Environment and Ecology GS Paper III (Sustainable Development) by Rajvardhan Sir

Model Answer

Question #1. Mindless human development has only exacerbated negative impacts on the environment and ecologically vulnerable regions of India. In the light of the statement discuss the measures needed to conserve the fragile ecosystems and ensure sustainable development.

Approach:

• The question requires the analysis of tradeoff between development and environment
• The demand of the question is to examine impacts on environment due to reckless human development
• In intro mention relevant info about development and environment
• Then elaborate on negative impacts on the environment and ecologically vulnerable regions of India due to reckless human development and discuss the measures needed to conserve the fragile ecosystems and ensure sustainable development.
• Conclude, by suggesting way forward

Hints:

There is an established close relationship between development and the environment. Development cannot be done without environmental resources. Therefore, the process of development and disruption of resources has negative repercussions on the environment.

Process of development has negatively impacted ecologically fragile regions of India such as Western Ghats and Himalayas

The Western Ghats are a mountain range running parallel along the western coast of India starting from Gujarat and ending in Tamil Nadu covering the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.

The Great Himalayan Mountain range, in Asia, is the home of world's highest peaks and largest glaciers on the Earth.

Mindless human development has only exacerbated negative impacts on environment and ecologically vulnerable regions of India

Himalayas

• Poaching: Various species of fauna are being hunted for commercial purposes, illegal trade and smuggling. Poaching is a major threat to wildlife in the region, especially endangered species like pangolin are hunted for their body parts for traditional Chinese medicine, while snow leopards and red pandas are sought for their beautiful pelts, which have a high commercial value on the black market.
• Infrastructure development: With increasing development comes a growing demand for energy. The Himalayas are considered a boon to produce hydroelectric power, and the effect of dams on fisheries and fish ecology is a matter of grave concern. Construction of roads, bridges, hotels industries etc. on the ecological sensitive river banks have perilous impact on the biodiversity.
• Waste Disposal: Human populations, their habitat, discharge from the industries in Himalayan regions give rise to unimaginable non-biodegradable wastes and toxics. Unplanned and poorly managed tourism in the form of mountainous expeditions, Himalayan trekking take such wastes even to the remote areas threatening the biodiversity even at the remotest regions of Himalayas.
• It is a well-accepted fact that climate change is the main factor contributing to the accelerated glacier retreat observed in the Himalayas. Continued climate change is predicted to lead to major changes in freshwater flows, with dramatic impacts on the various flora and fauna of the region.

Western Ghats

• Threats from Industrialization: Polluting industries, quarries and mines, roads, and townships are planned due to the absence of the Western Ghats ESA policy. This implies more damage to the fragile landscape of the region in future.
• Biodiversity Relates Issues: Forest loss, habitat fragmentation, habitat degradation by invasive plant species, encroachment and conversion also continue to affect the Ghats. Fragmentation caused by development pressure in the Western Ghats is shrinking the availability of wildlife corridors and suitable habitats outside Protected Areas.
• Developmental Pressures: Urbanisation together with agricultural expansion and livestock grazing are posing serious threats to the region. About 50 million people are estimated to live in the Western Ghats Region, resulting in developmental pressures that are orders of magnitude greater than many protected areas around the world.
• Landslides and flash floods ravaged the ghat areas of Konkan in 2021 Cyclones are also gaining intensity with the warming of the Arabian Sea leaving the west coast especially vulnerable.
• Huge population pressure coerces men to look for the extension of agricultural land. Forests and biodiversity are cleared to make space for farmland. Shifting, nomadic and slash & burn agriculture intensifies such forest clearances to make way for the agriculture.
• The exploitation of forests for timber, fodder and fuel wood are some of the other main threats to biodiversity in this region. Forests are extensively cleared unsustainably for medicines, paper and many other industrial purposes.

Measures needed to conserve the fragile ecosystems and ensure sustainable development.

• Preventive Approach: Considering the changes in climate, which would affect the livelihood of all people and hurt the nation’s economy, it is prudent to conserve the fragile ecosystems. This will cost less compared to the situation prone to calamities than spending money /resources for restoration / rejuvenation.
• Empowering Local Communities: The various committees emphasised that it is the people at the grassroot level who have the knowledge and are tied to the environment should have the motivation to safeguard the region. The way forward lies in the pursuit of genuine democratic decentralisation and empowering local communities in villages and cities.
• Recommendations of the Kasturirangan Committee should be adopted which sought to balance the development and environment protection in contrast to the system proposed by the Gadgil report. The Kasturirangan committee recommended that instead of the total area of Western Ghats, only 37% of the total area should be brought under ESA and a complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining be imposed in ESA.
• No new dams based on large scale storage should be permitted in Ecologically Sensitive Zones of Himalayas and Western Ghats. Ex- Tehri Dam collapsed
• Addressing the Concerns of Local People: Arguments go that the idea of demarcating an ecologically sensitive area(ESA) is inherently against people and their developmental aspirations. The issue can be discussed through detailed public consultations so that the policy is not seen to have a top-down approach.
• Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region: Himalayan Tourism is growing annually at 6.8% and has created huge challenges related to solid waste, water, traffic, loss of bio-cultural diversity etc. Urgent actions are needed to address issues of waste management and water crisis.
• Transformative approach to shifting cultivation: Thousands of households in north eastern states, continue to practice shifting cultivation which needs to be addressed. There is an urgent need for improved policy coherence, strengthened tenurial security and improved access to related programs for transform shifting cultivation.
• Data/Information for Informed Decision Making: Himalayan states face challenges related to data availability, data authenticity, compatibility, data quality, validation, user charges. Central Data Management Agency for Himalayas must be set up to provide data with high fidelity scenario. It will help in addressing data sharing, access, authenticity and comparability issues. It should be linked with Hindukush Himalaya Monitoring and Assessment program (HIMAP).

Conclusion

A balance between conservation efforts and development should be sought and concerned state governments should come to a consensus for implementation of ESA in Western Ghats.

There is a need for policy changes that promote better management of human-wildlife conflict, financial incentives to encourage biodiversity-friendly farming and other incentive schemes such as payments for ecosystem services in both Himalayas and Western Ghats.

Question #2.“Climate change is not caused by economic growth, but by the absence of effective public policy for sustainable development” Comment. Also examine India’s progress with respect to SDG-13.

Q2. “Climate change is not caused by economic growth, but by the absence of effective public policy for sustainable development” Comment. Also examine India’s progress with respect to SDG-13.

Approach:

• The question requires the analysis of sustainable development
• The demand of the question is to examine the need for effective public policy for sustainable development
• In intro define climate change and sustainable development
• Then elaborate on the need for effective public policy for sustainable development and examine India’s progress with respect to SDG-13.
• Conclude, by suggesting way forward

Hints:

Sustainable development is the idea that human societies must live and meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The periodic modification of Earth's climate brought about due to the changes in the atmosphere as well as the interactions between the atmosphere and various other geological, chemical, biological and geographical factors within the Earth's system is called Climate change.

Climate change is caused by

• Greenhouse Gases: The greenhouse gases absorb heat radiation from the sun. Following the initiation of the Industrial Revolution, the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere has increased exponentially.
• Change in the land use pattern: Half of the land-use change is said to have happened during the industrial era. Most of the forests were replaced by agricultural cropping and grazing of lands.
• Atmospheric aerosols: Solar radiation, when scattered, cools the planet. On the other hand, when the aerosols absorb solar radiation, it causes an increase in the temperature of the air instead of allowing the sunlight to be absorbed by the Earth’s surface.

The causes mentioned above are bound to happen in the process of economic growth. However it could have been curbed by effective public policy for sustainable development.

Issues with public policy

• No Stringent Policies: State and central governments have been diluting, instead of strengthening, climate safeguards for hydroelectric and road projects. Studies had flagged ice loss across the Himalayas has been rapidly melting thus increasing the dangers to densely populated catchments, but any hard and fast policy response has been lacking.
• Lack of Proper Training Programs: There were no awareness programs or training provided to the people about disaster management by the government in case of the recent Uttarakhand floods.
• Ignorance by Government: A 2012 expert group appointed by the government had recommended against the construction of dams in the Alaknanda-Bhagirathi basin but the recommendations were ignored. Similarly, ignorance of the Kerala government in terms of regulation of mining, quarrying and dam construction in ecologically sensitive places, led to massive floods and landslides in 2018 and 2019.
• Ineffective Satellite Monitoring: Physically monitoring of the entire Himalayan region (or any larger disaster-prone region) is not possible. However, satellite monitoring is possible and radars can help minimize loss. Despite possessing remarkable satellite capabilities, India still hasn’t been able to use such imagery effectively for advance warning.
• Lackadaisical approach by state governments towards sustainable development: Karnataka government has submitted its opposition to the Centre against the Kasturirangan committee report and Kerala has sought clarity on ‘non-core’ areas in Western Ghats

India’s progress with respect to SDG-13.

Sustainable Development Goal 13 is about climate action and is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly.

India’s progress w.r.t SDG-13

• International solar Alliance – The ISA is an intergovernmental treaty-based organisation with a global mandate to catalyse solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology
• National Action Plan on Climate change - includes 8 national missions covering solar, energy efficiency, water, agriculture, sustainable habitat etc. States and UTs have put in place State Action Plan on Climate Change
• National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change to support states that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
• Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) INCCA was launched in 2009 by the MoEFCC in an effort to promote domestic research on climate change, and build on the country's climate change expertise. Reports prepared by the INCCA will form a part of India’s National Communication (NATCOM) to the UNFCCC.
• The Labelling Program for Appliances Standards and Labelling Programme for Appliances was launched in 2006 and comparative star-based labelling has been introduced by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). These star ratings are given out of 5 and they provide information regarding energy efficiency of a product.
• CAMPA fund- to compensate for the losses incurred, the government made compensatory afforestation mandatory.
• Leapfrogging from BS-4 to BS-6
• India is running one of the largest renewable capacity expansion programmes in the world. Between 2002 and 2015, the share of renewable grid capacity has increased over 6 times from 32 GW to 175 GW.
• India is one of the few countries where forest and tree cover has increased in recent years and the total forest and tree cover amounts to 24% percent of the geographical area of the country.

Conclusion

Sustainable growth depends on timely climate action and for that to happen, policymaking needs to connect the dots between economic growth, development and climate change. Events like Uttarakhand and Texas should be treated as lessons for the public and legislators to demand urgent action. Indian being a developing country with the 2nd largest population in the world, it has to use its resources efficiently to alleviate poverty as well as reduce climate change impact.