The Meghalaya government is exploring pineapple for vegan leather, said James Sangma, Cabinet Minister for Forest & Environment and Power, Meghalaya. He also added that the state is planning to set up a museum on climate change in order to sensitize people about the problem.
Delivering a virtual keynote address on Tuesday at the ‘TiE Sustainability Summit 2021’, organized by TiE Hyderabad, Sangma said the state is in the process of building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum.
Vegan leather is a material that is looks and feels just like leather but created from artificial or plant produce instead of animal skins.
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“Meghalaya is one of the major pineapple producing states in India. It contributes 8% of the total pineapple produced in India. Pineapple is also the most important fruit crop of the state. We are working on Pineapple for Vegan leather.
We are also building a consensus to introduce climate change as a subject in the school curriculum to sensitise children," a press release quoted Sangma as saying.
Noting that as much as 76% of the land in the state is forested, Sangma said Meghalaya is one of the top five states for Bio-Diversity and it has a unique forest economy.
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“A climate change museum is also around the corner. We hope to inspire action on the climate crisis through this museum. Climate change is a defining challenge of our times. We must rise to fight it together,’ he said.
Forests are the best carbon removal investments and reforestation strategies and improving forest management together have a large potential to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
“We want to be a silicon valley for green-based products,” Sangama added.
(With PTI Inputs)
