Katangulathur, Chengalpattu district. The Institute of Science and Technology in association with Green Terre Foundation hosted the U75: Net Zero University Campus Regional Workshop to map out actions for carbon neutrality.
The event aims to equip higher education institutions with the knowledge and tools needed to create carbon-neutral campuses. Sri Prakash Javadekar, Member of Parliament and former Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, HRD, I&B, Mentor-SSCN, was the chief guest on the occasion.
Dr. C. Muthamichelvan, Vice-Chancellor of SRMIST, in his welcome address, elaborated on the evils of extensive exploitation of nature and how climate change has affected the harmony in nature.
"SRMIST has set up a center of excellence named 'Centre for Environment, Sustainability Advisory and Climate Change (REACH)' to deal with numerous environmental issues plaguing humanity," he said.
He described that SRMIST has 4500+ publications related to UN SDGs and has been entrusted with valuable projects on lithium battery research and electric mobility by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Department of Science and Technology.
He also said that SRMIST is one of the leading members of the India-Norway Cooperation Project on "Capacity Building to Reduce Plastic and Chemical Pollution in India (INOPOL)".
Explaining the context and background perspective of the event, Dr. Founder Director of Green TERRE Foundation. Rajendra Shende said impact measurement is essential to understand how our actions to protect the Earth have made a difference. He suggested that the campuses should be considered as 'living laboratories' and all efforts should be digitized to reduce emissions and achieve net zero.
In an interactive session with the students, Shri Prakash Javadekar said, “Engaging colleges and universities in 'Carbon Neutral' is the best way to achieve our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a 'Net Zero Emission Nation' by 2070" He added, "Energy and water consumption on campus, waste Mapping management and greening, It helps companies to have a 5-year plan to become carbon neutral. Saving electricity and water, generating electricity and treating water, using energy, efficient electrical appliances, water and wastewater treatment and more green are the key elements of this action plan.
Dr. Erik Solheim, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Minister of the Environment of Norway, delivered a thought-provoking video address titled "Net Zero for the Global Youth."
The workshop featured interactive sessions and expert insights on open access data for net-zero campuses, accreditation criteria, technologies for net-zero campuses, digital tools for measuring net emissions, energy efficiency, renewable energy and green building case studies.
Dean of SRMIST (College of Engineering and Technology) Dr. T. V. Gopal, Dean (Research) of SRMIST, Prof. B. Napoleon and President (Research Center for Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change) Dr. Paromita Chakraborty also participated.
