At a time when the world’s greatest challenge is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December will prove decisive. According to Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a lot will depend on how much both industrialized and major developing countries like India and China are willing to limit and reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.

In an unnerving prediction made by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the rise in average temperature worldwide will dramatically impact regions in India, China and the eastern US. In the near future, these regions could be rendered too warm for sustaining human life. The rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers are a sign that the process has already begun.

The immediate impact of global warming will result in more flooding and drought, more extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels. For countries like India, with a low-lying coastline that stretches more than 7,000 kilometers on the mainland and another 7,500 kilometers on its two island territories (Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep), the impact could be devastating.

Although most Indian households don’t rely on gadgets and electric appliances for household chores, and despite eco-friendly practices like using pattals (leaf-plates) and reusing old clothes to make kaanthas (warm blankets), a rapidly growing economy and ignorant citizenry make India one of the worlds’ worst polluters.

According to the TIME Magazine website, India became the world’s sixth largest oil consumer in 2006 and contributes 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the Major Economics Forum in Italy this July, India agreed to work on reducing emissions in order to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialization levels.

It’s an inescapable fact that global warming and climate change are terms the ordinary rural folk of India have never heard of, which is significant because rural India comprises almost 74% of the Indian population. Government policies on environment issues that directly impact the nation’s green standards need greater visibility.

Tarumitra, an NGO based in Patna, is using children to inspire millions in the state to become environmental activists. “Children are helping us to spread awareness about the importance of growing trees, anti-pollution strategies and recycling kitchen waste,” says the organization’s environment expert, Chiranjeev. “Their efforts have made the government initiate laws that encourage a pollution-free state, like enforcing a ban on vehicles more than 15 years old.”

Goonj, a Delhi-based NGO, mobilizes urban waste to fill in for the lack of resources in rural areas. “Much of the solid waste materials like books, clothes, plastic bottles, utensils and footwear which are trashed, is under-utilized and still has a life,” explains founder and director Anshu Gupta. Recently the organization reused a discarded generator to provide the whole village of Barang in the state of Assam with electricity.

Kolkata, like other Indian cities, has banned the use of plastic bags under the Environment Protection Act of 1986, but the ban is grossly ineffective due to public ignorance and lack of environmentally friendly options available to citizens at affordable prices.

However, the Kalyani Municipality of West Bengal has made an effort to tackle this problem. They recently used waste plastic to construct a kilometer of road, which was the first of its kind in the state. “We hope to reduce the menace of waste plastic in the state by such initiatives,” affirms Biswajeet Mukherjee, Chief Law Officer of The State Environment Department.

And switching to green energy dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation recently experimented with a pilot project along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass by installing solar lamps to light up the busy commuter corridor. If this project proves successful, many other streets in the state will soon be illuminated by solar power. A similar effort to go green was initiated by St. Xavier’s College. They set up solar panels on their rooftop to generate energy to run its fans, lights and computers.

Such projects are small steps in the right direction for India but a comprehensive program is still needed to make a real difference.



About the Author
Lesley D. Biswas is a freelance creative writer and journalist based in Kolkata, India. She has written extensively for the past eleven years on sports, gardening, women and youth issues. Her articles have appeared both in print and online for publications such as the Woman’s Era, Reader's Digest, Funds for Writers, 4indianwoman, Kolkata Mirror and East Kolkata, among others.