Every year June 5 is celebrated as the World Environment Day (WED) globally to promote environmental protection and awareness and this year –the theme was ‘Biodiversity’ with the slogan ‘Time for Nature’. HCL Foundation, the CSR arm of HCL Technologies, organized a series of virtual workshops to mark the day. Through these virtual workshops and sessions, eminent environmentalists and conservationists shared their learnings through various sustainable activities with the aim to encourage individuals to live in harmony with nature.
There were three workshops and one discussion session planned for the day. The first workshop was held on story writing through comics to engage participants in capturing stories around the environment. The second workshop was on upcycling which enabled participants to change their approach towards the ever-growing waste and encouraged them to replace the usage of plastic bags in dustbins, by learning how to make bin liners with old newspaper followed by the third workshop which demonstrated how to build a bird nest from readily available resources at home. And to wrap up, in the evening, there was a discussion session with the Dr Rajendra Singh, the Waterman of India, which gave the audience valuable insights on his work towards environment and water conservation.
Ms Nidhi Pundhir, Director HCL Foundation, said on the occasion, “‘HCL Foundation is aimed at creating clean, green and healthy communities. On World Environment Day, we urge everyone to work towards conserving the environment at individual and institutional levels. Through our Environment vertical, we have significantly scaled up our ‘Green’ initiatives across the country and aim to do more in future, as part of our CSR work.’
Environmental conservation has always been a core focus of HCL Foundation’s CSR programs. Under Harit – The Green Spaces Initiative, HCL Foundation aims to combat climate change through environmental conservation and restoration. Through active participation and efforts in protecting the environment, 4.5 Ha of land has already been converted into an Urban Mini Forest in Noida. HCL Foundation further strengthened efforts to protect, restore and enhance diminishing green cover, biodiversity, water bodies and responding to climate change in a holistic manner. 1,03,284 trees were planted in schools, residential spaces and public spaces, and at the urban forest sites are known as Uday Upvan and 67 water bodies were also taken up for restoration and rejuvenation, that will result in increase in their water holding capacity to around 2mn m3.
The other achievements at the community level in FY 19-20 include the construction of 35 compost pits which helps in reducing 1,000 tons’ stubble burning: ~1,20,000 Kgs CO2 sequestration and emissions reduction annually. 5,046 animals have been treated for their betterment and four Government Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed to transform 35 ha of land through mass afforestation with support from NGO partners, local communities and HCL volunteers. HCL Foundation is committed towards sustainable development and advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the focus on SDG 15: Life on Land through its Uday – Harit initiatives and addressing SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals by partnering with NGOs and Government Agencies.
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