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A World In Transition: Towards a Better Common Present Prof. M. S. Swaminathan
At the World Climate Conference held in Nairobi, Mr Kofi Annan referred to climate change induced by anthropogenic factors as the most serious among weapons of mass destruction. The Pugwash Movement has rightly included major non-nuclear threats to human security within its agenda. Extreme social and gender inequity, damage to basic life support systems like land, water, biodiversity and climate, as well as pandemics like HIV/AIDS have become important among such threats. At the same time, the nuclear peril has assumed an alarming dimension with the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons States and with the possibility of the emergence of nuclear weapon groups and individuals. It is therefore obvious that we must concentrate on the heartland of the Pugwash agenda and at the same time give due consideration to the other serious threats to peace and human wellbeing. In this address I shall briefly cover both the aspects. The World Commission on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Brundtland Commission, titled its report presented in 1989 as “Our Common Future” to stress that irrespective of political frontiers, our ecological fate is intertwined. In my presidential address at the IUCN (World Conservation Union) general conference held at Perth, Australia in January 1990, I mentioned “There can be no happy common future, without a better common present”. For all of us, the present is a living reality. The future holds both threats and possibilities. If we ignore the present and allow the rich-poor, gender, genetic, digital and other divides to grow, there will be no peace. This is why the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the areas of hunger and poverty elimination and environment protection, are extremely important. UN MDG’s represent a Global Common Minimum programme for peace and security. The major theme for the Cairo Conference is “Peace and Reform in the Middle East”. The following basic guiding principles have emerged from the discussion.
This year represents the Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s movement for a peaceful resolution of conflicts. This movement known as Satyagraha (fight for truth and justice based on the principle of non-violence) began a century ago in South Africa when Gandhi was thrown out of a first class compartment outside the Pietermaritzburg Railway Station just because he did not have a white skin. When we look back over the 20th Century, some of the remarkable achievements of humankind came from the adoption of the principle of non-violence in the resolution of internal and external conflicts. Some examples are:
In contrast, violence has always bred violence. We see it now in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and in some parts of Africa. Violence has not solved any problem but spreads anger, hatred and the desire for revenge. How can the world get back to the principles of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa in solving disputes? This is the real challenge of today. This is particularly a challenge for the Pugwash movement during its 50th Anniversary next year, when a major effort should be made to stress the futility of wars in solving disputes. General Dwight D Eisenhower, a famous war leader, made the following remarks as President of the United States on August 16, 1953, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, from those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children”. Quite often in history, men of war become the most ardent messengers of peace, since they know more than others that wars only lead to more wars. In my address at Hiroshima last year, I had made a few suggestions for working towards a nuclear peril free world. Based on the discussions at this conference, I would like to propose a road map for achieving this goal consisting of seven major steps
Non-Nuclear Threats to Human Security I would now like to refer briefly to Pugwash’s role in fighting non-nuclear threats to human security. The first among them is hunger which affects now nearly one billion children, women and men in our planet. The Roman Philosopher Seneca, articulated the threat of hunger to human security in the following words “A hungry person listens neither to reason nor religion, nor is bent by any prayer”. The present US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, mentioned in a talk at Des Moines on October 16, 2006 on the occasion of the World Food Day, that CIA monitors the status of crop production in different parts of the world, since potential hunger hot spots are breeding grounds for civilian unrest. Where hunger rules, peace cannot prevail. He thus included hunger and deprivation among the seeds of terrorism. (This talk was before he was designated as the Defence Secretary of USA and when he was President of the Texas A & M University). Gandhi traced the roots of hunger to unemployment and the consequent lack of the purchasing power essential for economic access to balanced diet. He thus stressed the point, “where there is work, there is money and where there is money there is food”. This relationship between hunger and employment is an exceedingly important one since the world is now witnessing job-less economic growth. Job-less growth is joy-less growth to the hungry. The Doha Round of Negotiations of the World Trade Agreement is being referred to as the development round. If this concept has to become operational, it is essential that a Livelihood Security Box is inserted in the agreement. Such a box should contain provisions for the imposition of quantitative restrictions on imports by countries where 50 percent or more of the population depend upon agriculture for their livelihood security, whenever there is clear evidence that such imports will destroy local jobs or livelihoods in rural areas. Import of food by predominantly agricultural countries will have the same impact as importing unemployment. Therefore, a livelihood security impact assessment is essential in all development programmes particularly those relating to rural areas. The loss of livelihoods in villages leads to the unplanned migration of the asset-less poor to towns and cities resulting in the proliferation of urban slums. Urban slums again become the breeding grounds for violence, crime and spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Therefore, agricultural prosperity is essential for peace and security in predominantly rural nations. For example in India, 70 percent of the population still remains in rural areas where the main occupation is crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, and agro-processing. In contrast, hardly 3 to 4 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their economic wellbeing in industrialized nations. Industrialized countries should hence view trade not mearly in monetary terms but in its human dimension. Another important threat to human security arises from the spread of invasive alien species. The SARS epidemic and the avian influenza caused by the H5N1 strain in poultry are recent examples of the harm that may arise from such invasive species. It has become important to ensure that every nation has a well developed biosecurity system. Sanitary and phytosanitary measures also need strengthening in developing countries. Biosecurity is also essential to safeguard innocent civilians who may become victims of bio-perils and harmful Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). As far as GMO’s are concerned, every nation has to develop a National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority capable of ensuring the safe and responsible use of genetic manipulation techniques at the molecular level. Such an Authority should assure the public as well as the political leaders and mass media that risks and benefits are being measured in an objective and transparent manner. Molecular genetics provides uncommon opportunities for not only producing new vaccines and drugs, but also crops with built-in resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, developing countries in particular should take advantage of frontier technologies including biotechnology and information and communication technology for the purpose of achieving accelerated food, nutrition, health and livelihood security. Population rich but land hungry countries like China and India have no option except to produce more food grains and other agricultural commodities per units of land and water under conditions of diminishing per capita availability of arable land and irrigation water, and of expanding biotic and abiotic stresses. Such a challenge can be met only by harnessing the best in frontier technologies and blending them with traditional ecological prudence. Ecotechnologies for an Ever-green revolution should be the bottom line of the strategy to shape the future of food production. Conservation farming and green agriculture (i.e., agriculture based on ecotechnologies like integrated pest management, integrated nutrient supply, scientific land care and water management, etc.) are the pathways to an ever-green revolution. Making Hunger History
It is now possible to end hunger through concurrent attention to food availability, access and absorption in the body. The national strategy for making hunger history should pay attention to both food and non-food factors. Non-food factors like clean drinking water, environmental hygiene and primary education and health care are equally important. Lack of access to clean drinking water is a major cause of diarrhea and intestinal infections. But for the oral rehydration therapy, mortality of children from diarrhea will be high. It is the duty of every country to make sure that at the minimum the UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing hunger and poverty by half is achieved by 2015. Bridging the Divides Starting with the industrial revolution in Europe triggered by the invention of the Steam Engine in 1780 by James Watt, technology has been an important factor in the rich-poor divide. If technology has enlarged economic, social and gender divides in the past, the challenge now is to enlist technology as an important instrument for achieving social and gender equity. If technology is to serve this purpose, access to it must be based on the principle of social inclusion. The Antyodaya or unto the last principle of Mahatma Gandhi is the pathway for inclusive economic growth. While Intellectual Property Rights are important for giving incentives for investment and innovation, we should ensure that discoveries of great importance to human food and health security are available to every one who will benefit from them. Access to such technologies should not be based only on the capacity of the individual to pay. There must be a provision in National Laws for compulsory licensing of rights in the case of drugs and crop and animal strains which are important for the poor. Modern ICT is a powerful tool for bridging the gender and knowledge divides. Such technologies comprising the integrated use of the internet, cable TV, community radio and the cell phone should be brought to the service of the poor, on the principle of a last mile and last person connectivity. ICT can serve as the mother for ending all divides and hence it itself should not become one more of the divisive factors. 5th Pugwash Conference on HIV/AIDS In recent years, the Pugwash movement has expanded its definition of threats to human security to include HIV/AIDS. Five conferences have been held so far to deliberate on the subject. The last one was held at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India in April 2006. Some of the figures relating to the HIV/AIDS pandemic are frightening
The 5th Pugwash Conference on HIV/AIDS held at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India, from 7-9 April 2006 focused on the theme “Sharing of Experiences, What Works?’. 52 participants from 8 countries participated. Experts from “first wave” countries where the epidemic struck first and with great intensity (e.g. South Africa, Kenya and Uganda) and those from “second wave” countries where the epidemic threatens to spiral out of control (e.g. India) came together to exchange successful and replicable strategies for the prevention, management and mitigation of HIV and AIDS. Based on the experience gained in Africa and India, the following basic requisites for success in control measures were identified
The recent tragic trial of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor in Libya on the suspicion of infecting children with HIV is an indication of the fear and emotion attached with this dreaded disease. Pugwash will have to introduce sanity and objectivity in dealing with this and the other serious health pandemics. I mentioned earlier that climate change possess a great threat to human security. The available data bring out the following scenario
Economics of Climate Change: According to the calculation of Sir Nicholas Stern of UK (October 2006), the following will be the cost of containing damage to climate
Kyoto Protocol
Unfortunately, the Kyoto Protocol is yet to be implemented inspite of the growing awareness of the dangers of inaction. Carbon Trading
Global warming and associated events like sea level rise and the more frequent occurrence of tsunami necessitate anticipatory efforts in developing bioshields and genetic shields which can mitigate the impact of sea water inundation and temperature rise. 50th Anniversary of Pugwash We are sorry we are missing Jo Rotblat at this meeting. I would like to quote a couple of sentences from his speech while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize along with Pugwash in December 1993. “I do not believe that the people of the world would accept a policy that is inherently immoral and likely to end in catastrophe… We have to move forward from a now outdated security system based on nuclear deterrence and alliances, to one based on cooperation and allegiance to humankind” 2007 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs initiated at a meeting held in Thinker’s Lodge, Pugwash village, Novo Scotia, Canada at the invitation of Sir Cyrus Eaton. The famous Russell - Einstein manifesto was commended to the inhabitants of Planet Earth on that occasion. I would like to suggest that the activities we may consider for commemorating the 50th Anniversary of this movement for a nuclear peril free world may include the following:
The Secretary General of the United Nations Mr Kofi Annan in a Guest Editorial in Science (7 March 2003) made the following significant remarks “But no bridge that science might build across the gaps between rich and poor is strong enough to withstand the force of violence and war. If science is to reach its full potential and draw on the great minds from every country, we must do more to end and prevent conflict. Scientists themselves have a key role to play here, too. The Pugwash Conference movement, launched by the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955, brought Russian and Western scientists together for more than 40 years to develop common understandings of the dangers of nuclear war and ways of reducing them, and in recent years has constructed a strong dialogue between North and South on the problems of development. “Lab-to-lab” cooperation also helped to lay the groundwork for cooperative nuclear disarmament and arms control between Russia and the United States after the Cold War. Peace making and peace building should never be the exclusive preserve of diplomats and politicians” May I conclude by quoting Sir Joseph Rotblat, who was the very embodiment of the spirit and mission of Pugwash for 50 years. “Let me remind you that the basic human value is life itself, the most important of human rights is the right to live. It is the duty of scientists to see to it that, through their work, life will not be put into peril, but will be made safe and its quality enhanced”. Let us make 2007, which marks the Centenary of Gandhi’s Satyagraha, and the 50th Anniversary of Pugwash a significant milestone in the quest for a world of peace and harmony within humankind, and between humankind and nature.
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