Indian eco-activist Vandana Shiva urges a paradigm shift away from the pervasive short-sighted growth model we see failing all around us, and says that "making peace with the earth" is now a "survival imperative."

Vandana Shiva: "You cannot separate the issue of sustainability from the issue of justice from the issue of access to resources and from the issues of peace." (photo: Claudio Testa)

Shiva made the comments in an interview with Salim Rizvi of Free Speech Radio News.

Speaking about current environmental activism in India, she says the grassroots movement "has never been stronger because the crisis is deeper." She adds that rights issues are intertwined. "You cannot separate the issue of sustainability from the issue of justice from the issue of access to resources and from the issues of peace."

Emphasizing the urgency of our times, Shiva says "Making peace with the earth" is now "a survival imperative."

Speaking about the Rio+20 United Nations sustainable development summit in Rio de Janeiro which officially starts today, Shiva says that Rio "was very important 20 years ago," and that India played an important role then.  But now India is "playing second fiddle to the United States," which "wants to dismantle Rio."

Shiva says that India's civiliazation is based on "compassion and sharing," and "you cannot sacrifice that very very open generous civiliazation for a short-term growth model that is failing all around us. "

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Free Speech Radio News: Interview with author, activist Vandana Shiva on the practice of sustainability

Indian author, activist and philosopher Vandana Shiva is one of many people in Rio this week calling for a paradigm shift in how countries practice sustainability, one that puts the rights of mother earth and future generations above profit and corporate control of the planet’s resources. In a recent article published in The Asian Age, Shiva writes, “None of us are immune to the crisis, or the response to it. None of us are bystanders. We are all immersed in processes that are either threatening the planet and our own future, or finding creative ways to shape a sustainable and just future." FSRN’s Salim Rizvi recently sat down with Vandana Shiva to discuss environmental struggles in her own country and what she expects of the Rio+20 summit.