New Delhi, February 18: Centre for Science an Environment (CSE) has been given the Business Standard award for 2015 for being the “public institution” of the year. The Business Standard award, given annually to companies and individuals, had introduced a new category for “public institution” for its 2015 awards. CSE’s deputy director general, Chandra Bhushan, who received the award at a ceremony in Mumbai, said, “We are pleased to find environmental issues at the centrestage. On behalf of CSE, I would like reiterate our commitment to policies that protect and preserve the environment and take a balanced approach to development so that the people – especially the poor and the marginalised who stand to lose the most on account of environmental degradation – do not suffer.”
In a statement, Business Standard said, “Since it was a new awards category, the jury spent some time on defining the metrics and decided that the honour should go to an independent institution which has been involved in advocacy in an area of public concern and has made a significant impact. After a lot of deliberations, CSE, led by Sunita Narain was declared the winner for its outstanding quality of science and relentless efforts to improve the country's environmental standards.”
Business Standard mentioned CSE’s study on pesticides in colas which “made it a household name”. “Though the global cola giants contested the findings, a Joint Parliamentary Committee endorsed CSE's demand for a strong public health agenda for food and water. It has also done some seminal work on the need to prevent further degradation of natural resources as a large part of India's population depends on it for subsistence,” said the Business Standard statement.
CSE is a think-tank, a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi. CSE researches into, lobbies for and communicates the urgency of development that is both sustainable and equitable. It was founded by late Anil Agarwal, an engineer, in 1980, to analyse and study the relationship between environment and development and create public consciousness about the need for sustainable development. Over the years, CSE has led a number of campaigns many of which are ongoing. Some of CSE’s campaigns are on air pollution, pollution of natural water bodies, industrial pollution, food safety and toxins, renewable energy and climate change, among others. In addition to taking up national issues, CSE has been voicing the concerns of developing nations at global forums, including the climate change summits, for the past many years. It has grown into a strong voice of the developing world and its right to the remaining carbon space.
For further information, please contact Anupam Srivastava, asrivastava@cseindia.org, 99100 93893
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