Account of first familiarization visit to India by IORA members’ journalists
Part 3
At the invitation of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), a number of journalists and media personnel from member states of the Indian Rim Ocean Association (IORA) paid a one-week visit to India during November 11-18, 2017 as part of a familiarization program.
They were from Iran, Australia, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, the Union of Comoros, Mauritius, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Seychelles and Madagascar.
Established on March 7, 1997, IORA is a 21-member intergovernmental organization which seeks to expand regional economic cooperation and strengthen mutually beneficial collaboration through a consensus-based approach.
The vision for IORA originated in 1995 during a visit by the late South African president Nelson Mandela to India, where he said, “The natural urge of the facts of history and geography should broaden itself to include the concept of an Indian Ocean rim for socioeconomic cooperation.”
This sentiment and rationale underpinned the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in March 1995, and the creation of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (then known as the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation) two years later, in March 1997.
The Indian Ocean Rim defines a distinctive area in international politics consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. Home to nearly 2.7 billion people, in addition to Iran, other IORA member states are Australia, Bangladesh, Union of Comoros, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen.
The IORA region boasts nine percent of world GDP, 12 percent of global exports and 18 percent of global investment flows.
Tremendous TERI
course, India has lost a significant number of species and wildlife habitats.
“However, despite the huge pressure of population we maintain some 600 national parks and sanctuaries in India.”
He added that is the extent of the area which has been kept completely free of human interference, habitation and encroachment for the purpose of creating vast reserves and conserving wildlife.
“I would actually assert that next to Africa and, perhaps, parts of South America, India remains the most richly-endowed country in terms of wildlife and biodiversity.”
As mentioned in the first part of the report of this familiarization visit — published on December 25, 2017, in early November, New Delhi had become the most polluted city on earth, as air quality had reached epically bad proportions in the Indian capital.
Commenting on the major sources of New Delhi’s air pollution, Ghosh said in 2015, a study was conducted in the Indian capital for the Punjab, a state bordering Pakistan, whose results revealed that the burning of the rice’s paddy straw, or stubble, in the Indian state, which is an ecologically unsustainable region for growing the crop, is the primary cause of air pollution in this region at this time of the year.
He added as an outcome of disseminating this study, it became well-known the outcome of which was greater concentration on devising policies to address the problem of air pollution.
“Such solutions, however, are not easy to adopt as they involve using modern technologies, developing policies, particularly fiscal ones, and of course, getting the major stakeholders and farmers on board with the possible solutions.”
The point is that the attention of policymakers is now focused on what should be done about this problem, he stressed.
“I guess that if, three years from now, you come back to this region at this time of the year, you will see a marked reduction in New Delhi’s air pollution as it takes about three years for a policy to become effective on the ground. We try to harmonize environment and development.” vice versa. Therefore, it is important that while raising public awareness, the media relies on careful scientific responsible research and uses that information to elevate the level of public cognizance which is the most secure basis for governments to take the kind of strong policy measures that are needed to fulfill their responsibilities with respect to the Paris Agreement.”
Over the last two decades, TERI’S research has consistently supported the government of India in global climate policy negotiations. TERI is among the few institutions in India with climate modelling capability to forecast climate risks at regional scales.
The institute’s program on modelling and economic analysis helps policymakers to understand future scenarios across resources and sectors, and prioritize policy options for low-carbon based green growth.
Recognizing the youth as an important constituency, TERI has reached out to nearly 25,000 schools and 10,000 colleges in India, through various program on environmental sustainability. In the sphere of higher education, TERI University has conferred postgraduate degrees on more than 1,300 students in various disciplines of sustainable development.
Every year since 2001, TERI has been convening one of the largest international summits – the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, now elevated to the World Sustainable Development Summit — to provide a common platform to leading thinkers of the world to share and reiterate key messages on sustainable development.
TERI is headquartered in New Delhi, with regional centers in Bengaluru, Guwahati, Mumbai, Panaji (Goa), and Nainital (Uttarakhand).
Beyond India, TERI has also actively promoted South-south Cooperation. It has implemented various projects in countries of Latin America, South Asia, South East Asia, and small island states.
Following the meeting with TERI experts and distinguished fellows, the media team was taken to visit the institute’s campus, which was full of beautiful diverse plants and trees with different uses, and biology laboratories as well as equipment.
Prior to entering the laboratories, we were requested to put on surgical masks and take an air showers to minimize the likeliness of us contaminating the labs’ environment.
TERI’S labs are very well equipped with the latest equipment. One of the TERI scientists showed us around and provided us with the information we needed about the labs, the equipment and their functions.
Boarding for Bangalore