The Ailing
Planet: The Green Movement’s Role
By Nani Palkhivala
About
the Author
Nani Palkhivala was born in 1920 in Bombay to middle-class
Parsi parents. His family name derives from the profession of his forefathers who
had been manufacturers of palanquins. He was educated at Masters Tutorial High
School, and later at St. Xavier's College in Bombay. He was a dedicated scholar.
At college, he earned a master's degree in English literature.
Upon graduating, Palkhivala applied for a
position as lecturer at Bombay University, but was not awarded the post. Soon
found himself trying to obtain admission to institutions of higher learning to
further his academic career. It being late in the term, most courses were
closed, and he enrolled at Government Law College, Bombay, where he discovered
that he had a gift for unravelling the intricacies of jurisprudence. He was an
excellent barrister at his time.
Nani was taken critically ill on December 7,
2002, and taken to Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai. He died on Wednesday, December
11, 2002.
Introduction
More than ever the planet earth is losing its
vitality and freshness. Due to human development activities, our earth has
become highly polluted, highly irreparable and highly damaged. We have taken
out petroleum, coal and a lot of natural resources from the earth. We have
removed more than half of world's vegetation and emitted large quantity of
carbon and a lot of other chemicals. We have destroyed marine life and made
rivers dry. Moreover our greed for more and more wealth resulted in depleting
the protective ozone layer and invited all harmful rays to the earth's surface.
Besides, we have brought out a great imbalance between humans and the other
species of the earth.
Summary
in Points
1. First Nation-wide Green Party: established
1972, New Zealand
2. Worldview shifted from mechanistic to
holistic and ecological
3. Realization that the planet is a living
organism in declining health due to human impact on its natural resources
4. Sustainable development - Development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their needs - key to human survival and prosperity in the
future
5. We, today known as the 'world's most
dangerous animal', are custodians of the future.
6. Undiscovered species exist in large numbers
but we may never discover their identity if we do not conserve their habitats
7. Lester R. Brown's book 'The Global
Economic Prospect' identifies four principal biological systems of the
earth as fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They provide food supply
and raw material for our survival.
8. Over-fishing and deforestation, coupled with
uncontrolled population explosion, has led to the collapse of fisheries,
disappearance of forest cover, conversion of grasslands to barren wastelands
and the deterioration of crops.
9. We lose an acre and a half of forests every
second and the World Bank estimates a five-fold increase in the rate of forest
planting to cope with the demand for fuel wood.
10. Article 48 A of the Constitution -
"The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to
safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country". Author laments that
laws are never respected or enforced in India.
11. Fertility falls as incomes rise, education
spreads, and health improves. Thus development which may ensure raised incomes,
is the best contraceptive. But development itself is not possible without a
control on our population explosion. More children mean more hungry mouths
which implies poverty as well as increased demand on our natural resources.
12. India's current population is estimated to
be 1.3 billion while the world population is about 7.5 billion. Hence, we hold
the major chunk of the world. The author questions whether we recognize this
fact and are at least now willing to make a change in our awareness of the
human impact on environment.
13. Era of responsibility - the awareness of
our role and the need for sustainable development
14. Author claims that the industry must join
the cause and work towards becoming eco-friendly just as Du Pont under the
leadership of Mr. Edgar S Woolard.
15. We are tenants of the planet, and are
required to keep it repaired and well-maintained for generations to come -
Margaret Thatcher, Lester Brown
Summary
Our Earth is an enormous living organisman, of
which we are parts. This is our planet, its destruction will make us all
homeless. We are dependent on Earth and not the other way round. However, the
thankless creature, man, is unconcerned about the dangers that pose threats to
our survival. The article by Nani Palkhivala deals with the concerns of the
environmentalists at this eleventh hour and talks about the new awareness that
has dawned upon our race. A holistic and ecological view of the world has been
brought into consideration. The Green Movement launched in 1972 has never
looked back. There is a growing need of sustainable development, which was
popularised by World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987.
Man is the most dangerous creature, as it was
declared by a Zoo in Lusaka, Zambia. Human beings are taking too much time to
realise the need of the hour. One of the members of Brandt Commission,
Mr.L.K.Jha, raised a vital question, are we to leave our successors a scorched
planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?
Mr. Lester R. Brown expressed his worry over the fact that our four biological
systems are reaching an unsustainable level. The tropical forests, the
powerhouse of evolution, as Dr. Meyers called them, are being destroyed causing
extinction of several species.
The fear hovers, what if the words, forests
precede mankind and deserts follow, come true. And the reality is that India is
losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. The Article 48A of
the Indian Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to protect and
improve the environment and safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country.
To conserve the environment and to bring down the population of the world,
which is 5.7 billion, Palkhivala suggests that development is the only
solution. Fertility falls as the income rises, education spreads, and health
improves. Nani supports compulsory sterilisation and defends it by saying that
there is no other alternative but coercion.
The population of India today is 920 million,
which is more than the entire population of Africa and South America. What is
happening today is that rich are getting richer and poor are begetting
children, which begets them to remain poor. Now the folks have realised what
endangers our race. It is not about the survival of human race but the survival
of the planet Earth.
It is an Era of Responsibility. The
industrialists have to understand the present concern with most consideration.
The view of the Chairman of Du Pont, Mr. Edgar S. Woolard is much appreciable,
our continued existence as a leading manufacturer requires that we excel in
environmental performance. Let us be grateful to mother nature and keep
Margaret Thatcher’s 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.
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. Why
is the earth said to be an ailing planet?
Ans. Due to the insensitive
exploitation by humans for their survival and development, the earth has lost
almost all its vital resources. With drying rivers, depleted and polluted
environment and deteriorated forests and greenery, the earth is now breathing hard
for its survival and thus it is an ailing planet.
Q2. What
is the significance of Green Movement in the modern world?
Ans. The Green Movement that
was found in New Zealand in the year 1972 brought a great awareness to the
humanity. It taught us that we are just partners on the earth having equal
rights to inhabit this planet as any other living organism has. Having learnt
this, human beings worldwide stopped large amount of destruction that it used to
cause upon the earth. People realized that the earth's existence was threatened
and began to do whatever was possible by each individual and each nation.
Q3. What
did the most dangerous animal on the earth learn in the recent time?
Ans. Man is the most
dangerous animal on the earth. He has learnt in the recent years a new lesson that
he is not the master of the planet but just one among the rest of the animals
and trees, plants and insects, who should live like a partner in survival on
the earth.
Q4. What
was the question raised by the First Brandt Commission? What does it
suggest? What is the significance of this question?
Ans. The first Brandt Report
raised the question, “Are we going to leave behind for our successors a
scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing planet?”
This question finds an answer in our minds but we quite conveniently forget
this answer. It has been proved in the recent years that the earth is becoming
hotter planet every year and another ice-age is under way. This question is
still significant and will remain significant until the only schooled animal of
the earth stops his war against the planet.
Q5.
"What goes under the pot now costs more than what goes inside it."
Explain.
Ans. With a growing
population and the pace of the global developments taking wings, the cost of
food touched a new height, all time high. Amazingly, the cost of cooking-gas
overtook that of food-grains, fish, meat and vegetables, thus the fuel to cook
– gas, firewood and electricity – now
costs more than the raw-food.
Q6. Why
is it said that forest precedes mankind?
Ans. No animal on the
planet earth ever caused damage to it but humans have been causing serious
destruction upon the earth ever since he had evolved. By cutting down trees for
his survival and development humans have established their monopoly over the
other species. Thus, with the coming of humans, the existence of forest was
threatened.
Q7. What
did Lester Brown mean when he said that we have not inherited this earth from
our forefathers, we have borrowed it from our children?
Ans. Lester Brown believes
that the present population of the earth has no right to think that the earth
is its property. Each one has to believe that he is having full responsibility
to keep the earth protected from all kinds of misuse. He has to feel that the
earth is place that he has to return to the generations to come. Brown further
furnishes that human beings have no right to misuse the earth because we are
accountable to the new generations after us.
Q8. How
is human population explosion the biggest threat to the existence of the ailing
earth?
Ans. Human population is
the biggest threat to the existence of the earth. Though it reached a billion
in a million years, another billion was added to the world population in just
another hundred years. Every four or five days the world population increases
by one million. The effects of this dangerous increase in world population are
endless yet the most catastrophic one is our present struggle for existence.
Q9. What
does the empty cage and the board in the zoo in Lusaka mean?
Ans. In a zoo in Lusaka
there is a mirror kept in one of the cages that is said to be the cage of the
most dangerous animal in the world. The visitor sees his own face in the mirror
and realizes that he is that most dangerous animal. The message is that human
beings have won the infamous other than that of a zoo animal. The
board message conveyed is a warning to the most dangerous animal to come
in terms with the earth.
Q10. What
are the four principal biological systems? How are they the foundation of the
global economic system?
Ans. The four principal
biological systems of the earth are fisheries, forests, grasslands and
croplands. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide
virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and
petroleum-derived synthetics.
Q11. Why
is tropical forest called the powerhouse of evolution?
Ans. It is in the heart of
the tropical forests where newer plants and animals evolve to more adaptable
forms.
Q12. How
is population responsible for the environment degradation?
Ans. With rising
population, space that nature assigned for forests and animals. More population
means less forests and animals. Unfortunately man’s first choice is nature and
it is sadly vulnerable and an easy prey. When cities and megacities occupy the
major portion of the earth, the ecological balance is said to be lost.
Q13. What
does more children mean to the poor section of people of India?
Ans. Poverty is directly
caused by illiteracy and lack of education. The illiterate and uninformed poor
people of India believe that more children is more income. In fact more
children means more responsibility and more poverty and an unhealthy family and
individual.
Q14. What
does Mr. Edgar S Woolard mean by assuming the post of his company's Chief
Environment Officer?
Ans. Mr. Edgar S Woolard,
chairman of DuPont, an international manufacturer, by co-assuming the post of
the company’s Chief Environmental Officer (CEO), stands a model for the owners
and chairpersons of all the industries worldwide. He implies that the chief
motive of an industry is to preserve the stability and life of the earth and
profit comes next.
Q15. What
are our ethical obligation to the ailing planet?
Ans. Human beings have the
greatest obligation to the earth to safeguard this planet from all advancing
deterioration and keeping it safe so that it can be handed over to the coming
generations to inhabit here peacefully and in the midst of abundance.
Q16. How
do you explain the concept of sustainable development?
Ans. Sustainable
development is the kind development activities that meet the needs of the
present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
needs. This kind of development is expected to be undertaken without stripping
the natural world of resources that the future generations would need.
Q17. How
do fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands form the foundation of global
economic system?
Ans. A majority of the world
population depends on sea food for their survival while forests provide
firewood, raw materials for production and timber for construction. Grasslands
are the destination of cattle and herds of animals and without them, domestic
and wild animals, the global economic system cannot survive. Each one is
depending on the other while it help the other to survive. There are nations,
except the gulf countries that depend on petroleum, that solely depend on
forests and fisheries and croplands for trade and sustenance.
Q18. Is
Indian constitution capable of safeguarding its forests?
Ans. So far, with all the
measures adopted, the government has not been able to safeguard its forests
effectively. India's constitution is ostentatiously rich and effective but when
it comes to enforcement, it miserably fails or it is not entirely
successful.
Q19.
Margaret Thatcher says, "No generation has a freehold on this earth. All
we have is a life tenancy - with full repairing lease." How is this
statement significant today?
Ans. Everyone says, “it is
my land” and “that is your land.” People fight for other territories and
encroach the neighbor’s land. It is here what British Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher’s observation gains importance. We are not supposed to occupy the
earth considering that the planet belongs to us and that we can exploit the
planet any way we like. We, on the contrary, have to extract the resources so
carefully that the generation that comes after us will have a better land and
sea, a less dense forest, cleaner water and clearer sky.
Long Answer Questions
Q1. How
has the growth of world population affected the environment? Support your
answer with suitable arguments?
Ans. The author Nani
Palkhivala enumerates some alarming statistics to suggest how the growth of
world population has tremendously affected the environment. The population
which took a million years to reach the first billion took just another hundred
years to reach the second billion. Another century passed it and reached the
alarming figure of 3.7 million. Presently it is over 6 million and there is a
huge demand on resources, natural or man-made. The resources worldwide are
under a lot of stress and pressure. The four principal biological systems i.e.
fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands which form the foundation of the
global economic system and provide raw materials to the industry are facing a
lot of stress. The human demands on these systems are increasing at a rapid
speed. Hence, sustainability and productivity are both hampered. When this
happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands become wastelands
and croplands deteriorate. The need of the hour is to become sensitive towards
the needs of the environment to get affected; we will leave behind nothing but
an ailing planet for our future generations.
Q2. We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we
have borrowed it from our children. Discuss.
Ans. Earth’s resources are
limited and will not last forever. In the twentieth century, there has been a
revolutionary change in human perception. We cannot take the planet for
granted. We are mere custodians. We have to take a holistic view of the very
basis of our existence. The earth is a living organism of which we are parts.
It has its own metabolic needs to stay alive and must be respected and
preserved for the future generation. What is required is sustainable
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
destiny of future generation. There are four biological systems, namely
fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They form the foundation of the
global economic system. They supply us food and raw materials for industry. In
larger areas of the world, these systems are reaching unsustainable levels.
Their productivity is being damaged. The growth of world population is another
factor distorting the future of our children. Development is not possible if
population increases. In this era of responsibility towards our future
generation, population must be controlled. Industries must become environmental
friendly. Now many industrialists, politicians and writers have realized their
responsibility in preserving the non-renewable natural resources for the future
generation.