Skip to main content

Need for society to focus on minimising the demand for materials and energy

By Shankar Sharma* 

"Overconsumption by the rich must be tackled,.." says acting UN biodiversity chief, as in an article.
Whereas this issue of overconsumption by the rich has always been there, certainly in modern society, what is of serious concern in 2023 is that the country governments also are consciously indulging in such overconsumption in many forms. 
Such overconsumption by the governments is epitomised by the high GDP growth rate paradigm, which invariably involves much more travel and tourism focus, huge number of vehicles being added every month, continuous increase in air travels, air condition facilities, 24 hour shopping malls, continuous addition of air ports, express highways, fancy tours such as luxury cruisers, increase in night time sports etc. 
 It is easily questionable as to how each of these economic or non-economic activities are essential to lift the masses from the clutches of poverty, whereas all of them are intricately linked to the degradation of critical elements of nature, and in exacerbating the Climate Change phenomenon.
So, there is a need for the entire society to have a steady focus on minimising the demand for materials and energy in each and every one of our daily activities. Since our bureaucrats and political leaders do not seem to care of the consequences of overconsumption for which the pursuit of a high GDP growth rate paradigm is the root cause, civil society groups have the onus to try and do all that is feasible to arrest this mad rush towards calamity.
---
*Power & Climate Policy Analyst

Comments

TRENDING

The silent epidemic: What numbers tell us about India's youth mental health crisis

By Jyotiradiya Singh*  Every year, the National Crime Records Bureau publishes a report that most people never read. It is called Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India, and buried inside its tables and percentages is one of the clearest pictures we have of what young India is going through right now. The numbers are not abstract. Each one is a person, a family, a room that went quiet. 

Ex-bureaucrats flag tribal rights concerns in Odisha, seek release of arrested leaders

By A Representative   A group of former civil servants, organised as the Constitutional Conduct Group, has issued an open letter to the Government of India expressing concern over the erosion of rights of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers in Odisha. The group, which describes itself as having no political affiliation, said Odisha has the fourth largest forest cover in India and the third largest Scheduled Tribe population, and alleged that large tracts of tribal-inhabited forests are being surrendered to mining and industrial projects, reducing both the forests and the communities dependent on them to distress.

From caste to race: Reading 'Black & Buddhist' through an Indian lens

By Rajiv Shah  A few days ago, while visiting a local library in a relatively small town on the eastern coast of the United States, the person who took me there asked if I wished to borrow a book. I looked around. While I couldn't find much that immediately connected with me, one book seemed of particular interest: Black & Buddhist .