Degrading the environtment starts from birth. We enter the world crying and producing waste. So, from our first day we progressively pollute with our growth.

Disasters like the Boxing Day tsunami, Hurricane Ktrina and most recently the tsunami in Myanmar demonstrated the havoc nature can cause.

Who is to blame? Our ancestors, modern technology, development, politicians, the rich or the poor?

The currenct practice of solving these global issues is a top down scientific, technological approch that does not always account for natural processes or recognise local knowledge or skills.

This is demonstrated by the long history of technocratic attempts to control the Mississippi River, which has repeatedly overwhelmed levees and caused billios of dollars worth of damage. Recently, New Orleans filed a $40bn claim agains US army engineers for building levees incapable of withstading Hurricane Ktrina according to the Guardian newspaper. 

We cannot keep watching the environment degrade and wait for science to solve our problems. It is the responsibility of all humans to create a better environment. We need the desire to tackle issues and the state needs the right tools and systems to concentrate our efforts.

Local problems require local solutions and even global solutions would need to be applied on a local scale. Solutions should be developed on a local level using a bottom up approach. We should begin with activities withing our reach like using public transport, saving enegry or reducing the use of harmful chemicals.

The ‘polluter pays’ principle should continue to be use to penalise environment offenders. But also rewards should be given to encourage positive behaviour.

Howver, an alternative approach could use rewards to encourage positive behaviour. A centrally managed initiative using financial incentives or social benefits, funded for example by the state or industry, would encourage people to improve their environmental performace. This system also has the potential to encourage competition which will in turn encourage greater leevels of environmental improvement through positive feedback and integrate communities more closely.

This environmental score-base system should be trialled and a laraage, hierarchical organisation like Parsons Brinckerhoff may be the ideal place to develop such a model, which, if effective, could be rolled out on a national level. 

Subodh Timilsina is a rail planner.