INDIA-The Global Leader in Sustainability
PM Modi launched his 3 ambitious projects on 25th June 2015 (Read more…) and made a point that India is going to become a leader in Sustainability soon! It has hardly been a month and today USGBC announced the International Rankings of Top 10 Countries for LEED Green Building; and India features 3rd on the list.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings.
The top 10 list highlights countries outside of the US that are making significant strides in sustainable building design, construction and transformation, illustrating the ever-growing international demand for LEED green buildings.
“India’s dominant position in the green building movement is significant due to the country’s aggressive plans to expand access to electricity, it explosive economic growth projections and its unprecedented and rapid urbanization,” USGBC said in a release.
The announcement comes at a time of increased global focus on climate change mitigation in the lead up to the United Nation’s COP-21 climate negotiations this December.
LEED is poised to feature prominently as a eco-friendly solution for Indian business leaders and policymakers, and can be a powerful tool in efforts such as the 100 Smart Cities initiative, USGBC said.
“Given India’s regional and global significance, it is very encouraging to see the country successfully positioning itself as an international leader in the green building and sustainability movements at the same time that its prominence as a global leader in technology and the information economy is growing,” USGBC CEO and founding chair Rick Fedrizzi said.
“The international community cannot solve major challenges such as climate change and water scarcity without India’s full and enthusiastic participation.”
The 10 countries that made the list for 2015 are geographically and culturally diverse, representing seven of the world’s 20 largest single-nation economies by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (China, Germany, Brazil, India, Canada, South Korea and Turkey), as well as six of the top 11 emitters of greenhouse gases (China, India, Germany, South Korea, Canada and Brazil).
India has(d) many sustainable principles built into its lifestyle from the ancient times. But now, we are abusing our position, like many other countries that want to ‘develop’ quickly.