Shillong, Oct 4: Following multiple initiatives of environmental conservation and sustainable growth in Meghalaya, Forest & Environment Minister James P.K. Sangma has been invited as a keynote speaker to represent the state in the international event of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Sustainability Summit 2021, which is being held from October 4-6, 2021.
Sangma will address a delegation including Former United States Ambassador Nikki Haley, Tata Group Emeritus Chairman Ratan Tata, Tech Mahindra’s Chief Executive CP Gurnani, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari, investors from Europe, Asia, and Americas.
The two-and-a-half-day event will also have the presence of distinguished Indian and world leaders from governments, industry, regulatory bodies, academia, foundations, and investment firms.
Sangma will speak on the theme of this year’s summit — ‘Entrepreneurship Meets Sustainability’ — highlighting some of the key environmental issues of Meghalaya and how the Forest & Environment Department is taking initiatives to facilitate collaborations with indigenous communities and local/national change-makers to implement long-term solutions.
James gets national attention for restoration project of Lukha river
In the recent past, Sangma has emerged as a champion of the environment wherein his novel initiative for the restoration of the ‘blue coloured’ Lukha river, in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, has gained national appreciation.
Through the engagement of innovators, policymakers, and local communities, Sangma successfully initiated the process of phycoremediation – a process that uses algae for the removal of toxic contents from the water – which is expected to lead to the Lukha river showing significant improvements over time, with a reduction in toxicity.
Push for Ecotourism
Sangma has also pushed for Ecotourism in the state of Meghalaya, as a strategy for post-COVID recovery of the tourism sector. Sangma is currently advocating to restart the ailing engine of small and medium businesses on the lines of ecotourism, which were heavily intertwined with a commercial tourism model and faced a massive strike down due to the pandemic.
“While tourism is an important sector for our state, our environment, and our local businesses take a massive beating due to hyper-commercialization. We cannot sacrifice the environment for short-term gains. Ecotourism is therefore an opportunity to ensure that reopening tourism is not a mere commercial opportunity but more of an experiential one where people can seek meaning out of the entire process and carry it with them as messengers for others to understand,” Sangma said.
“We have to move towards a nature-first approach. Ecotourism will help urban consumers soak themselves into the rural landscape and help them to understand the importance of traditional and cultural conservation practices. We have to begin now as we cannot afford to compromise on the rights of our future generations,” he elucidated.
TiE summit to create awareness about opportunities in sustainability
Organizers of the TiE summit this year aim to create awareness about opportunities in sustainability whilst enabling entrepreneurship within the ecosystem. The summit, planned over three days, will present the opportunity for a deep exchange of thoughts and sharing of intellectual insights to encourage innovation, action, and solutions to build a sustainable future.
With the focus on bringing together global and diverse stakeholders together from the entrepreneur and investor communities, one of the key emphases of this year’s summit is also on working collectively towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
