| The Hon'ble
former Prime Minister Mr Inder Kumar Gujral began by recalling the Stockholm conference in
1972 and the trend already visible then, namely the developed world retaining its
non-polluting industries and moving its polluting industries to the developing world. In
this context, Mr Gujral made it clear that pollution needs to be eliminated, not merely
moved. Sustainability, yes, but for whom and by whom is the critical question. Mr Gujral
then briefly summarized the several issues covered during the Summit. He mentioned that
poverty is a polluter but so is affluence, and that India has to contend with both.
The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs Sheila
Dixit began with a few salient statistics and said that Delhi is a microcosm of the
country. Tracing Delhi's development, particularly its industrial development and the
opportunities it offers, Ms Dixit wondered whether India's development can match the
growth of its population. Talking of India's gifted human resources in information
technology seeking greener pastures elsewhere, she questioned whether this exodus was
sustainable, particularly when one takes into account the money spent by the state on the
education of these IT professionals. In conclusion, she mentioned Bhutan as an example of
a country that sets a high value on the sense of well-being enjoyed by its populace and
wondered whether development means economic or material development alone—it ought to
be the development of the whole human being individually and collectively as a family, a
community, a nation, and the whole world.
The Hon'ble former Prime Minister of Sweden Mr
Ola Ullsten began by complimenting the summit for its clarity and frankness. He said,
"If someone would complain that we have not lived up to the usual high standard of
diplomatic phraseology, we can live that criticism." He highlighted the many crucial
pieces of truth that emerged during the Summit and suggested that we recommend what he
called six ‘recognitions’ to the world leaders when they meet in South Africa
next year for another summit on sustainable development. The recognitions are as follows.
 The decisive gap between what we know can be done and what we do to
fight poverty and protect the world's threatened ecosystems.
Sustainable development is a win–win strategy that generates
resources and supports equity, at the same time as it protects the environment.
Technical solutions have had little impact on the gap between the
rich and the poor and on the global trends of declining natural resources.
Changing economic incentives should be at the core of governments'
environment policies.
Changing the big picture of negative global trends justifies
international institutions with supranational power in combination with local
institutions.
It takes new definition of welfare to include ecological health and
a grand strategy to induce new thinking into building societies that are without poverty
and in ecological balance.
Dr Pachauri began by imploring the governments
and civil society in the developing countries to take a more responsible approach to
develoment. He maintained that removal of poverty is central to sustainable development
and warned that failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol will make it hard to achieve
international understanding. He also announced the imminent launch of a major initiative
titled INSTEP (integrating new and sustainable technologies to eliminate poverty) that
seeks to raise 10 million dollars to harness technology to alleviate poverty, particularly
rural poverty, at the grassroots level. |
