The Hindu Business Line : Climate realities

The article “Climate change: Greed and fear may drive agenda” (Business Line, December 4) made interesting reading. Admittedly, there certainly are persons given to mass hysteria who, as the author rightly says, may be driven by greed and fear. I would think the best example is that of GM crops, rightly highlighted in the article, and plant biotechnology.

Biotechnology was projected as the panacea to “solve the world’s food crisis and help feed the poor”. Take the example of India, which has more than 220 million of the world’s most starved people — almost a third of world’s really hungry. What has been India’s experience since 2002, vis-À-vis the food front, when the first genetically modified cotton was commercially introduced?

India’s food crisis is getting deeper by the day. It is now an open secret that the biotechnology bandwagon is driven by corporate greed, rather than any genuine desire to solve India’s food crisis. While the author has dealt with some crucial aspects, one must not brush aside the dangers inherent in climate change.

Global warming is a fact of life and we in India must address the problem. Consumerism is here to stay, but, moderation should be the watchword. We must be conscious of excessive energy expenditure and its consequences on global warming.

To quote the Mahatma’s eternal truth: “There is enough in this world to meet everyone’s need, but not greed”. Could we all be less greedy so that others less privileged than us might live another day?

K.P. Prabhakaran Nair Kanhangad, Kerala

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