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Global Movement ‘Count Us In’ launches in India

By on October 21, 2020

For the first time, a diverse coalition of individuals and groups spanning culture, sport, entertainment, business and civil society in India have today announced their participation in Count Us In, an unprecedented global campaign to inspire one billion people to take practical steps to reduce carbon pollution. Count Us In is being launched at TED Countdown, a global initiative powered by TED and Future Stewards to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Countdown, the virtual event in which Count Us In is being launched, features an unparalleled list of speakers including Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Count Us Inis launched in India with a diverse community of partners and individuals such as Dia Mirza, Accenture, No Nasties, Bombay Natural History Society, The Better India, FC Goa, Forca Goa Foundation among others. “Climate change is a stark reality of the times we live in. While we at FC Goa & the Forca Goa Foundation are undertaking sustainable initiatives such as a Zero waste stadium, sensitising children through our outreach etc., we know that this does not even scratch the surface and is not enough. There needs to be more awareness and more action taken to mitigate the impact of Climate change. All stakeholders need to come together and make this fight a priority. Being able to use football as a platform to spread awareness around the urgency of Climate change is a privilege and we hope to make a significant impact through it,” said AkshayTandon, President, FC Goa & Founder, Forca Goa Foundation. Pollution, extreme weather and rising sea levels derived from climate change will increasingly threaten communities and economies around the world, unless we drastically reduce emissions and, in doing so, push leaders to take action. The thriving beaches and vibrant culture of Goa are not immune to this phenomenon either. Over the past decade Goa has witnessed erratic and unseasonal rain along with large scale soil and sand erosion. Leading the change is the state’s beloved professional football club FC Goa, who have joined Count Us In as a partner and hopes its fans and supporters will participate in the movement too. Count Us In attempts to build the largest and most ambitious citizen-led effort to avert the impacts of climate change. The movement focuses on engaging individuals who are not currently active on climate issues. Count Us In sets out 16 practical and high impact steps individuals can take to protect the planet from carbon pollution before it is too late. The steps include reducing plane travel, walking or cycling short distances, using electric modes of transportation whenever possible, and reducing our food and water wastage. Individual action can make a significant impact: If 1 billion people take practical action in their own lives, they could reduce as much as 20% of the global carbon emissions. According to a report by KPMG, India’s shift to shared, electric and connected mobility could help save nearly 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The way individuals can take and log their actions, is through the Count Us In global action platform on count-us-in.org. The Count Us In aggregator then adds up every step taken and shows the difference we can all make by acting together. It aggregates three data points: 1. The carbon savings of the steps taken; 2. The number of individuals taking steps; and 3. The number of steps taken. “Climate change is already ravaging our lives, our communities and our livelihoods,” says Dia Mirza who is championing the Count Us In campaign and is a UN Environment's Goodwill Ambassador for India. “It is up to us to respond to what we see around us. We are not powerless. We can protect what we love from the worst impacts of climate change if we act boldly and urgently. I am committing to wear clothes that last and call on citizens across India to take steps in their own lives too.” "We have less than a decade to do what science shows is necessary - halving emissions by 2030," says Christiana Figueres, former UN Climate Chief, who oversaw the delivery of the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change. "It is entirely possible to change our economy from burn and destroy to rebuild and regenerate. Climate change affects us all right now, and we all have agency in tackling it before it's too late." To learn more and commit to taking action, visit count-us-in.org.