'Huge differences' in environmental problems of India, West

Arguing that there were "huge differences" in the climatic conditions in the West and India, an environment ministry official Tuesday said the country must not depend on developed nations for its environment-friendly measures.

Hem Kumar Pande, IAS, additional secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), urged the business sector to invest in research to mitigate concerns arising out of damage caused to ecology at the cost of industrial growth.

"There are huge differences between the countries that lie in the temperate regions and us... the developed countries lie in that region, their requirements are different than us... we need not be copycats and use their technologies for all of our needs... nobody needs to teach us about nature conservation," Pande said at the seventh Environment Partnership Summit here.

"Industries need to invest in research... businesses need to go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives," he said at the meet organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Big companies, he said, do not pose a major problem as they try to comply with environmental standards, while the smaller ones can't face the costs of adopting eco-friendly norms.

He contended that while developed nations like Britain, having attained economic and social security, can now focus on ecological conservation, India, however, can't "afford the luxury" of concentrating solely on environment as there are social challenges that need to be addressed at the same time.

Stressing the importance of solar power in the country, Pande said the West doesn't have the answer to modifying solar panels to India's specifications.

"West is not going to do that for us... we need to innovate. The kind of green buildings they have is different... we have to tap into our indigenous technology to do that," he said.

He emphasised the need to bring about new technologies to address the challenges of environmental protection.