The issue about who owns the air, the forests, the rivers and the glaciers is now beyond the scope of national boundaries. A dam in southern China can cause flooding in India. A brown haze over south-east Asia affects plant life in the Himalayas. Every time a tsunami hits the coast of Indonesia, I know it is the result of my own wasteful middle-class habits. If only I had not used an aerosol deodorant that morning, many lives would have been saved in Jogjakarta. Every time a cyclone hits Bangladesh and leaves a million homeless, I am filled with guilt. Could it be the consequence of the Freon gas released into the sky by the new Samsung fridge in the study, that saves a 20 foot walk to the kitchen fridge for a cold beer?

India’s protests that regulations to curb climate change are first the responsibility of the West ring hollow when viewed in the larger context of a carbon-free world. The idea of taking action only after we have reached an American level of consumption and pollution is as farcical as allowing a bank robber to completely empty the vault before making the arrest. A 10 per cent growth rate can hardly be a matter of national pride when the country’s rivers, air, and cities are some of the most polluted in the world, and lifestyle indices all place India at the bottom of the list. An altered way of life can only be a small part of the solution. However, an imaginative policy can transfer ecological accountability where it hurts least: amongst the high profit businesses and industrial houses, who are the cause of climate change in the first place. Expenses for waste water treatment, fumigation of industrial and vehicular pollutants, and the management of garbage should be the primary duty of those who manufacture cars, trucks, plastics, rubber products etc., and not merely the job of the irresponsible end user. Without the active participation of people who create - and enjoy the benefits of — India’s 10 per cent GDP, the green revolution will remain a hokey and unattainable ideal, and a mere talking point of international seminars.

... contd.