Interview with Mr. Atul Bagai

Head | UN Environment Country Office, India

Mr. Atul Bagai joined UN Environment’s Ozone Action programme under the Montreal Protocol as the Regional Officer for South Asia in 2000 and served as Senior Regional Coordinator to build the capacity of subregional networks in Asia and enable them to meet the compliance targets under the Montreal Protocol. In that capacity, he spearheaded and led some innovative initiatives with the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund. For instance, he was instrumental in designing and developing synergies between Ozone Depleting Substance phase out and climate change in Maldives and Bhutan; green procurement policies in Mongolia considering phase-out of Ozone Depleting Substance as a legislation; a study of carbon credits and Ozone Depleting Substance destruction in Nepal; and, most recently, the hydro-chloro-fluoro-carbon phase-out plan for India that included energy efficiency and the cold chain.

Prior to joining UN Environment, Atul worked with the Government of India for 17 years in several senior positions such as Chief of Staff to two Ministers at the federal level (Ministry of Finance and Ministry of External Affairs) and to a Chief Minister at the provincial level. He also served as the Ozone Cell Director at the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Mr. Bagai, an Indian national, holds a Post-Graduate degree in History from the University of Delhi.

1. We are facing global health climate crises amidst the COVID-19 and lot more has been spoken on fighting the crisis and finding sustainable solutions. What actions are taken by UNEP India under your leadership to spearhead the realization of development goals?

COVID-19 has had a severe economic impact in terms of governments trying to manage the healthcrisis and contain the virus while trying to keep their economies functioning. As the world’s leading authority on environment, UNEP plays a key role in the achievement ofthe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We support this byensuring full integration of the environmental dimension in national policies and investments, providing, and sharing data and statistics on environmental indicators and assisting countries in monitoring the environment.

In response toCOVID-19, UNEP is facilitatingthe rapid sharing of best practices,new ideas, technology, and environmental innovations to promote sustainable COVID-19 economic recovery plans that take nature and the climate crisis into account.

We are also working on other long-term solutions. Biomedical waste and the surge of plastic use during the pandemic has slowed our progress on beating plastic pollution.UNEP India will commencea study on “Biomedical Waste and its Management in India”. This will help us understandbetter thesurge and distribution of this waste,as well as map existing capacity for its treatment in India. In addition, UNEP is in talks with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which is the nodal authority for waste management implementation in India, to provide technical assistance in line with best international practices to tackle COVID-19 biomedical waste effectively.

2. In the backdrop of UN@75, how is UNEP India fostering the realization of the mandate and scope of United Nations?

The High-level Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the UNrecognized the need to address global challenges through strengthened multilateralism. The declaration text lays out 12 commitments:  leave no one behind, protect the planet, promote peace, abide by international law, place women at the centre, build trust, improve digital cooperation, upgrade the United Nations, ensure sustainable financing, boost partnerships, work with youth, and, be prepared.

UNEP’s India office is working on various aspects of this mandate to support sustainable development priorities. We are supporting renewable energy through our District Energy and Cities initiative. We are helping public procurement go green by supporting market analysis and providing capacity building for government agencies. We are ensuring that the environment is probably economically valued through natural capital accounting and valuation of ecosystem services initiatives.We are supporting the fight against air pollution by assisting on city-level Air Action Plans. We are working to beat plastic pollution through our CounterMEASURE project in the Ganga and through our Tide Turner Plastic Challenge. And we are ensuring the links between environment and health are understood and implemented in policy by supporting development of a national strategy. This is a just a cross-section of a large scope of UNEP work. There is no shortage of environmental challenges.

3. ‘New Normal is a harsh reality in the post pandemic world’. To build our forward better with ‘No One Left Behind’, what measures are taken by UNEP especially for the poor, marginalized sections of the society?

COVID-19 is an unprecedented health and development crisis that jeopardizes India’s effortsto reduce poverty. The pandemic is overloading vulnerable health systems and overtaxing frontline health workers. At the same time, the efforts required to contain its spread have severely impacted lives and livelihoods and stalled economic activity. 

As the leading global voice on the environment, UNEP is working to ensure that the recovery from the pandemic is both sustainable and inclusive. We are providing support and technical assistance on COVID-19 issues of immediate concern, such as waste management, wastewater, and sanitation. But as our Executive Director Inger Andersen has said, “Our immediate priority is to prevent the spread of COVID-19.” Beyond that, we need to ensure environmental sustainability, stop habitat loss, protect biodiversity, and fight pollution and climate change.

UNEP is also supporting the broader UN in India Programmatic Response to COVID-19. Agencies across the UN family are supporting the Government in its efforts to tackle the pandemic. This includes supporting health systems, addressing social and economic impacts, and supporting multisectoral coordination and inclusive responses.With all the efforts taken by the Government and UN agencies, I believe that India can come out of this crisis stronger and in better shape to improve the country’s natural health.

4. In the light of UN 75, SDGs are lifelines of socio-economic and environmental priorities and we have ten years to harmonize sustainable development. Do you justify the statement?

Built on the principle to “Leave No One Behind”, the SDGs are designed to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Countries have reaffirmed the importance of this agenda time and again since they adopted it in 2015.

The SDGs are even more relevant today. The response to global emergencies such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic must stem from actions on the SDGs. Achieving the SDGs will not only help us out of the current crisis but put us on a firm path to dealing with future global health risks and socio-economic upheaval. Countries that have frameworks in place to achieve the SDGs will be more resilient to the economic shocks caused by such events.

5. Recently, we heard your commendable views that “India is possibly the first country in the world to understand the poor environment-poor health nexus. Could you share your thoughts with us?

WHO suggests that a degraded environment can cause an economic loss of up to USD 4 billion by 2030.In this context and to understand the environment and health nexus, a joint steering committee by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has been set up with the support of WHO and UNEP. This will work towards ensuring environmental health dimensions are central in India’s socio-economic development agenda. Infact, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) have identified this initiative as an important step to address health and environment linkages that are integral to sustainable development.I see this as a recognition by the Government that if the quality of our natural environment is poor, so will be the quality of human health.