Dear participants in the Earth Youth Summit 2023 in Kyoto,
I wish you all a very good morning and Greetings of the day from ISWMAW, India. At the outset I must thank Prof. Misuzu Asari for inviting me to send my message to the participants of the Earth Youth Summit 2023 in Kyoto, Japan. It is very significant to note that nearly 100 high school students mainly from Japan, India, Indonesia, China, Thailand, and Colombia with 26 mentors are attending the programe to understand the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)s related social issues and their solutions.
It is very important to note that we must preserve the natural resources around us which have been extracted enormously at an increasing rate causing harm and unsustainability to the environment. Water wastages becomes practices in many cities and villages while in in the arid regions in many countries one has to travel 5 to 10 kilometres to collect the drinking water in the summer. one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Still, two billion people live without safely managed drinking water services, including 1.2 billion people lacking even a basic level of service, in 2020. At a faster rate water is becoming a scarcely available resource. In materials consumption, at the end of the intended use of the life cycle of a product, practices exist to throw away to the dumping ground or littering in water bodies and marine environment following the traditional epcd2 (extract-produce-consume-dispose-deplete) concept on linear economy (Circular Economy: Global Persopective, S. A. Ghosh, Springer Nature, 2020). Waste management and change of habit will help in reducing the waste and utilising it as resource as a secondary raw material for a different process. By this the rate of consumption of materials can be reduced and controlled. Food wastage should be considered as a Sin while 828 million of people affected by hunger globally as in 2021. Reduction & control of food waste are most important issue. We must always follow the 3R (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) and Circular Economy concepts to address the SDGS.
You, the would-be leaders of new generation must understand clearly and take the responsibility of protecting our Mother Earth by controlling the use of all types of resources, namely, Water, food and energy, which form a nexus at the heart of sustainable development. Be innovative to get solution and implement the targets within the goals. I am sure the mentors will help you in reaching your targets. You must make your friends, parents and neighbours aware of the SDGs and related issues to make the environment sustainable and liveable for you all.
Wish you all the best.
