“With all its economic success and technological triumphs, India is yet to make a successful dent in the proportion of its undernourished children.” That was Professor Jeffrey D Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, during his address at the Indian School of Business (ISB) on the Challenges of Climate Change and Sustainable Development in India.

One of the most influential economists of his generation, Professor Sachs was recently hosted by the ISB to deliver a talk on sustainable development issues and global environmental challenges. Twice named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by the Time magazine, Professor Sachs is among the leading voices for combining economic development with environmental sustainability. Professor Sachs is also the Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is a Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Sustainable development, according to me, rests equal weight on both the terms,” he explained. “Development means the challenge of meeting basic needs, ending poverty and having the opportunity to improve material conditions over a period of time. Sustainable means to be able to do the above in a way that is consistent. In our times it also means environmental sustainability.”

The challenges in achieving sustainable development, according to Professor Sachs, is to end extreme poverty, create a framework in which economic progress takes place, and to do it in a way that is consistent with the physical environment. The eternal optimist in Professor Sachs said, “I do believe we have a chance to achieve sustainable development on the planet, though no place has yet achieved it.”

Focusing on challenges specific to India, he first acknowledged that India has indeed made rapid economic growth which is now “proven and solid.” The present growth stage is “export-led”, according to Professor Sachs. “A great economic success story but there is a huge gap in this. Besides investing in the Green Revolution, some agricultural technology and basic infrastructure, investment in poor people in rural India has remained amazingly scant through India’s history,” he pointed out, adding that basic amenities like health and decent education are unfortunately left to the community’s device.

“The reason for this gap is clear- because economic growth is not sufficient to meet basic needs. It never was, it never will be,” he said. Poverty, noted Professor Sachs, can be ended only by translating economic growth into specific technologies that address the basic needs of the poor with the aid of a “very heavy dose of public finance.”

Tackling the issue of public health in India, Professor Sachs presented a rather grim state of affairs. “Investment in public health in India is alarmingly low – a mere 10$ per person per year in contrast to 3500$ per person per year in the US,” he noted. “I suggest a community public heath system which is backed by strong public finance. If a private sector provides these services, hundreds and millions of Indians will be left behind for even their basic needs,” he said.

The next challenge, according to Professor Sachs, was to do all the above in an environmentally sustainable method. “India faces massive environmental challenges that will only grow worse”, he warned. Some problem areas he pointed out were- dense population, land and soil degradation, biodiversity loss, decrease of natural habitats, water stress, and climate stress. He said that all of these could mean huge negative ramifications for agricultural activities and in turn could “derail the country’s economic progress.”

Professor Sachs left the audience thinking about the importance of translating economic growth into basic services and keeping intact the physical environment. “You can’t have a community whose incomes are rising but mothers are dying in massive numbers. Finish the story of illiteracy, infant mortality, infectious diseases, maternal mortality, etc”- those words of Professor Sachs hung on for a long time.