Is World Environment Day just a passing trend or do people really care about climate change?

The World Environment Day, on June 5, has come and passed. A day when suddenly the number of people showing their concern for the environment grows exponentially. We could see messages floating all around reminding us about our responsibility towards our planet.

The social media full of ‘concerned individuals’ giving a piece of their mind on environment. Corporates and governments doing their bit for the day by placing advertisements in the newspapers to save Earth. One gets the feeling that the world has finally woken up to the fact that we are headed towards a dark future or maybe no future.

Unfortunately the truth is not so pleasant. In this age where our lives are dependent on the social media we don’t leave out any opportunity to makes us look good and be a part of the trend. Sadly, like so many other issues, environment has just become a fad to be spoken about. In today’s scenario environment gives content to individuals to build on their social profiles and make them visible. If only these many people took concrete steps to save the environment, the reality would have been different.

In this conflict between indulgence and sustainability our desires reign supreme. We would not want to trade-off comfort with environment. If we look around we will come across numerous instances where we are either wasting the resources or witnessing others wasting them. How many of us and how often do we take action? Why is it that we need to make sustainability look ‘cool’ so that people start taking it seriously, and practice the same?

We also witness another facet of being environmentally conscious. We see numerous conferences being organised on climate change, several working groups and committees being set up to tackle this menace.

Some of the participants are serious about the issue but are we sure that all of them are equally serious. If we look at what has changed, the picture is not so positive. It seems we are more comfortable in discussing environment than taking any action. Several organisations initiate plantation drives on environment day to join the bandwagon of celebration of our planet, however, how many of these have taken up the issue seriously is the question? We can plant trees as a token but what about hectares and hectares of forests being cleared mindlessly in the name of development. Why is it that we have come to accept that development and environment cannot go hand in hand? Why is it necessary to take drastic measures which not only destroy the environment but also are irreversible?

Are we building the foundation for growth or digging our graves?