1. The view through the press. One way to look at the deliberations and outcomes of this UNESCO/UNEP International Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) held on 24-28 Nov 2007 in Ahmedabad (Gujerat) is through public and press coverage. That way only ideas selected, through a filtration process, for the benefit of a very wide spectrum of people, are reflected (instead of being the views of a single specialist, however eminent).

2. Main outcomes. Renewable energy and life-styles for a sustainable future came out as over-riding challenges, in a context of climate change and a very fast-changing human society. In this historic city of Ahmedabad, the seat of Gandhi?s ashram, more than a dozen speakers referred to him, in particular to the first message below, an essential but very hard to achieve life-guide. For it?s no use making resolutions and declarations if one is not prepared to change one?s personal lifestyle, in favour of one, closer to nature and ecologically sustainable, since the fossil-fuel civilization, which is ours today, is unsustainable at best, and the cause of climatic and other disasters at worst.

3. Quotes from the press

a. ?Let my life be my message? and ?The need for education for life, education through life, education throughout life? from Mahatma Gandhi. Both quotes found their way into the Ahmedabad Declaration, adopted on 28th November, after Koichiro Matsuura? s closing speech, in which he summarised 10 recommendations from UNESCO, deemed to reflect ?not alarmism but realism? (Indian Express, 29.11.07)

b. the popular title for the Declaration (?building a new country for a new world?, which also titles this article) was from me (and in Hindi!).

c. ?Europe and the United States had completely drawn their share of natural resources and now they had no business to tell countries like India and China to control carbon emissions on their terms by using the UN? (Sunita Narain at the Conference and in The Indian Express, 28.11.07, p. 3)

d. ?We need to control emissions? or we shall all perish? (Rajendra Pachauri, Chair IPCC, the recent co-holder of the Nobel Peace prize, at the Conference and in Times of India)

e. ?Nature is the best book, which we can read by observation, questioning and the ability to make connections? (Gunter Pauli, in ICEE Daily)

f. ?Poverty is closely linked with energy. Unless we make a serious check of our energy consumption, we will be in deep trouble. After all energy has to be provided for the 6.4 billion world population.? (Michael Atchia, former director, Environment Education (UNEP) focusing on the grave issue of continued depletion of world energy resources (Times of India, 22.11.07)

g. ?Good ecology makes good business and bad ecology makes bad business; the industry could be convinced of this only out of enlightened self-interest? (Pr. M. S. Swaminathan, former head of UN Science Advisory Committee (Indian Express, 29.11.07)

h. ?India 3rd largest oil importer by 2025? (after USA and China), unless there is ?immediate and collective policy action by all governments to take the world to a more sustainable energy path? (Times of India, 12.11.07)

i. ?There must be agreement among all political parties on issues that are beyond party politics? Dr. Atchia, a former advisor to Government of Mauritius, said that, for example, there has to be an agreement (in India and in every country) about sustainable energy supply from a combination of types like solar and hydro"(The Indian Express, Sunday, 25.11.07)

j. ?University faculties still confuse teaching with providing and transmitting knowledge? ? ?multidisciplinary project work must be encouraged and generic skills developed for all programmes? (Pr. G. Mohamedbhai, President, International Assoc. of Universities, former VC of UOM, in ICEE Daily)

k. ?We have to identify new ideas, new knowledge, new actors, partners, models and approaches for living in the 21st century? (this author, in Times of India, 25.11.2007)

In conclusion. The next step after Ahmedabad, in the global efforts to clean-up our (human) act on Planet Earth, was of course the Bali conference on Climate Change, (4-14 Dec. 2007) with 180 countries participating and, unfortunately, limited results.

Differentiated responsibility of States for the protection of the environment is widely accepted (Rio Conference, 1992, WSSD in Jo?burg in 2002 and United Nations SIDS Meeting, Mauritius, 2005. Ours lies in many directions, particularly in ensuring our energy independence (through the mastery of a combination of renewable sources), both for ensuring a decent quality of life for all Mauritians for the next 20-40 years and as our contribution to stabilizing world climate, through reduction of carbon emissions. Needless to repeat the same known proposals. Needless? The preservation of the best agricultural lands for food production and bio-fuels, rapid transit systems for transportation, the replacement of imported petroleum products (soon to be out of price for us) for domestic and industrial use by the ?solar+wind+bio+hydro? equation.

Known yes, generally uncontested yes, but (in comparison to India for example) Mauritius is far from integrating a sustainable energy policy into its overall policy - and miles away from nation-wide implementation of such a policy. Maybe the state/private sector sugar agreement of 5th December will open the way, if we do not go to sleep again, like we did over the waste-to-energy+waste-to-compost projects (environmentally complementary), which should have been up and running since 2006.What waste!

In comparison to our relative failure to act, the vibrancy of the various sectors in India is astounding. From private corporations such as those developing wind turbines, para-statals like the ONGC, research set-ups such as the Centre for Environmental Education/Nehru Foundation and yes, those top civil servants (several were ex-UN trainees) and traditional small to very small scale crafts doing more than surviving.

Please take a close look at this one-man knife-sharpening ?enterprise?, perfectly mobile and effective, low-cost, which comes to your doorstep, intelligent in concept and more to the point giving its owner/manager/employee (three in one) a decent living and good service to society, coexisting with units like the Centre for EE in Ahmedabad, wi-fied throughout, all 150 cadres always with their laptops and latest mobile phones, an organic and interactive organization able to integrate a new given idea within hours if not days. Both part of this phenomenon which is modern India.

Dr. Michael ATCHIA [email protected]