How did the Ministry of Ayush reduce 72,964 Kg CO2 equivalent emissions at the recently concluded WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit in Gujarat?
At a recent two-day WHO Traditional Global Medicine Summit, the Ministry of Ayush adopted eco-friendly methods to reduce carbon emissions and environmental pollution, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
How did the ministry reduce approximately 72,964 Kg carbon equivalent emission at the summit?
• Delegate’s badges were made of biodegradable and ready to be planted seed papers (marigolds)
• More than 50 thousand plastic bottles & 30,000 single use plastic cutleries were avoided
• The summit was completely paperless and had strong online presence, thereby reducing transport emission
• Media event and related documents available on the online platforms and App
• In the exhibition zone only reusable materials were used
• Bio-degradable cutlery, glass bottles were used over the entire duration
• Signages at the airport were mostly digital
• Some of the large outdoor hoardings were on fabric and not on flex as is common practice
• 90% of the exhibition space was constructed using wood with extensive use of real plants and reusable materials.
The impact:
According to a statement, the Ayush ministry feels that such initiatives will have a large impact in the long run and initiatives taken for reduction of carbon emissions can set precedence for other such large scale events.
In total, 6,046 streams of the Summit were streamed online (both live and Video/recordings). This significantly reduced the number of participants/travels onsite, reducing carbon emissions.
Background:
It must be noted that the two global events held in April 2022, i.e. ground breaking ceremony of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) and the 3-day Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) also saw same commitment of the Ministry.
During those twin events, use of more than 1 lakh plastic bottles, 15000 plastic tags and 50,000 plastic cutlery was avoided. Furthermore, it was estimated that the ministry succeeded in reducing 1,19,437.5 kg Co2 equivalent emission during those events.