Journalism of Courage
Rajendra Shende,who heads the Ozone Action Group of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),on Tuesday received the prestigious climate protection award instituted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) at a function held in Washington D. C. Shende hails from Pune and is currently working at the headquarters of the UNEP in Paris.
The USEPA gives awards to individuals and organisations for extraordinary and dedicated work in deriving climate benefits from ozone layer protection activities under the Montreal Protocol. Award winners also include managers and staff of the UNEP involved in treaty-related compliance and clearinghouse services for developing countries.
Shende has been working to improve energy efficiency in refrigeration and air conditioning in buildings and in home appliances. His solar refrigerator had received accolades from the then President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. He became the second expert from UNEP to win a climate protection award after Marco Gonzales,executive secretary of the Ozone Secretariat,who won the award last year.
An alumnus of IIT-B,Shende has been working in the area of environment protection right from the beginning of his career. He has also been working on the plan to convert Rahimatpur village in Satara district into an ideal village. Shende said,”Being my ancestral place,I owe something to Rahimatpur. That is the reason I am involved in the development work like planting right kind of trees and making awareness about climate change in schools. I visit the place whenever I come to India and give inputs. The village is slowly but surely changing.”
