Environment and society

Humans play a very significant role in both promoting and correcting the environmental  crisis. It is not a high-carbon “economy” but a high-carbon “society” that needs to be addressed. For any policy to handle climate change, human beings are centre stage. 

Actually, people are governed much more by status symbols than statutory warnings and knowledge. It is prestigious to drive big cars, SUVs, MUVs and Limos. Airconditioners enhance social prestige even if they are not switched on to avoid hefty electricity bills. Similarly, a mobile phone, more than a communication device, is a status symbol, varying with brand, model and price. Markets woo consumers on the basis of fashion, status and brands. The rising human population and increased standard of living further complicates the relation between people and environment.

Then there is the politics of environment. Especially democracies are governed by immediate concerns of voters, completely sidelining long-term issues such as climate change. A society in which a sizeable proportion of population lives below subsistence level cannot be expected to develop sensitivity towards environment.  Also, those in authority have been mindlessly cutting green cover and acquiring lush agricultural land to build housing societies, malls, airports or IT parks, making a mockery of legislation.

There is a simple relation between environment and poverty,  A large chunk of poor urban dwellers, while going back home in the evening, pluck branches of roadside trees to carry home as fuel. Many states have banned the use of plastic bags but people find their use inevitable. Eco-friendly clothes, organic vegetables, fruits etc. can be afforded only by a small minority of rich citizens, while others keep using recycled plastic because it is enduring. Poverty engenders apathy towards the environment.

Modernity and environment go hand in hand, Modern, techno-savvy societies are heavily dependent upon oil and other natural resources, resulting in pollution and depletion of non-renewable resources. In India, people tend to buy and collect things, much more than they actually require. Interestingly, women have been successfully caught in the loop by the market, making them shopoholics. Often, they end up hoarding dresses, cosmetics, accessories and so on, all in the name of modernity. It is a different matter that it strengthens their femininity within structures of patriarchy. 

By: Parveen bansal