Translating Intent Into Action

Challenges posed by the interconnectedness of ecosystems call for all stakeholders to rally together for common good

Updated on: 1 October 2024 1:13 pm

Gaurav Jain, Executive Vice-President, Reckitt Photo: Tribhuvan Tiwari

Our motto is to own, care, create and realise a vision to protect, heal and nurture a cleaner and healthier world. One way of doing this for us is to make the access to the highest quality hygiene a right and not a privilege. It resonates with our larger vision of doing the right thing always. For us, it is the Consumers-First approach. We seek out new opportunities, invest in innovation, reach out proactively, strive for excellence and build shared success when it comes to all our stakeholders.

We are also agile. We keep on upping our act to take on newer challenges like climate change. It pains me to flag that the frequency and intensity of landslides, avalanches, flash floods and cloudbursts have increased due to climate change. In certain parts of the world, even wildlife is getting culled due to changes in rainfall pattern and extinction of flora and fauna. It is climate change catching us unarmed and unaware.

In our own small way, we at Reckitt have taken a lead and set up model climate resilient schools to build a cohort of future leaders who are climate and biodiversity literate. It is with the belief that awareness and knowledge can help people to deal with the local impacts of climate change.

Students outside Dettol Climate Resilient School in Uttarakhand

We have also announced 1,300 hygiene and climate scholarships for students in Uttarakhand. I am looking forward to meet all the winners of different age groups from various parts of the state. I believe it is important to start right at a young age at the grassroots level for a country like India.

Considering the interconnectedness of the world, we also realise that zoonotic diseases and other diseases are not just an epidemic but can take the form of a pandemic and research has shown that climate change too plays a role in it. Newer diseases are also coming into existence. Since India is a densely populated country, the health infrastructure gets overburdened, compromising our coping mechanism and well-being of people. We need to take a holistic approach.

We hope our pioneering initiatives prompt other stakeholders, particularly corporates and civil society, to come together and co-invest in the fight against climate change and for the benefit of the planet earth

The global traction of the concept of One Health is a testimony to the interconnectedness of ecosystems—health of people, animals and the environment. This makes me think that it is an apt time to study the relationship between health, hygiene and climate, and I am happy to inform that the iconic Season 11 of Banega Swasth India on NDTV will be launched soon and it will seek to advance the concept of One Health.

We hope our pioneering initiatives prompt other stakeholders, particularly corporates and civil society, to come together and co-invest in the fight against climate change and for the benefit of the planet earth. Partnerships are the way forward.

We ourselves partner with governments, corporates and NGOs. I would also like to take this opportunity to pay my gratitude to the Government of Uttarakhand, especially Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, for his continued support and encouragement. His message to the readers in this edition is a testimony of his appreciation of our work. It is also inspiring to follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Mission Lifestyle for Environment.

I am also grateful to the Government of India, particularly the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. We are also fortunate to have valuable partners like AIIMS Rishikesh, Plan International (India Chapter), WWF and media houses like the Outlook Group to provide support and facilitate our work and vision.

The ecosystem of purpose created along with our partners is an embodiment of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), including the elements of life like air and water. We believe in harnessing the power of partnerships for the larger good and spreading this message.