Indicating that the era of conflict between environment and industries is over, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan on Wednesday said the question being raised now is how can green economy lead to sustainable development and poverty eradication.
“...In my mind, there is no conflict between development and environment,” the Minister said at a conference in New Delhi.
Advocating that both development and environment must go together, Ms. Natarajan, however, said the government would not compromise on green issues.
“Ours is a country which has achieved a tremendous growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent despite a world recession. At the same time, we have not compromised on the issues regarding our environment,” she told the Infragreen Conference organised by the Economic Times .
Spelling out the steps taken by the government to deal with environmental issues including the national mission on climate change announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ms. Natarajan said poverty eradication remains at the centre stage of such policies.
