DEBATE: At this stage of economic development, India should focus more on local environmental issues than global ones?

Indira Mukherjee

The butterfly effect is a phenomenon, wherein a relatively insignificant event in one part of the world leads to a major consequence in another part. So if tomorrow someone tells us that the recent droughts in Maharashtra were an effect of the indiscriminate felling of trees in Brazil – let’s not get surprised. 
It is probably because of this far sightedness that the UN Summit in 2000 adopted 8 Millennium Development Goals and kept one of the aims as “Ensuring environmental sustainability”. 

There is no gainsaying the fact that environmental issues plague each and every country today - India is no exception. Because environmental issues do not recognise territorial borders, the solutions too, need to have a global dimension.  

Good Afternoon respected teachers and my dear friends; I am Indira Mukherjee and to speak against the motion, I would like to draw your attention towards three things:

• “There is a very strong coupling between environment and trade”

Considering the burgeoning ties with the WTO, can India remain sequestered from Environmental Agreements which have trade implications; like CITES, Basel convention and others?
Let’s take an example. Suppose 2 WTO members indulge in trade and out of them one is not actively into resolving global environmental issues. What can such a situation lead to? This might eventually cause the first country into imposing trade sanctions against the other. Quite a jam, isn’t it?

At this stage of economic development, can India afford to face such a predicament? A strained trade relationship might have an impact on financial support and technology transfer in other sectors as well.

• “There is an inextricable link between globalization and environment”

Environmental resources provide the fuel for economic globalization, which in turn affects environmental resources. Let’s take the example of green house gas emission reduction. 

The Kyoto protocol actually allows member states to reduce GHG, not only in their own countries but also elsewhere via the mechanism of Joint Implementation, Emissions Trading and Clean Development Mechanism. Interestingly, India is the largest beneficiary of CDM in the world under the Kyoto protocol.

So if a developed country wishes to invest in India to reduce its emission and helps us with money and technology, and just expects an active collaboration in return, it is a win-win situation for both.  
Moreover, in this age of increased networking and de-territorialisation, not making use of the global effort to fight a malaise is a waste of resources available at our disposal.

• “There is a seamless interaction between global and local environment policies”

Let’s consider NAPCC-2007. It was India’s response to the IPCC’s 4th assessment report on climate change, in accordance with the principle of CBDR.
Also, let’s not forget that India formulated the Biodiversity Act in 2002 to meet its obligations under Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - an outcome of Rio Earth Summit, 1992.

Thus, it would not be a terminological in-exactitude to say that global efforts to curb environmental issues boil down to local initiatives. Hence, ignoring global environmental issues at the cost of local environmental issues does not augur well on the part of a responsible nation like India. The way I look at it, local environmental issues are more about follies of implementation at the grass root level.

In sum – India owing to its economic position has the capability to actively engage in multilateral negotiations in the global arena. Such an approach must be based on Mahatma Gandhi’s dictum – 
“The earth has enough to meet people’s needs, but will never have enough to satisfy people’s greed.” 

The success of our national efforts would be significantly enhanced, provided the other countries affirm their commitment towards fixing global environmental issues. It is in this field that India can play a significant role.
Environment is a collective global asset which needs to be nurtured. To stress the fundamental, resolving local environmental issues would be within the projection of the global mapping. 

India has made its presence felt in the international environmental scene and in future, should continue to do so.
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Indira Mukherjee is an IPS probationer of the 88th FC at LBSNAA, Mussoorie. This was her speech at the Homi J Bhaba debate competition which was conducted on 27th of September, 2013.