Chapter 4 — The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role

Nani Palkhivala argues that humanity must abandon its old mechanistic view and adopt a holistic, ecological view of the Earth as a living organism. The planet's vital signs reveal a patient in declining health, and only sustainable development — meeting present needs without stripping resources future generations would need — can avert ecological catastrophe.

The title treats the Earth as a sick patient. Palkhivala writes that "the earth's vital signs reveal a patient in declining health," pointing to collapsing fisheries, disappearing forests, desertification of grasslands, and deteriorating croplands as symptoms of an ailing planet that urgently needs care.

The essay states that the Green Movement started nearly twenty-five years before it was written (published in 1994). The world's first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand in 1972, and since then the movement has not looked back.

Lester R. Brown, cited in the essay, identifies four principal biological systems: fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands. These four systems form the foundation of the global economic system, supplying food and virtually all raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics.

Sustainable development was defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 as "development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" — that is, without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.

The Brandt Commission is described as one of the early international commissions that dealt with ecology and environment. Its First Brandt Report raised the urgent question: "Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?" The essay notes that a distinguished Indian, Mr L.K. Jha, was one of its members.

The essay says the world's ancient tropical forests are eroding at forty to fifty million acres a year globally. James Speth of the World Resources Institute noted that forests were being lost at an acre-and-a-half per second. In India specifically, reliable data showed a loss of 3.7 million acres a year, with actual losses estimated at about eight times the rate shown in government statistics.

At the zoo in Lusaka, Zambia, a cage with that notice contains no animal — only a mirror. The visitor sees themselves. This signifies that human beings are the world's most dangerous animal because of the destruction they have inflicted on the planet's ecosystems, but it also reflects a new self-awareness prompting a shift from domination to partnership with nature.

The essay states that world population reached 5.7 billion and was growing by one million every four days. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion (around 1800), yet the twentieth century added another 3.7 billion. Palkhivala calls population growth "one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society" and argues that the choice is between population control and perpetuation of poverty.

The essay argues that industry has a crucial role in the new Era of Responsibility. It quotes Du Pont Chairman Edgar S. Woolard, who declared himself the company's 'Chief Environmental Officer' and said that continued existence as a leading manufacturer requires excelling in environmental performance — a model Palkhivala holds up as the kind of transformation needed.

Palkhivala quotes Thatcher's words — "No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy — with a full repairing lease" — to convey that no generation owns the planet outright; they are merely temporary occupants obliged to maintain and return it in good condition. This supports the essay's theme of intergenerational responsibility.

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