More passion, investment needed for a green future
World Environment Day, June 5, slipped in and out without too much fanfare. It’s when governments and citizens are reminded of the planet’s impending crisis from the deliberate degradation of our natural resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly pointed out on the occasion that developing and underdeveloped countries were paying the price for the ‘wrong policies’ of the developed world and that environmental justice demanded the skew be bridged. The unsaid, underlying message is: the developed world had ravaged the planet with polluting gases and the destruction of forests through the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.
They have profited, but now the developed world is lecturing the poor nations on environmental goals. Environmental justice demands the polluter must pay, and cleaning the world thus falls more on the advanced, post-colonial countries. This year marks the 50th year of the United Nations’ celebration of Environment Day. The milestone should have merited more focus on the burning issues of the day. This year, the projected theme is ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’, focusing on banishing single-use plastics and recycling plastic waste. It is a significant theme considering our beaches and rivers are choking with discarded plastic containers. Things have reached such a head that plastic has become a dangerous poison in our food chain. The animals slaughtered for meat and the fish harvested from the sea are ingesting these dangerous pollutants, and passing them on to the human food chain.
Despite all the lip service to protect the environment, the deep suspicion is most governments and private individuals treat the issue as an intellectual luxury. The climate crisis, for instance, sparked by the unending spewing of greenhouse gases and deforestation, has been triggering heat waves and bush fires. The way out is to decrease the use of fossil fuels, but try as we do, coal – a primary fossil fuel – still accounts for 70% of India’s power generation. Loss of biodiversity is another huge challenge ahead. We are using more of the Earth’s resources that can be replenished naturally. A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report recently found that the population sizes of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians have declined 68% between 1970 and 2016. It is high time environment is not made part of the political agendas of nations. Otherwise, it may be too late.