Interview series

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Q. In the 1972 Stockholm Summit you successfully placed global environmental problems on the international agenda for the first time. In the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, you challenged developed countries to provide significant financial support for sustainable development. What do you think about the progress since then with regard to international cooperation on these issues?

A. The good news is that there is a much greater understanding of the problem at the individual level. There is a greater awareness about what we need to do . The bad news is that despite this progress we have actually stepped back in the promises; the agreements reached at the Rio summit which have not been fulfilled. Overall, the condition of the earth has deteriorated and the support that the developing countries certainly need and asked for has been met only to a limited extent. Indeed, development systems have gone down in their effectiveness.

Q. With reference to India, poverty is the biggest challenge, even in the 21st century. At the inaugural session of the first Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, stated that ‘development has to be sustainable, otherwise it cannot be called development at all.’ How do you think a country like India can reconcile these challenges?

A. I do not think that they need to be reconciled. Sustainable development is a fact, not just a promise. Development that is really not sustainable, as the Prime Minister rightly says cannot be really called development, as unsustainable development will leave the poor as victims of the development process. The poor must be beneficiaries; if development is sustainable, then it is far more likely that the poor will be freed from the slavery of poverty.

Q. What do you think is the best way to encourage investment for sustainable development, both through the efforts of institutions like the Global Environment Facility and through a more significant role played by the private sector?

A. First, let us not simply look at sustainable development as a subsection of development that should be getting financial help. Real sustainable development means that all levels must be sustainable; that investments must be investments in sustainable development. We will not have a sustainable future if all our development is not environmentally and socially sensitive. That’s what sustainable development is all about. It is a matter of reconciliation, a positive synthesis of the economic with the environmental and social dimensions. As the Prime Minister says that if you don’t have that then you really don’t have development. Without that kind of development, there is no cure for poverty, one of India’s principal problems.

Q. Could you tell us something about the United Nations University for Peace and its work towards solving international problems?

A. The University of Peace was created by the United Nations but given autonomy and flexibility. Its mission is to serve the peace and security goals of the United Nations Charter through education, training, and research. Our basic approach is that real peace encompasses peace with each other, peace with nature, and peace within ourselves.

We are creating a network of important institutions around the world. Instead of trying to develop only ourselves, we are trying to reach out to those institutions and universities that have proven experience in peace and security issues and could help others. We are happy to cooperate, rather than originating everything ourselves. We are creating a global network of partnerships where the experience and knowledge of one is passed on to another.

In India, no doubt, you have an immense challenge but you also have tremendous experience. You have some of the best talents in the world; you have some very fine educational institutions —scientific institutes that have produced persons who have gone out into the world and created the technological, or at least the information revolution. You have resources, you have talented people, you have viable institutions. Yes, you have problems and challenges but you also have the means to meet those challenges. This DSDS organized by TERI has been blessed by the Prime Minister, whosewise and encouraging remarks demonstrate the high standard of leadership in this country and the commitment to sustainable development—the real route to a secure and sustainable future for India.

This is true not just for some parts or some privileged sectors of India but for all the people, who for centuries have been caught in the bonds of poverty. For the first time in history, it has actually become feasible to eradicate poverty.

Q. How can institutions like TERI play a more meaningful role in addressing the challenge of sustainable development?

A. TERI is one of the best institutions in the world, not just in India. It is world–class; it is recognized, and it should continue to do, hopefully on an expanding basis for what it is doing.

TERI is working on both ends of the process. It is working at the policy level, trying to articulate the policies that governance must follow to open up the energies of civil society and the private sector that incents them to commit resources in the service of sustainable development. At the same time, TERI is doing a lot of practical things, demonstrating at the practical level how to do it.

The emphasis of DSDS also is on converting our commitment to sustainable development to reality; how do we convert the policy into practical action that will actually produce the sustainability that we are talking about.

Interview series