Sustainable Development: Prism of Developing Countries

Abstract

The paper makes a strong case for the pursuit of sustainable development in a proper historical and comparative perspective on the basis of incontrovertible cross-country experiences. Accelerating environmental changes, rapidly depleting potential economic value of finite resources and their attendant implications have been increasingly realized. Issues of environmental preservation, uncertainty and irreversibility necessitate an accent on renewable energy (RE) for life, biodiversity, climate variability, environmental sustainability, inter-generational and distributive equity. It isolates and identifies causes of extinction of various forms of biodiversity, explores and examines the role of indigenous people in sustainable development and brings into focus some of the salient features of the Biodiversity Treaty. It looks at the perspective of the developing countries with particular reference to India and stresses the need for the formulation of a coherent strategy for environment-friendly development because of the great dynamics of historic consequences. Towards this end, it brings into focus the concepts of common effluent treatment plants, cleaner production technologies, and environmental concerns in services, acquisition of ISO 14000, etc. The final section of the paper stresses the necessity of long-term planning and appraisal mechanisms, highlights the need for perspicacity and places matters in perspective.