Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of the cancer cell. This was
the philosophy of developed and developing countries alike across the world
when they confronted the question of tackling climate change in Copenhagen .
Every country including India and China had a case to ponder that is on their
economic growth.
The economic
case for tackling global warming is misleading. Economic growth has taken a
paradigm shift compared to the older times. Decades back, it was meeting the
basic needs of the people but now it is nothing but “adding on to the luxury”.
So in today’s sense, economic growth has no end. In the case of the affluent
west,it would be very easy to understand what they meant by economic growth. It
is nothing but adding to their luxuries further at the expense of the life of
the planet we live in. If an individual commits crime, there is a government to
punish, but what if the government behaves irresponsibly? In countries like
china and India, where a huge population is still under poverty line, the
desirability of growth is obvious. But the government of these nations does not
understand that they can tackle climate
change without hurting the sentiments of the masses. On the other hand, if
they choose to invest more on improving the luxuries of the creamy layer, the
planet will heat up and the success will be short lived .It is found in a UN
study that 1% of the GDP spent on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions would
save 20% in terms of cash over the next few decades for the developed as well
as developing countries. Yet still governments equivocate .They are unsure of
what they can get away from spending on climate change.
Climate change can
be tackled with a minimal impact on economic growth. The planet can be saved by
adopting a development program which is environment friendly and which
addresses the basic needs of its people. For example, a considerable amount of
the world energy needs can be met by intelligent harnessing of renewable energy
sources .What we need is collaboration and cooperation between countries in
technology as well as manpower .Being tied to growth becomes an evil when it is
at the expense of virtue. The need of the hour is a development agenda which is
not only utilitarian but also virtuous in nature.
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