about humanity as a whole terming it as ‘fragile’ and pressing on the need of protection of all God creatures. He added that all the global issues we face today are interrelated and at the centre lies the core cause: Human selfishness. Mr. Anup Sahay, Chief, Corporate strategy and planning, Tata steel talked about how energy is a symbol of power in this materialistic world and is a major source of conflict between people as well as countries. “People may win against people, countries may win against countries, but Earth always loses” he added. However, there is hope now as investment in renewable resources was more when compared to oil and gas in the year 2015.
There is also an increase in solar energy usage and reduction in cost of renewable energy. Mr. P S Narayan, VP and Head, Sustainability, Wipro also agreed that energy is seen as a proxy of power quoting the example of US and Iraq. However, still 20% of the world population doesn’t have electricity and just 4 countries use over 50% of the power. Ms. Yumibae, Chief, Field officer, UNICEF, Bhubaneswar added that children, being the future leaders, must be the front and centre of development.
All the dignitaries agreed that governance at all levels is required to ensure sustainability and for changing the mind set of people towards renewable energy. This mind set can be changed with constant focus on sustainable management and transformation of educational practices from the grass root level. The future in the 21st century is dependent on our ability to transform our practices and on a smooth transition towards renewable sources of energy. Global governance is the framework required for peace, prosperity and fostering cultural understanding and tolerance. All the esteemed speakers commended XUB for being a pioneer in a move towards sustainability management however, we need many more “XUB’s” to make a difference and sensitize the world towards the need of sustainable development.
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