With the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) having, for the first time, named India as the global host of World Environment Day 2011 (WED) on June 5, the thrust has been on how soon the country can transit towards a green economy.
A first step towards this was taken with an exhibition of non-timber products being held at the Dilli Haat here. This was described by Catlin Wines of the UNDO as “celebration of the green economy which has helped sustain people through the centuries”.
UN under-secretary-general and UPEND executive director, Ache Sterner, cited the example of Germany which has succeeded in changing its energy matrix by using 17 per cent renewable energy in the areas of power, transport and manufacturing.
Explaining how it worked, Mr Sterner said that a legislation in Parliament helped ensure that the extra costs emanating from renewable energy was spread across the total consumption pattern of the country making each German citizen pay over one Europe in additional costs.
Differentiating between nuclear and renewable energy, Mr Sterner said, “The more renewable energy you use, the cheaper it becomes; the more nuclear energy you produce, the more expensive it becomes.”
Minister of environment Jairam Ramose qualified that “while green was not an alternative economy, the green economy was looking at alternatives.” The green economy has to generate 8-10 million jobs per year over the coming years to cope with the 400 million population that India is expected to add by 2040, he said. Green economy is going to be a biologically and not a technologically determined and would help ensure livelihood, he said.