A Role for the Social Scientists

SECTION R

THREATS TO THE WORLD ECO-SYSTEM: A ROLE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

BHARAT DESAI International Legal Studies Division, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-l 10 067, India

Abstract-This paper seeks to identify some of the major threats to our fragile eco-system through human actions. We have sought to highlight that since these threats to our composite ecological heritage are global in nature, our responses shall have to be at the global level. We have tried to analyse a role the social scientists can exercise in response to these threats. We have merely shown possible responses within their professional disciplines. Can they play an activist’s role? The paper does not prescribe any push-button role while emphasizing role of social scientists in environmental education. Every discipline among the social sciences will need to carve out its own role keeping in view local conditions, The current stocktaking of the situation under the UNCED process may require the international community to review existing institutional structures in the field or create new ones.

Key words--eco-system, major threats, social scientists, environmental education, activist role

1. INTRODUCTION sheer magnitude and span of the simmering global environmental crisis, it urgently requires a lot more In the course of long and tortuous process of human concrete action. We need to bear in mind that many evolution, we have now reached a point where our of the critical issues of survival are related to uneven power to affect the present and future state of the development, poverty and a galloping population earth is assuming alarming proportions. It has almost growth. In turn, they have placed unprecedented come to rival the elemental forces of nature [l]. This pressures on our lands, waters, forests and other is especially so both as regards the swiftness and natural resources. The cruel dilemma which mankind irrevocability of its effect on our fragile eco-system. is trapped in is that sheer lack of development may The signals emanating from it are loud and clear. degrade the quality of life more than the adverse As the curtains are being drawn on the era of the environmental impacts of development. There is, cold war, putting an end to military alliances and however, now a growing realization in national slow phasing out of nuclear arsenals, we are now governments and multilateral institutions that many entering into a new war for our survival. In fact the forms of development erode the environmental whole notion of security-as traditionally understood resources upon which they must be based and en- in terms of political and military threats to national vironmental degradation can undermine economic sovereignty-is being expanded to include the grow- development [2, p. 31. This calls for a pattern of ing impacts of environmental stress [2]. The earth’s development which is sustainable. Such a develop- natural systems are fast deteriorating-forests are ment will require changes in current patterns of depleting, deserts are spreading, agricultural top soils growth to make them less resource and energy inten- are being washed away, ozone layer is swiftly thin- sive and more equitable [5]. A stocktaking of our ning, green-house gases add to global temperatures, actions and behaviour in the post-Stockholm era bio-diversity is fast diminishing, air pollution is calls for the exercise of political will to save our choking most of the urban areas, water pollution is planet. Since the global ecological heritage is a com- poisoning our already scarce drinking water supply posite one, both the developed and the developing and the people are not yet fully conscious of the ill countries need to pull together their resources to meet effect of increasing noise pollution [3]. the challenge. The global community action can be In fact the realization of the call enshrined in the focused by identifying and dealing with major threats Stockholm Declaration two decades ago, to “shape to our eco-system. our actions throughout the world with a more pru- dent care for their environmental consequences” [4], is now long overdue. The concern injected into the 2. MAJOR THREATS human psyche in that historic first global effort to diagnose the state of the global environment has now Mankind is facing one of the biggest tests for started showing some results. However, in view of the striking a proper balance between developmental

589 590 BHARAT DESAI needs and environmental imperatives. However, iron- an increased global surface temperature will attract ically, much of the development in the world today major attention. The issues at stake will be the rights is not sustainable. Many of our economic, monetary and obligations of nations in protecting the global and trade policies in sectors such as energy, agricul- climatic commons. We are, however, handicapped by ture, forestry and human settlements tend to induce the uncertainty regarding the pace, intensity and and reinforce non-sustainable development patterns regional distribution of the climatic changes [lo]. The and practices. Apart from the irreversible squander- question still haunting us is what is the linkage ing of our biological capital, we are confronting a between observed temperature increases and increase growing problem of environmental refugees-people in greenhouse gases? If this linkage can be estab- who are forced to abandon their traditional habitat lished, most of the nations contributing to global because of adverse environmental conditions-which warming will fall in line in substantially limiting their is also peculiar to our age. In fact, the human quest emissions. to conquer nature through science and technology The process for evolving a Framework Conven- has brought us on to the present brink. The threats tion on Climate Change began in 1988 with the to our eco-system essentially emanate from human establishment of an Intergovernmental Panel on activities in almost every sector. However, there are Climate Change (IPCC). The panel set up, jointly some major threats which merit our urgent attention by WMO and UNEP, produced the most effec- and efforts to resolve them. tive scientific and technical findings on climate change. The UN General Assembly endorsed (a) Global warming and climate change the IPCC process. However, in view of the urgency For the past few years some of the leading scientists of the matter, the General Assembly viewed the have been warning us about emission of gases result- need for establishment of a single negotiating ing from industrial activities and transport sector into process. This culminated in the Assembly decision the atmosphere. They have argued that gases like to set up the Intergovernmental Negotiating Com- carbon-dioxide and chlorofluoro-carbons (CFCS) are mittee (INC) to prepare a Framework Convention accumulating above the earth’s surface and form a to be completed prior to the UNCED in 1992 shield which allows sunlight to penetrate but does [II]. The INC in arriving at the final agreement not allow the heat to escape. As a result there is a on the Framework Convention is to consider, steady warming of the earth resulting in a big green- among others, emissions, sinks, transfer of tech- house, in which heat is encapsulated leading to rise in nology, financial resources and funding mech- global temperatures [6]. Apart from emissions of anism for developing countries. This will help the gases from automobiles and factories, the torching of UNCED in linking global environmental policy to forests in many countries, to clear land for cultiva- long standing interest in realigning North-South tion. is also contributing to the pumping of carbon inequity. into the atmosphere. This gradual warming of the Irrespective of the uncertainties surrounding the atmosphere is now threatening to melt the polar current greenhouse projections, global warming will, icecaps and trigger major climatic changes around the in all probability, be a significant concern well into world. the next century. The issue has assumed great signifi- Though the world is passing through an agonizing cance for the developing countries, which have con- period in view of the possible adverse impact of the tributed little to the increase in greenhouse gases and rising temperatures on human life and the eco- are likely to suffer the worst effects. If the current system, the predictions of the scientists are being fears about the intensity of global warming quicken- disputed in some quarters. Ironically, the scientists do ing the pace of sea level rise come true, scores of not agree on how much global warming has occurred, island nations and coastal areas of others will disap- how much more is on the way and what climatic pear beneath the waves by the end of next century consequences will be. This has created some obstacles WI. in the current process of global climate talks. As a precursor to the 1992 UN Conference on Environ- (b) Ozone depletion ment and Development (UNCED) to be held in Rio There are strong scientific indications that the de Janeiro, the efforts to reach an agreement on ozone layer in the stratosphere, which protects limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases have not the earth from ultraviolet radiation of the sunlight, yet borne much fruit [7]. The Nairobi meeting in is facing a swift depletion. Satellite pictures have September 1991 led to greater isolation of the U.S.- revealed ozone holes above the Arctic and the which emits a greater volume of greenhouse gases Antarctica. It is shown that most harmful wave- than any other country [8]. The U.S. does not believe lengths of the ultraviolet sunlight penetrating through that the scientific evidence for global warming is solid the ozone hole can cause cancer by damaging the enough to commit it to a course of limiting green- chemicals genes are made of, retard the growth of house gases [9]. plants and damage the undersea organisms which lie At the forthcoming Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit at the end of the food chain. For this the main the problem of climate warming in the sense of culprits are the CFCS. When the CFCS reach the Threats to the world eco-system 591

upper atmosphere, the chlorine atoms split off and The scientists are still working on the range of attack ozone. The recent satellite findings presented ozone depletion in the stratosphere. In a startling to the first meeting of the Ozone Research Managers disclosure recently, a UN advisory panel has reported of the Parties of the Vienna Convention for the that serious atmospheric ozone depletion has ex- Protection of the Ozone Layer (Geneva, March 1991) panded from the polar regions to the temperate has revealed ozone depletion between latitudes 65” climes. This reportedly covers almost all of North North and 65” South at an average rate of about 3% America, Europe, the Soviet Union, Australia, per decade. The analysis of the data over the previous New Zealand and much of Latin America [15]. In year has reinforced the conclusion that the Antarctica fact it now appears that ozone depletion in Antarctica Spring season ozone hole as big as the U.S. and as has expanded from a winter occurrence into summer deep as Mount Everest-is due to chemical destruc- and spring as well. Since the ozone depletion is still tion of ozone by reactive chlorine and bromine from largely due to human activity, it poses vital questions man-made CFCS and halons. regarding the human activities-the profligate life- As more scientific evidence is pouring in, there styles in industrialized countries and abject poverty in is a worldwide concern regarding the growing much of the developing world, a legacy of their ozone hole and its consequences for life on earth. colonial past. This poses the issue of bearing the A 1% reduction of ozone is said to increase ultra- responsibility for the cost of substitutes for ozone violet radiation by 2% and can increase the depleting chemicals and compensating the developing incidence of skin cancer by 5% to 6% among countries. light coloured people. The 24% reduction in ozone, which has already occurred globally is (c) Preserving the bio -diversity expected to push up skin cancers by 12-20% in It is said that it took 8 million years for the the coming decades. For example, the high incidence dinosaurs to disappear. However, today we are con- of skin cancer in Australia (the highest in the fronted with extinction of species at a much faster world), is directly related to the depletion of ozone rate and is often man-made. Some of the potentially layer. Almost all the countries in the temperate valuable food sources are being lost forever-before zones are more vulnerable than those in the tropics. they are even discovered. It is understood that every The damage to the protective ozone shield is so year between 10,000 and 35,000 species become ex- severe-that even if all the CFCS are banned immedi- tinct when their forest habitats are destroyed. Ironi- ately-it would take 80 years to plug the Antarctica cally, today nearly every habitat is facing the risk. hole. Forests in the northern hemisphere have fallen prey The ringing of the alarm bells has propelled the to lumbering, developmental activities and acid rain. move for corrective action at international level in the In fact, tropical forests, covering 6% of the earth’s past few years. In 1985 the Vienna Convention for the land surface, are the planet’s genetic storehouses- Protection of the Ozone Layer was signed by more being home to almost half of the world’s species than 20 countries. As a follow-up to it, the Montreal [2, p. 1511. Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer We have to now reckon with the fact that swift and (1987) provided for measures to protect the human nearly irreversible changes in the earth’s physical health and the environment against adverse effects condition are having a devastating effect on the from human activities which modify or likely to biological diversity of the planet [3, p. 91. The biol- modify ozone layer [ 131. The Protocol has provided ogists cannot identify the exact number of plant and a mechanism to phase out ‘controlled substances’ animal species lost during the eighties, yet it is (CFCS and halons). Under the strong Adjustments to estimated that some one-fifth of the species on the the Protocol agreed to in London in June 1990, the earth are likely to disappear during the last ozone depleting substances will now be phased out two decades of the century. It seems that rampant completely by the end of the decade [ 141,as compared developmental activity resorted to by most of the to the original targets agreed to in 1987. A multilat- countries has taken a heavy toll of the wide diversity eral fund now set up has earmarked $240 million existing in flora and fauna. It is astonishing to note assistance for the transfer of technology to develop- that one-fourth of the earth’s total biological diver- ing countries during 1991-93 for the purpose. The sity nearing about a million species is now facing a crucial question, however, is the sincerity of pledge serious risk of extinction. What is of serious concern for transfer of technology for viable substitutes for is the rate of their extinction, which is one thousand CFCS and halons to the developing countries and the times faster than the historical rate [5, p. 951. Some of terms under which required funding is made available the species-rich habitats which are vulnerable include to them. It also needs to be kept in mind whether the tropical coral reefs, geologically ancient lakes and developing countries, already burdened by mountains coastal wetlands. Diversity is the raw material of the of debts, can afford the luxury of undertaking earth’s wealth. The steady loss of genetic diversity has fresh burden for what is supposedly their remote made our food supply less stable and reliable than in concern and for which they are not much to be the past. The question is, should we not preserve this blamed. vital resource as a global commons? This is especially 592 BHARAT DESAI

important because once a specie becomes extinct, it ing pressure on green cover is not only because is irreversible and human kind loses its potential use of growing population but also the need to earn forever. foreign exchange by most of the developing countries. The maintenance of biological diversity is regarded Some of the heavily debt-ridden developing countries as a pre-condition for sustainable development- are forced to fell trees, which feeds the appetite of a development which can be sustained within the industrialized countries. The process of felling and earth’s pool of genetic resource without endangering torching of forests is so harmful that it takes away their natural processes. Similarly, only such a sustain- with it the genetic resources and leads to increase able development can preserve our biological diver- in flooding, landslides, soil degradation and a host sity [5, p. 951. There are, however, innumerable of other problems. Though some belated efforts development patterns and practices which are respon- have been made at the international level, however, sible for endangering this diversity. For example, there is hardly any significant impact in halting the there are 215 million landless people in the world fast erosion of green cover. Is it possible for the who, when pushed into the forests, destroy about developing countries to stop the practice of shifting 5 million hectares a year. Since such land cannot cultivation? Can we give incentives in the form of sustain them for long, it becomes barren and the swapping of debt for preservation of forests? Can settlers shift to the other forest areas. This practice is we not think in terms of a global moratorium on especially more harmful in the tropical forests which timber trade and depend upon alternatives to our once cleared take away scores of unexplored species timber needs? with them. This is, indeed, very tragic and we must When the green cover disappears, the land is think about viable alternatives to preserve these exposed. It paves the way for gradual soil degra- genetic storehouses of the earth. Can we not think dation and deforestation. In fact some of the non- in terms of converting such vulnerable areas into sustainable land use practices such as, over national parks and ‘gene banks’? cultivation and overgrazing only accentuate this pro- Though the developed countries are not free from cess. Desertification of which human being is an blame in this sordid process of extinction of bio- agent as well as a victim, makes the habitat too harsh diversity, yet it is the developing countries which are to survive-pushing the people en masse elsewhere bearing the brunt of the loss. The faster rate of just for survival or better living conditions. The extinction of species in the tropics is accounted for by enormity of the problem can be seen from the fact the very process of development in which the devel- that two-fifths of Africa’s non-deserted land re- oping countries are trapped. These countries are sources is being turned into desert, as does one-third facing a cruel dilemma of struggling to feed their of Asia’s and one-fifth of Latin America’s, people and raise enough cash to make payments on The process of desertification is most prominent in their mountains of foreign debts. Many poor arid and semi-arid lands. It seems that in the slow countries are forced to chop down their forests for the process of growing desertification, political, economic sake of timber exports to the developed countries. and social factors are more important than low Trapped in the morass of their colonial legacies these rainfall. The subsistence farmers have no option but hapless countries are bartering away welfare of their to resort to over cultivation and the nomads indulge future generations at the altar of maintaining their in extensive grazing only for bare survival. So the present credit-worthiness with international banks. threat being posed by growing desertification, es- Can we not think in terms of placing a worldwide pecially in the African continent and some parts of moratorium on timber exports similar to the ivory Asia, does pose a serious challenge. The effects of trade ban? Is it possible for the developing countries wide-spread deforestation and desertification spill to worry more about bio-diversity than feeding their into neighbouring countries. We have only recently own peoples and raising much needed foreign ex- witnessed the pathetic sight of human swarms cross- change to maintain their balance of payments? We ing frontiers in countries like Ethiopia, Mozambique, need to seriously ponder over these issues. Sudan and others. What can the international community do on a long-term basis to halt the desertifi- (d) Deforestation, desertijcation and soil degradation cation and land use practices leading to soil At a time when we are facing the impending threat degradation in these hapless countries? The United of global warming and climate change, the global Nations and some other organizations have con- green cover is fast disappearing. The green cover is tributed their bit in mitigating the plight of the a vital part of our eco-system and helps preventing increasing hordes of environmental refugees. A lot the earth to be too hot for us. The forests are more needs to be done on a concrete basis. diminishing at a rate of 15 million hectares per year. Most of this loss is occurring in humid parts (e) Air, water and land pollution of Africa, Asia and Latin America [5, p. 851. The We have now reached a stage where preserving major losses in the tropical forests take place for clean air and water for our survival are most import- their lumber as well as for plantations, pastures, ant. The process of rampant industrialization and crops and other development purposes. The increas- urbanization have taken a heavy toll of our precious Threats to the world eco-system 593

air and water resources. Now the land is replete with and sociologists, have to respond effectively in huge dumps of garbage and other solid wastes. The their own spheres to meet the threats to the eco- poisoning of the air we breathe and the water we system. drink has a serious impact on our existence. The The responses emanating from the social scientists, industrialized countries are already facing acute as regards threats to the world eco-system, are some- problems of smog, acid rain and choking of the urban how determined by their respective professional areas. The developing countries are also not far disciplines. Nevertheless, they can still contribute behind. The lack of awareness among the people and significantly for the purpose. Arousing awareness and lack of will on the part of the decision-makers has imparting information can act as a pivot for varied landed us into a sordid state when, it is feared that responses from the social scientists. In fact advocacy if the current pace persists, people will be forced can be the hallmark of what social scientists pro- to move with gas masks in some of the mega-cities in pound for preserving our eco-system. The gradual the not too distant future. The question of making unfolding of the severity of irreversible environmen- available clean and potable drinking water to the tal harm in the post-Stockholm era, has only under- populace remains one of the basic concerns of most scored the urgent need for galvanizing sensitivity of the developing countries in the post-Stockholm among the peoples to halt the race to ecocide. Social period. Though some steps have been taken to scientists are best suited to fulfil this task. In view control air and water pollution, yet the situation is of the transnational nature of our environment as worsening day by day. The lack of basic hygiene and well as threats to it, can we regard a cooperative availability of potable drinking water have brought approach as inevitable? The rapidly developing with it health hazards and a host of other problems network of global communications and transport in the developing countries. facilities has highlighted the holistic nature of life on The problem of solid wastes is assuming alarming the earth [17]. proportions in most of the Western countries. The profligate life-styles have contributed to huge dumps (a) Environmental education of garbage and other solid wastes, as much as that The time has now come when we need to inform land-fills are over flowing. Each consumer in the and educate every human being in all parts of the industrial world throws out up to 3.5 lbs of garbage globe about the simmering threats to our eco-system. each day [16]. Coupled with these, the problem of Their far-reaching implications encompass economic, radioactive and hazardous waste disposal is also now environmental, political and social spheres. The a serious cause of concern. Some of the developing social scientists can impart the most fundamental and countries are of late falling prey to the inducements critical knowledge that ail of us live together in a, being doled out for the ‘export’ of such hazardous what Stapp and Polunin have described as, single wastes from the industrialized countries. Can we “human super-eco-complex” [18]. As the rationale allow such clandestine practices taking benefit of for this approach goes: we share common interests, ignorance and the economic compulsions of countries common resources and a common destiny and so any receiving such wastes? What can we do to regulate individual action can have pervasive repercussions. the effects of ‘pollution of affluence’? The question Therefore the social scientists, in their role as environ- of environmentally benign technologies and bio- mental educators, need to strive for imparting a degradable wastes is equally applicable to both devel- global perspective among the citizens, policy-makers oped and developing economies. Can we devise and legislators. It will help in opening up their mental appropriate modalities at international level in this horizons to overcome narrow considerations and direction? It needs to be borne in mind that human imbibe the fact of integrity of the existence of all lives are equally precious in every part of the globe. species on the small planet. Through effective environmental education the

3. A ROLE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS social scientists can ignite and motivate individuals and community groups to understand and act upon As we are passing through a crucial phase in issues of concern to them. In fact information plays a human history, the varied threats to the eco-system, vital role in the process. For example, the primary through our actions, are real. Some of them, as focus of political scientists can be an improved under- discussed above, pose a serious challenge for standing of how governments respond to environ- mankind to be responded on a war footing. They mental issues and how to make governments more confront us with adverse consequences for the eco- responsive to the increasing pressures arising from system as a whole, which sustains our survival on this environmental degradation. This, in turn, should help fragile planet. Therefore, our responses also have to in designing more effective policies for the purpose. be geared up cutting across barriers of national The evolution of the concept of political ecology [19] frontiers. The social scientists, among others, have seeks to provide an enhanced opportunity to political a major role to play in this process. Various disci- scientists to play a more important role in the formu- plines comprising the social scientists, especially lation and implementation of environmental policies political scientists, lawyers, economists, geographers and programmes. Its underlying objective is said to 594 BHARATDESAI

be better understanding and harmonious relationship threats to it through human actions. The future between human being and the environment. generation will be better placed, with their acute The present ecological crisis is reflected in the environmental perceptions, to judge the actions of emergence of environmental politics. Hence, it past generations in passing on the state of the eco- needs to be matched by adequate political responses system to them! [19, p. 3801 too. The growing environmental movement has contributed to heighten social awareness (6) An activist role? towards hazards of environmental degradation. It An important question is as to how far the social can force the governments to respond to the agenda scientists can go in furthering environmental edu- of environmental politics. Several environmental cation? How far respective professions can transcend groups which have sprung up in the recent years need their societal concerns? Can social scientists seek the to be duly channelized in order to meet the threats to role of activists? These questions come to the fore as our eco-system. The social scientists can play an we have propounded for carving out a niche for the effective role in giving vital feedback and direction to social scientists in response to threats to the world these groups in realizing their objectives. At the eco-systems in the above discussion. In the course of international level many efforts are underway contributing to environmental education in their re- towards generating environmental awareness and spective disciplines, it fits well into their professional education. In fact, various conferences under the bounds. However, the litmus test will be when they United Nations auspices on subjects like desertifica- are called upon to interact with the governments. tion, population, energy, pesticides and resources Though a regular exchange between social scientists development do acknowledge education as a fulcrum and decision-makers will be a healthy trend, yet in for managing the global environmental problems. many a cases, especially in developing countries, it is Efforts have also been made in this direction often not so. The modus vivendi of the bureaucratic by UNESCO, UNEP as well as International apparatus simply will not permit it. It will indeed Conferences on Environmental Future [18, p. 161. be an extension of professional bounds of the Such programmes are making positive contributions social scientists if their non-partisan views on in adopting global perspectives in environmental environmental issues can get reflected into policy education. Going even beyond this, Stapp and decisions. Polunin have stressed the need for nurturing a global Apart from the literature being contributed by environmental ethic in each person. Realization of this social scientists-providing information to the citi- ideal can effectively make people realize as to how zens and educating them-it seems that in view of much their individual roles contribute in accentuating serious threats to our eco-system they need to per- the environmental problems. form an activist’s role to some extent. We do not It needs to be stressed at this juncture that no propose to suggest any formulae in this respect. ready-made objectives can be offered for the role the However, it is worth pondering over. The kind and social scientists can exercise in spreading environmen- extent of such a role can vary in each discipline of the tal education. Various disciplines among the social social scientists. How much difference can it make if scientists can always work out novel and ready to an activist’s role is taken up? Will their professional adopt methods which can propel ordinary citizens as bounds permit it? Is their any limit to such a role? well as decision makers to be. environmentally con- What kind of activists can the social scientists be? scious. It also needs to be borne in mind that though These questions merit our consideration. environmentalism has come of age in the Western We would like to throw some light on this garb for developed societies, yet raising environmental issues the social scientists through some illustrations. In amidst decision-making for developmental projects the two decades after the Stockholm Conference, the still raises many eyebrows in most of the developing human psyche has undoubtedly been exposed to the countries. The reasons are quite obvious. For this the ‘developmental terrorism’ on the globe, seriously process has to begin with making politicians and threatening our fragile eco-system. The debates and decision-makers environmentally conscious. Even, discussions generated worldwide are partly due to the bringing environmental issues on the agendas of the course of advocacy resorted to by numerous environ- political parties as well as in their election manifestoes mental groups, comprising mainly professionals. can help a great deal in making the people realize the They have on several occasions forced the decision- importance of such issues. Some beginning has taken makers in reversing clearance for important projects place in this sphere in some of the democratic nations or reviewing them. The emergence of the Green party like India. However, a lot more will be needed to be in Germany, election of Green members to the done in the years to come. One important contri- European Parliament and an active role demon- bution which can be made by the social scientists is strated by Greenpeace on numerous issues at the to actively seek introduction of environment as a international level, have contributed in generating a compulsory subject, both in schools and colleges. high degree of environmental awareness in the West- This can make the minds of the children attuned ern countries. However, such activism by individuals, to importance of environment in human life and environmental groups and others is still at an infant Threats to the world eco-system 595 stage in most of the developing countries, where the tinction in making the judges environmentally con- need for it is urgent. scious and thereby secure landmark directions in Ironically, since the developmental course is the numerous petitions ranging from closure of a chemi- only recourse for raising the standard of living of cal plant, closure of tanneries on the banks of the people in these countries, any activist role directed Ganges, installation of safety measures at Sriram towards highlighting environmental damage is Industries in Delhi, stoppage of storing hazardous promptly frowned upon. Therefore, the social scien- chemicals at the Antop Hill warehouse in Bombay tists need to carefully chalk out their course of action etc. In a recent direction [22] the Supreme Court of based upon specific issues. They will have to keep in India has passed directions to the Union and State mind the susceptibilities of the decision-makers as Governments to cancel licenses of all those cinema well as ordinary people so as not to be dubbed as houses and video parlours if they fail to exhibit at ‘anti-development’ or ‘anti-industry’. The lawyer can least two slides daily on environment. Furthermore, well point out that a particular industry or project the University Grant Commission has been directed infringes upon the fundamental right of the people to to examine the feasibility of introducing environment live in a clean and hygienic environment. An econom- as a compulsory subject in the schools and colleges. ist can highlight the cost-benefit aspect and non- The significance of such an activism largely viability of a project. A political scientist may insist depends upon the judicial set-up in a country, aware- upon environmental impact assessment and partici- ness on the part of the local community as well as pation or consultation with the local people. There- judicial activism. This is especially so for most of the fore, the social scientists, do have a role to play in developing countries. However, the trend here shown these countries where environmental considerations is illustrative of the direction in which environmental are still not built into the concerned institutional activism can play a role in responses to the threats to structures. They can positively help in filling up this our eco-system. vital lacunae. The course of action the social scientists may pursue as discussed here is merely indicative. (c) Need for a supra-national body? One cannot prescribe a push-button role. Every disci- We have tried to underscore the composite nature pline cornprizing the social science have to carve out of our eco-system in a world which is increasingly their own role, keeping in mind local conditions and getting closer day by day. A stage has now been developmental needs. reached when even local environmental issues cannot We would like to point out here some of the trends be seen in isolation. We have already highlighted this which are underway in a leading developing country aspect in the discussion on threats to the eco-system. like India in the field of environmental activism [21]. Therefore, our responses to these threats shall have to In the past decade several activists and environmental be on a global scale. As the stocktaking is being taken groups have played significant roles in response to of the institutional response in the past two decades, environmental threats from a wide range of projects. especially through the current UNCED process, a The ‘Chipko’ movement against wide-spread felling thought shall have to be given as regards the efficacy of trees in the Himalayas is notable for its success of the existing structures. Major international efforts [20]. The activists have, through people’s partici- in treaty making and generating consensus are being pation, contributed to the protection of the forests. carried out under the UN auspices, the UNEP being Even in the case of the Silent Valley project, strong the nodal agency. Is the existing institutional struc- public protests led by activists forced the government ture adequate? Do we need to bolster it [23]? Is there not only to cancel the hydroelectric project which a need for a supranational body in view of the would have flooded India’s only surviving virgin serious challenges to occur eco-system? The quest for tropical forests but also to declare the fragile Silent the New International Ecological Order (NIEO), Valley a national park. The recent uproar over the especially by the developing countries, will require an Narmada project and confrontation led by the Save assessment of the need for any new international Narmada movement is premized upon the scepticism machinery. The international community shall have expressed by leading economists, seismologists, to ponder over this issue keeping in mind the fright- lawyers and other environmentalists. ening prospects for the environmental scenario in the It is also interesting to note the gradual evolution next century. of the environmental jurisprudence by recourse to Public Interest Litigation, especially in the Supreme Court of India. Scores of writ petitions have been 4. CONCLUSIONS moved in the apex court for violation of fundamental rights of the people on issues ranging from cholera We have tried in this paper to focus upon some of deaths in Delhi, vehicular pollution, hazards to the major threats to our eco-system. In view of the children working in the Sivakasi match factories, world-wide ramifications, we have to ensure the need pollution threat to the Taj Mahal and radiation for global responses for the purpose. We have threat from Narora Atomic Power Station. A also indicated the response which can emanate from Supreme Court lawyer, M.C. Mehta, holds the dis- social scientists, especially as regards environmental 596 BHARATDESAI

education and in terms of developing an activist’s 7. Nature 353, 291, 26 September 1991. role. We have not suggested readymade formulae 8. Nature 352, 3, 4 July 1991. any 9. The U.S. nosition holds the nhase-out of CFCS bv 2000. or push-button solutions. Every discipline among the as a.greed*to in the Montreal Protocol 1987 and with the social sciences shall have to carve out their respective pro&ions of 1990 Clear Air Act and Bush’s National roles in consonance with local conditions. As the Enerav Strategv. The U.S. will keen emissions of green international community is gearing up to respond to hot& gases electively stabilized at 1990 levels from 2000 to 2030. the serious threats of global warming and climate 10 White R. M. From here to where: science, technology change and ozone depletion, a new institutional and climate concerns. Environ. Conserv. 17, 393, 1990. structure may spring up in the process. This may be 11. The General Assembly adopted resolution on based upon participation of the nations, technologi- Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations of Mankind on 21 December 1990. It was cal aspects, funding etc. As we are now engaged in a adopted without a vote on the Report of Second process of war for our survival, the global community Committee A/45/851. shall have to rise in unison to ensure concerted 12. UNEP Asia-Pacific Newsletter, p. 7, April-June 1991. actions to meet the threats to our eco-system. 13. In!. Legal Materials, 26, 1550, 1987. The Protocol has came into being on 7 March 1991. 14. Adjustments and Amendments to the Montreal Proto- Acknowledgements-The author is deeply grateful to his col on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. See senior colleagues Professors Rahmatullah Khan and V. S. ht. Legal Materials, 30, 537, 1991. Mani for providing valuable suggestions in the preparation 15. Time, p. 33. 4 November 1991. of this paper. 16. Newsweek, p. 49, 27 November 1989. 17. Drake C. M. and Hubbard F. Redefinina environmental REFERENCES responsibilities. Environ. Conserv. 17, 250, 1990. 18. Stapp W. B. and Polunin N. Global environmental 1.Laths M. Challenge of the environment. Znt. Camp. education: towards a way of thinking and acting. Envi- Law Q.. Lond. 39, 663, 1990. ron. Conserv. 18, 13, 1991. 2. World Commission on Environment and Development 19. Dwivedi 0. P. Political science and the environment. (WCED) Our Common Future, p. 19. Oxford University Int. Sot. Sci. J. 38, 378, 1986. Press, Oxford, 1987. 20. Khan R. and Gundling L. Forest Resources Manage- 3. Brown L. The new world order. In Worldwatch ment: Legal and Policy Problems in India and Germany, Institute. State of the World 1991, p. 5. W. W. Norton, p. 20. Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi, New York, 1991. 1984. 4. Report of the United Nations Conference on the 21. Desai B. Managing ecological unheavals: a Third World Human Environment, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972, p. 3, perspective, Sot. Sci. Med. 30, 1071, 1990. A/CONF. 48/14/Rev. I. 22. Times of India (New Delhi) 23 November 1991. 5. United Nations Global Outlook 2000, p. 75. UN, New 23. Tolba M. K. Building environmental institutional York, 1990. framework for the future. Environ. Conserv. 17, 105, 6. Time, pp. 26-27, 2 January 1989. 1990.