Royal nod for Indian activist during platinum jubilee
PRINCE WILLIAM HIGHLIGHTS SUNITA NARAIN’S ROLE DURING CONCERT
PRINCE WILLIAM paid tribute to four environmental visionaries, among them “Sunita Narain of India”, in his speech at the Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace last Saturday (4).
During the event which focused in part on green issues, William said: “I’m so proud that my grandfather and my father have been part of those efforts. And I’m in awe of people like the great Sir David Attenborough, who look at the beauty and power of our Earth and then work to celebrate and preserve it.” Then he added: “I think of Rachel Carson from America, Wangari Maathai from Kenya, Sunita Narain from India and so many others.”
Narain admitted she had no idea that William would pick her out for mention to a global audience.
Speaking from her home in Delhi, Narain, who has been with an organisation called the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) since 1982 and is currently its director general, said: “I was very surprised to see my name mentioned; but am honoured and indeed overwhelmed to be put in the company of the greats. But also clear that this is a recognition of our work on the imperative of environmental issues in our world and in particular climate justice to be the foundation of future action.”
She emphasised: “India’s key priority remains managing to balance environment and development, which is getting much more urgent and challenging as climate change impacts take a toll of people and their lives.” William’s commendation, she acknowledged, “will give us the courage to keep working”.
Narain, 61, is also director of the Society for Environmental Communications, and editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth. In 2016 she was named in Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People. She was injured in a road accident while cycling near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 20, 2013, a Sunday morning. Her bicycle was hit by a speeding car in the early hours of the day while she was going to Lodhi Gardens from her house in Green Park. The car driver did not stop and she was rushed to AIIMS by a passerby. She suffered facial wounds and orthopaedic injuries.
In 2005, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government. She has also received the World Water Prize for work on rainwater harvesting.
Narain appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2016 documentary Before The Flood and talked about the impact of climate change on the monsoon in India and how it affects farmers.
Of the others mentioned by the prince, Rachel Carson was an American biologist well known for her writings on environmental pollution and the natural history of the sea. Her 1962 book, Silent Spring, became one of the most influential works in the modern environmental movement and provided the impetus for tighter control of pesticides, including DDT. The book imagined a world without birds.
Kenya’s Wangari Muta Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, environmentalist and human rights activist, died in 2011 at the age of 71. A mother of three, she devoted her life to promoting the environment and democracy, and also frequently expressed concern about poverty in Africa.
During the concert, film footage and electronic wizardry allowed the façade of Buckingham Palace to be shown covered in a forest of greenery.
In his speech, William said: “While no one’s grandmother thanks them for talking about their age, my own grandmother has been alive for nearly a century. In that time, mankind has benefited from unimaginable technological developments and scientific breakthroughs.
“And although those breakthroughs have increased our awareness of the impact humans have on our world, our planet has become more fragile.”
He added that as the Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, “the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent.
“But like her, I am an optimist. Decades of making the case for taking better
care of our world has meant that environmental issues are now at the top of the global agenda. “More and more businesses and politicians are answering the call. And – perhaps most inspiringly – this cause is now being spearheaded by an amazing and united generation of young people across the world.”
Today’s youth “won’t accept the status quo, they won’t accept that change is too difficult to deliver,” he went on. “Never before have we had so much power to change the big things.
“In the past 70 years, mankind has put man on the moon; we have built the World Wide Web. And we have developed vaccines and solutions to some of the most life-threatening diseases on Earth.
“When humankind focuses its mind, anything is possible. Together, if we harness the very best of humankind, and restore our planet, we will protect it for our children, for our grandchildren and for future generations to come.
“They will be able to say – with pride at what’s been achieved – ‘What a Wonderful World’,” he concluded, with a reference to Louis Armstrong’s classic song.