World Environment Day: Are You Planning To Cycle Today Too?

4th June, early morning, after being fed an overdose of pictures of people cycling with their friends the day before, I, in my churlish best, threw this question to the air on my social media walls – many responded. Many in the picture wore that MeToo happy smile, and many wore those cycling gears making them practically unrecognizable.

A friend from the Rotary fraternity who is familiar with my wicked wit, calls me. Suppressing his chuckle to tell that they have no plans for cycling that day as they are busy arranging for The World Environment Day the next day. The  task of organising the club event rests on him.

Their club always manages to get the top awards in their district. They consistently and successfully manage these events. In the past, their members had brandished Jhadu (brooms) when the country had to be cleaned of the garbage of 75 years, pulverized the Thali out of shape beating it up when the PM called for their support to wage a war against the COVID Virus. They have always risen to the occasion and responded to such calls when the nation wanted their service.

On 21 June they have International Day of Yoga to celebrate, and they will have to do some events for that day too with the right hashtags. So many things to do! They must earn the scores to meet the target their club has promised.

I could by then mentally visualise a blend of a sales executive who is worried about his monthly targets and an armoured hero in a white stallion with a halo around his head galloping his way into the horizon to annihilate every ill of the society which come his way.

I was mentally trying to assess what a wretched place the world would have been, had my friends not created the awareness in time. I couldn’t stop myself from respecting these social warriors for the work they are doing to create awareness of the issues which are troubling the world. The list of woes which abound our planet runs into hundreds – Environment, Health, Disease, Poverty, Social ills; the list is endless so also the engagement of these social awarers (sic) so also the opportunities associated with it.

Starting from today, World Environment Day to Vana Mahostav week, individuals, clubs, organisations, corporates big and small and Government departments, all will be desperate to show solidarity with the cause of the earth. The media will be filled with pictures of responsible individuals living responsibly and responsible Corporates running responsible businesses.
Some will be seen in solidarity, some creating awareness, and some showing that they are leading the action. Some voice inside me silently asks a few uncomfortable questions.

– If everyone will be busy creating awareness for others; then who is left to follow it in practice?
– Had all the saplings planted by all the people on all the environment days and Vana Mahostsavs been cared for and survived, India surely would be looking like an amazon rain forest by now.

Sadly, there lies the unpleasant truth about the gap in the discourse and sincere action on the ground by the same person. How, when humanity is standing between the jaws of death, the real issue which requires dramatic changes at every level of corporate value creation to value delivery and how individuals consume and lead their lifestyle has been hijacked to make this a routine annual event is a matter of concern. Why do we feel that our task is complete by wearing a badge to look like a responsible citizen?
What are we hiding? Who are we cheating? At whose cost?

It’s a truism that every industrial activity results in some damage to the people living around it and the environment in general. It’s quite like a brain surgery we opt for after evaluating the risks and benefits associated with it. If people in the capital city must live in comfort and govern, millions around the thermal plants have to live in the furnace-like heat and breath noxious air. Nothing in the immediate future can resolve this development-environment paradox unless new generation technology miraculously appears everywhere from nowhere. We are left to make the best within the given constraints.

To break this dilemma, a middle path is chosen and ways to compensate for the damages caused to the people and planet are carefully thought about. Corporates are now evaluated just not based on their Governance (Profit) score but on what they are doing to ameliorate the impact of their business actions on Society (People) and the Environment (Planet). This framework of evaluation is called ESG.

But, there is general doubt about the real intent of the corporates in implementing that. Will, they seriously get down to action, and lead by example, or will hire experts to prepare reports and documents, and buy awards and certificates just to be a regulatory complaint entity. Business interest has always been successful in blunting the teeth of law and rules of the regulator and has reduced their responsibility to smart reporting for compliance certification.

Sadly, they are not alone in the game. This game has a new name – Greenwashing or SDG washing. And its big.

A report by The Financial Express states that the demand for ESG jobs in India has grown by 468 pc in the last 3 years. Demand for ESG roles might continue to rise as more sectors incorporate the functions into their organisations and make sustainability and community relations a key part of their actions. Its importance is felt as global investments can only be accessed by the ones having good score. The vultures see this ESG hype as an opportunity to bill millions of dollars as consultancy, rating, and assessor fees.

The Earth is crying in pain, scarred and burdened by our reckless lifestyle and corporate greed of the last 200 years. We have no second planet and the time to make course corrections is running out. Scientists have been shouting from the rooftop about this and the evidence of it is felt by one and all in terms of rising temperature and frequent cyclones and erratic rain patterns. The sea, water, soil and air are irreversibly damaged. The feasting by the corporates and merry making by the individuals at such a critical time is a matter of grave concern.

We know that the lure of profit and publicity and the pleasures associated with it throws our conscience into some dark corner that demands sacrifices in terms of our business and lifestyles. But if we choose not to realize this now and continue with our festivities on the gravy train, we can’t when it would have flown off the cliff taking us along with it.

Time to bite the bullet and not tell lies to ourselves anymore. We are too near the cliff.