In an interview with Le Monde (April 1999), environmentalist
Anil Agarwal, who passed away on January 2, talks about the
three big challenges for humanity in the 21st century What are
the major environmental risks for humanity in the 21st century?
I see three very big challenges. The first is the problem of
poverty and of that part of poverty which is deeply related to
environment. I see a lot of economic globalisation in the next
century, the result of which will be enormous economic growth,
and enormous economic wealth for the world. But this wealth is
going to bypass at least a billion people -- very poor people
who do not have the skills to integrate with the world market.
If we want a world in which there is greater equity, we have to
make sure that these billion people are able to meet their basic
needs. It is here that the environment becomes very important. A
large part of these billion people are living in villages. And,
therefore, their local economy, which is built on the good use
of the land -- th