Over time, and perhaps having seen so much criticism over the developed world's lackadaisical approach towards environmental issues in general, best illustrated by the US' reluctance to endorse the Kyoto Protocol, it has come to be felt that while the developed world is happy to dispense advice on how to avoid using non-renewable resources, and in particular in the area of energy resources, it is content to just advise people and do very little on similar lines. Gas guzzlers and the lack of serious and practical caps on greenhouse gas emissions make any stand taken by developed countries on environmental issues a tad hypocritical, and reduce the level of importance that the world in general attaches to the matter.
And so, it is largely satisfying to see the emphasis that the Olympic Delivery Authority for London 2012 is placing on low carbon emissions, waste, and on the propagation of green transportation avenues. The Olympics is perhaps the best medium that any advertiser can seek, and considering that in today's health conscious world, sports play such an important role, any message that the Olympics will be seen to be giving out will stand a greater chance of being well-received.
While one finds plenty of governmental norms and regulations mandating environmental safeguards, and many even successfully being implemented, it is still a matter of concern that environmentalism is being seen as anti-development, and consequently as anti-progress. While I don't support development for the sake of development, it is imperative that we comprehend that the environment is not a static entity; rather, it is a dynamic being that changes its needs and requirements with time. While mowing down forests and bulldozing valleys is not my idea of progress, it is also the need of the hour that forests and valleys not be seen as impediments to the benefits that the locals can derive from development.
We need to educate and enlighten people that while development is all fine and good, the environment also needs to be conserved, primarily because development that may be justifiable today may not be so in the future. We need to study the track-records of those countries who have successfully managed to find the Middle Way between irrational developmental attitudes and zealous environmentalism, in order to comprehend how we may go about the task of preserving our environment, of making sure that our children, and their generations to follow, will be able to enjoy a quality life, and perhaps will thank us for our efforts in doing so.
The environment is not the holding or the possession of any particular generation; rather it is simply to be safeguarded by each generation for the next, to be preserved and nourished as a mother nourishes her child. Should we give our future a world denuded of its beauties and simply filled with concrete structures and tar roads, I fear we would be in breach of trust, and perhaps never again will a child trust his parent to be his well-wisher, his guardian.
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