November 27, 2010
School of Business, Amritapuri
Four second-year MBA students, Aravind T. U., Amrit Prakash, Suman Kumari Sharma and Sushant Kumar Behera were invited to present their paper titled National Mission for a Green India – A Peep Through at the International Conference on Environmental Science and Development – ICSED 2011 – in Mumbai.
“The National Mission for a Green India is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),” explained the student authors. “Currently India is the world’s 7th largest emitter of polluting gases that cause global warming. It needs to act fast.”
In May 2010, a draft national mission was released that aimed to cover 20 million hectares of land in India with new or restored forests within a decade. It was estimated that by 2020, this effort could result in a decline of upto 6.35% in India’s annual green house gas emissions.
The draft mission had invited comments from scholars all over the country, to which these Amrita students had responded. The work was done as part of their core course on Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
“We performed a PEST analysis on the mission; we used that framework to provide our comments,” the students shared.
PEST analysis or Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis incorporates a framework of macro-environmental factors; the tool is already used by managers for long-term strategic planning, taking environmental issues into consideration.
The student authors recommended the involvement of youth in implementing the mission.
“If college and school students are involved, they will gain greater awareness about the need to plant trees, cut down our emissions and give up wasteful ways of using energy,” they stated.
Identifying the trade-offs between technological and economic issues that could promote sustainability, the students recommended a nation-wide campaign to teach the younger generation about the importance of following eco-friendly practices.
“The government of India is paying a lot of attention to this project. This mission will play its role in ensuring the long-term survival of the human race and the other living species on the planet.”
“The road ahead is challenging but a better and green India is on the cards,” they concluded.
The Conference in Mumbai during January 7-8 will see paper presentations from 20 different countries. This Amrita paper was selected, among 150 others, by a review panel of international experts.
The conference will be hosted by IEEE and the Asia-Pacific Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering Society.
“We worked hard on the paper. We just did our best and left the rest to God. It was a great team effort. Moreover we had the support of our Chairperson and faculty members,” the students summed up.
We congratulate them and wish them all the best in their efforts to help bring about a green India.
