Climate Justice and Sustainability: Application of Gandhian Philosophy

Abstract

Our cleverness, inventiveness and activities have used and abused almost every component of the planet. In today’s age of science and technology, we are catering more to man’s greed rather than need. We can rightly call the situation we are in now an unprecedented planetary emergency. Human intelligence is not what you think but what you do. Mahatma Gandhi was called a man of action. The hour needs to implement Gandhiji’s philosophy to save all living and non-living on the earth. The paper is based on observation. Secondary data has been taken from various articles and books, and philosophical theory has been incorporated to conserve the environment. The need of the hour is propounded in Gandhiji’s four pillars, namely- Swaraj, - Swadeshi, - Sarvodaya, - and Satyagraha. Like those advocated by the International Green Movement, namely, Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots Democracy, and Nonviolence, effective implementation of these pillars will create a foundation of sustainability, with equal distribution of power, money and economy, local excellence and self-reliance. Gandhi said, “The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for greed.” The problem is enormous. There are now over 7 (seven) billions of us, and a more significant population means more food and more land for food. As a result, many revolutions like the Green Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and so on came at a considerable cost to the environment in terms of loss of habitat, pollution, overfishing decline of species and the start of the degradation of the entire ecosystem. Three Priorities of every individual and every nation: 1. The reverence and preservation of Ecological Processes; 2. The fulfilment of the basic needs of the people; and 3. The catering to market industrial-commercial demands.