Tamil Nadu has enormous opportunity to lead India and the world into a green future, said Erik Solheim, former executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Speaking at a discussion on the “Policies for Sustainable Growth of Tamil Nadu”, Mr. Solheim said Tamil Nadu was one of the most successful, developing economies anywhere in the world and its GDP was exceeding that of Ukraine even before the war.
Some of the key areas that Tamil Nadu could focus on were tree planting, circular economy, electric mobility and green agriculture. Green agriculture, where the usage of fertilizer was being reduced, was becoming successful in Andhra Pradesh, he said.
Mr. Solheim, who was peace mediator in the Sri Lanka civil war, said the crisis in Sri Lanka was a huge opportunity to bridge the differences between the Tamil population and the Sinhalese that was exacerbated by the rule of the Rajapaksas.
State Environment and Forests Secretary Supriya Sahu said the Tamil Nadu government had taken initiatives such as acting innovatively on climate change, acting fast and reducing bureaucratic delays.
