The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement’s Role

By Nani Palkhivala

Introduction

More than ever the planet earth is losing its vitality and freshness. Due to human development
activities throughout the globe the 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. Realisation 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 1.2 billion while the world population is about 7
billion. Hence, we hold the major chunk of the world. The author questions whether we recognise
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 Questions

Q. Why is the earth said to be an ailing planet?

Ans. Due to the insensitive exploitation by humans for his 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.

Q. 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 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.

Q. What did the most dangerous animal on the earth learn in the recent time?

Ans. The most dangerous animal, man, 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, the safeguard, trustee of the earth.

Q. 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 forgets 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.

Q. "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.

Q. 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.
Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. What was the question raised by first Brandt Commission?

Ans. The first Brandt Commission raised a very serious question to the humanity regarding its
obligations to the ailing planet. It asked if we are to leave our successors a scorched planet of
advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment.

Q. Name one of the Indian based firm that initiated "No Paper Project" by means of E-Learning to
minimize the use of paper and bring down deforestation. What is its message to students
worldwide?

Ans. In 1999, an Indian based firm initiated total e-learning for students and teachers worldwide. It
aims to bring down the use of paper and trees by encouraging students who formerly learnt bulk
loads of guides and printed materials. The firm, a free website, has now over half a million users
worldwide who have abandoned the use of printed guides. The firm is www.kiddingtown.com and it
feels proud of all its users who are taking its name to their friends, neighbors and teachers over
facebook. (Well, this went totally out of syllabus but don’t mind)
Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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 careful that the generation that comes after us will have a better land and
sea, a less dense forest, cleaner water and clearer sky.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Q. 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.

Long Answer Questions

Q. How has the growth of world population affected the environment? Support your answer with
suitable arguments?

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.

Q. We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.
Discuss.

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.