Photo courtesy Flickr/dodo_anji

“In bureaucratic system obedience to power and self-goals have pushed self-consciousness and uprightness into darkness.”

These words, written by a forest department official in his retirement letter were in response to the mining controversy that has brought the state of Haryana under scrutiny for indiscriminate mining policies. Following a stern report by the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, the state of Haryana (which neighbours Punjab), has finally stepped up towards stopping the unsustainable mining in the Aravalli range. The Supreme court has ordered a ban on all mining activities in the region.

But is this a little too late? Despite the lapse of a seven year lease that had ravaged the range, and a Supreme Court labelling the area as a prohibited mining zone, the Haryana government proceeded to auction two quarries in the area earlier this month.  The Forest Survey of India made satellite imagery available to the public that clearly documents the land change:  water bodies in the area have dried up and the region is suffering severe droughts.  According to this article, local people have said that not only have nearby lakes dried up in the space of three months but also that large scale sand mining was taking place, “damaging the water retention capacity” leaving few traces of the lake and “truck marks all around”. There are clearly bureaucratic loopholes aplenty, allowing the culpability to bounce from the irrigation department to fisheries to mining. The unchecked mining also played an important role in decreasing the ground water level.

The mining groups argue that the high demand for construction is forcing them to look beyond the outer limits of the national capital and to mine indiscriminately, bringing to the fore once again the often used argument of the perceived conflictual nature of development and environmental sustainability in India.

The Centre for Science and Environment recently released a  report detailing the “environmental and social footprints of mining in India”. In it, it highlights the sheer lack of regulation in mining that has spawned a booming illegal trade, adversely affecting the environment and not allowing for any recourse to legal aid by the people who work in the mines or live in the surrounding areas.  The states tend to turn a blind eye because of the profits and the overall ‘development’ that ensues.

Unsustainable mining practices are rampant all over India. Parts of Karnataka that have witnessed unsustainable mining now suffer from a host of problems: from a lack of access to water, to unsafe and illegal labour conditions, health problems, environmental devastation and pollution. Orissa is another good example. The already palpable pressure on land will only get more severe, and although the government has brought out a national biodiversity plan which lays out best practice guidelines, Indian authorities need to really take control of biodiversity conservation and land change, step up initiatives to protect the natural habitat, and soon. A sustainable approach would of course require addressing the issues mentioned before: the problems of EIAs , inclusion of participatory methods, introduction of regulation and importantly better accountability of those in public service and positions of power.   

Discussions focussed around sustainability in the built environment yesterday, at the Econcern Sustainable Energy Event running parallel to COP14 here in Poznan. Peter Head, Director and Global Planning leader at Arup, presented the company’s vision for the transition we need to make to move to an ‘ecological civilisation’ – a term coined by President Hu Jintao at the 17^th Party Congress (15^th October 2007).

This refers to a greener and more sustainable world, and a civilisation which respects and lives in harmony with the natural ecosystems. Arup has recently invested efforts into analysing whether 9.5bn people can live on the planet in a more sustainable way, as global land masses continue to shrink over decades. Whilst Western ecological footprints remain high, efficient use of renewable resources will define economic success globally, in a sector which has become the fastest global success and opportunity the world has seen. Head argues that as we pass peak oil, the industrial revolution model has now come to an end, and there are opportunities to make significant steps for the transition into the ecological revolution. He suggests the equation for reaching an ecological civilisation as

2050 ecological civilisation =

CO2 reduced by 50% (average) + 1.44 hectares/capita + Human Development Index (HDI)

A significant level of GHGS are emitted from the built environment globally – a sector which represents around 40% of carbon emissions the UK. Introducing sustainability measures and radical improvements within this industry will be essential if the sector wishes to make significant contributions to emissions reduction. The integration of winning strategies that are smart, responsive and simple, and those that optimise our energy use and efficiency will be essential to meeting future targets.

Whilst a wide variety of codes and quality standards already exist, these only focus on new builds which account for just 5% of the (40%) emissions from buildings. They also vary massively around the world, from BREEAM and Code 6 for Sustainable Homes in the UK to  Energy Performance Building Director (EPBD) in the EU; and LEED, IECC and ASHARE in the US. Whilst consistency will be significant for future new builds, efforts to reduce emissions in the existing building stock is crucial if we serious about making carbon reductions in this sector. Increasing the concentration of renewable generation and energy efficiency, improving fittings and stimulating behavioural changes would also contribute to significant reductions in the remaining 95% of emissions.  

Arup’s Sustainability Research Centres have developed low carbon projects globally, including the Dongtan Sustainable Village in China.