These six major criteria are a must for sustainable development

The beginning of this year marked the transition from the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There have to be transparent and reliable indicators to measure sustainability in its various dimensions. The SDG goal document has spelt out about 17 different goals and 169 targets. For each major programme, we will have to develop indicators of sustainability.

For example, the transformation of green revolution into an evergreen revolution requires indicators which can show how to improve productivity without harm to the long-term production potential of the soil. 2018 marks not only the beginning of the sustainable development decade, but also of the Anthropocene era, which is shaped by either human action or inaction. Obviously, our first priority is to ensure that human action does not lead to the diminishing of sustainability such as through loss of biodiversity. There are at least six major groups of action which are needed for sustainable development and we would like to refer to them briefly.

The first among the SDG indicators is ecological and environmental factors which have a bearing in harmonising the long and the short term in a mutually reinforcing manner. In the area of ecology, we need to promote the concept of “Do ecology” rather than only suggest what should not be done (don’t ecology). For example, there is growing concern about the use of plastics in a wide range of human activities.

It is easy to say “don’t use plastics”, but unless we take steps to provide alternatives which are economically and ecologically desirable, the problem will continue to remain. To cite another example, subsidies are being given in a wide range of development programmes and there is always demand in the farm sector for waiving of loans and providing support like free electricity. Free electricity often may lead to the over-exploitation of the aquifer. Therefore, what is important is to subsidise the use of solar, wind, hydro and other forms of renewable energy. Nuclear energy is also environmentally benign.

A second area is economics. Here we need to promote ecological economics which takes into account both the short- and long-term impact of development. Ecological economics has a time dimension of infinity, while strictly commercial economics measures success in the short term. Ecological economics will also help to shape public policies which are pro-sustainability. Ultimately, major developments take place through interaction among technology, public policy and public participation. Public participation will need considerable efforts in the area of ecological literacy.

The third factor which is important is energy. Energy is a key requirement in all areas of development as well as in our houses. There are several forms of sustainable energy and one area which is fortunately getting more attention now is solar energy. Biomass utilisation is another area which has received inadequate attention. Every farm, for example, should have biomass-based biogas and a few trees which can fix nitrogen in the soil and in the atmosphere.

The next important area is equity, both in social and gender terms. The gender index needs to be integrated with all programmes to ensure that the gender dimension is addressed in the concerned project. In the area of social equity, it is important to ensure that technology does not bypass the economically and socially disadvantaged sections of the society. For example, if the new seeds which led to the green revolution in the 1960s were not available to all farmers irrespective of the size of holding, green revolution would not have taken place within a few years.

Patenting is an also an area which requires attention in the point of view of access to technologies. If patenting is desirable in some cases from the point of view of incentives to innovations, there should be a method like the one adopted by Switzerland in the case of Golden Rice, namely setting up of a Trust which can purchase the patents and make them freely available to the farmers. MSSRF has a policy of ensuring that discoveries covered by patents such as the hybrid between mangroves and rice are available to all farmers who can then use them to develop their own variety. Pre-breeding and participatory breeding then become possible.

The fifth area relates to employment. Employment is the key to provide meaning to life. Jobless growth is joyless growth. Therefore, every attention should be paid to provide an opportunity for all members of the human family – both women and men. Employment, however, should not only involve physical work. As Mahatma Gandhi pointed out, we need to marry brain and brawn or labour and intellect in all human activities, particularly in rural areas.

Finally, ethics is an important component of sustainable development. Ethical dimensions of development will have as their foundation the goal of sustained human happiness. Ethics is particularly important in deciding the choice of new technologies. Those technologies which are likely to promote unemployment and degeneration of natural resources should obviously be avoided.

To sum up, sustainable development involves concurrent attention to ecology, economics, energy, equity, employment and ethics. Before a major project is initiated on the ground, it will be useful to test the project from the point of view of the above dimensions.

Nitya Rao is a professor of gender and development at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

M S Swaminathan is an Indian geneticist and international administrator who played a leading role in Green Revolution