The recent agitations against “indiscriminate coal mining” and “nationwide interlinking of rivers” have brought back the oft-forgotten principle of “intergenerational equity” firmly into focus.
The Rio Declaration of 1992 urged all countries to identify “natural resources that are national assets” and to “use them in such a manner that it does not compromise the ability of future generations, to benefit equitably from them”. Indeed, in recent times, people of Goa have successfully argued that “coal is a finite resource” and its unhindered extraction limits the extent to which future generations can benefit from it.
Is “intergenerational equity” relevant to corporates? To founders
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