‘Conquest without conscience.’ To what extent would you agree with this assessment of our relationship to the environment?

Against the backdrop of an increasingly cosmopolitan global community, every country is embroiled in a rat race to grow its economy and augment the standard of living of its people. This led to the conquest of technology, medicine, and even nature. Oft-times, little considerations is given to the state of the environment and these nations, corporations and individuals pollute the environment without compunction. While it is heart-warming to note the presence of some countries and corporations which are environmentally-conscious, the global trend is still that of excessive consumerism with minimal attempts at environmental conservation.

In the pursuit for technological advancements and economic progress, many companies have no qualms about polluting the environment. In fact, 90 million tons of global-warming pollutants are dumped into the atmosphere each day, as if it were an open sewer. The ramifications of global warming are conspicuous: scientists have confirmed that the last 10 years were the hottest decade since modern records have been kept; almost all of the ice-covered regions are melting- and see levels are rising at a dangerous rate; and droughts are getting longer and deeper in many mid-continent regions. Many companies, such as Exxon Mobile, does not adopt any green practices and have no compunction about polluting the environment. More heinous is how corporations try to shirk off all responsibilities by postulating that environmental change is a natural process, rather than a pernicious result of their relentless pursuit for economic progress. "The global warming swindle", for instance, has been met with many controversies and has been censured for trying to mislead the public into thinking that corporations are not responsible for the environmental degradation we see today.

Eco-tourism is an industry that is abused by profit-driven corporations. Under the veneer of promoting economic growth while protecting the environment, many corporations simply make use of Eco-tourism as a revenue-generating tool. In Eco-tourism, virgin lands are exposed to throngs of tourists for walk-throughs that strip these lands of their natural value. The development of infrastructure for Eco-tourism in Mexico, for instance, ruthlessly annihilated a whole species of native butterflies. After the island of Galapagos was announced as conservation site for Eco-tourism, migrants flocked to Galapagos in search of jobs, causing an over-swell in population number. What was once recognized as exotic areas of nature have now become pollution-generating spots. Evidently, Eco-tourism is a failed venture. Yet corporations are continuing this business because the potential benefits far outweigh the environment costs that they may have to bear. For the monetary benefits, these corporations often overlook their moral conscience and little consideration is given to the welfare of Mother nature.

Similarly, in the conquest for better living conditions, humans poach wildlife for their medicinal and commercial value and little consideration is given to the possible threat of their extinction. The rate of human-induced extinction is an unparalled catastrophe, and earth has not seen a spasm of extinctions like this for 65 million years. Killing of elephant for ivory is rampant in states like Orissa, Uttarancha l, Assam, UP and Karnataka. The proportion of sub -adult and adult tuskers has dropped drastically in the last 20 years. Rare rhinos, such as the one-horned Asiatic rhino are found in protected habitats in India such as Barida National Park in Nepal and Assam. Alarmingly, poachers kill them even in these protected habitats. The flagrant fact that poachers can still hunt animals despite knowing that they are protected shows that they have no conscience at all. In fact, profits is always of paramount importance to them and conservation of wildlife is oft-times a peripheral consideration. More often than not, in our quest for a higher quality of life, through merchandise made from animal tusks and skins, as well as their medicinal value, such as the treatment of cancer, fauna are abused by mankind. Only a small minority, such as animal conservationists and environmentalists are conscious about the survival of these animals.

Despite many countries, corporations and individuals who better themselves at the expense of the environment, there exist a minority who are conscious about the potential threats to the environment and are indefatigable in saving the environment. Many Scandinavian countries aim for economic progress but still maintain efforts in protecting the environment. Brazil has the second largest and most economically honest biofuel industry, which already provides 40% of the fuel consumed by its cars and will soon supply 15% of its electricity through the burning of sugarcane waste. Concomitantly, Norway earns a high spot for being first to the world's largest solar production plant, and has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Some corporations are also gearing up on their green initiatives to save the environment. General Electric (GE), a large American Engineering firm, already has a thriving wind-turbine business and is gearing up its solar-energy business. BP and Shell, 2 of the world's biggest oil companies, are also sponsoring research in green technology. Such proactive actions by various countries and corporations show that while they are on a conquest for a higher standard of living, they still have a conscience to keep the environment protected.

Incontrovertibly, the conquest for a better life has blinded the conscience of many resulting in the degradation of the environment. Managing the often-conflicting demands of fast economic growth and saving the environment is hard. While it is almost out of the question for us to stop this conquest, perhaps we should slow down and start searching our conscience and play our part in conserving the environment. This is not just for ourselves, but also for our posterity.