of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly
brought out the influence of human activities on the earth’s
climate and its impacts, resulting from the cumulative emissions
of greenhouse gases, the most dominant of which is carbon-
dioxide. The rate of these emissions has grown in recent decades
with an increase of 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004.
Consequently, the world’s climate is changing far more rapidly
than in previous periods. Indian society has traditionally lived
in harmony with nature, emphasising conservation of natural
resources. The Indian way of life has not come into conflict
with our ecosystems, except in the second half of the 20th
century. The problem has been accentuated by massive pressure on
land with a growing population, as well as lifestyles emulating
those of the developed world almost to a fault. The result has
been an increase in our resource intensity of growth to more or
less the same levels as in the developed world. This is
particularly true of energy consumpt