Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Environment laws should be properly enforced' that was published in Newsband

Environment laws should be properly enforced

According to the sixth edition of the Global Environment Outlook from the UN Environment Programme, the world is unsustainably extracting resources and producing unmanageable quantities of waste. This is leading to chemicals flowing into air, water and land. This causes ill-health and premature mortality, and affects the quality of life.

The UN report, GEO-6, on the theme “Healthy Planet, Healthy People,” has some sharp pointers for India. We should control deaths due to air pollution; agricultural yields are coming under stress due to increase in average temperature and erratic monsoons. Focus should be on food security and good health.

The task before India is to recognise the human cost of poorly enforced environment laws. The global major extinction of animals and plants, a human population soaring toward 10 billion, degraded land, polluted air, and plastics, pesticides and hormone-changing chemicals in the water are making the planet an increasing unhealthy place for people. Reduce air and water pollution, and which in turn promise early population-level benefits.

GEO-6 estimates that the top 10% of populations globally, in terms of wealth, are responsible for 45% of GHG emissions, and the bottom 50% for only 13%. Pollution impacts are, however, borne more by the poorer citizens. Transport emissions are a growing source of urban pollution, and a quick transition to green mobility is needed.

India needs to make water part of a circular economy in which it is treated as a resource that is recovered, treated and reused. But water protection gets low priority, and State governments show no urgency in augmenting rainwater harvesting.

The report on GEO by UN is shocking. it is very painful to hear about the number of premature deaths. Whether government should take some steps or not it is secondary. First we should solve the problem by planting trees, stop wasting waster, minimize the use of vehicle, using public transport, trying to use organic food etc 

Waste Culture is the modern synonym for so-called development. Were we to observe very carefully, modern day systems/engineering/technology/production etc seem to waste almost 90% or more of Energy/Materials/Time and all other resources (including Human-power). Let us look at Water and Indian Human resource: We are wasting 95% of the available water. This is a big shame on two counts. While millions struggle for water, and almost annually we proclaim droughts in at least 33% of our land areas, we seem to have no idea where all that water goes. Another waste is our huge human-power. About 550 million people are either underemployed or unemployed. But there are over 100 billionaires. Unless we reorient to reduce wastage, there is trouble.

Use of word "Global Warming" has become a fashion for all of us. In practice it each of us individual who should change our life style to generate minimum possible waste, and even try to recycle it for useful purposes.