GREEN CONCERNS/SUSTAINABLE
CONSUMPTION PROMISING AREA FOR EUROPEAN LINKAGES WITH INDIAN SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
India has told the
European Union that sustainable consumption and green concerns
are the most promising area for joint collaborative linkages in
Science and Technology. The increasing concern on these issues
in Europe in all its spheres is a notable trend, especially the
eagerness to address the issues through public policy and action.
Taking part in the discussions of the European Research Congress
2002 in Brussels last night, the Minister for Human Resource Development
and Science and Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi also welcomed
Europe’s readiness to make a significant contribution to the international
efforts to understand and control climate change and preserve
the equilibrium of eco-systems.
Speaking at length,
DR. Joshi pointed out that climate change and sustainable consumption
are inter-related and must be tackled at both the ends. It is
not possible to achieve sustainable development in real terms,
unless the global economies first address the issue of sustainable
consumption. As long as unlimited consumption remains a measure
of progress for some countries of the world, science and technology
will continue to meet the expanding demand of human greed and
rapacity. This needs a changed course, so as to secure a better
deal for the poor.
Referring to the
international conference held last month in New Delhi on capacity
building in developing countries, to meet climate change Dr. Joshi
said that an international centre of excellence is proposed to
be set up in India to address the issue. He expressed the confidence
that the establishment of such a mechanism will get full support
from the European Union, both in financial and technological terms
with networking backup.
Turning to globalisation
and unsustainable consumption, Dr. Joshi said, it has already
resulted in dangerous consequences and is further compounded by
narrow techno-economic vision of its process. Globalisation has
to be seen in the context of sharp inequalities prevailing among
the countries of the world. A globalisation process which relies
on perpetuating the ever higher levels of consumption in some
pockets of the world can only lead to globalisation of poverty,
inequality and further ecological degradation, he cautioned. The
values of sustainability and the need to directly link Science
and Technology with societal requirements, is of India’s great
concern, Dr. Joshi averred.
