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World Environment Day

Are you green?

Mohammad Shahidul Islam
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In a green economy, growth in income and employment should be driven by private and public investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution; enhance energy and resource efficiency; and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecological systems.
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Green economy will create many opportunities for entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers and decision makers willing to embrace changes. What the country needs to ensure is that whatever is done in this process should create win-win outcomes for all members of society and provide solutions to the challenges from climate change, population growth and other socio economic factors.
World Environment Day (WED) is being observed today with the theme "Green Economy: Does it include you?" WED is celebrated every year to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environmental action. It is run by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). UNEP's statement regarding WED-2012 is "Green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive."
Today, it is necessary to focus not only on the environment of workplaces but also look at the macro- picture of how we can sustain businesses and employment in the light of what is happening in the real environment. It has come to a stage that changes are happening in the environment which directly impinge not only on the sustainability and stability of employment but also on the very existence of human life.
Therefore, promoting green jobs for a sustainable future is not the respon-
sibility of the government only but also of all who are genuinely interested in the well-being of the society. It is a fundamental social obligation of everyone. It is only through a multistakeholder dialogue that the country can truly move towards the path of green growth.
Green jobs, as defined by the ILO, are jobs that reduce environmental impact of enterprises and economic centres to sustainable levels. However, from employers' perspective, it is important to understand and appreciate the strategies that countries should take in relation to moving towards a green economy will have to
depend on the circumstances of each of these countries. What is needed is for the social partners of these countries to be committed towards this goal with a national focus.
It is not possible for us to generalise about working conditions for those in green jobs, either now or in the future. As regards decent work and green jobs, the objective must be for all jobs to aspire to be decent work. Humans have triggered a food, fuel and financial crisis, as a result of which there is climate change. Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humans and worsening conditions will magnify this crisis.
No doubt, earth is on fire and climate change is inevitable. But, it appears as if the business establishments don't take this seriously and for them its "business as usual." Industry has taken a lot from the world's natural pool of resources and in return has let out waste and pollutants into the environment. By doing this they have destroyed the biodiversity and balance of the ecological system.
The world is in the midst of a colossal shift. The decisions that are going to be made by emerging economic giants China and India will have a huge impact on the quality of life throughout the world. In the effort
towards reaching climate sustainability humans have to behave in a way that brings the ecological system of the planet to the well-being of our future generation.
In a green economy, growth in income and employment should be driven by private and public investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution; enhance energy and resource efficiency; and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecological systems. Bangladesh has a growing economy and care should be taken to protect the environment system of the country.
There should be changes in admin-
istrative systems and political systems as well. National, cultural and political differences on these changes in structure should be overcome. These might be the guiding fundamentals when we explore the green economy. The priority economic sectors may be production of clean energy and focus on local and rural energy access; bio-diversely based business including organic agriculture; commercial forestry; fishing and marine based industries; natural resources based industries; and nature based tourism and social services.
Green economics is not just about the environment. Certainly we must move to harmonise with natural systems, to make our economies flow benignly like sailboats in the wind of ecosystem processes. But doing this requires great creativity, tremendous knowledge, and the widespread participation of everyone.
Human beings can no longer serve as cogs in the machine of accumulation, be it capitalistic or socialistic. Ecological development requires an unleashing of human development and an extension of democracy. Social and ecological transformation goes hand in hand.
Green economics and green politics both emphasise the creation of positive alternatives in all areas of life and every sector of the economy. Green economics does not prioritise support for either the "public" or the "private" sector. It argues that both sectors must be transformed so that markets express social and ecological values, and Bangladesh becomes merged with grass roots networks of community innovation.
The writer is a tourism worker.