Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday launched Mission LiFE, a global ‘movement to safeguard our environment from the impact of climate change’.
On the second day of his Gujarat visit, Modi held a meeting with Guterres in Kevadiya. The Indian PM said Mission LiFE will strengthen the concept of a pro-people planet, adding it aims at following a three-pronged strategy for changing people’s collective approach towards sustainability.
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The launch comes ahead of next month’s mega UN climate meet in Egypt.
The logo and tagline for Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) were jointly launched by Modi and Guterres. They also spoke about an action plan, which is a list of ideas on lifestyle changes that can be taken up as climate-friendly behaviour.
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What is mission LiFE?
PM Narendra Modi said that the mantra of Mission LiFE is ‘Lifestyle For Environment’. He further added that it aims to connect the ‘powers of the people for the protection of this earth, and teaches them to utilise it in a better way.
The mission includes nudging individuals to practice simple yet effective environment-friendly actions in their daily lives (demand), enabling industries and markets to respond swiftly to the changing demand (supply), and to influence government and industrial policy to support both sustainable consumption and production (policy).
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It is based on the P3 model: Pro Planet People. It functions on the principle of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet’.
Modi said that India has had a tradition of worshipping nature for thousands of years. He referred to the Vedas, which mention the importance of elements of nature like water, earth, land, fire and water.
“‘Mata Bhumiah Putroham Prithivyah’ that is, the earth is our mother and we are her children,” the 72-year-old quoted the Atharvaveda. He also stressed on the concept of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.
“Mission LiFE inspires us to do all that can be done in our everyday life to protect the environment. Mission LiFE believes that the environment can be protected by making changes in our lifestyle”, the Prime Minister said.