The THRIVE project would like to extend our warmest gratitude to Sunil Murlidar Shastri for giving a guest presentation at our August Thrivability Matters webinar. The theme of this webinar was United Nations SDG14 & SDG15: Life Below Water & Life on Land.
About our speaker
Sunil Murlidhar Shastri is a consultant, expert and speaker in ocean and environmental governance. Since graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1977, Sunil has been a university academic, consultant, and researcher in ocean and environmental policy, and in mining and ocean engineering.
In 1982, he found his passion for Pacem in Maribus under the tutelage of Elisabeth Mann Borgese and has since made it his mission. Thereafter, he has served on several professional and public bodies as director, governor, and trustee and is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. He is best known internationally for his MasterClass in Ocean and Environmental Governance and for his erudite analysis and candid opinions. Our Thrivability Matters Podcast with Sunil on “One Ocean, One World” can be found here.
summary of the Webinar
Sunil Murlidhar Shastri on the topic of Environmental Governance: Three Approaches to Make a Change
“The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed,” Sunil quoted Gandhi’s poignant statement at THRIVE’s Tribe Webinar.
The THRIVE Project – an organization that places humankind onto the path towards a more sustainable future – was delighted to have Sunil privately present at its monthly Tribe Webinar. Sunil covered some of the golden nuggets around Ocean / Environmental Governance and ways to make a change in the increasingly Lawless, Landless, Airless, and Waterless world.
His strong passion for the ocean and environment, combined with his longstanding expertise in the field and his experience as a world-class speaker, made the webinar abundant with insights and laughs because of the anecdotal evidence used and his practical delivery style.
Sunil divided the three approaches to make a change into the three ‘A’s: Advice, Advocacy, and Action. To elaborate more for the first A – Advice, he shared the “Seven Pillars”. Seven Pillars is his unique approach to solve problematic environmental issues, which includes Science and technology, geopolitical economy, institution & organization, legislation & implementation, stakeholder participation, financial initiatives, and last but not least, education & awareness. He then connected the Seven Pillars with Sustainable Development Goals.
For the second A – Advocacy, Sunil reminded us that it is our ethical duty to give. He quoted a Latin American prayer: “To those that hunger, give bread. To those who have bread, give the hunger for justice.“
All the knowledge and wisdom will be influential with the last A – Action. He shared how 7 in 10 of India’s population lack access to clean water, and if only people build more toilets, not temples, it will improve sanitation in the area.
CONCLUSION
He closed the webinar engaging with the enthusiastic Tribe members and with a beautiful reminder: “First, they laugh at you. Then they ignore you. Then they fight you. In the end, you win!“.
Thanks, and do keep on thriving!
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