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Blog of Dr.
Bhaskar Balakrishnan
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Biopolicy - In Search of Enlightened Leadership
for Sustainable Development
Athens Money Show
Athens Hilton, Thaleia Hall IV
Sunday, 21 January 2007, 17:00 to 20:00
Biopolicy for Sustainable Development
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Global
climate change, life-saving “greenbelts,” international
environmental policy, new ethics, and a vision for enlightened
leadership to ensure the continuation of bios on our planet, were
some of the issues addressed at an event organised by the
Biopolitics International Organisation (B.I.O.) at the Athens
Hilton, on Sunday, January 21, 2007. The event was attended by
motivating and leading personalities who convened to spark our
thinking on ways of facing the most important and urgent
environmental challenges of our time. The event also marked the
European premiere of The Greenbelt Reports, which document efforts
to balance the conservation needs of coastal greenbelts with the
socio-economic needs of communities in countries hard-hit by the
2004 tsunami. B.I.O. is cooperating closely with TVE Asia Pacific,
the producers of The Greenbelt Reports, in an environmental
education project in Sri Lanka, supported by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Greece, Department of Hellenic Aid.
Dr. Bhaskar Balakrishnan, Ambassador of India, presented some
important dimensions concerning environmental challenges and
opportunities in India:
“India’s development pace has accelerated in recent years, and,
given the country’s relatively high population density, traditional
economic growth paths have put unbearable stresses on our
environment. Severe environmental problems in India include
deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution and land degradation.
Urbanisation is straining municipal services. Environmental
degradation has a particularly severe impact on the rural poor, and
tribal societies when such degradation impacts soil fertility,
quantity and quality of water, air quality, forests, wildlife and
fisheries. Damaged ecosystems can mean loss of livelihood for them.
Certain groups of people can become destitute, even if the economy
as a whole shows strong growth. More than 20 cities in India have
populations of over one million, and some of them are highly
polluted. Improving the quality of air, water and land, and
protecting the environment becomes an urgent priority.
Public awareness, concern, and articulation of environmental issues
have been growing, and will continue to do so as education and
communication improve. This is a very welcome trend. Growth arising
from the ongoing massive restructuring of India’s industry,
infrastructure and agriculture sectors offers unprecedented
opportunities for environmental conservation and improvement through
green technologies and practices. The right application of natural
fertilizers and pest controls, sensible water and soil management,
and application of information technology and biotechnology will
make this possible. Industry and infrastructure can be re-engineered
to make them environmentally friendly, economically competitive, and
socially responsible. These are the challenges before India.
The Government of India has established an environmental legal and
institutional system to meet these challenges. Recently in May 2006,
the Government approved a new National Environment Policy, which
provides a guide to action in regulatory reform, environmental
conservation, and enactment of legislation by government agencies at
all levels. The National Environment Policy is intended to be a
guide to action in regulatory reform, programmes and projects for
environmental conservation, and process of legislation by government
agencies at all levels. The dominant theme of this policy is that,
while the conservation of environmental resources is vital for the
lives and well-being of all, the most secure basis for conservation
is to ensure that people dependent on particular resources obtain
better benefits from conservation rather than from degradation .The
policy also seeks to stimulate partnerships of different
stakeholders, such as public agencies, local communities, academic
and scientific institutions, the investment community, and
international development partners, in harnessing their respective
resources and strengths for environmental management.
The speedy and effective translation of the national Policy into
action in partnership with every citizen of India will transform and
improve India’s environment and make it into an enviable place to
live and work in.” |