Looking Through Indira Gandhi’s Vision: Some Recollections +

1 Introduction

It was a privilege for the author to be present at the birth of the global environmental movement at the landmark event of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 5–16 June 1972). 1 The Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was always deeply interested in the protection of the natural environment including animals and plants. She had a special love for trees and blossoming plants which stayed with her literally till the end of her life. She witnessed the glorious autumn in Srinagar just before her assassination in 31 October 1984.

Soon after the author joined her Cabinet in 1967, she appointed him Chairman of the Indian Board of Wild Life. 2 During this period the main achievement was, first, requesting the Prime Minister to change the national animal, for obvious reasons, from the Lion to the Tiger. Then setting up of the Project Tiger with the Prime Minister’s support under author’s Chairmanship and with the support of the WWF. The author formally launched the Project Tiger in April 1971, in the Corbett National Park. 3 This would have been one of the reasons why she included the author in the Indian Delegation to the 1972 Stockholm Conference. In fact, it was by far the highest-powered delegation there led by the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It included the three senior Cabinet Ministers; the author, C. Subramaniam, and I.K. Gujral.

2 India’s Participation in Global Environmental Conference

Indira Gandhi looked at the environment not from an elitist view point. She did it due to her genuine conviction that destruction of the natural habitat would not only adversely affect wildlife but ultimately the lives of the people living in the area. Her slogan to eliminate poverty, therefore, necessarily included the protection of our natural habitat as ordained in the ancient Indian tradition. In her speech at the Stockholm Conference, she vividly invoked the wisdom in a verse from the ancient Indian treatise, the Atharva Veda:

What of thee I dig out,

Let that quickly grow over,

Let me not hit thy vitals.

Or thy heart

As one of the first Heads of Government to be a dedicated environmentalist, Indira Gandhi and her Swedish counterpart Olaf Palme 4 who was also similarly committed, developed an excellent relationship. Both leaders made a powerful impact on the whole Stockholm Conference. However, it is a tragic coincidence that both these Prime Ministers, the only ones to attend the 1972 Conference, were subsequently assassinated.

3 UN Environment Programme

The author recalls the sense of excitement and anticipation that we had when the Stockholm Conference began. Indira Gandhi’s speech on that occasion was a sensation and wildly applauded. She became the centre of attraction and was cheered wherever she went. It was indeed a triumph both for her and for India. One of the outcomes of the Stockholm Conference was the decision to establish a new institution –the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 5 The author was keen that this should be located in India because no other country has as varied a natural environment as India and the author did try at the time to press this point. The choices debated for the location of the new UN program were India and Kenya. The Kenyans were very keen as this would be the first UN agency located in a developing country outside North America and Europe. The debate continued for several months when India gracefully decided to withdrew in favour of Kenya, citing its fraternal links with the African country. The towering figure of Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya, 6 who was an admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru and a close friend of Indira Gandhi, was also a significant factor in the decision. While UNEP has been functioning in Nairobi since then, there is a general feeling that it has not played as effective a role as had been expected.

Indira Gandhi’s deep commitment to the environment has been comprehensively described in Jairam Ramesh’s excellent book Indira Gandhi –A Life in Nature. 7 The author has used this book to refresh his memory about the Stockholm Conference. The author was 41 when attended the Stockholm Conference. 8 At the time of Stockholm+50, the author has now turned 91.

During all these decades, the author has closely followed the fluctuating fortunes of the global environmental movement and provided an input where required. For instance, in a communication of 6 December 2006 to the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the author stated the following:

You are aware of my long-standing interest in environmental matters. I was a member of the Indian Delegation, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to the UN Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, an outcome of which was UNGA’s decision to establish UNEP to “promote international cooperation in the field of environment” and also to “act as the environmental conscience of UN system”. Over the more than three decades of its existence, UNEP has made seminal contribution in galvanizing international concern for intricate environmental issues. Among other things, it has been instrumental in initiating several significant environmental agreements.

In recent years, UNEP has suffered because of the lack of funding and also because of its programmatic structure, Lately, the number of member-States contributing voluntarily to UNEP Environment Fund has substantially declined because of the perception that it is not a major player within UN system. Upgrading UNEP into one of the “specialized organizations like the WTO and also revitalise its funding situation. UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence (co-chaired by Pakistan, Norway & Mozambique) has recommended an upgrade of it and underpinning it with sufficient authority for it to function as the “environmental policy pillar” of UN system.

I am sure you will agree that at a time when the global environment is facing serious threats and challenges, India should play a leading role in the UN in energising UNEP to function effectively as the “global environmental conscience”. I am enclosing an off-print of Prof. Desai’s article, “UNEP: A Global Environmental Authority?” from the journal Environmental Policy and Law (vol. 36, 4-5, 2006, pp. 137-157), which will be of interest to you in this connection. 9

The spirit of the above communication underscores the need for institutional reforms for protection of the global environment. It could comprise an upgradation of UNEP into a ‘specialized agency’ 10 as it has now celebrated 50 years 11 of its existence on 3-4 March 2022. The above cited work on UNEP shows the pathway in this respect to equip UNEA (designation changed vide UNGA resolution 67/251 of 13 March 2013) 12 for the current and future global environmental challenges.

The author has two remarks to make: Firstly, subsequent conferences should be counted from 1972 Stockholm and not from 1992 Rio. 13 In fact, Rio was Stockholm point 2. Secondly, the author does think it was a tragedy for the world that Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and a dedicated environmentalist, should have very narrowly lost the U.S. Presidential election in 2000. Had he won, we would have been in a much better environmental position globally than we are today. In fact, there would not have been the cruel and unjustified invasion of Iraq in 2003, with all the subsequent environmental disasters in the region that continue to the present day. He also could surely have spearheaded the whole environmental movement and given it an immense lift. The advent of the US President Donald Trump was another great setback to the global environmental movement. He openly opposed any globalisation and went back on the 2015 Paris Agreement that had been so painstakingly put together. Mercifully, President Joe Biden has now reversed that decision in early 2021 so that the United States has again joined the Paris Agreement. As the world’s largest polluter, the US has a special responsibility to make a major contribution in saving the global environment at this juncture of Stockholm+50 and beyond.

4 Stockholm+50 and Beyond

In this whole saga of humanity’s desperate efforts to save our beautiful planet 14 from looming environmental destruction, let us not forget the woman who boldly led the charge at the 1972 Stockholm Conference –Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India. Stockholm +50 (2022) 15 is a good occasion to review our successes and failures over the last half a century and reiterate the call for all nations to co-operate fully with fulfilling their global environmental commitments including the 2015 Paris Agreement. 16

As seen earlier, the 1972 Stockholm Conference was the first step towards codification of international environmental law. The Stockholm Declaration of the UNCHE (16 June 1972) recognised importance of a healthy environment for all human beings and materialized the institutional mechanism in for international environmental law. After five decades in 2022, Kenya and Sweden respectively hosted the events UNEP@50 in Nairobi (3-4 March 2022) and the Stockholm+50 in Stockholm (2-3 March 2022) to take the international environmental law to the next stage that can meet the contemporary global environmental challenges as well as address urgent issues such as climate change, global Covid-19 pandemic, etc. Another aim was to review the achievements of the sustainable development goals by the States including sustainable recovery from the COVID-19. 17

5 Jural Correlative Between Rights and Duties

The theme of the Stockholm+50 (2022) Conference was: Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all our responsivity, our opportunity. 18 According to Hofeld’s jural correlation, questions arise: Whose right is it to get healthy and clean environment? Who has duty to protect the environment? “Correlatives” signifies that these interests exist on opposing sides of a pair of persons involved in a legal relationship. 19 If this theory of jural correlation is applied here, all-natural living beings including animal and trees have a right to get a healthy environment that they can sustain. This right to a healthy environment (recognized by the Human Rights Council resolution 48/13 of 08 October 2021) holds the promise for a better future not only for the humans but also for all the life forms and in fact for the survival of our planet earth itself.

With this, we have to accept that it is only the human beings who are contributing most to environmental degradation and climate change, thus, it is their duty to protect the environment. Hence, along side the right to a healthy environment to sustain on planet earth, there is a correlative duty that should be performed by all individuals, sovereign States and other entities.

6 Conclusion

Law making is not enough to protect the environment and the planet earth. Instead, the implementation of laws and effective working of the institutional mechanisms should be given the top priority. 20 As we look ahead, India should lead the way at the Stockholm+50 (2022) Conference and beyond it, as it did at the Stockholm Conference (1972) for our better global environmental future.