Re-calibrating our moral compass

In 2006 in an attempt to prove to the world that it is possible to live a 360 degree, fully sustainable life in the modern context, I set about and built a model of sustainability with my resort, “Our Native Village” in Bangalore. I did this because I had seen instances of what I call ‘manmade poverty’ in rural India, and it disturbed me immensely.

A stark example of manmade poverty was lack of resources like electricity for the farmer who was dependent on it to pump water for his crops. These were the same farmers who knew how to live in harmony with nature, growing the right crops in the right season to preserve the nourishment of the soil and to match the climatic conditions of summer, rainfall and winter.

Yet these same farmers were made to depend on ‘modern farming’ methodologies, and over generations were stripped of their inherent knowledge. They became dependent on borewells and soon were to suffer because of lack of electricity – the state had failed them. We had put a man on the moon, but could not help a farmer grow his crops – is this what development and progress is?

While there were doubts if my model was commercially viable (which we proved so), my efforts at sustainability were not prompted by commercial compulsions, but by moral compulsions. Since then, costs have come down so drastically that it is not a battle with financial people any more, as it makes immense commercial sense to employ sustainable technologies. Even so, adoption is not as rapid as it needs to be. This  is the reason I say that we need to recalibrate our moral compass. “Sustainability is ultimately a moral issue since it involves the protection of interests of our future generations,” are the words of Narendra Modi in his book Convenient Action, and he is so right.

We can choose the kind of planet we want to leave behind; a planet that is rocked by extreme weather events – floods, landslides, droughts, sand storms, forest fires, pollution, diseases, food shortages and civil strife; or a planet that uses solar panels, windmills, has clean air and waters, with enough food and good health, with prosperous economies and overall abundance. We have to think about this and decide now.  What will we tell our children if 20 years from now they inherit a world that is rocked by extreme weather events – floods, landslides, droughts, sand storms, forest fires, pollution, diseases, food shortages and civil strife, and they ask us – ‘did you know that this was likely to happen?’ What will we tell them? Will we tell them we did not care, or were numbed into inaction because we could not influence the politicians Or we  were just scared of the coal and fossil fuel mafia?

We need to recalibrate our moral compass In the information age we live in, we cannot say, any more that we are unable to influence irresponsible actions initiated by the political class or by inept uncaring governments. We have enough resources, like social media and the free press, to be able to force action. Civil society is now a strong force globally, even in repressive authoritarian Middle Eastern societies.  We have citizen power in our hands and we exercise it regularly in democracies. It is now time for every citizen to take note, raise his voice and tell politicians that we will not support any action that will have a negative repercussion for the future generations. It is time for all citizens to force themselves, their companies, their neighbors and their societies to do their bit by making the right sustainable choices in their everyday lives.

It is time for all citizens to force legislation that supports positive climate action and strike down the use of fossil fuel technologies. It is time that we recalibrated our moral compass, for the sake of the future generations, it really is about time.  

(The writer is an author, speaker, trainer, consultant, an entrepreneur and an expert in applied sustainability. Visit: www.CBRamkumar.com)

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