As defined by the Brundtland Commission, "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. The Human Development Reports have maintained that "the supposed choice between economic growth and sustaining the environment is false and dangerous." The implication is that we have to-day reached a stage in the history of the planet and of mankind that there is no alternative for us but to have both development and good environment. But is it possible to have both or is there some limit to development. From the first snake-bitten fruit in the Garden of Eden to what Karl Marx called "the golden fruits from the tree of industry" in the global garden of modern industrialism, environmental degeneration had haunted the process of human development. If one may hark back to Hindu mythology both the goddess of prosperity and deadly poison came out, one after the other, from the churning of the cosmic sea of milk, and the heavenly beings as well as the demons were saved from fatal contamination by Lord Shiva swallowing the poison and lodging it in his throat. It would seem that almost in the same manner the carrying capacity of the earth has been absorbing hitherto the carbon dioxide emitted by nature and the poison of pollution produced by the economic activities of man.

To-day toxic emissions from the reckless industrial and agricultural activities of an exploding human population are fast outstripping the carrying capacity of the earth, of its vast terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic sink. The balance of the earth is thus being upset and life on earth is faced with the nemesis of over-development, over-consumption and over-population. What is called "sustainable development" is an attempt to maintain the balance between man and nature and to reconcile economic development with the integrity of the environment.

The crux of the environmental crisis to-day is the green-house effect and global warming, and of course, the phenomenon of ozone depletion. The root causes are overuse of natural resources and over consumption in the affluent developed societies. In order to avert the danger we have to assemble a variety of preventive and remedial strategies. Conservation of energy is a major method. It requires not only scientific and technological ingenuity, but some limitation of production and consumption. I believe that it is too late for mankind to reverse the process of technological development. Many of the environmental problems have been created by the wrong development and misdirected application of modern technologies. I believe that at least a partial answer to the ill-effects of modern technology is further technological development itself, but along well-defined purposive lines. Already the developed world has achieved some significant successes in this field. Development of substitutes to CFC's and anti-pollution equipments and devices have made progress. A crucial question is the transfer of such new technologies to the third world countries. If the so-called first world is really serious about containing the green-house effect and the depletion of ozone it has to transfer freely and in time these new technologies to the third world. This is the global meaning of the now accepted principle that the polluter must pay.

But conservation and environment-friendly technologies are not enough to deal with the immense, complex, and hydra-headed environmental problem. Exploding world population and excessive consumerism are making the problem almost unmanageable. It was estimated that in 1000 A.D. the world population was 200 million. To-day it is 6000 million. An over-riding objective should be to arrest this population growth in the developing world. If one attempts to satisfy even the minimum needs of this vast population, that would amount to a massive consumption of resources and overwhelming production of green-house and ozone -depleting gases and chemicals. The prospects of the Indians and the Chinese having a refrigerator for each family and cars for a substantial section of their population have sent jitters down the spines of the environmentally-educated affluent in the developed world. But then can this immense section of world population be denied even a minimum of such civilized facilities in this age of rising expectations, or in accordance with the tenets of social justice and democratic justifys that are accepted by almost everyone? Here we come face to face with issues of equity and moral and spiritual issues apart from unavoidable practical issues.

I believe that an apocalypse can be avoided with a combination of science and technology with plain common sense and a spiritual dimension. I should like to recall some of the words of Mahatma Gandhi many years before. His central idea was that the world has enough for everybody's need, but not for everybody's greed. He warned that the human mind was a restless bird which wants more and more. Without being an ascetic he wanted a limitation to the endless multiplication of wants characteristic of modern civilization. He explained once "If by advance you mean everyone having plenty to eat and drink and to clothe himself with, enough to keep his mind trained and educated I should be satisfied. But I would not like to pack more stuffs into my belly than I can digest and have more things than I can usefully use." He said again: "A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above a certain level it becomes a hindrance instead of a help. Therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a delusion and a snare. The satisfaction of one's physical needs, even the intellectual needs of one's narrow self, must come at a certain point to a dead stop before it degenerates into physical and intellectual voluptuousness." Indeed "physical and intellectual voluptuousness" are apt words to describe the consumerist culture of to-day and the blind march of science and technology without any spiritual bearings and teleological goals. In terms of plain common sense I may refer to the conclusion reached by Prof. John Galbraith that the developed societies of to-day have long passed the stage of satisfying their wants for a decent level of living. The Gandhian approach is valid from the moral view-point as well as from the inescapable fact that there are limits to growth in a world of finite resources. When Gandhi talked of "physical and intellectual voluptuousness" he meant exorbitant consumerism and the Faustian pursuit of knowledge and power that is characteristic of our age.

An integrated strategy employing a combination of preventive and remedial tools and approaches is required for meeting the phenomenon of global warming and ozone depletion. The first set of tools are scientific and technological. Though the environmental problems have been accentuated, if not created by blind use of technology, I do not believe that going back upon technological progress is the answer. Mankind cannot afford to dispense with the advance of science and technology. The remedy to some of the ills of technology as I pointed out earlier is often more technology though that would not be the complete answer, nor even a substantial answer to the problem. Mankind has to recognize that there are certain spiritual goals to be pursued, some limits to consumption, to enjoyment and indeed its capacity to consume and enjoy. A line from Browning comes to mind. "Infinite passion and the pain of finite hearts that yearn." There is a limit to the satisfaction of human passions and there is a limit to growth in physical comfort and luxuries. There can be no sustainable economic and intellectual development and no greening and flowering of the developmental process unless this predicament of man on earth is recognized and respected. Nor can the development process and the environment be sustained if the majority of mankind is denied a decent and acceptable level of social, economic and cultural existence.

Therefore developed countries while pursuing the path of sustainable development must keep in mind that survival and prosperity of all humans, all life forms and the eco-system. Long years ago Mahatma Gandhi had prophetically said, "the incessant search for material comforts and their implication is such an evil, and I make bold to say that the Europeans themselves will have to remodel their outlook, if they are not to perish under the weight of the comforts to which they are becoming slaves". How do we remodel our outlook and achieve sustainable development in the world? By adopting a combination of factors which include the adoption of clean technologies, equitable distribution of resources, addressing the issues of gender equity and gender justice and above all by following the three Rs of sustainable development i.e. Reduction of consumption, Recycle of waste and Reuse of the recycled material, we can make our developmental process more harmonious with nature. Industrialised countries have got an important role in promoting sustainable development. Maurice Strong had said, "Industrialised countries have an obligation to reduce the environmental impacts of their own economic activities and to leave space for developing countries to fulfil their development needs and aspirations". But the post cold war period marked by resurgence of geo-economic factors and the attempts by the industrialised countries to monopolise resources and ensure access to markets of developing countries has created new difficulties. The developed north is now taking advantage of environmental issues to protect their own markets from the products of developing countries. This non-tariff barrier is another attempt to deny the developing countries the much needed opportunity to rejuvenate their economies. What happened in Seattle to further strengthen the fortress north is indicative of the future that may jeopardise sustainable development.

I would like to quote Maurice Strong to substantiate the point that environmental factors were favouring the developing countries. He said, "It was when the poor gained more levers of power and learned how to use them that their lot really improved- and society as a whole benefitted. The emergence of environmental issue is now bringing new levers within the reach of the less-industrialised world. Perhaps more than any other, this issue underscores the fact that the enlightened or objective self-interest of all men dictates new and improved cooperative forms of behaviour and action".

But instead of "improved cooperative forms of behaviour" one is witnessing imposing of new standards by misusing environmental and labour standards. Such measure will perpetuate inequity and negate efforts for sustainable development.

But instead of "improved cooperative forms of behaviour" one is witnessing imposing of new standards by misusing environmental and labour standards. Such measure will perpetuate inequity and negate efforts for sustainable development.

Instead of using environment to retard progress let the world community use environment as a motive force for development. We cannot certainly promote environment by stopping growth. Human Development Report of 1998 justifyly said that "Development and consumption patterns that perpetuate today's inequities are neither sustainable nor worth sustaining"

The limitless possibilities of use of solar energy, wind energy and other forms of renewable energy will open new vistas of greening our development. Adoption of clean technologies in industrialised countries have brought down the environmental damage considerably. Major corporations in industrialised countries who have formed a Business Council for Sustainable Development submitted a report called "Changing Course". In this Report they have underlined the necessity of following a path of development that would bring about what they called "eco-industrial revolution". The use of less material resources in industries which has been called "dematerialisation" and the use of information technology which use less energy, capital and land open new possibilities of further greening of development. As the industrial activity is augmented with use of clean technologies experts believe that in future "efficient economies would be the most environmentally friendly economies".

In India the corporate sector has also warmed up to the new ideas of clean technologies and their adoption in factories. It is indeed gratifying to note that the significant study conducted by the Tata Energy Research Institute entitled "The GREEN India 2047" elicited a great deal of intellectual and financial support from the corporate sector. I was also heartened to see reports that PHD Chamber of Commerce organised a Conference on "Environment friendly technologies" and called for large- scale investment in research and development of low waste and resource conserving environmentally friendly technologies. In many cases it has been found that adoption of cleaner production approach has led to an increase in profit margins by 40%. I am indeed happy to note that in this Conference Corporate Responsibility in the 21st century is being discussed. It is indeed appropriate that the responsibility of corporate sector is getting special focus in the Conference.

We in India are conscious of the fact that any pursuit of development at the cost of environment will not ensure enduring progress. Our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru reflected this approach in many of his letters to the Chief Ministers. In 1957 he wrote, "We want both to exploit as well as conserve our national resources. Sometimes, the desire to exploit outruns the discretion and we forget the part of conservation. The growth of science and technology which has brought so much power to man has, sometimes, made him to ignore the fact that nature cannot be trifled with. There is a certain inter-dependence between man and his environment and any upsetting factor may bring about harmful consequences". Jawaharlal Nehru is famous for his statement about the temples of modern India. But he had warned against the danger of too much brick and mortar at the expense of green zones. He also warned against the application of too much pesticides and herbicides and over-emphasizing of great hydro-electric projects and railway embankments that may be harmful to the natural order of things. He advised the Chief Ministers that before a project was launched ecological survey of the area should be undertaken. This was in 1957.

The struggle for sustainable development in our own time is being fought more by the ordinary people particularly the women and the poorer sections of the society. The involvement of small associations, non-governmental organisations, poor and deprived people has given a new dimension and hope to the fighters for a path of development that takes care of people's needs and nature. Today people in India are surveying the history of our culture and tradition to find inspiration to protect environment. The Chipko movement in Himalayas which embraced trees to protect them from forest mafia derives inspiration from an incident in Rajasthan that occurred 300 years back wherein women from Bishnoi community had sacrificed their lives to protect forest trees from the then Maharaja. Same Bishnoi community again showed its proclivity to sacrifice its people to protect endangered animals when some glamourous people of the film world allegedly tried to hunt them. Socially conscious women in central Himalayas have started a Raksha Sutra movement and are protecting trees by tying Rakhis which symbolises their fraternal relationship with the rest of the animate creation. Like the tribals of Orissa who have come to the forefront and declared themselves as the protectors and preservers of Jal, Jungle and Jantu since time immemorial, women now in many parts of the world have come forward and dedicated themselves to conserve water, land and forest resources. The Narmada Bachao Andolan which intends to protect the forests and the interests of tribals is spearheaded by women. It is infact stated that liberation of women cannot be achieved in isolation but only as an integral part of a larger struggle for the preservation of life and environment on this planet. The Human Development Report of 1998 has underlined the fact that while managing the environmental issues inspiration can be drawn from movements in alliance with anti-poverty and women's movements.

Sustainable Development will become a reality if we can make it a people's movement. With these words I congratulate the TERI for completing 25 long years in the service of sustainable development. It has made innovative contributions in making environment an integral part of development. For instance in early 90s it brought out a study 'Natural resources accounting - a means to measure sustainable development in India'. This is probably one of the pioneering steps in this country to measure natural resources accounting. The TERI has also taken a significant step to evaluate corporate organisations on the basis of their green record. Through its 'GREEN India - 2047' Report the institute has brought out the estimation of environmental damage in India which is now amounting to 10% of the GDP. This is a very momentous estimation which should keep all of us aware of the environmental consequences of our development. I am sure this will inspire us to take positive steps towards sustainable development so as to reduce the environmental damage much below the present level. I must commend TERI for making us aware about the level of indoor pollution in the country which according to its report contributes towards public health hazard in rural areas and mortality among women and children. I think this is a fact which should be boldly highlighted because the adverse consequences of environmental damage is borne intensely by women and children everywhere in the world. I wish TERI all success in its future endeavours and I am confident that this Conference organised to discuss sustainable development and its future challenges will be a landmark event for ensuring smooth transition to peace, progress and prosperity consistent with the preservation of wholesome environment.