5.The Ailing Planet :the Green Movement's Role

Lesson-5

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role

By Nani Palkhivala

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Introduction

This chapter focuses on the factors that are causing the earth's health to deteriorate. The chapter began as an article written by Nani Palkhivala and published on November 23, 1994, in the newspaper 'The Indian Express.' The author discusses the Green Movement, as well as how a zoo in Zambia declared humans to be the "world's most dangerous animals." The author also discusses overpopulation, deforestation, and our responsibilities to the environment.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Summary

In this chapter, the author brings up the issue of the earth's deteriorating health. Humans have been exploiting natural resources for decades, and the current situation has made the environment critical. The Green Movement assisted environmentalists in raising awareness about the earth's harmful condition in 1972, and there has been no looking back since as the movement has successfully educated people about environmental conservation. Earth is like a patient whose health is deteriorating, and it is our responsibility to improve it. The World Commission on Environment and Development coined the term "Sustainable Development" in 1987. A zoo in Lukasa, Zambia, has a cage labelled 'The World's Most Dangerous Animal,' with a mirror inside. It sends the message that humans are the most dangerous animals on the planet. "Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes, and ailing environment?" asked the Brandt Commission.

Fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands are the four major biological systems that form the foundation of the global economic system. Except for minerals and synthetics, these four systems also provide food and raw materials to industries. Fisheries will collapse as these systems become unsustainable, the forest will slowly disappear, grasslands will become a barren wasteland, and croplands will deteriorate. Forests are being cut down in poor countries for fuelwood, which is used for cooking. In some areas, the cost of fuelwood is higher than the cost of food. It is causing an alarming rate of deforestation.

The increasing population is one of the causes of environmental exploitation. Every four days, approximately one million people are added to the population. This is not a good sign. The world urgently needs to control overpopulation. Development is the most effective contraceptive for this problem because it reduces fertility, increases education and income, and improves health. We must see the world as a whole, rather than as separate parts. It is a comprehensive and ecological viewpoint. Lester Brown says that we did not inherit the earth from our forefathers, but rather borrowed it from future generations.

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role Lesson Explanation

The following article was written by Nani Palkhivala and published in The Indian Express on 24 November 1994. The issues that he raised regarding the declining health of the earth continue to have relevance.

ONE cannot recall any movement in world history which has gripped the imagination of the entire human race so completely and so rapidly as the Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago. In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.

• Gripped – clutch; hold
• Green Movement – It is a movement which stresses people to follow environmentally friendly practices.

The chapter 'The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement's Role' was written by Nani Palkhivala and published in the newspaper 'The Indian Express' on November 24, 1994. He wrote about the Earth's deteriorating health.

In world history, the Green Movement, which began nearly twenty-five years ago in 1994, spread so quickly. In 1972, New Zealand established the world's first nationwide Green party.

We have shifted — one hopes, irrevocably — from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. For the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism — an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved.

• Irrevocably – in a way that cannot be changed or reversed
• Holistic and Ecological View – It means a view for the preservation of the environment. It also refers to the understanding of importance of earth’s resources for the use of future generations
• Revolutionary – evolving a complete change
• Metabolic needs – needs of a living organism that enables them to have a chemical process that causes food to be used for growth and energy

Our perspectives have shifted from seeing the earth and its resources as irreversible to the total opposite. We now recognise that our resources must converse for future generations. Copernicus taught mankind how the earth and other planets revolve around the sun, which resulted in a complete shift in human perception. The earth is now viewed as a living organism, of which we are a part. Humans must respect and preserve the Earth's metabolism and vital needs.

The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. We have begun to realise our ethical obligations to be good stewards of the planet and responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations.
The concept of sustainable development was popularised in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In its report it defined the idea as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, i.e., without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.

• Ethical Obligation – when someone is required to do something based on a righteous standard of rules
• Stewards – manage or to look after
• Sustainable Development – economic development without depletion of natural resources

Earth is now like a sick patient whose condition is deteriorating. We, as humans, are now realising that it is our responsibility to be good planet managers and responsible trustees of the environment in order to leave a legacy to future generations. The World Commission on Environment and Development popularised the term "sustainable development" in 1987. According to the reports, sustainable development is defined as "development that meets the needs of the current generation without wasting or compromising natural resources in order for future generations to meet their needs."

In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership.

Scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth. Estimates vary widely as regards the still-uncatalogued living species — biologists reckon that about three to a hundred million other living species still languish unnamed in ignominious darkness.

• Dawned – begin
• Catalogued – classify; characterise
• Reckon – calculate
• Languish – lose or lack of vitality of a person or plant or animal; grow weak
• Ignominious darkness – disgraced as no one has knowledge about them

A notice in a cage in a zoo in Lusaka, Zambia reads, 'The world's most dangerous animal,' and inside the cage is a mirror depicting humans as the world's most dangerous animals. Humans are now regarded as the most dangerous animals in the world, thanks to the efforts of new organisations around the world. They have recognised the significance of transitioning to a new partnership-based system. According to scientific classification, humans coexist with approximately 1.4 million other living species on the planet. According to biologists, there are millions of other species that have yet to be classified due to their weakness or a lack of knowledge about them.

One of the early international commissions which dealt, inter alia, with the question of ecology and environment was the Brandt Commission which had a distinguished Indian as one of its members — Mr

L.K. Jha. The First Brandt Report raised the question — “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”

• Inter Alia – among other things
• Scorched – burn the surface with heat of fire
• Impoverished – made poor
• Ailing – in poor health

The Brandt Commission was one of the first international commissions to address issues of ecology and the environment. Mr. L.K. Jha, an Indian citizen, was appointed as one of their commission members. Its first report posed the question, "Are we going to leave a burned planet with aided deserts, poor landscapes, and a poor environment for our future generations?"

Mr. Lester R. Brown in his thoughtful book, The Global Economic Prospect, points out that the earth’s principal biological systems are four — fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands — and they form the foundation of the global economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics. In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate. In a protein-conscious and protein hungry world, over-fishing is common every day. In poor countries, local forests are being decimated in order to procure firewood for cooking. In some places, firewood has become so expensive that “what goes under the pot now costs more than what goes inside it”. Since the tropical forest is, in the words of Dr Myers, “the powerhouse of evolution”, several species of life face extinction as a result of its destruction.

• Synthetics – artificial substance
• Impaired – weakened or damaged
• Barren wastelands – barely inhabitable piece of land
• Deteriorate – become progressively worse; decline
• Decimated – to reduce in number
• Procure – obtain with care or effort

According to Leslie R. Brown's book 'The Global Economic Prospect,' there are four major biological systems that form the foundation of the global economic system: fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands. Except for minerals and synthetics, these four systems provide food and raw materials for industry. These systems have reached an unsustainable point, and their productivity has suffered as a result. Fisheries will collapse, the forest will gradually disappear, grasslands will become barren wastelands, and croplands will deteriorate. Overfishing is becoming more common as people become more protein-conscious. Forests are being cut down on a large scale in poor countries to provide wood for cooking. In some places, firewood is more expensive than food. Many species are under destruction in tropical forests.

It has been well said that forests precede mankind; deserts follow. The world’s ancient patrimony of tropical forests is now eroding at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year, and the growing use of dung for burning deprives the soil of an important natural fertiliser. The World Bank estimates that a five-fold increase in the rate of forest planting is needed to cope with the expected fuelwood demand in the year 2000.

James Speth, the President of the World Resources Institute, said the other day, “We were saying that we are losing the forests at an acre a second, but it is much closer to an acre-and-a-half to a second”.

• Precede – come before in order or position
• Patrimony – property inherited from father or ancestor
• Deprives – prevent a person from using something

In comparison to humans, forests and deserts come first. The ancient legacy of tropical forests is eroding at a rate of forty to fifty million acres per year. Furthermore, the burning of dung prevents the soil from becoming natural fertiliser. To meet the demand for fuelwood, the rate of forest plantation must be increased by fivefold by 2020. According to James Speth, President of the World Resources Institute, we are losing forests at a rate of about an acre and a half per second.

Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. But what causes endless anguish is the fact that laws are never respected nor enforced in India. (For instance, the Constitution says that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished, but they flourish shamelessly even after forty-four years of the operation of the Constitution.) A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the near catastrophic depletion of India’s forests over the last four decades. India, according to reliable data, is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, “are already virtually treeless”. The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.

• Endeavor – trying hard to achieve something
• Anguish – pain; suffering
• Casteism – discrimination on the grounds of caste
• Catastrophic Depletion – a harmful reduction in a number of something

According to Article 48A of the Indian Constitution, the state must try to protect and improve the environment, as well as protect the country's forest and wildlife. However, the painful reality is that laws, such as casteism, untouchability, and bonded labour, are not followed in India. They've been abolished, but they're still being shamelessly followed. According to a report by Parliament's Estimates Committee, India has lost 3.7 million acres of forest per year over the last four decades. A large area of forestland is now absence of trees, and the actual loss is estimated to be eight times that of government statistics.

A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated.

There can be no doubt that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. That was the world population around the year 1800. By the year 1900, a second billion was added, and the twentieth century has added another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion. Every four days the world population increases by one million.

• Distorting – deform; disfigure

According to a three-year study conducted by the United Nations using satellites and aerial photography, our environment has deteriorated to the point where it has reached critical position in 88 countries. One of the most powerful reasons for the distortion of humanity's future is the rapid growth of the world population. When it took more than a million years to reach the first billion people, the population increased by the next billion in the next 100 years. The population peaked at 3.7 billion in the twentieth century, and it now stands at 5.7 billion. At the moment, the population is growing by one million every four days.

Fertility falls as incomes rise, education spreads, and health improves. Thus development is the best contraceptive. But development itself may not be possible if the present increase in numbers continues.
The rich get richer, and the poor beget children which condemns them to remain poor. More children does not mean more workers, merely more people without work. It is not suggested that human beings be treated like cattle and compulsorily sterilised. But there is no alternative to voluntary family planning without introducing an element of coercion. The choice is really between control of population and perpetuation of poverty.

• Beget – give life to
• Condemns – find guilty of something
• Sterilised – make free from bacteria or other micro organisms
• Voluntary – done or given of one’s free will
• Coercion – force
• Perpetuation – keep going

Development is the most effective way to combat overpopulation. It can aid in the reduction of fertility, the increase of income, the spread of more education, and the improvement of health. However, if the population continues to grow, it may be difficult to achieve any kind of development. As the rich get richer, the poor have children who are destined to be poorer. More population means more unemployment. Humans should not be treated in the same way that cattle are sterilised by force. However, in order to control the population, some form of force must be used in family planning. Humans must now choose between population control and poverty alleviation.

The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today — more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together. No one familiar with the conditions in India would doubt that the hope of the people would die in their hungry hutments unless population control is given topmost priority.

For the first time in human history we see a transcending concern — the survival not just of the people but of the planet. We have begun to take a holistic view of the very basis of our existence. The environmental problem does not necessarily signal our demise, it is our passport for the future. The emerging new world vision has ushered in the Era of Responsibility. It is a holistic view, an ecological view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts.

• Hutments – collection of huts
• Transcending Concern – a concern that existed for a very long time and has passed down from one generation to another
• Demise – death
• Ushered – guide someone somewhere

India has a population of 920 million people, which is larger than the combined populations of Africa and South America. If the population is not controlled, the majority of the people will die in their huts, with only a chance of survival. However, as time passes, people are becoming concerned about the planet's survival. We have now begun to see our existence from a broader perspective. Solving environmental problems is a passport to the future, not a remark of our death. We should see the world as a whole, not as individual parts.

Industry has a most crucial role to play in this new Era of Responsibility. What a transformation would be affected if more businessmen shared the view of the Chairman of Du Pont, Mr Edgar S. Woolard who, five years ago, declared himself to be the Company’s “Chief Environmental Officer”. He said, “Our continued existence as a leading manufacturer requires that we excel in environmental performance.”

Of all the statements made by Margaret Thatcher during the years of her Prime Ministership, none has passed so decisively into the current coin of English usage as her felicitous words: “No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy — with a full repairing lease”. In the words of Mr. Lester Brown, “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.”

• Decisively – clear and definitive
• Felicitous – well-chosen
• Freehold – permanent tenure of land or property
• Tenancy – possession of the land

In this day and age of environmental responsibility, industry plays a critical role. Mr. Woolard, Chairman of Du Pont, declared himself "Chief Environmental Officer," and such attitude in other businessmen can have a significant impact on the transformation.

When Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, she made a well-chosen statement: "No human on this planet has a permanent tenure; we all have life possession and a full repairing lease." We have borrowed the earth from our children, according to Mr. Lester Brown.

About the Author

Nanabhoy Ardeshir Palkhivala was born in Bombay in 1920. Palkhivala received a master's degree in English from St Xaviers' College. He received his law degree from the Government Law College in Bombay. Palkhivala began practising law in Bombay in 1946. His initial background was in commercial and tax law. In 1950, he co-wrote the influential The Law and Practice of Income Tax with Sir Jamhedji, which is still used as a reference guide today. The IMF also used the book as a draft guide for tax laws.