Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award from China, Japan, and India are participating in a seminar this week in Kathmandu, Nepal to share their expertise and support Laureate Shrikrishna Upadhyay of SAPPROS-Nepal and their partners in the ‘Make Nepal Green’ initiative.
The initiative, launched in the aftermath of the devastating April 2015 earthquake, consists of a realizable vision of a ‘Green Nepal’, one that combines rural rejuvenation with renewable energy and organic farming with information technology. It seeks to foster prosperity, advance sustainable development, and strengthen local communities in addition to the Nepali nation as a whole.
“All the Laureates are coming together to express solidarity to the cause of Green Nepal. They have their respective strengths in promoting organic agriculture, solar energy, and energy efficient building, which is relevant to the current agenda of ‘Making Nepal Green’,” said Upadhyay.
Solar energy entrepreneur Huang Ming from China, who was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (RLA) in 2011, will join Lobzang Tsultim of India’s Ladakh Ecological Development Group (RLA, 1986) and Koichi Kato, President of Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Co-operative Union in Japan (RLA, 1989) as featured Laureates. Attendees will have the opportunity to brainstorm with bankers, policymakers, diplomats, and civil society representatives to work towards a stronger, greener Nepalese economy.
Outcomes of this meeting will include a ‘Kathmandu Declaration’ to serve as a roadmap for the future and the creation of a ‘Make Nepal Green Fund’. Laureates will then visit areas near Pokhara to examine renewable energy, eco-tourism, and organic farming initiatives and discuss ways in which they can be upscaled across Nepal.
In anticipation of the seminar, Koichi Kato has said, “Make Nepal Green is an initiative of Nepalese co-operatives. As a consumer’s co-operative in Japan, we look forward to sharing experiences with our colleagues in Nepal to make our local communities more sustainable.” Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Co-operative Union, awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1989 for “creating the most successful, sustainable model of production and consumption in the industrialised world”. Elaborating on the expertise they bring, Koichi Kato said: The success of India’s Ladakh Ecological Development Group (LEDeG) will interest the Nepali people, as the Group has combined community empowerment with adoption of renewable technologies suited to the Himalayan geography.
The seminar takes place at the Hotel Radisson in Kathmandu on February 22 and 23.
