ENG- marzo21

Sunita Narain

Journalist and director of the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) in India.

INITIATIVES

She edits the fortnightly magazine Down To Earth, focused on environment and development policies.

WHO IS SHE?

Sunita is an Indian activist and environmentalist, an advocate of the green concept of sustainable development in policies.

BIO

COLLABORATIONS

Together with Agarwal she came up with a strategy for environmentally rational and participatory rural development, which was compiled in the book Towards Green Villages.

AWARDS

In 2005 received the Stockholm Water Prize, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize for Water.

India (1961-)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Successfully reduced pollution in Delhi (India’s capital) with the implementation of compressed natural gas (CNG) as the primary fuel.

SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

The management of water-related resources from a sustainable point of view and the qualification of industrial sectors in environmental terms, according to their positive or negative impact and empowerment.

Sunita Narain, Journalist, director of the Center for Science and Environment Here are some encouraging words from Sunita at the Indian National Television: At the age of 19, she began to devote herself deeply to the scientific field of ecology. In the early 1980s, she began working as a researcher with activist Anil Agarwal at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in India. She is now CSE's director general and has collaborated on editing the State of India's Environment report. One of her collaborations involved the decision to study, together with Agarwal, the issues related to forest management in her country and thus she succeeded in devising a strategy for environmentally rational and participatory rural development, which was included in the book Towards Green Villages, currently one of the benchmarks in the defense of local participatory democracy as the key to sustainable development. Another of her achievements has been the development of a management and financial support system for the Center for Science and Environment in order to enable it to function as an independent and reliable institution, shaping public opinion and advocating for change in the management of natural resources. The latest challenge that she has overcome has been the implementation of compressed natural gas (CNG) in Delhi to reduce pollution, as pollution and poverty in India are the two most worrying problems in the country. This change has led to a substantial reduction in air pollutants, becoming a model for the rest of the world. Currently, Narain's work to raise awareness and consensus on the need for an effective and equitable agreement on climate change is becoming increasingly more relevant.