The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a framework of 17 goals and 169 targets across social, economic and environmental areas of sustainable development, which UN member-States have committed to making a reality by the year 2030. How are States faring in achieving these goals and targets? If progress is not along expected lines, what could be the roadblocks along the way? More fundamentally, are there inherent contradictions in the way we have conceptualised sustainable development itself?
According to some perceptive environmentalists and environmental scientists, the inherently contradictory aims of economic expansion, environmental protection, poverty eradication, and the free market are all merged into an awkward, unsustainable policy in the form of the SDGs. In its linking of economic growth, material wealth and economic progress, sustainable development has failed to atone for the fact that it is precisely such aspirations that put our planet in such a precarious position in the first place. Sustainable development and the SDG approach perpetuate and reaffirm questionable policies in their ethnocentric, technocentric and anthropocentric qualities, thereby exposing their inherently Western biases. While past approaches have failed to meaningfully address the problem of unsustainable development, the current approach repeats these mistakes.
This is where Mahatma Gandhi comes in. Without a Gandhian analysis and reformation of the ideological and foundational underpinnings of sustainable development, the SDGs cannot be easily realised.
Gandhi’s writings on sustainability are rich and extremely perceptive. It has been acknowledged by ecologists that Gandhian insights serve as a guide to understanding the environmental problem in a proper perspective. Terms like ‘Deep Ecology’ and ‘Biodiversity Conservation’ have become catchwords for environmentalists and Green warriors all over the world. It is to be noted that Arne Naess, who coined the term ‘Deep Ecology’, has acknowledged his indebtedness to Gandhi in the formulation of this term. Environmental activists like Sunderlal Bahuguna, Baba Amte, Medha Patkar, Vandana Shiva and others acknowledge their debt to Gandhi in understanding the problem of sustainability and sustainable development in a holistic perspective. Although in Gandhi’s lifetime, ecological and environmental issues were not of serious concern to the rest of the world, he was deeply concerned about the potential for damage to the environment by modern industrial civilisation. He portrayed this very effectively in his seminal work Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, written in 1909.
Gandhian environmental ethics stem from his philosophy of life and his worldview. In the Gandhian worldview, human life cannot be divided into watertight compartments. Human life is an undivided whole. He was convinced that “one’s everyday life is never capable of being separated from his spiritual being. Both act and react upon one another.” He believed in the unity and oneness of all life and its interconnectedness. This relational worldview is equally applicable to animal and plant life. He wrote: “I do not believe that an individual may gain spiritually and those that surround him suffer. I believe in advaita. I believe in the essential unity of man and for that matter, of all that lives. Therefore, I believe that if one man gains spiritually, the whole world gains with him, and if one man falls, the whole world falls to that extent.”
Gandhi had profound concern for nature and everything in it, including plants, animals and all living creatures. He led a life which was essentially non-violent, giving due respect to nature and all its creations. He made a conscious effort to use natural resources to the bare minimum, even if available in abundance. Gandhi placed before humanity a lifestyle that was in complete harmony with the environment. The application of Gandhian principles allows human beings to satisfy their basic needs without harming Mother Earth. Gandhi stated: “The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for every man’s greed.” This well-known dictum of Gandhi reminds us that man cannot infinitely exploit nature to satisfy his unlimited wants.
In the Gandhian frame of reference, economy, ecology and spirituality are interrelated. That is why Gandhian economy is often referred to as ‘economy of environment’. One of Gandhi’s distinguished colleagues, J C Kumarappa’s book is very appropriately titled, Economy of Permanence. Anyone who is interested in understanding Gandhi’s philosophy of life should carefully read his criticism of modern Western civilisation which promotes the present model of development. This, clearly, is responsible for the current environmental crisis.
Gandhi’s philosophy of life provides a ‘Manifesto for Sustainable Development’ that is symbiotic with nature and its ecosystem. The Gandhian manifesto may be compressed into a 10-point charter:
1. Humankind acts realising that it is part of nature, not apart from it.
2. Resources available on the planet are not used with greed. (Trusteeship).
3. Human beings practice non-violence (Ahimsa) not only toward fellow human beings but also toward other living and non-living creatures and elements.
4. Women are respected, made partners in, and given their rightful place in all spheres of human endeavour.
5. A bottom-up shared view is preferred to the top-down authoritarian overview (Gram Swaraj, Participatory Democracy, Ram Rajya).
6. Conservationist and sustainable life-enhancing approach prevails over the unsustainable, consumerist, self-destructive approach.
7. The fruits of development reach everyone in society (Sarvodaya); in particular, the needs of the poorest in society are taken care of (Antyodaya).
8. The human race thinks about how much is enough for a simple, need-based, austere, yet comfortable lifestyle (Aparigraha).
9. All development, as far as possible, leads to local self-reliance, and equity with social justice (Swadeshi, Sarvodaya).
10. Ethics and self-discipline in resource use are overriding criteria of development.
The ‘Gandhian Manifesto for Sustainable Development’ represents a crucial way forward in advancing a revised and reformed project of sustainable development that is simultaneously concerned with well-being, equity and ecological integrity. Unless this is understood and seriously implemented by all countries, the SDG endeavour may not realise the ambitious goals and targets visualised. A serious mid-term stock-taking of the SDG approach is warranted.
(The writer is currently Hon. Professor at Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj
University, Gadag. He previously taught at Bangalore University)