DIA MIRZA: "APPLY YOURSELF TO SOLUTIONS TO FEEL LESS DESPONDENT"

Since being crowned Miss Asia Pacific in 2000, Dia Mirza has established herself as a versatile actor and producer in the Indian film industry as well as a committed climate crusader.

- Snigdha Das

As Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Environment Programme, she works to raise awareness on priority issues such as clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change. In an interview with Snigdha Das, Mirza discusses how today's youth can navigate eco-anxiety and take meaningful action:

You have been an active voice in environmental and conservation issues for over 20 years. Do you think there is enough acknowledgement of the crisis unfolding around us?

No. I do not think we are treating the issue with the urgency it demands. When we started working in environmental action 20 years ago—when I first began participating in these efforts—the reality felt distant. We were talking about melting glaciers in far-off oceans. But today, that reality has reached home. We are now grappling with a triple planetary crisis, one that is putting the human species, and many others, at risk of extinction. In just the last 100 years, we have caused an extraordinary level of destruction that will require the involvement, participation and awareness of everyone to address.

While the problems are vast and planetary in scale, and often feel unreachable, we must recognise that at the individual level, each of us has a part to play. It starts with a basic understanding: everything we need for our health, peace, progress and survival comes from the Earth. This is our home. If we disconnect ourselves from this understanding, we will continue to contribute to destruction rather than becoming part of the protection we so urgently need.