The Future of Sustainability: Have Your Say!

Week One - “Global Challenges to Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century”
Comment / Comentario / Commentaire

Sanjeeva Pandey, Senior Advisor, Natural Resources Management, Winrock International India

Moderating team: In this second comment, Sanjeeva Pandey emphasizes the need to debate what will change human behaviour. Using economic concepts, he suggests different solutions for developed and developing countries.

En su segunda intervención, Sanjeeva Pandey enfatiza en la necesidad de debatir los cambios del comportamiento humano. A través de conceptos económicos, sugiere diferentes soluciones para países desarrollados y en desarrollo.

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I think that Jeff's point, "what will actually change human behaviour" need to be discussed in detail. In pursuit of economic gains we seem to have become blind and insensitive to the fact of sustainable use of natural resources. The human behaviour in modern times seem to be oriented towards "developmental aspects" as it provides more incomes and wealth. At the same time, "conservation aspects" based on sustainable use of resources take a back seat.

What's so troubling is that though the average person's instincts are basically good (as probably anywhere in the world) the power of corporate, media driving the life of consumption has numbed the majority of the populace to the reality of its consequences: Maya upon Maya! or wealth upon wealth!!! People in developed countries usually love outdoors. If their love for nature also has a spiritual angle, they can move towards sustainability as people with spiritual bent of mind need less material.

In developing countries, however, the strategic approach for sustainable use of resources should aim at bringing about a change in the relationship between the natural resource base and the immediate and long term livelihood needs of the local communities from the present open access arrangement to an increasingly participatory mode of joint management involving all stakeholders. That is when conservation through sustainable use rather than exploitation will begin to "pay". Seen in long term perspective, the livelihood based conservation is not sheer altruism but it makes a great business sense as well.