Address both climate change and eco degradation

In a short span of time, say about 200 years, humans have caused alarming changes in the global environmental systems, which the earth took a billion years to shape.

The disturbing environmental phenomenon — characterised by climate change and it’s impact on agriculture, land, biodiversity, water and the oceans — has undoubtedly been brought about by ever-growing human populations, their increased demands for various material goods and the unstoppable technological development; deployed variously to support the galloping human consumption and the daily life.

Given the ingenuity of human mind, it is quite understandable that the growth of a materialistic civilisation — triggered by

technological innovations — was an inevitable phenomenon. But what’s surprising is that the genius of a man was unable to grasp the eventual environmental devastation that the same technologies were responsible for.

In fact, some such apprehensions were expressed way back in the 1970s by a group of young scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who argued that if the same trends in population growth and industrial production continued, the carrying capacity of the earth would far exceed in just a hundred years time.

The industrial and political leaders pooh poohed such apprehensions while some scientists and development experts corroborated the views saying that the technological innovations would take care of the environmental fallout of economic growth and development would stabilise the populations.

Although technological innovations improved production techniques and lessened the quantum of pollution, the volume and dissemination of economic growth became uncontrollable.

The economic models developed in the industrialised countries continue to
proliferate the rest of the globe; wiping out the traditional, community oriented, low-energy based practices. And this is precisely the chief cause for accelerating the pace of
global environmental degradation.

Prescription of economic models of growth for every country cannot be the same. Demographic compositions, socio-cultural factors, geographical and biological diversity should primarily determine the growth models. But what we have is a skewed up economy.

Production of wealth and creation of large markets and market forces, enabled by the modern technologies, have brought about what we hail today as the biggest outcome of this millennium — the economic globalisation.

Blind duplication

Closely examined, globalisation has obliterated the national sensitivies and perceptions of the geographically different regions to preserve and sustain their local economies dependent on their ecological capital. Climate change is the result of such rampant economic policies adopted indiscriminately both by the developed and the developing economies.

In the race to keep the processes of globalisation under the firm economic grip of certain vested interests, the international financial institutions like the World Bank, IMF, ADB, etc are relentlessly pursuing the technologically less developed countries to adopt the models of economic growth followed in the industrialised nations.

Such indiscriminate developmental models  are not only socially and culturally inappropriate and are sources of social inequity but are environmentally disastrous. For example the undue emphasis on  urbanisation in India is causing a series of environmental disasters for the country. The large spaces of open earth and chunks of forest cover are fast disappearing while encroachment of water bodies, erosion of topsoil and precious biodiversity spots are taking a heavy toll on the ecological wealth.
There is an urgent need for social and economic scientists, political leaders, industry representatives, technocrats and environmental experts to come together to deliberate on the global perspectives and genuine needs of different populations and formulate appropriate economic policies corresponding to and in relation to the ecological capital of various nations.

This could go a long way in sustaining the necessary growth and address the issues of climate change and environmental degeneration at the same time. We must look at where the twain shall meet.