Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Saturday said climate change is now “hitting us in everyday life” from different angles.

“Climate is now hitting us from various different angles, hitting us in everyday life,” Sitharaman said during a panel discussion at a World Bank-organised event on “Making it Personal: How Behavioral Change Can Tackle Climate Change”.

The Union Finance Minister on being asked how India implements the LiFE agenda, said, through “repeated persuasion, repeated speaking about and speaking about issues which you think are commonplace, but repeated speaking by people who hold positions, by people who are responsible, by people who can really catch eyeballs.”

“That’s where and that is why I think most advertising campaigns for very mundane things catch hold of top icons to support the idea,” Sitharaman said.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative aims to encourage the adoption of sustainable lifestyles in India and internationally to tackle the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change.

LiFE initiative plans to leverage the strength of social networks to influence social norms surrounding climate. It plans to create and nurture a global network of individuals, namely ‘Pro-Planet People’ (P3), who will have a shared commitment to adopt and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles.

The Finance Minister said: “You need to have more people talking about it, more influential people talking about it.”

Sitharaman on Friday also spoke at length on DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure), underlining how India, during the last couple of years, has seen its contribution to targeted quick, efficient and inclusive service delivery through innovative methods.

Speaking as a Keynote Speaker at “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure – Stacking Up the Benefits”, organised by IMF on how public and private sectors can work together on DPI in Washington, Sitharaman said that because of the numerous macroeconomic and pandemic-related difficulties in the present times, examples accessible demonstrate the DPI’s potential to benefit both the public and private sectors.

“As we are dealing with multiple challenges in macroeconomics and pandemic-related ones. available instances show that the potential of DPI to contribute to both public and private sectors is both enormous and can transform the development trajectory of the country even under difficult times. In India, during the last couple of years, we have seen how DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) can contribute to targeted quick and efficient and inclusive service delivery through innovative methods,” the Union Finance Minister said during her keynote address.