Year after year, the many days marked for environmental awareness push for concrete actions to protect our planet.
Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, where ‘man-made harm’ to the Earth was first formally discussed, several concepts to make us understand how human health depends on the health of our planet have come in— the most prominent one so far being ‘sustainable development’, defined as “development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Undoubtedly, the acknowledgment of the role of human activity in affecting our planet and its environment (for good or for bad) is much higher today. The same is true for the acknowledgment of the enormity of environmental degradation. In fact, government corridors across the world are abuzz with how climate change touches almost everything —geopolitics, economies, food security, life expectancy, and much more. As a result, the policy push for climate action today is almost omnipresent.
But while government policies, research and development initiatives—and science and technology in general—do their bit, ‘we, the people’ somehow seem to be content acknowledging the impact of our actions on the environment, with no effort to amend ourselves forthcoming at the scale required.
One of the reasons for such passivity is the immense difficulty in bringing about a pro-environment behavioural shift, since such a shift usually entails a not-so-comfortable lifestyle change. For example, using a rooftop solar plant instead of an electric geyser (without any positive impact on the household budget) involves trading off ease for environmental good.
Ironically, as adaptation measures become necessary to face the now-here climate change, we are turning to practices that experts call ‘maladaptation’, such as increased use of air conditioners (ACs) to counter heat waves.
The Do’s and Don’ts recommended to care for our environment are well known and many. While the Do’s are more desirable, they are also more difficult as they imply a changeover (like a complete switch to rainwater harvesting, electric vehicles, organic produce). The Don’ts, on the other hand, are not so much of a stretch and might be easier to begin with. Even doing less of a harmful act (if not stopping it altogether) can help. For instance, we can cut down on our consumption of electricity (switch off unnecessary devices; limit the use of ACs), fuel (don’t use a vehicle for walkable distances; share a vehicle or use public transport for regular commute), plastic (reduce or stop the use of plastic carry-bags), and meat (just eat less of it and less often!).
Rather than jumping on the ‘Go Green’ bandwagon and hastily considering the on-the-horizon (and sometimes even the in-the-pipeline) options, it would be simpler to start off with correcting the wrong we are doing—by giving up the habits that are bad for the environment. This would be quicker too, which is crucial given the time we have for arresting or limiting environmental damage and climate change.
Having said that, those who think they are ready for the proactive Do’s should totally go for it! UNEP’s#OnlyOneEarth Practical Guide, which is developed for World Environment Day 2022 and outlines transformative actions that can be taken by the various sections of the society, including individuals, for “living sustainably in harmony with nature”, can be a good place to start.
Every effort to heal the Earth—our only home—counts. We can begin with reducing our carbon footprint, and hopefully, reach a state where we can envisage creating a carbon handprint.
The author is Senior Editor at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), a research-based think tank. She may be contacted on Twitter (@Warble_Able) & LinkedIN.
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| Date | 05 June 2022 |
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| Publisher | CSTEP |
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