lthough the achievements of the Rio Conference were quite significant and will have far-reaching consequences as far as the global environment is concerned, there were many shortcomings in it as well. The Earth Summit failed to obtain the necessary financial resources that are urgently from environmental needed to safeguard pollution people and
A
contain global environmental degradation. Both the U.N. Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and the organizer of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, Maurice Strong, expressed regret in their concluding speeches at the conference over the insufficient degree of commitment for tackling the problems, which are greater in magnitude than the resources available to set them right. According to M.G.K. Menon, a member of Rajya Sabha [India's Upper House of Parliament], president of the International Council for Scientific Unions, and scientific adviser to three successive prime ministers, "India has failed in the basic work that it needs to do even without going to Rio, namely to define the pathway of sustainable development for itself. Our entire approach to development is imitative of the North's past policies, but India's hture pathway of sustainable development cannot be achieved through this imitation." Menon's statement, though somewhat extreme, is justified to the extent that it warns us against merely towing the line chalked by others. We Indians may argue that from our viewpoint the success of the Rio Conference lay i n affirming the right to development, appreciating national sovereignty over a country's resources, realizing that there cannot be any sustainable development unless poverty and squalor are first eradicated and the social and economic status of the people are raised to a desired level, and calling on the developed countries to come forward with more liberal financial assistance to the developing ones. The summit acknowledged the need for a radical change in attitude on the part of the developed countries toward economic growth and development as well as toward the problems of underdevelopment in
THE RIO A VIEW FROM INDIA
0013-936W9310927-217604.0010 0 1993 American Chemical Society
Environ. Sci. Technol., VoI. 27, No. 2, 1993 217
countries of the Southern Hemisphere. It also emphasized that unless the rich nations of the Northern Hemisphere change their lifestyle of lavishly and selfishly using natural resources, their own future will be in grave peril. Developing countries have diverse problems, including lack of education, malnutrition, worm infestation, anemia, and poor health. Chronic debilitating infections and contagious diseases are among the difficulties facing our people. There cannot be any sustainable development unless these problems are really tackled. It is true that they cannot be solved overnight; however, there at least should be a determined effort to take necessary steps after proper planning to achieve the goal in a time-bound manner. Our entire approach to development is faulty because we are in the habit of imitating others. For sustainable development we have to give serious thought to these challenges and their magnitude and then evolve our own strategies to address them. For example, we are facing a serious problem of air and water pollution. Millions of our people are suffering from diseases of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems because they are exposed to polluted air and are consuming contaminated water. Health and nutrition should be priority areas. We cannot have sustainable development if a vast majority of our people are sick and do not have adequate health facilities. We must give the highest priority to human development. Mere lip service to these priorities is not going to solve our problems. Our industrial policy needs reorientation. It should be modified to provide for value-added, decentralized production. Production and consumption of energy in our country are lopsided. Similarly there is need for a transport policy with emphasis on public rather than private transport. Instead of depending on the Gulf countries for our supply of petroleum as the prime source of energy, we should be thinking of indigenous sources of energy. Priority should be given to nonconventional energy sources such as solar energy. This will not only save precious foreign exchange for us but also protect our environment from being polluted. Deforestation is another serious problem in India and some of the other developing countries. It is necessary that one-third of the land 218 Envimn. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 27. No. 2, 1993
area be covered with dense forests for proper rainfall and other meteorological reasons. The official records in India show that in the past between 20 and 25% of its land area was covered with dense forests, and we were satisfied with the information. However, current pictures taken by satellites show that not even 7% of the land area is covered with dense forests. The people who feel happy in cheating others do not realize that their misdeeds are going to boomerang; they are cheating their own progeny. At the Rio Conference, India and Malaysia successfully opposed a move toward an international forest
o u r leaders think that only political and economic affairs are important, not sustainable development or science and technology, convention and, after a prolonged debate, were able to recast some of the clauses in the declaration on forest preservation. The Ministry of Environment and Forests should not waste time and energy with small problems; it should deal with the basic issues and causes. Its primary aim should be to adopt a policy that ensures sustainable development. Under this policy there should be a shift from acting as a policeman who regulates function to acting as a doctor who promotes healthy functions such as systems analysis, policy formulation, awareness creation, and development and promotion of newer methods and technologies. Penalties and legal actions against offenders are not likely to be as effective as incentives and awards. In poor countries where the resources are limited there is need for more efficient use and strict accountability applied to the people responsible for those resources. A proper audit of the environmental and economic impact of natural resources consumption should be required. Unfortunately, we are utterly indifferent to these checks. Moreover, we need to have a development model suited to our coun-
try. The issue of a development model needs much greater debate, and unfortunately no one in India has thought of initiating this debate. It is most unfortunate that since the conclusion of the Rio Conference nothing has been done in our country with respect to the recommendations the conference made. This is nothing new for India. Nobody seems to be interested in implementing the recommendations made by the different expert panels that convene from time to time, and nobody is accountable for such nonimplementation. For example, in July 1989 a steering group set up by the Planning Commission submitted a report on environment, forests, and wasteland development for the eighth Five-Year Plan. So far no action has been taken on this. In 1989 the Planning Commission made certain important recommendations with respect to sustainable development, ecological preservation, livelihood security, and climate change. Its recommendation that a cabinet committee on sustainable development be formed with the prime minister as its chairperson, and that similar committees be formed in the states with their respective chief ministers heading them, has yet to be implemented. Our leaders think that only political and economic affairs are important, not sustainable development or science and technology. There cannot be any real progress in India unless there is a change in this attitude among our leaders. The participants in the Rio Conference had the great responsibility of looking beyond the political present into a seemingly doomed future. It is heartening to note that they rose above nationalism, narrow-mindedness, and a myopic vision and arrived at some important decisions almost unanimously. Let us hope that this spirit is maintained and that nations think and act in a wise manner to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our progeny. B. N.Gupta is on ossistant director and scientist in charge of the Epidemiology Division of the Industriol TAxicology Research Center at Lucknow, India. He is chairman of a number of expert panels on health and the environment at notional and international levels
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