Environment Management: Need of The Hour

People who are at cross purposes with nature are cynical about mankind and ill at ease with themselves. Modern man must re-establish an unbroken link with Mother Nature and with life. He must learn again to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognise, as did the ancients in India, centuries ago, that one must take from the earth and the atmosphere only so much as one puts back into them. Some of the basic principles that need to be adhered to, in this regard are: nature must be respected and its essential process shall not be hampered in any way. The genetic viability on the earth shall not be compromised; the population levels of all life forms must be at least sufficient for their survival. All areas of the earth shall be conserved with special protection offered to unique areas, various ecosystems and habitants of rare as w=-all as endangered species. Ecosystems and organizations as well as land, marine and atmospheric resources that are utilised by man, shall be managed to achieve and maintain optimum sustainable productivity without endangering the integrity of other coexisting ecosystems or species. Warfare or other hostile activities should not be allowed to damage the nature.

However concrete and concerted action on environment related issues is often hampered because vested interests compel us to protect ego systems and not ecosystem. We must realise that the only way to protect environment is through widespread dissemination of environment information and to involve both society and business as partners. The fact remains that all the talk of changing consumption and production patterns is meaningless unless entrepreneurial action is initiated by the captains of business and industry in tandem with civic leaders and governments of all the nations to ensure that none of the mankind’s activities cause damage to environment.

This synergy amongst society, business and the state being of utmost importance, what is required is an attempt to create a proactive and passionate commitment amongst the various business enterprises to minimize the harmful impact of industrial activities on environment.

There should be a concerted effort to put the focus on the opportunities of wealth creation through eco-innovative strategies in the new millennium. Leaders drawn from various sectors of the industry can share experiences and success stories to help create a mass movement calling for a change in life style and patterns of production and consumption to more environment friendly and sustainable products and services. The agenda must be to set up practical and achievable targets and draw up plans for disseminating, diffusing and driving eco-friendly initiatives including eco-innovation and environment management systems in all industrial sectors.