Kamala Kanta Dash
We are here because of Nature. We need it, it does not need us. Humans have known from ancient times that while Nature nurtures, it can also turn a destroyer when tinkered with. As a Native American proverb says, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”. This holds very true given the current challenges facing the environment.
Thanks to a radical transformation of the Earth through industry and technology, we as a civilization are at the cusp of self-annihilation. If we do not change our ways, there will certainly be no hope left for posterity. There is urgent need for reflection and course correction.
This is an opportune time to reflect on our nature, global environment and Planet Earth. The World Environment Day was observed this week. Held every year June 5, this day reminds us of the centrality and importance of environment in our lives. This day also calls for action: both governmental and citizen participation that can reverse the trend of environmental damage and help preserve, protect and promote environment both in public policy and in our daily lives.
Realising the need for global collaborative action, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had started World Environment Day in 1972. Each year, UNEP assigns a theme to the Day and this year, the theme is “Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet. Consume with Care.” The theme has well encapsulated the problems that the future holds.
United Nations calls it the biggest day for worldwide awareness and positive global action on environment. This year, the focus is to realise that there are seven billion people with their dreams, aspirations and needs whereas there is just one planet which we can call home. Consume with Care is the message. This reminds us of Mahatma Gandhi who famously said that the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.
The major global problem has been that of striking a balance between economy and environment. Management of natural resources has been a huge controversial aspect of this dichotomy. Experts are of the view that if the manner in which we consume natural resources goes unchecked, the Earth will soon run out of enough resources for the next generation. Booming population growth and demands for rapid industrialisation and urbanisation are causing severe strain on the planet.
It is projected by the United Nations that if current consumption and production patterns remain the same, and with world population expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption. This projection has set alarm bells ringing worldwide. But are we listening to it with enough compassion, sincerity, and urgency? That is the question for all developed and developing countries at the moment.
The argument however has been that economic development cannot be compromised. The need is to minimise environmental harm. This seems very challenging. There is an immediate need to have innovative resource effective technology and utilise them in mass production.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Make in India is a laudable initiative with the objective of ‘Zero Defect and Zero Effect’. But it needs to be seen whether India can achieve this, given the global resource competition challenging both the government and the market in ease of doing business and facilitating industrialisation at a rapid scale.
Here comes the role of the citizens of the country. When governments and markets are facing difficult choices, the citizenry can provide an alternative through its active participation in policymaking and policy implementation. In this context, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon stressed: “Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference.”
The writer is Professor of Public Policy and Communication at Sri Sri University, Cuttack.
