Government transparency is imperative to the successful implementation of development projects like those in the fields of electricity or mining, believes the United Nations.
Government transparency is imperative to the successful implementation of development projects like those in the fields of electricity or mining, believes the United Nations.
Speaking with DNA, Rajendra Shende, head of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Economics OzonAction Branch, said: “Transparency is the key word here. If you do not show that thing in your governance, I do not think the development programme will progress speedily.” He was referring to the ongoing opposition to power projects in Maharashtra.
Shende, who was in the city to deliver a lecture
as part of the Brigadier SK Bose lecture series on Saturday, added: “The transparency we are talking about comes from dialogue. All the related information should be exchanged in the dialogue with stakeholders. All documents related to the project should be out in the public domain.”
He said that a company bringing a project to a particular area should gain the confidence of the affected people by keeping the negotiations transparent and open. Shende, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, said that the firm ought to explain the risks along with the benefits of the project.
“I think everything can be managed if and only if the community is taken into confidence,” he said.
“I am not an environmentalist,” he said. “I would term my role as that of a ‘sustainable development facilitator’. Development comes first but, at the same time, you have to make sure that the environmental side-effects are minimised.”
Speaking about the need to increase the use of renewable energy techniques, he said that some renewable energy power projects will take a lot of time to mature in commercial terms.
Meanwhile, one will have to consider localised renewable energy projects. The affluent class will have to lead by example when it comes to renewable energy.
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