ECOLOGICAL NEGLECT WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION, SAYS JASWANT SINGH

Developing countries should recognise ecological neglect as a weapon of mass destruction, and take active part in international negotiations on the environment, Jaswant Singh, Indian external affairs minister, said at a meeting on international environmental politics in New Delhi yesterday. He remarked that so far, developing countries had reduced global environmental negotiations to simplicity, seeing them simply as a trade-off for money.

Singh was reacting to a presentation by Anil Agarwal, director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), based on Green Politics, a recent publication that provides the first-ever comprehensive South perspective on the impact of global environmental governance on developing countries. Agarwal pointed out that neither the leaders of rich nor poor countries are willing to provide good leadership to deal with global ecological problems, such as climate change, depletion of the ozone layer and the loss of biodiversity.

Instead, while Northern countries focus simply on protecting their economic and business interests, Southern countries are happy so long as they get financial and technology transfers. Leaders in the South do not realise that global environmental negotiations are essentially about the sharing of the Earth's ecological space, and unless they get their fair share at these negotiations, they would have to compromise economic development in the future.

For instance, the current per capita emissions of carbon dioxide differ dramatically in different countries. The per capita emissions of one US citizen in 1996 were equal to those of 19 Indians. This is a direct result of the higher GDP, and hence the higher consumption patterns of the US. Given that the Earth's 'ecological space' to absorb these harmful emissions is limited, the climate convention must call upon US citizens to harness their emissions, while allowing space for developing countries to increase their emissions as they strive towards economic development.

Singh said the negotiating strategy of developing countries has been reduced to simplicity and they currently only see international ecological issues as a trade-off for money. One of the reasons for this was because global environmental issues are never on the political agenda in Southern countries. "There is not sufficient vote in issues of ecology and wildlife. These issues do not have enough political sex appeal and hence political consciousness on these issues does not exist," he said.

Singh was emphatic is rejecting the World Trade Organisation as the body for settling environmental disputes. "I do not accept that non-tariff issues can be put on the agenda of such an organisation," he said.

Singh said reports like Green Politics would go a long way in building awareness and political pressure in developing countries on these issues. Green Politics has been launched in 17 cities around the world. The purpose of the launches was to disseminate the South perspective on global environmental politics. Since it was released, the book has been included as a course book in three universities in the US. The book covers: