Looking back to think ahead

That the environment has been steadily deteriorating - be it the sit we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that supports as in myriad ways, or the diversity of plant and animal life that surroundsus-is common knowledge: the impacts of pollution in cities and the loss of natural wealth in the countryside are only too visible to be ignored. But

. What is the extent of damage in physical terms? . What are its causes, both direct and indirect?

• How much-how many billions - has the damage cost us? . Does the price of economic development have to be a

deteriorating environment?

What can be done to reverse the degradation? These are the questions that GREEN India 2047

TERI's most ambitious project to date-seeks to address. The first phase of the project sought to set forth the extent of degradation of India's natural resources during the first fifty years of its independence and to assess the damage in economic terms. The results were comprehensively documented by a team of TERI researchers in a 350-page volume, which was presented to the Prime Minister of India. This publication summarizes the document in just 52 pages, supported by charts, maps, and diagrams, and provides a complete overview for those who are always pressed for time: corporate executives, policy-makers, journalists, politicians, and planners.