Why Nature Connection Matters for Sustainability Professionals

Early this month I was on a hike with Indiahikes doing the Dayara Bugyal trail. For me to get to Dehradun, to meet the rest of the team, was a journey in itself. On the day of my fight, cyclone Fengal made a landfall in Chennai, where I live. All flights were cancelled, with some maneuvering, took a flight out of Bengaluru.

At the basecamp in Raital (the picture with alpen glow - orange tinted mountain top), the locals, guides and seasoned trekkers, all of them individually mentioned how the snow coverage on the mountains have been deceasing over the years - not like from 20 years back, but as recently as 5 years back.

I left behind a climate event to experience nature, where one can witness once again impact of climate change. The warming planet, rapid snow melts has directly increased the frequency and intensity of cyclones impacting Chennai.

Mercifully, Indiahikes makes sustainable trekking as one of its core philosophy. We picked up trash we found on the mountains, carried no packaged food, had cooks with us to make fresh food at every camp site, used bio toilets and followed ingenious water saving methods(all of it needs a separate post).

All of us, specially those of us working on sustainability and climate risks, need to explore some nature related activity. It will add to the urgency of our work.

Collective action to keep global warming contained below 1.5 degree - complex. Choices at personal level, organizational level - doable. How much waste do we all generate - how many of your offices serve bottled water / use disposable plates and cups?

Read the complete LinkedIn post here.

PS: In the picture with me is Ankur Roy, our lovely trek leader, without who I could not have finished the trek. The last two pictures are of Chennai metro and Chennai airport the day Fengal made landfall.