Some people say that protecting the environment is the government’s responsibility. Others believe that every individual should take responsibility for it. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. v.13

Protecting the environment is a crucial responsibility. Its current status is way less than ideal. The depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, desertification, polluted water bodies, polluted air are just some of the problems that the Earth is facing. These problems could reach alarming states, if they are not attended to with a sense of urgency. However, the question in the worldwide debate is, who should be tasked with safeguarding nature - governments or individuals? Let’s examine some of the arguments that each has about why the other should be held more accountable. The work involved is massive, involving humungous manpower and costs, which only governments can deploy because of their reach, and financial resources. Another important part of the puzzle is that laws have to be passed which will allow certain actions and prohibit others, which too can only be done by the lawmakers. Protection also means understanding safe levels of human activity, which require the measurement of the quality of air, water and land. The instruments to make such measurements can only be commissioned, installed and used by state bodies. In the absence of the above mentioned actions, preserving and sustaining the ecosystem will be impossible. On the other hand, every individual is in touch with some part of their natural habitat every day of his life. As such all flora and fauna in the neighbourhood is organically connected to every person. Their well-being is therefore crucial to human well being, both now and in the future. Additionally, every human being consumes air, water and land resources every day of his life. If he wants to be able to continue to access them and retain the quality of consumption, then judicious use and replenishment of depleted resources should become the order of the day for everyone. Last, but not the least, all human enterprises generate waste, which has to be disposed of properly to avoid pollution, contamination and adulteration of natural resources. So a person involved in such enterprise is duty bound to put procedures in place to prevent any harmful disposal of waste. For all of these reasons, the individual cannot escape his share of work in the protection of natural resources. As both parties have their share of the work cut out for them, they have to each shoulder their responsibilities fully. The problem is not an ‘either or’ issue, rather, it’s one of recognizing their respective roles and getting on with the job with commitment and no further ado. Given the level of information available on this topic, it won’t be long before this stops being a debate. It’ll soon be a matter of doing a good job of it.