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Sustainable development in an era of greed

While world leaders, decision-makers and dignitaries assemble in Johannesburg, South Africa, in another courageous attempt at saving and sustaining Mother Earth, the devastating impact of man's greed is continuing to be felt even in developing countries such as ours, which need to be extra-vigilant about resource-depletion. Even while the World Summit on Sustainable Development got under way, we front paged a news report yesterday which highlighted the phenomenal occurrence of timber felling in this country despite laws and regulations being in force to contain it. Apparently, loopholes in current regulations are being exploited ravenously by timber racketeers. Some of these limitations, we are told, have been rectified.

So pernicious and ruinous has been the effect of illicit timber felling that expert opinion attributes recurring droughts in this country to the resultant deforestation. The world's forests, it is said, have shrunk during the last decade, by an area which matches that of Venezuela, and it follows that Lanka's resource gobblers have contributed to this process in no small measure. These unpalatable truths about our depleting natural resource base should compel our political leaders and decision-makers to give of their utmost to international efforts to get sustainable development under way and redouble efforts to bring crimes such as illicit timber felling under control without further delay.

It is necessary to note that the point at issue in Johannesburg is sustainable development and not merely environment preservation or other such dated terms in the environment debate. Protecting the world's eco- system and its resources is vital for the sustenance of humanity but sustainable development also has to do with the furtherance and consolidation of human well being.

This is the reason why the deliberations in Johannesburg would also cover areas such as North-South economic relations, official development assistance to the Third World from the First World, globalisation and opportunities in the world economic order for developing country exports and even clean drinking water for the world's poor. The terms of reference of the global summit, therefore, cover almost every aspect of development and, rightly, put humanity at the centre of the development process.

The devastating, freak floods which have swept vast areas of Western Europe and are making dangerous inroads into Asia at the moment, should impress on the Johannesburg summiteers the dire need to make the long delayed transition to planned, rational and human-centred development. The natural disasters which are dogging mankind, 10 years into the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro, should serve as a reminder that sustainable development plans can no longer be played around with.

We need to remember Indian independence hero, Mahatma Gandhi's memorable words that the earth is blessed with all the necessary resources to meet mankind's needs but not his greed. Meeting our needs with the available resources, interestingly, is what sustainable development is all about. Mankind's needs are few but his wants are numerous and resource-depletion is the sad result of this over-anxiety of humans to meet their multiplying but easily circumventable wants. For instance, we need to produce essential commodities such as rice, wheat, beans and greens but do we need junk food and fancy sweet meats that are a drain on one's purse? We need timber to build our habitats but do we need superfluous, ornate furniture which results in the felling of forests?

Essentially, sustainable development is all about identifying mankind's prime needs and formulating and implementing strategies which would meet these needs in a rational, cost-effective fashion. Let's hope that the Johannesburg summit would result in a new resolve to achieve these aims.

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