In the little time that he had on his Delhi visit, Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed sustainable development and cited an example of the successful green drive that he implemented in California during his term as a governor. He also praised PM Narendra Modi for starting the solar revolution here. Shrabasti Mallik reports
Arnold Schwarzenegger might be an entertainer when he is in front of the camera but when he is dealing with something as serious as environment, he knows where to call his shots. When he attended the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit by TERI, he made sure that he deliberated on the point that environmental issues are more than just the melting glaciers, ozone depletion and rising sea level.
“Environmental committees all over the world often fail to mention that global warming and environmental issues are a four-legged stool.We shouldn’t just talk about the rising sea levels and the warming of the ocean. That’s one issue and a fairly important one that needs to be addressed,” he said. The second, and most probably a global issue, is that of job and unemployment. The third leg is health. There are seven million people dying because of pollution-related illnesses.
“In the US, the figure is over 1,00,000 because there are more reasons — drunken driving, suicide, homicides, wars and many more. In India, the figure is over a million. We have to make people aware of these things and we have to communicate that fact. That is how you make the people a part of the crusade,” he said.
Then there is the final issue of national security. “There is nothing more important to us than creating our own energy. The way we do that is through renewable sources,” he said, giving the examples of solar and wind power. “It gives us the power to power ourselves. A lot of these issues need to be addressed. Forty billion tonnes of additional green house gases were emitted this year,” he said.
He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he watched the PM carefully when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. “Gujarat is California of India. Modi was the one who started solar revolution. He came up with the idea of covering canals with solar panels and was very strong when it came to environmental issues, he still is,” Schwarzenegger said and expressed hope that Modi continues his governance with the focus on environment issues.
“I would also love to see him in Paris to the negotiations because he is really the great hope. I admire him and expect that he will continue to pave way as he has done in the past,” he said.
Schwarzenegger added that environmental issues can be better tackled if the world works together. He shared his approach while he served as the governor of California. He not only generated awareness and interest in civil society, business houses and institutions but also motivated the government to work towards sustainable development. “Starting from the people was fruitful because they have the direct power to reduce gas emissions by 80 per cent,” he said.
Arnold strongly believes that developed countries should lead the way for developing countries in reducing their carbon footprint. He said, “While US was at a standstill when it came to environmental progress, as a governor I realised that it was my responsibility to move forward in a very aggressive way and not wait for the federal government or for the debate on whether there should be a carbon patch or should there be a trade or which way to go. What helped me was that people in California were clear about their priorities. They did not want to make it a political issue, they realised that they all breathe the same air, drink the same water and travel the same roads.”
That is one reason, he pointed out, that the model of sustainable development in California was more successful than India. “We should recognise the fact that it is absolute bogus to talk about choosing between the environment and the economy,” he said adding that the greener California grew, the more its economy picked up and it has outpaced the US economy.
“last year our economy grew by 3.6 per cent as compared to the US economy which grew only by 2.6 per cent. Thus it becomes clear that protective the environment is also protecting the economy,” he ended.