Dear All, This is an extremely damaging report coming from the Indian Industrialist/Capitalist Joint and American Study Group combination. On the one hand they, in combination with our Govt keep singing the dollar song and India's successful development path and on the other they indicate a distinctly lousy condition for the Indian people. Do they suggest that the Indian population should be reduced to half and the next course of action can be easily imagined. I request the members to come out with their understanding of the write-up below.
Is it the result of Singur and Nandigram in West bengal and various opposition against Bhushan Steel, Mittal's, Jindal's etc in Jharkhand? vns India now consumes double its resources: report With a per person footprint of 0.75 global hectares, India is running an ecological deficit of approximately 100 per cent Published on 10/14/2008 6:31:36 PM *New Delhi:* India's consumption of natural resources is now almost double of what the country's land, air and water can provide, an overshoot equivalent to what has led to the current global economic meltdown, says a report released here on Monday. Prepared by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the California-based Global Footprint Network (GFN), the report says, "With a per person footprint of 0.75 global hectares and per person biocapacity of 0.4 global hectares, India is running an ecological deficit of approximately 100 per cent." Ecological footprint, global hectare and biocapacity are among measures developed by the GFN to calculate the difference between what the natural resources of a country can provide and what is being consumed. "The ecological footprint measures human demand on the biosphere in terms of the land and sea area required to provide the resources we use and to absorb the waste we generate," the report said. While India's ecological footprint is now behind only that of the US and China, its per capita footprint is low: 0.75 global hectares per person is far lower than the global average of 2.2, which puts India 125th among 152 countries. The report said that India represents approximately six per cent of the world's ecological footprint, four per cent of the world's biocapacity and 17 per cent of the world's population. Releasing the report, CII-Godrej Green Business Centre Chairman Jamshyd N Godrej said that it is important to impress upon policymakers and businesses that no country can continue being unsustainable, reports IANS. Godrej said green businesses were now making money, and that had to be impressed upon all businesses. "The business case for sustainability must be made clear," Godrej said. He gave the example of the Green Building Movement started by the CII six years back, which was now spreading quickly as users found the extra cost of these buildings was paid back within three to four years and they saved a lot of money after that in energy and water bills. GFN Managing Director Susan Burns said, "Like in the money markets, there is a credit crisis with regard to ecological capital too." "We're not going to get to a sustainble situation through small incremental steps. But the good news is that we know the new green technologies can work, can make money and India can become an exporter of these technologies," Burns said. You can also read in http://www.igovernment.in/site/India-now-consumes-double-its-resources-report/ -- Dr.V.N.Sharma http://canvas.nowpos.com/vnsharma
