STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

The 50th anniversary celebration of the Stockholm conference should be about our common future, not the divisions of the past

- SUNITA NARAIN

THE STOCKHOLM conference on the human environment marked the initiation of global consciousness on sustainability. It brought the world together to discuss the big issues of growth and environmental management.

This was the time when Rachel Carson, through her seminal book Silent Spring, had told the story of poisoning of nature. It was also the time when the industrialised West was battling against pollution and toxification. Our colleague Anil Agarwal, who was at the conference in 1972, often recalled how Stockholm’s lakes were so contaminated with chemicals that you could develop a film negative in the water. This conference was about the fallout of industrialisation and how to cope and mitigate its harmful impacts.

As we head towards its 50th anniversary, now would be time to recall the words of India’s former prime minister, Indira Gandhi, who was the only head of government—other than that of the host country Sweden—to attend and speak at the meeting.