Together we can and together we will!

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” - Chief Seattle

With every striking hand of the clock by every minute INDIA and AFRICA two outstretched, ethereally beautiful, diverse in culture, flora and fauna are by shank’s pony towards the annihilation of the very land they exist on, the severance of the mother nature that has been providing for them since forever, retreating of the very beauty they are proud of into a gloomy gospel and the decaying of the home we with immense love call our mother land. India is the second most populous country, which has about 16% of the world population and 2.4% of the land area. Africa being not only the 2nd largest continent in the World but is also a world renowned abode to an extensive diversity in terms of natural resources, wildlife, and cultural heritage among other things. The upsurge of human progress in areas of technology and communication, industry and tourism has not only set the stage for India and Africa in becoming an opening of lucrative globalization and development but has also far beyond enriched the growth of these two emerging powerful states of the world.

But as Vandana Shiva, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis  puts  it 

“Nature shrinks as capital grows. The growth of the market cannot solve the very crisis it creates.” 

Having said that, you and me both would agree that national progress, technological advancements and economic development come with a hefty price for the nature to pay! And distressingly enough, the current environmental statistics of the two countries pose a testament to the descendent quote.

 "Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge”, Thomas Edison.

What scares me the most is that the world, if not welcoming, but is unquestionably acclimatizing to it! Before I formally begin to present my ideas on how these two emerging state powers can compete, collaborate and co-create the future on environmental issues I would like to clear the picture, lowering my liabilities on how to make this paper comprehensible to the common man. Knowing the severity of the question posing before appreciating the answer! The knowledge of the issue before applause to the solution! The awareness of the danger before welcoming of the Salvatore! In this scenario, the environmental issues! What are these threats that stand daunting to the nature that fosters the population of these two gigantic countries? From extensive surveying, detailed studying, conventional statistics and records, four major matters of concern rise to stand.

Climate change! There is an ongoing global temperature increase and with it the world is coming very close to a so called "climate change tipping point", a 2C global temperature increase, after which climate change should run out of control in form of frequent extreme events, floods, drought, hunger and even new diseases. What the people fail to understand is that trivializing this alteration of temperatures over this period of time is the indication of the utterly careless contravening of the man with the laws of nature and the peril it portents and may perhaps create ranging from economic to social catastrophes. But like every slight scratch can be taken care of before that “big ugly dent” emerges to view, provided if it’s noted, identified and acted upon before that “red siren” honks upon the tune of our careless endeavours, similarly this problem if not ceased to the dim at one stroke but can at least be soughed out and worked upon gradually, slightly receding away the calamity it can bring by a few units of time.

“We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they're going to sit” -  David Suzuki

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education director general, VK Bahuguna, said that the unique Indo-African partnership can provide help to India and the African nations for tackling climate change and desertification.

At the conclusion of a two-week training programme   on Combating Desertification and Climate Change sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs during the weekend at the Central Academy for State Forest Services (CASFoS), Bahuguna stated that the India-Africa partnership is unique and owes its origins to history and the common struggle of the two against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger.

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Africa has united with India to demand that future measures to mitigate climate change should take into account equity and "common but differentiated responsibilities," a move that will make the negotiation of caps on emissions of greenhouse gases tougher, though perhaps fairer to the world's poor.

The role of forests in mitigating issues like global warming, climate change and season discrepancies being witnessed by these two nations need to be elucidated to the being they ironically enough provide to and who were supposed to be its protectors but unfortunately are its very destructors. The people of these dense forest dwelling lands need to be aware of how precious these masqueraded souvenirs they have bequeathed from mother earth and how much protection and care is entailed for these natural resources in this environment threatening scenario currently.

In this context, various training programmes sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs are being organised on numerous topics including climate change and desertification. The purpose of this course was to sensitise the participants about different aspects of desertification and climate change and the role that forests have to play in mitigation of global warming.

This was also a platform for sharing of knowledge and technical know how about opportunities available and the strategies formulated for combating the menace. This training programme was third in a series of eight such programmes to be held at the Central Academy for State Forest Service. It was attended by 28 participants including senior forest officers, academicians and scientists from 15 African countries.

This being swathed, let’s talk about the next alarming issue that could be potentially demining the environment as we know it. Deforestation is still a major environmental problem, even despite certain progress in stopping massive clearance of Amazon rainforest. The deforestation is very serious issue in many African countries as well as India. Deforestation also contributes to climate change issue- not only does burning forests release greenhouse gas emissions but also means there are less trees to absorb carbon emissions from the atmosphere. It’s like a ‘domino-effect’, one domino knocks down another and so on. One calamity triggers off another leading until the assets of nature fall altogether into a pit of despair for the mankind, as I would like to call it.

“What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” - Henry David Thoreau, Familiar Letters

 Minimising the cutting of wood and its use as fuel can go a long way to fight global warming, and do so in an affordable way, an expert asserts. "Forest clearance and wood burning have emerged as a major cause of global warming over the last few decades. Deforestation alone contributes over 25 percent gases responsible for global warming," Michael Kleine of International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) told IANS. The UN however estimates it contributes around 20 percent.
Kleine added: "Reduction in number of trees as a result of ignorant deforestation means that there would be fewer trees to absorb CO2 (carbon dioxide), the gas primarily responsible for global warming."  Kleine is coordinator of the special programme for developing countries (SPDC) that is sponsored by IUFRO.  Kleine was in Chandigarh (India) recently to participate in an international conference on forests. He is based in Vienna, Austria, where the headquarters of IUFRO is located. 

The rapidly developing and economically proliferating populace, along with the move in the direction of urbanization and industrialization, has sited a considerable demand on India and africa’s infrastructure and its biological reserves. Deforestation in India and extreme room-creation by extensive uprooting and deracinating of outstretched green land in Africa, together with all its other environmental effects, continues to go downhill and is encumbering trade and industry development. However, its booming and exploding metropolises are the ones causing their presently detrimental problems.

S. Appanah, national forest programme adviser to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the Asia-Pacific region, told IANS: "In India, wood is being consumed at an alarming rate. The quantity of wood that we burn every year for various purposes is much  higher than the quantity of wood that grows here annually." Bangkok-based Appanah added: "It's true that deforestation fulfils many requirements of the human race, but if we observe on broader perspective then there are many intense and upsetting consequences associated with it. In addition, these consequences are not only local but have many global repercussions to follow."  Rohit Ruhella, an environmentalist based here, said: "It is the high time we preserved the integrity of our ecosystem. Every aspect of environment is inter-related with forests and it has become essential to reduce deforestation to avoid devastating impacts of global warming. 

The administration has made an effort to slow down losses to its jungles and enlarge tree shelter through a sequence of plans with backing from the World Bank. It has the largest participating funds that direct to the solutions of their deforestation problems. The effective implementation of India's rules and regulations for the forests brought about a good change in their previously dilapidated jungles. Through the help of the Worldwide Bank and the sectors of environmentalists protecting the Earth, the Indian nation gave way to the possibilities that deforestation problems could really be fixed.
The deforestation in India shows the rest of the world that a switch to ecological friendly decisions can help alleviate the world's present condition. If only the rest of the countries allow such kind of help from the experts, then our deforestation problems could possibly be offset in no time.

The third problem we are mostly likely adding to our day to day environmental issues is a very popular, very talked about, evidently a very common and indeed a big environmental problem for many developing countries: Pollution, especially air and water pollution. This however does not only affect us but is also directly responsible for a huge biodiversity loss. Huge biodiversity loss is occurring everywhere in the world like a widespread pestilence to have affected our eco-system, rendering disastrous complications in our food chain and specie cycles, because animal and plant species cannot cope with so many different environmental issues and are experiencing huge decline in population, some of which are already critically endangered.

Climate change is believed to be major factor behind global biodiversity loss though there are also some other important factors contributing to this negative trend such as habitat loss and plundering.

 Kudos to India-Africa (shared future) and all similar organizations all over the world as they bear for us the campaign torch on environmental issues.

Each one of us can help by self education and also adopting good and healthy practices. It is also a need of the hour that we help raise awareness to our fellow companions about the significance of environmental issues, their dire consequences and what steps can be taken on a personal and collective level to control it.

“One person alone cannot save the planet’s biodiversity, but each individual’s effort to encourage nature’s wealth must not be underestimated.”- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The inhabitants of India and Africa together at their own levels can take to simple steps and do their bit contributing to a pleasantly surprising impact.  Measures such as Having a proper waste disposal system especially for toxic wastes, Take very good care of your pets and their wastes, Never throw, run or drain or dispose into the water, air, or land any substance in solid, liquid or gaseous form that shall cause pollution. Do not cause loud noises and unwanted sounds to avoid noise pollution. Do not litter in public places. Anti-litter campaigns can educate the populace. Industries should use fuel with lower sulphur content. Industries should monitor their air emissions regularly and take measures to ensure compliance with the prescribed emission standards. Industries should strictly follow applicable government regulations on pollution control. Organic waste should be dumped in places far from residential areas. Say a big "NO" to GMOs or genetically modified organisms. Genetically engineered crops are not only bad for the environment since they require massive amount of fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides and steps like these are sure to pave way for a better future for us.

 “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead (1901-1978) quoted in John M. RIchardson, ed. Making it Happen, 1982.

This statement is true in its very sense! Africa and India, two powerfully emerging and developing states of the world can indeed bring about a change that could revolutionize the way environment has been demented.

The focus should be two bring down these two to planning and action on the same platform to save the forests. Every year conferences should be conducted to facilitate the exchange of thoughts and ideas among these countries.

The recent and the most potent of all the environmental threats is the Electronic waste, or e-waste, consists of obsolete electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Obsolete EEE includes computers, televisions, mobile phones, printers and white electronic goods, such as refrigerators. Although China and India were the traditional ‘dumping grounds’ for such discarded global e-waste, since 2005 several studies have exposed illegal exporting of e-waste from developed countries to African countries, and predominantly, Nigeria and Ghana.  Additional levels of domestically produced e-waste are rising across Africa as well, a result of increased electronic goods consumption stemming from, among other factors, growing rates of disposable incomes.

Simple enforcement of bans on imports and on informal e-waste recycling practices would not solve the problem, I would suggest that both should be more efficiently controlled, and that it is especially paramount to include the informal sector within decisions and resulting actions.

 This sentiment was strongly echoed in February 2011, during the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) E-waste Summit.  One of the recommendations from the summit concluded that e-waste imports should not be banned but controlled, as they provide opportunities for employment, poverty alleviation, business with recycling, and the bridge of the digital divide. The environmental and health risks associated with informal e-waste practices within Africa and India could potentially be reduced significantly through the use of improved treatment methods. For example, in specific relation to computer e-waste, modern recycling plants can recover or re-use 95% of the material, leaving only 5% as waste. As some of these recovered materials from computers and other EEE are scarce precious metals (such as gold, silver), with increasingly high demand, this could also provide revenue generation, alleviate market demand problems of these metals, etc.  Installing contemporary technology instead of relying on conventional methods, in African countries and India with high e-waste volumes could be one solution to the problem. This initiative is also one of increasing importance, considering that domestically generated e-waste in developing regions, including Africa, is expected to exceed that of developed regions within five to eight years, as per sources on internet. On the other hand, the process of (recycling) technology transfer to solve the e-waste problem in China was a failure, suggesting that a more holistic approach is needed. The question of who should bear the responsibility and the cost of installation of effective recycling technology would also have to be raised, if this solution was adopted within African countries. Another potential solution involves EEE manufacturers taking more responsibility. Firstly to reduce the levels of hazardous and toxic substances used to make EEE, and secondly for the entire life-cycle of their products, including when they become obsolete. While some ‘producer take-back schemes’ are in existence in developed countries, they are not yet of significant scale, and there is no evidence of such schemes within African countries. While manufacturers decide if, and how, they will bear more responsibility and respond to this challenge, the problem of EEE currently in production and circulation remains. For their own part, consumers of EEE must begin to bear some responsibility as well.

The domino-effect as stated above is evidently remarkable through these problems daunting our existence on this planet! Our Mother Earth could be anything but contented with the fact that the destiny of the family of beings and innumerable species it sustains lies in the hands of humans-considered to be at the highest hierarchy of the food chain and specie cycle. We were meant to be the guardians of our planet and not to end up as its very obliterators. But through forums, conferences, international campaigns we together can notify, educate, make people realize and subsequently motivate them to believe that all the power its takes to stop the environmental damage is within our hands. Especially when this effort done in coalition and alliance of nations that have shared a history of utmost slavery, revolt for freedom, economically limping to now emerging as powerful states in the global market, immense cultural and ecological diversity as well as beauty and paramount human asset. Alike in so many ways then indeed why not join hands and co-create a beautiful future for our environment and us,

"A Healthy Ecology is the Basis for a Healthy Economy", Claudine Schneider, U.S. Representative in The Green Lifestyle Handbook.