Rio Summit's global eco-voice

By Kalakeerthi EDWIN ARIYADASA

“Saving the planet has never been an issue of money, but rather a matter of resourcefulness and motivation of individuals.”

Spencer Beebe, President of Ecotrust - 1992

At Rio + 20 Earth Summit, the world talked to the world. The voices raised at this summit, were clearly more agitated and fervent than the tones heard at the global eco-get-together during the First Earth Summit, at the same venue.

The summiteers at Rio + 20, seemed visibly and profoundly moved by the soul-searing screams of Mother Earth, which has continued to endure the endless tortures inflicted upon her, by her unrelenting sons.

The First Rio Summit in 1992, was hailed as the largest International Meeting in history, on any issue - let alone environment.

This first Earth Summit reflected the unerring acceptance of the stark truth, that states working at individual level, cannot hope to heal the seriously damaged earth environment, as the eco-decay had assumed a runaway pace.

Propelled by this human urgency, more than one hundred world leaders - including the Dalai Lama joined the effort to meet the eco-challenge, along with stakeholders, over 30,000. Among other outcomes, this first Rio Summit yielded many documents, foremost among which was Agenda-21 - world's first piece of human legislation, that affects every citizen on Earth.

Statistics

Some telling statistics, dramatically highlighted the priority need for the First Summit. Tropical forests were depleting fast. (A decade before the First Summit, the Tropical Forest area dwindled from 4.7 to 4.2 billion acres. And, from these forests, one million species had gone into extinction, in the 20 years before the First Summit.

In the long litany of eco-disasters, that drove the world to the First Summit, the above are only peripheral.

The pervading spirit at Rio + 20 (officially designated as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - UNCSD) was the urge to assess the global performance in eco-healing.

One-hundred-and seventy-two governments took part in this retrospective Summit. One-hundred-and-thirty Heads of State or governments were present during the three final days.

The parallel Global Forum accommodated 17,000 environmentalists.

As the Summiteers settled down for their Rio + 20, the prevailing conceptual aura was not that rosy. According to authoritative evaluations, during the interim two decades, the eco-decay had deteriorated fast.

International commentator Bryan Walsh, presents the gloomy eco-picture, in these words: “On June 6, 2012, an international team of scientists published a study in the journal ‘NATURE’, warning that, because of human activity, the planet is reaching a potentially catastrophic tipping point.

Humans have already, radically altered 43 percent of the earth's surface from its natural state, far greater than the smaller changes, that helped trigger the last great planetary shift during the ice ages 11,000 years ago.’

Bryan Walsh administers a devastating shock with these words: “If development keeps up at the current pace, humans will have transformed half the planet by 2025. After that there may be no going back.”

Challenge

This is the challenge that faces today's human society. Can mankind device ways and means, to arrest this downward slide of the global environment? Rio + 20, has produced a 49 - page Report of outcomes of the Summit.

This could provide guidance, if today's world can adhere to these stipulations.

I am highly optimistic about Sri Lanka's ecological future. One primary reason for this is President Mahinda Rajapaksa's participation in the Final Sessions of the concluding segment of Rio + 20.

He has quite vividly demonstrated, his capacity to win goals, when he sets a target, with determination. The nation could be ignited to win the ecological war as well.

In the field of proper ecological behaviour, we in Sri Lanka have traditions, that extend to the far past of our history.

We deified natural phenomena - rivers, trees and earth itself. What is essential now is to introduce a system of discipline that will enable us to protect the environmental treasures we have inherited - but are currently vulnerable.

In the West, especially in the US, the alertness to ecological well-being was ushered in fairly recently. Rachel Carson's ‘Silent Spring,’ decrying the indiscriminate use of pesticides - as “biocides”, in a manner of speaking - came out as recently as, in 1962. Some tend to claim, that this work unleashed the commitment to environmental protection, leading the way to the modern environmental movement. We could produce such epoch-making works to ignite our younger generation.

A good portion of environmental disasters, is brought about by man's unrestrained cupidity. He damages ecological treasures, because he wants more and more. He needs, in great excess of his needs. The central teaching in Buddhism, traces many a human disaster to man's uncontrollable craving (tanha).

In Greek history, there is an episode associated with King Alexander the Great. The king, in his triumphal march, rides in great pomp and glory towards the western borders of India, on his favourite horse Bucephalus. The wealth he has acquired through his conquests, great enemies he captured in his wars are all parts of his triumphal pageant. People all round, rush to witness this glory.

March

King Alexander on his mount, sees a person clad in saffron, lying under a tree, by the path of the triumphal march, unperturbed by it all. The King goes near him and dismounts. The “saffron clad” person sits up serenely. The Great King asks him: “Do you know me?” The saffron person says calmly: “No, I do not know you.

“Well, you should know me. I am Emperor Alexander the Great.”
“All right, what about it?”
“I have conquered all the land from Greece to India.”
“Yes?”
“I rule over all the fields and orchards from Greece to India.”
The saffron-person responds:
“Is that it?”
“I own nine great rivers, from Greece to India.”
The saffron-clad person says: “Can I ask something O, Emperor?”
“Yes of course.”

“When you are hungry, do you eat all the yield from the fields and the orchards you have conquered?”

“No, not at all. Just the little I need.”

“O, Emperor, when you are thirsty do you drink the water of all the rivers you own.”“No not at all. Only that much I need to quench my thirst.”

“O, Emperor, when you need to sleep, do you lie down on all the land from Greece to India?”

“Not at all. I use only the space I need.”The saffron-clad person stood up.“Then what on earth is the use of all that you have conquered?”

The response of Emperor Alexander the Great, is not recorded.

But, history says that he died at the age of 32, in Babylon, stung by a malaria mosquito.

This is the greatest ecological lesson for all.