Green GDP a matter of Livelihoods

Edition-2
“A green GDP is not a matter of lifestyle but livelihoods-of small farmers and tribal’s,” Ramesh said, evoking the Chipko Andolan, the first social-ecological movement in independent India. Similarly, the cancer epidemics in Bhatinda caused by excessive pesticides use, and the lingering effects of the Bhopal gas leak show that the constituency for green sensibilities extends beyond the elite & the middle classes, he said.
On the third concern, climate, Ramesh advocated a calibrated approach: “we don’t have to be climate evangelists but we needn’t be atheists either.” The reasons: no other country bears the burnt of the changes in monsoon & climate change patterns as India does; around 300 million Indians on India’s coastline face the threat of a tsunami; & the retreat of Himalayan glaciers puts at risk the water security of all middle India. Finally, he said, India needs to worry about sustainability. Given the rapidly growing population of young people in India, it is incumbent on the present generation to ask what natural resources it will bequeath.

The environment minister defended his crusade against industrial projects that breach Indian environment laws. “Indians delight in passing laws & (take) greater delight in bypassing them,” he said.

SOURCE-INDIA TODAY CONCLAVE