Bhubaneswar: Collective efforts to protect the environment can succeed only when they are supported by individual action and changes in personal behaviour, Eastern Media Limited Chairman and Managing Director Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said at the Earth Again Conference 2026 in Bhubaneswar.

Addressing the third edition of the Punascha Pruthibi conference, Patnaik said environmental commitments should not remain limited to resolutions but must be reflected in people's everyday conduct.

“Despite collective efforts to protect the environment, we cannot succeed without individual efforts for nature. The resolutions we take should be reflected in our behaviour,” he said.

Patnaik also stressed the need to rethink the relationship between development and environmental destruction.

“Development also opens the way for destruction. Therefore, we need to think about how development can be achieved with less destruction,” he said.

He cited an environmental initiative undertaken in Bhubaneswar around two decades ago as an example of the gap that can exist between environmental commitments and individual behaviour.

According to Patnaik, two fruit-bearing saplings were distributed to each household as part of the initiative, with around two lakh trees provided to one lakh households in Bhubaneswar.

Recalling his own experience, he said the fruit-bearing tree he had planted was no longer there three years later. He said a vehicle parking requirement had resulted in the removal of the tree and a nearby Tulasi Chaura.

The incident, he said, demonstrated the need to translate environmental commitments into action.

“We should turn the resolutions we have taken into action. What has to be done tomorrow should be done today,” Patnaik said, stressing the need to bring changes in individual behaviour while pursuing development.

He also urged the Higher Education Minister to provide students with opportunities to develop leadership by holding student elections in educational institutions.

The third edition of the conference was inaugurated by Odisha Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati. Odisha Minister for Odia Language, Literature and Culture Suryabanshi Suraj, Utkal University Vice-Chancellor Prof Chandi Prasad Nanda, and Sambad and Kanak News Editor Tanaya Patnaik were present during the inaugural session.

The three-day conference is being held across two halls at Utkal University. Sessions at the main auditorium are focusing on environmental issues and development, while the Maharaja Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Auditorium is hosting discussions on disaster management.

Experts from Odisha, across India and abroad are participating in the conference to discuss climate change, its causes and consequences, natural disasters, environmental protection and the creation of a greener and more sustainable planet.

Environmentalists, intellectuals and students are also participating in the event, which aims to promote wider dialogue and collective action on climate and environmental challenges.