Ecology

Even as dirty air continues to mar and prematurely snuff out millions of lives in the country, the unsettling truth is that no one, neither political parties nor the voting masses, considers it grave enough to be aired loudly in the ongoing general elections. Oddly, however, it does find first-ever mention in the manifestos of the two principal political parties. But whether this would actually lead to cleaner air is anybody’s guess.

As the world’s biggest democracy goes into electoral frenzy, yet another hot and dry summer spell threatens to plunge the country into its worst water emergency. For long blithely callous to people’s water woes, any future government would choose to ignore the warning signs only at the risk of political suicide.

Sustainable infrastructure is now an established buzzword in international policy making circles -  involving governments, private corporations and think tanks. There is almost no room in this discourse for asking fundamental questions about how growth is defined and whether the nature of growth should itself be redirected. How would the future of infrastructure look if we approach it from the perspective of 'sustainability' as degrowth – which means redirecting the economy and society towards actual well-being of all, Sarvodaya, rather than perpetual economic growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP).

REDD+ was praised as a tool that could quickly and cheaply reduce emissions. This prediction has not been fulfilled. Instead, global emissions and deforestation are increasing.

The Katowice climate package brings minor progress, but COP 24 failed to deliver on the most fundamental issues such as raising ambition of national contributions, implementing human rights, and ensuring support for developing countries.

The reclamation of seed as a common good has begun. Following the concept of open source, new approaches evolve that result in the cultivation of a large number of species and varieties.