2 Ministers and 11 Parliamentary Secretaries and MLAs attend workshop on Sustainable Development Goals in New Delhi
30 January 2017, New
Delhi: The two-day Legislators’ workshop
on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commenced in New Delhi at the WWF
Secretariat on 30 January 2017. The workshop with the legislators’ is a part of
the on-going consultations with key stakeholders about attainingthe SDG agenda
in Sikkim through a legislative framework. The workshop began in the presence
of Minister of Environment& Forests, Shri TsheringWangdiLepcha and Minister
of Rural Management & Development Department Shri S.B.Subedi and sitting
Member of Parliament from Sikkim, Shri P.D.Rai.
Sustainable
Development Goals are a set of 17 goals adopted unanimously by 193 member
nations of the United Nations in September 2015. These include ending poverty
and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable,
combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.
The
United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in India, Mr. Yuri Afanasiev set the
tone for the day by emphasizing the role of India in the global negotiation of
the SDGs in 2015. The need for focusing on the interlinkages between SDGs and
domestically implementing these as per the local needs and challenges was
stressed upon. The UNRC also acknowledged the efforts of Government and
citizens of Sikkim in taking bold steps to make Sikkim the cleanest state, the
only organic state of India and first open defecation free state in India. He
also extended his office’s support to the Sikkim Government in its efforts to
strategize and meet the SDG targets.
Day
1 of the workshop was conducted by Dr. Mandira Kala from PRS Legislative
Research, Ravi Singh, CEO WWF India, Karma Bhutia, an entrepreneur from Sikkim
and ZeenatNiazi from Development Alternatives.
Shri
SB Subedi, Minister, underscored the SDG initiatives being undertaken by his
department. Shri Rai, MP, acknowledged the leadership of Chief Minister Pawan
Chamling in institutionalizing this effort through legislation especially after
receiving the Sustainability Leadership Award on 6th October 2016
during the World Sustainability Summit from President Pranab Mukherjee.
Day
2 of the workshop focused on the process of law making and was conducted by
AmitaKatragadda of leading law firm Cyril AmarchandMangaldas, Dr. Madhavan from
PRS Legislative Research and MoulikaArabhi from WWF-India.
The
legislators debated the priority areas for Sikkim and discussed challenges of
development. It was also appreciated that Sikkim is already on the path to
sustainability and we need to embed the goals of sustainable development in Sikkim’s
DNA. The Panchayati Raj institution of Sikkim is poised to take this agenda
forward and legislators pledged their support to increasing awareness in each
of their constituencies regarding the subject.
The
members also went on a field visit to the energy efficient campus of
Development Alternatives in New Delhi. They also discussed the major issue of
implementation of the new legislation to be and looked for ways to overcome the
same.
MP,
Rai in his concluding remarksexpressed his gratitude to all supporters and
partners in this just begun journey toward ensuring a legal framework for the
implementation of the SDGs in Sikkim and making it worthy of emulating in the
rest of the country.
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