Lessons from Bhopal

World Environment Day, which is annually observed on June 5, takes on additional significance this year. It was exactly 50 years ago, at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, that the Stockholm Declaration came into being, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established. To mark this milestone, the host country for World Environment Day 2022 is Sweden. Things have come full circle.

The UNEP, which is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya — and sees itself as “a catalyst, advocate and educator to promote a sustainable relationship between people and planet” — has published #OnlyOneEarth: A practical guide to living sustainably in harmony with nature. It offers guidelines on how “to transform our economies and societies to make them inclusive, fair and more connected with nature”. The idea behind this is to shift from harming to healing so that we can all advance “to a better, more sustainable future, where everyone can thrive.

I enjoy reading UN publications of this kind. They are elegantly worded. They spell out action plans and best practices with such conviction that one almost forgets that the UN system is slow and bureaucratic, that it struggles to implement what it envisions — given that so much depends on maintaining relationships with governments to secure funding — and it has no legal power to take punitive measures if member nations choose not to comply.

The guide has a section titled “Business and Industry”, urging business leaders to adopt “a green business strategy” that would focus on sustainability, emission reduction targets, upgradable products with long life cycles and natural materials, and investment in digital technologies that support circularity. Much of this has already begun in India. What struck me was the guide’s appeal to “engage with national authorities, inter-governmental organisations and civil society to develop policies and measures that help businesses contribute to building a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.” This will be tough.

A recent visit to the Remember Bhopal Museum, commemorating the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984, made me wonder why civil society would trust business leaders or national authorities after the lessons it has learnt from the aftermath of the gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. The museum, which describes itself as “a survivor-led effort at collecting, archiving and exhibiting memories, artefacts and oral histories of the experience of the communities affected by…the world’s worst industrial disaster”, is a heart-wrenching experience. It shows how corruption, environmental racism and disregard for public health — not methyl isocyanate alone — turned an environmental disaster into a humanitarian one. The contamination of groundwater, psychological trauma, and congenital health conditions in families, are concerns that continue to exist, even if political leaders try to overlook that.

The Remember Bhopal Museum was inaugurated on the 30th anniversary of the disaster. It is not as well-known as the other museums in Bhopal — Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Golghar Museum and Birla Museum. The Remember Bhopal combines hard data with moving stories to expose the nexus between corporations and lawmakers that made it difficult for civil society to demand accountability, and secure adequate compensation for survivors, and families of victims. It uses recorded interviews, found objects, photographs, and posters to bear witness. It reminds us that businesses will be trusted only when they demonstrate that people matter to them as much as profits do.

The effects of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy still haunt families that live in Bhopal. The driver of the auto-rickshaw who took me there stepped in to see the museum exhibits with me. He was quiet throughout the time that we spent there. When we boarded the auto-rickshaw to go back to my hotel, he began opening up. “I saw it with my own eyes. The city had turned into a graveyard. People were dying everywhere. I am lucky to be alive. These politicians have given us hardly anything. Most of the money that was sanctioned for us went into their pockets,” he said. The Remember Bhopal Museum is located in a rented building, just 2.5 kilometres away from the Union Carbide factory. It is not only an educational initiative, but an activist one, looking to ensure that the Bhopal Gas Tragedy is not appropriated by a government-sponsored memorial since the survivors hold the government responsible for their suffering.

The UNEP guide clearly states, “Companies that ignore their impact on the environment don’t just alienate customers and turn off investors. Ultimately, they may risk their survival. Firms that underestimate ESG (environmental, societal, governance) risks and fail to develop new, sustainable business models will be overtaken by rivals or disruptive start-ups.”

As we observe World Environment Day, it is crucial to remember that we can never undo the harm that took place in Bhopal but we can learn from that and avert future disasters that pollute our air and water, poison our soil and food, and kill our fellow human beings.