Solved Exercise for Precis writing “Towards Sustainable Development” Precis for Class 9, 10, 11, 12 and Government Exams.

Precis Exercise 

A major flaw in environment management and related policies in most parts of the world has been that environment was always seen as “something external to the economy”. Considered to be an impediment to development in good times and too expensive to afford in hard times, the neglect of environmental concerns and lack of collaborative efforts between the industry and the community has led to a situation where the costs of not paying the cost have become evident.

Floating this theory, the Chairman of Environment Protection Authority, Australia, Dr. Brian Robinson, without mincing words charged the industry with being slow to invest in environmental protection and thereby inviting an environmental apocalypse.

“At best, the industry did what it had to do in order to comply with Government regulation. Pollution control was simply an add-on requirement, a cost with no return on investment.”, he said, while delivering a talk on “economic development and environment protection – friends and foes” here on Wednesday.

Dr. Robinson said irrespective of governments liking it or not, the environment today had become a major economic factor reflected in the GDP. He estimated that the environmental service industry would reach a worldwide value of $300 billion by the early next century. “It will definitely be one of the major industry sectors with services traded internationally and contributing significantly to the terms of the trade equation,” he predicted.

Stressing that economic development and environmental quality were interdependent, Dr. Robinson, articulated that the real limits on development are not running out of material resources and energy. but exhausting the resources of the natural environment to act as a repository of all waste products.’ He said it defied logic that while uncontrolled development could destroy the environment, rigid and prescriptive environmental laws could prevent economic development.

Wealth from development is needed to provide growing communities with clean water, food, and air and a clean environment is essential for sustainable development where and why have we gone wrong?” he wondered.

Lamenting that management practices, national accounting systems, and public attitudes had led them into a system focused on short-term issues and solutions, Dr. Robinson advocated the approach of facilitative regulation.

According to Dr. Robinson, for better efficacy, facilitative regulation should be set in a well-defined policy context and clear legal framework, as it will help to recognize the legitimate role of the Government in regulating community activities but limit it to the interface between activities that would otherwise conflict.

Citing Internationalization’ of the environment in terms of an increasing number of treaties and the international cost competitiveness as the major influences on environment protection, Dr. Robinson said it was a healthy sign in recent times to watch the easy capital flow into the market. “Tangible results can be expected from the industry if we concentrate on the development of strategies plans through an open, consultative process to provide he said, a sense of ownership and partnership among stakeholders.”

Dr. Robinson said policies should be developed on the basis of the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, improved valuation, pricing, and Incentive mechanisms. Informing with pride that the Australian Government’s enactment of the Environment Protection Act 1970 was the first in the world to integrate various aspects of environmental management, Dr. Robinson said legislations have helped in recognizing that the duty of care lies with everyone.

Reiterating that the industry was best placed to carry the responsibility of co-regulating the environment management system along with communities, Dr. Robinson added that the three cornerstones – environment audit and management, environment improvement plan – were the best ways to start on the path to development. (583 words)

Solved Precis

Title:- Towards Sustainable Development

Environmental issues rarely enjoy deserving importance in a nation’s economy. They are sometimes considered obstacles to development, and at others, as sources of unaffordable expenditure. Lately, however, the people’s neglect of the environment and the lack of cooperation between industry and society have started exacting their price. This was the theme of Dr. Robinson’s talk on the subjects of Development and Environment.

He criticized the industry for considering environment protection a wasteful investment and predicted that the environment, by making a substantial contribution to world trade, would be a major player in future economies. Disagreeing with the belief that environmental laws prevented development, he said that development would be hampered not by the reduction of resources or energy, but by the inability of the environment to stay healthy. He faulted the preference for short-term solutions and supported the approach of facilitative regulations, by which, government interference was limited to solving problems between conflicting activities. He hoped such a policy, implemented with the cooperation of the industry and based on a realistic pricing and incentive mechanism, would bring satisfactory results. Proper environment audit, management, and improvement, he added, were the keys to sustainable development. (193 words)