Imagine Yourself as a Country: Lessons From Bhutan

Imagine yourself as a country.

Now imagine yourself sandwiched between two huge, overpopulated nations. Add to it, super mountainous terrain with very limited resources. If you ask any economist about this scenario, he would say, ‘You are screwed, dude’.

But if you were Bhutan, you would have proved him wrong.

Calling Bhutan a unique country would be an understatement. Despite having hardships and roadblocks at every corner, this country has managed to pull off legendary things, one amongst which is being carbon negative in the true sense of the term.

Let me condense on what the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay had been trying to put across in this very inspirational Ted Talk. For people who are not well versed in this topic a carbon neutral country basically sinks all the carbon dioxide produced by it. Not surprisingly, Bhutan goes the extra mile. It is a carbon negative country. It means that it not only sinks its Carbon dioxide emissions but also additional emissions from neighboring countries.

Ideally, every country today needs to be working extensively on its environmental policies. While many NGOs and voluntary organizations and individuals actively participate in this cause, the country as a whole can only factor in once the government imposes its environmental laws strictly and stringently. One might argue that laws are an imposition; concern for our surroundings should come naturally. Well, think about it the next time your fling your garbage into someone’s empty property instead of the community trash bin. We need laws. We are bone headed that way.

Image Source: Flickr

India is rising to be a superpower today and each of us holds a moral responsibility in making that possible. But this should not come at the cost of our natural resources because then our success will be extremely short lived and die a premature death. The tiny country of Bhutan has been promising something that even major super-powers have failed to deliver.  They have pledged to remain carbon neutral for ever to come. They are in the process of harnessing their hydel power potential. If they even manage to utilize half their potential they would be sinking 50 million tones of carbon dioxide. Now that is way more than the total amount of carbon dioxide produced by the city of New York in one year.

Summers have only just begun and temperatures are soaring. Kolkata itself is hitting 40-45 degree centigrade with no hopes of rain. Has this always been the situation? Can nothing be done? Do we have to wait for the government to do something? To make it rain? To make summers more bearable?

Image Source: Flickr

The answer is No.

Imagine, if each of the 14.1 million in Kolkata just planted one tree, just one, wouldn’t the scene be different? Arguing that there is just not enough space or time is ridiculous. What are potted plants for? How long does it take to pour some water, actually even waste water from dirty dishes, into a pot? The Moroccans had a tradition, for every child born they would plant a clove tree. Well, we if were playing by those rules, we would definitely be the country with the second largest forest cover in the world, instead of just placing second highest population wise.

Image Source: Flickr

Watched Piku? Nice movie, right? There was this one scene in it which cleverly showed how we can use recycled water from washing dishes and clothes as flush water. These small values of sustainability and longevity will go a long way in securing the future of generations to come. Forget the future. The special water trains being rushed to Latur, Osmanabad and Beed to overcome not just the agrarian water crisis, but also for just general drinking purposes is evidence enough that water crisis is not just a big ol’ Facebook post we all just have to sit and sympathize with. It is real. It is here. It is now.

Image Source

We are a hot, HOT country. Using this abundant solar energy, combined with watershed and rain water harvesting facility during the crazy, torrential monsoons can be a solution to many of our problems. With about 300 clear, sunny days in a year, India’s theoretically calculated solar energy incidence on its land area alone, is about 5,000 trillion kilowatt-hours per year. The solar energy available in a year exceeds the possible energy output of all fossil fuel energy reserves in India.

Image Source: Flickr

Animal corridors are a brilliant India. Bhutan has connected the 72% area under forest cover with bio corridors virtually enabling animals to roam freely throughout the country. Sounds awesome but isn’t practically possible in our country, yet. The least we could do to get them through these terrible summers is just leave a bowl of water under a tree in a shaded area. Birds and animals can always scavenge for food, but it is the search for water which turns into a nightmare. People in an apartment complex or community can take the responsibility of just refilling the bowl whenever they see it empty. It is a small step, but the next time someone offers you water when you are thirsty and parched, remember this.

Critical climate change is upon us. Embracing this reality should no longer remain an option for us. We all need to step up and do that bit, just enough to secure our own future. Hopefully, someday we will overcome this crisis and create a better world to live in.

Featured Image Source: Flickr