Noted environmentalist Chandra Bhushan has left the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Bhushan, who was the deputy director-general of CSE and had served CSE for more than 22 years, has termed his exit as ‘amicable and friendly’. In an email sent to her colleagues, CSE director-general Sunita Narain termed the exit as “sad”. Calling Bhushan an extremely valued colleague, she wished him success in his future endeavours.
Bhushan joined CSE in 1997 to head its Green Rating Project (GRP), which publicly rated the environmental performance of companies. He was appointed associate director in 2003 and deputy director-general in 2010. At the time of his exit, he was handling nine major research and advocacy teams including teams spearheading a food safety & toxins campaign, energy and climate change, industrial pollution, waste management, environmental governance, and Environment Monitoring Laboratory, among others.
“Today the world is confronting major environmental challenges including climate change which is an existential crisis. I would continue to work and do my bit to the environmental field. The country needs many public-interest institutions to help and support the government and society in environmental protection. Very soon I will be announcing a new organisation to work in the field of environment, energy and climate change”, said Bhushan, whose career has spanned close to 25 years.
For his work on climate and ozone protection, Bhushan was conferred with the Ozone Award by the UN Environment Programme in 2017.