Citizen Environment Responsibility (CER) should complement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), says Peepal Baba

5th June 2020, New Delhi: In a bid to encourage citizens to become more responsible towards their environment, ‘Give Me Trees Trust’ has planted 8,000 trees amidst the ongoing lockdown, while maintaining all the guidelines issued by the government. The organization primarily focused on Sorkha Village in Delhi NCR for this initiative. Since its inception, Peepal Baba has planted more than 20 million trees in partnership with around 55 corporate and government stakeholders.

Trees are the foundation of economic productivity for any country. According to a study, a single pollutant like bad ozone can lead to a net loss in primary productivity, because of the reduced plant and biomass production, and increased plant susceptibility to stress (Persson et al 2010).

In addition, a diseased community, affected by air pollution produces an inefficient workforce, which works below its optimal level, and significantly lowers the margin between the output and input. IN fact, according to the 2016 data of the World Bank, the health toll of air pollution costs India around 8.5% of its GDP, or more than $560 billion (Chakraborty 2016).

Speaking on the eve of World Environment Day, Mr Prem Parivartan, also known as Peepal Baba, founder at Give Me Trees Trust, said, “It’s high time that we as citizens start taking action individually to protect our nature. Environmental degradation is not only showing its effects on our health, but also on the economy. If each one of us starts planting more trees, even if it is around their homes, it will significantly reduce the burden of pollution on our society. Instead of relying on the government and CSR initiatives, we must start practising Citizen Environment Responsibility to plant more and more trees”

Governments across the world are already incurring significant costs on environmental remediation, and are now finally coming to terms with the fact that their stance on climate action is a matter of life or death. The budgets in the recent past for environmental remediation efforts have gone up significantly. In India, for instance, the Narendra Modi government allocated a staggering Rs 20,000 crore in 2014 to clean river Ganga under the Namami Gange Project (National Mission for Clean Ganga). It is against this backdrop that Mr Prem Parivartan encourages the planting of trees to counter the growing ill effects of environmental degradation on our planet.

Worldwide lockdown had compelled the industrial bodies to take a pause on the destructive action towards nature. This has subsequently allowed mother earth to heal on its own. As a result, we saw air quality improving. The human race witnessed clear sky regularly amidst lockdown. Give Me Trees Trust believes once the lockdown is lifted the pollution will automatically increase as the pressure on the human race to boost the economy will double up as before. Taking advantage of the lockdown and seeking support from the local authorities around Delhi NCR, the trust has planted 1000, 4000,1064, 2000 trees in Noida Sector 25, Noida sector 115, Haridwar and Lucknow respectively.

About Give Me Trees Trust
Give Me Trees was registered as a Charitable Trust in the year 2011 and today it has become an important organization in the country working for Greenery. It’s more than 11,500 volunteers are engaged in realizing the dream of Peepal Baba by becoming environmental fighters in 27 states.

Over the years, GMT has planted over 20 million trees across the country in collaboration Give Me Trees has so far worked with more than 55+ partners organizations like the US Forest Service, Indian Army, BSF, CRPF, HCL Foundation, Reliance brands, Woodland, Timberland, Honda Trading Corporation, Just Dial, leading Indian universities, schools, colleges, and a host of other companies who seek CSR partnerships. Native trees including shade trees, fruit trees and shrubs are a priority for preservation and conservation.