Global Environmental Issues-1

Introduction
Trouble for Turtles
• Sea-dwelling, herbivores (eating plankton) or
carnivorous (eating fishes and invertebrates
like jellyfishes and prawns).
• Lay eggs on the beach near the edge of the
water but not as close as to be washed away at
high tide.
• Babies hatch and have to reach the ocean on
their own so it cannot be too far or babies may
not survive the journey.
• Must deal with food shortage (due to change in
climate and pollution) and shorter/riskier
breeding (rising sea levels reduces the best
areas for laying eggs safely).
• Turtles are not the only ones at risk though!
just one of many, many, many species of
plants and animals.
Basic terminologies: Climate? Weather?
• Everyday atmospheric conditions,
i.e. rain, wind temperature of an
area is weather.
• A long average (~3 decades)
weather including normal,
seasonal variation and weather
extreme over a large region is
climate.
 Climate change: Real or Hoax?
• Earth’s average temperature is based on daily
measurements taken at several thousand land-
based meteorological stations around the
world,weather balloons, orbiting satellites,
transoceanic ships, and hundreds of sea-surface
buoys with temperature sensors.
• Scientists around the world began researching
climate change over a century ago.
• In response to the growing scientific agreement
about both climate change and its human cause,
governments around the world, through the
United Nations, organized the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) in 1988
The Proof is in the Pudding!
• The average temperature of the Earth has
increased 0.56–0.92°C (1.0–1.7°F) in the past
100 years. 2016 was the warmest year on
record and 2019 was the second warmest.
• Sea level is rising about 1.8 mm/year. This
equates to a rise of 18 cm (7 inches) over 100
years.
• Sea ice has decreased.
• The arrival of spring is earlier in many parts of
the world (phenological spring in the Northern
Hemisphere now comes about six days earlier
than it did in 1959,and autumn is delayed five
days.)
 Climate change: Factors? Natural or Manmade
• Earth undergoes alternate hot and
cold cycles in geological period
(Milankovitch cycles).
• We have had “ice ages” in the
past.
• Sun also has “hot” and “cold”
periods (Solar cycles).
• Atmospheric transperancy affects
the temperature as well.
Climate change: Factors? Natural or Manmade
• A strong correlation exists between the increase
in temperature and the concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Human activity has greatly increased the
amounts of these greenhouse gases by 70 %
between 1970 and 2004.
• The most recent IPCC report (its fifth), issued
in 2014, confirmed earlier findings that human-
produced air pollutants have caused most of the
climate warming observed over the last 50
years
Proof
• Testing detailed climate models against
observed temperature trends is exactly what the
IPCC and thousands of climate scientists have
done in the past 20 years or so.
• Different models in the IPCC analysis might
vary in the regional severity of changes.
• They might disagree on the speed of change,
but the direction of change is no longer in
doubt.
• Remember, there are very few absolute
statements in science.
• And Scientists rarely, if ever completely agree
on anything.
 Why should we be worried?
• IPCC doesnt perform original research. it
examines and compiles existing data.
• More comprehensive BUT TIME
CONSUMING! takes years and years and
hundreds of scientists working together.
• The report projected warming of about 1–6°C
by 2100, depending on what policies we follow
to curb climate change. The IPCC’s “best
estimate” for the most likely scenario was 2–
4°C (3–8°F).
• the average global temperature change between
now and the middle of the last glacial period is
estimated at about 5°C.
Things heating up quickly!
• Arctic ice sheets were
shrinking much more rapidly
than the IPCC anticipated.
• Revised estimates published
in 2009 estimate a sea-level
increase of about 1 m (3 ft)
by 2100, with a possibility of
up to 2 m increase.
 Implications for people
• This may upset the hydrological cycle, result in
floods and droughts in different regions of the
world, cause sea level rise, changes in
agriculture productivity, famines and death of
humans as well as live stock.
• Temperature change won’t be uniform and
would certain fluctuate and affect some places
more than others.
• Poles and areas in high altitudes may
experience 2 to 3 times more warming than the
global average.
• This will disturb the global pattern of winds
and ocean currents as well as the timing and
distribution of rainfall.
• Mass migration, eventual humanitarian crisis.
Global warming: Cause and effect of Climate change
• Atmosphere, transparent to allow sunlight to enter and heat
earth’s surface.
• Most of the excess heat is dissipated into the space.
• Some heat re-radiated by earth is retained by gases in
atmosphere to regulate the overall temperature (greenhouse
effect).
• These include carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons
(primarily CCl3F and CCl2F2), methane (CH4), and nitrous
oxide (N2O).
• The average global temperature is 15°C. In the absence of
green house gases this temperature would have been -18°C.
• Problems arises due to sudden increase in conc. of these
GHGs
• CO2 annual emissions grew by about 80 percent in the 34
years from 1970 to 2004, from about 14 Gt/yr to nearly 30
Gt/yr.
 Global Warming: GHGs
• ~55% contribution to anthropogenic climate change
due to CO2 alone.
• 76% of global CO2 input from industrial countries.
• Main sources are fossil fuel burning (67%) and
deforestation, other forms of land clearing and
burning (33%).
• CFCs are doubly harmful(~24%) as GHGs and
corrosive to Ozone layer .
• Main source aerosol and refrigeration industries as
well domestic sprays and appliances.
• Methane (~18%) comes from natural decomposition
of biodegradable materials.
• Nitrous Oxide (N2O) comes from burning fossil
fuels and industrial pollution.
GHGs growing pains
• All GHGs were in very small
proportion to other gases in
atmosphere.
• but this concentration is continuously
increasing.
• GHGs stay in atmosphere for a long
time e.g.
– CO2 (500 years)
– CFCs (65-110 years)
– Methane (10 years)
– N2O (160-170 years)
 Greenhouse effect Implications
• Mean temperature rise 1.5-5℃ by 2050.
• earth would be warmer than it has been for 10,000
years.
• With the increase in global temperature sea water
will expand. Heating will melt the polar ice sheets
and glaciers resulting in further rise in sea level.
• Cities at risk include Shanghai, Cairo, Bangkok,
Sydney, Hamburg and Venice.
• Agricultural lowlands and deltas in Egypt,
Bangladesh, India, China will submerge
• affecting rice productivity.
• This will also disturb many commercially
• important spawning grounds, and would probably
increase the frequency of storm damage to lagoons,
estuaries and coral reefs.
Greenhouse effect Implications
• Increased summers would mean longer breeding
period for mosquitoes and flies in previously
unaffected areas.
• High humidity/Heat aggravates skin and
respiratory disorders.
• Opinions differ on how agriculture might be
affected.
• Tropical and subtropical regions will be more
affected since the average temperature in these
regions is already on the higher side.
• Even a rise of 2°C may be quite harmful to crops.
Soil moisture will decrease.
• Increased pest risk.
 Question?
• What do fishless lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, recently
damaged Mayan ruins in southern Mexico, and dead trees in the
Czech Republic have in common?
 Acid?
• Highly reactive chemical compounds
(generally liquid or gas)
• Take electrons from other substances
• Have a low pH and Sour to taste
• Mild to Highly corrosive to human
skin.
• Can cause itching to chemical burns
based on the kind of acid and degree of
exposure
Acid Rain
• Fossil fuels and industrial emmisions: largest
sources of Sulphur and Nitrogen oxides (SOx
and NOx)
• Acid forming gases are oxidised over several
days by which time they travel several
thousand kilometers.
• In the atmosphere these gases are ultimately
converted into sulfuric and nitric acids.
• Hydrogen chloride emission forms
hydrochloric acid.
• These acids cause acidic rain.
• Acid rain is only one component of acidic
deposition.
 Acid deposition?
• Acidic deposition is the total of
wet acidic deposition (acid rain)
and dry deposition.
• Rain water is turned acidic when
its pH falls below 5.6.
• In fact clean or natural rain water
has a pH of 5.6 at 20°C because
of formation of carbonic acid due
to dissolution of CO2 in water.
Effect of Acid Rain: Environment
• Aquatic life especially fish are badly affected by
lake acidification.
• Aquatic animals suffer from toxicity of metals such
as aluminium, mercury, manganese, zinc and lead
which leak from the surrounding rocks due to acid
rain.
• It results in reproductive failure, and killing of fish.
• Many lakes of Sweden, Norway, Canada have
become fishless due to acid rain.
• It damages foliage and weakens trees.
• It makes trees more susceptible to stresses like cold
temperature, drought, etc.
• Many insects and fungi are more tolerant to acidic
conditions and hence they can attack the susceptible
trees and cause diseases.
 Effect of Acid Rain: Economy & People
• Really harmful below 5.1 on land, visible in the
aquatic system even at pH less than 5.5.
• It causes deterioration of buildings especially
made of marble e.g. monuments like Taj
Mahal.
• Crystals of calcium and magnesium sulphate
are formed as a result of corrosion caused by
acid rain.
• It damages stone statues. Priceless stone statues
in Greece and Italy have been partially
dissolved by acid rain.
• It damages metals and car finishes.
 Why Everyone should worry
• Certain hazardous air pollutants are distributed
globally by atmospheric transport in a process
known as the global distillation effect.
• The air toxins involved in the global distillation
effect are persistent compounds, such as
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, industrial
compounds) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT, a pesticide),
• Do not readily break down and so accumulate in the
environment.
• Restricted or even banned by many countries.
• They move through the atmosphere due to volatile
nature.
• Generally from warmer developing countries, to
colder, highly developed countries, where they
condense and are deposited on land and surface
water
Why Everyone should worry
• Dangerous levels of certain persistent toxic
compounds have been measured in the Yukon
(northwestern Canada) and in other pristine arctic
regions.
• These chemicals enter food webs and become
concentrated in the body fat of animals at the top of
the food chain.
• Fishes, seals, polar bears, and arctic people such as
the Inuit are particularly vulnerable.
• An Inuit who consumes a single bite of raw whale
skin ingests more PCBs than scientists think should
be consumed in a week.
• The level of PCBs in the breast milk of an Inuit
woman is five times higher than that in the milk of
women who live in southern Canada.
 Ozone? Earth’s sunscreen
• In stratosphere, filters out harmful ultraviolet
radiations from the sunlight and thus protects
various life forms on the earth for past 450,000,000
years .
• Triatomic oxygen molecule
• ozone is continuously being created by the
absorption of short wave- length ultraviolet (UV)
radiations.
• Ozone thus formed distributes itself in the
stratosphere and absorbs harmful ultraviolet
radiations (200 to 320 nm) and is continuously being
converted back to molecular oxygen.
• Absorption of UV radiations results in heating of
the stratosphere.
• The net result of the above reactions is an
equilibrium concentration of ozone.
Ozone Hole
• Ozone concentration in about 24 km of the
stratosphere i.e. from 16 km to 40 Km away from
earth is about 10 ppm (as compared to 0.05 ppm
concentration of harmful tropospheric ozone).
• This equilibrium is disturbed by reactive atoms of
chlorine, bromine etc. which destroy ozone
molecules and result is thinning of ozone layer
generally called ozone hole.
• The amount of atmospheric ozone is measured
by D‘ obson Spectrometer’and is expressed in Dobson
units (DU).
• One DU is equivalent to a 0.01 mm thickness of
pure ozone ground level (1atm) pressure.
• Normal temperate: 350 DU, Tropic: 250 DU,
subpolar: 450 DU
 Thinning of Ozone Layer
• The ozone layer over Antarctica thins naturally for a
few months each year.
• In 1985, however, stratospheric ozone thinning was
first observed to be greater than could be explained
by natural causes
• Discovered by Dr Joe C. Farman et al. in the British
Antarctic Survey who had been recording ozone
levels over this region since 1957.
• During spring season of south pole i.e. September to
November each year ozone depletion is observed.
• Steep decline has been observed since mid 1970s
with a record low concentration of 90 DU in early
October of 1993.
• During the 1990s, the ozone-thin area continued to
grow. By 2000 it had reached the record size of 29.2
million km2 (11.4 million mi2).
Ozone: Effect
• Ozone depletion in the stratosphere will result in
more UV radiation reaching the earth especially UV-
B (290-320 nm).
• The UV-B radiations affect DNA and the
photosynthetic chemicals.
• Any change in DNA can result in mutation and
cancer.
• Cases of skin cancer (basal and squamous cell
carcinoma) which do not cause death but cause
disfigurement will increase.
• Easy absorption of UV rays by the lens and cornea
of eye will result in increase in incidents of cataract.
• Melanin producing cells of the epidermis (important
for human immune system) will be destroyed by
UV-rays resulting in immuno-suppression.
• Fair people (can’t produce enough melanin) will be
at a greater risk of UV exposure.
 Ozone: Effects
• Phytoplanktons are sensitive to UV
exposure, thereby affecting the
population of zooplankton, fish, marine
animals, in fact the whole aquatic food
chain.
• Decreased yield of vital crops like
corn, rice, soybean, cotton, bean, pea,
sorghum and wheat.
• Degradation of paints, plastics and
other polymer material
Global Environmental Issues-2
World and
Environment
Doomsday worldview
If the subsistence for man that the earth affords
was to be increased every twenty-five years by a
quantity equal to what the whole world at
present produces, this would allow the power of
production in the earth to be absolutely
unlimited, and its ratio of increase much greater
than we can conceive that any possible exertions
of mankind could make it ... yet still the power of
population being a power of a superior order,
the increase of the human species can only be
kept commensurate to the increase of the means
of subsistence by the constant operation of the
strong law of necessity acting as a check upon
the greater power.
— Malthus T. R. 1798. An Essay on the
Principle of Population. Chapter 2, p. 8
Have’s and Have not’s
Historically, Global economic growth
pattern has been human-centric.
Excessive resource consuming.
Development limited to certain nations
(Europe, North America).
But at what cost? The air we breathe, the
water we drink and the food we eat have all
been badly polluted.
Our natural resources are just dwindling
due to over exploitation.
This is unsustainable development which
will lead to a collapse of the interrelated
systems of this earth.
The Limits on Growth
Our natural resources are just
dwindling due to over
exploitation. If growth continues
in the same way, very soon we
will be facing a “doom’s day”
Meadows et al. (1972)
International Coordination
• International coordination and political resolve
are necessary if the goals of preserving and
protecting the global environment are to be
realized.
• A step in that direction was the 1972 United
Nations Conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
• This was the first international conference
specifically dealing with global environmental
concerns.
• The UN Environment Programme, a separate
department of the United Nations that deals
with environmental issues, developed out of
that conference.
United Nations Conference on the Environment,
Stockholm (Sweden), 1972
• first world conference to make
the environment a major issue.
• The participants adopted a series
of principles for sound
management of the environment
including the Stockholm
Declaration and Action Plan for
the Human Environment and
several resolutions.
A World Divided
• Placed environmental issues at the
forefront of international concerns and
marked the start of a dialogue between
industrialized and developing
countries on the link between
economic growth, the pollution of the
air, water, and oceans and the well-
being of people around the world.
• Conference witnessed divided
opinions between “industrialised” and
“developing” nations.
Irony
• "The industrialised nations, were
basically worried about air and water
pollution, while developing nations
hoped for assistance to wipe out their
sordid poverty without needless
damage to ecosystems."-IK Gujaral,
Urban Housing Minister
• The environmental concerns of the
North were viewed by many
developing countries as "luxury
problems".
Conflicting interests
• Prior to conference, certain “industrialised”
countries proposed global natural resources to
be placed under a “World Trust”
• To be shared by all of humanity (can you see
the obvious flaw?)
• Vehemently opposed by the “developing”
countries.
• The former would share the natural resources
of other nations, without offering or sharing
the resulting economic power.
• For the former, development was the source of
pollution.
• For latter, it was solution to correct
environment and social imbalances.
Unwillingness to Change
• Plan of Action covered many
important issues such as human
settlements, natural resource
conservation, land, sea, and air
pollution and education.
• Notable omissions population,
poverty, desertification, and real action
to protect tropical forests.
• E.g., the insistence of Brazil, raised the
issue of sovereignty over a country's
natural resources.
• So No concrete, binding agreements
could be formed.
Stockholm conference: Outcomes
• Acknowledgement by the
international community of the
link between environment and
development and also of the
greater responsibility of
industrialised countries regarding
the contamination of the planet.
• Creation of the United Nations
Environment Programme
(UNEP).
Montreal Protocol (1987)
• Discovery of the Ozone hole caused
international panic.
• Montreal protocol, 1987 an
international agreement for phasing
out harmful CFCs by 2000 (later by
1996 with increasing evidences).
• Fortunately, alternatives to CFCs for
most uses already exist.
• Establishment of 500 million USD
fund for assisting “developing”
countries in making the switch.
Montreal Protocol: Outcomes
• The Montreal Protocol is often cited as
the most effective international
environmental agreement ever
established.
• Global CFC production has been cut
by more than 95 percent since 1988.
• Predictions suggest that stratospheric
O3 levels should be back to normal by
about 2049.
• Yet, the ozone hole keeps growing
(why?)
 Brundtland Commission and Road to Rio
• Decade after Stockholm, global enviromental
issues were still not satisfactorily addressed.
• How to reduce poverty without making
enviromental problems worse?
• Neither parties wanted to sacrifice their growth
or consumption patterns.
• Writing on the wall was too clear to ignore now.
• December 1983, UN formed World Commission
on Environment and Development chaired by
Gro Brundtland (Former Norwegian PM)
• Aim: identifying sustainability problems
worldwide, raising awareness about them, and
suggesting solutions.
Our Common Future and Earth Summit, 1992
• In 1987, the Brundtland Commission
published the first volume of “Our Common
Future,” the organization's main report.
• First mention of “Sustainable Development”
• UN Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), popularly known as
The Earth Summit, held at Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil in 1992.
• Earth Summit was created as a response for
member states to cooperate together
internationally on development issues after the
Cold War.
• “a new and equitable global partnership
through the creation of new levels of
cooperation among states...”
Agenda-21
• A Global Action Programme on
sustainable development in
context with socio-political and
economic context in 21st
century.
• Intergenerational equity
(preserve environment for future)
• Intragenerational equity
(reduce wealth gap between the
have’s and have not’s)
Earth Summit: Outcomes
• Precursor agreement on the Climate Change
Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto
Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
• Another agreement was to "not to carry out
any activities on the lands of indigenous
peoples that would cause environmental
degradation or that would be culturally
inappropriate".
• The Convention on Biological Diversity was
opened for signature at the Earth Summit, and
made a start towards redefinition of measures
that did not inherently encourage destruction
of natural ecoregions and so-called
uneconomic growth.
How Earth Summit did it differently
• Apart from mutual agreements and lip-service,
Earth Summit (1992) also itnroduced legally
binding agreements (Rio Convention)
including
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
• Although President George H.W. Bush signed
the Earth Summit’s Convention on Climate.
• U.S. goals at the conference were difficult to
negotiate and the agency’s international results
were mixed, e.g. U.S. didn’t sign CBD.
UNFCCC
• Negotiated and signed by 154 states during Earth
summit.
• Seeks for the stabilization of GHGs concentrations in
the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic human-induced interference with the
earth's climate system.
• To ensure that food production is not threatened and to
enable economic development to proceed in a
sustainable manner.
• The treaty established differential responsibilities for
three categories of signatory states. These categories are
developed countries, developed countries with special
financial responsibilities, and developing countries.
UNFCCC: Success or Failure
• As of 2020, the UNFCCC has 197
signatory parties.
• Its supreme decision-making body, the
Conference of the Parties (COP),
meets annually to assess progress in
dealing with climate change.
• As of 2012,key signatory states are not
adhering to their individual
commitments.
• The UNFCCC has been criticized as
being unsuccessful in reducing the
emission of carbon dioxide since its
adoption
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
• Follow-up to Earth Summit attended
by 160 countries.
• The Kyoto Protocol (agreement) called
on nations to roll back emissions of
CO2, methane (CH4), and nitrous
oxide (N2O).
• Goal: each country to reduce levels to
5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
• Developing nations (India, China)
exempted for longer period to expand
their economies.
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
• Once the protocol was written, each country had to
take it home for approval by legislative bodies.
• By 2014, 192 countries had ratified the resulting
Kyoto Protocol.
• This international treaty, which is legally binding,
provides operational rules on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
• United States and Australia still declined to sign the
protocol, although both were instrumental in
writing it.
• Reducing carbon emissions would be too costly and
that we must “put the interests of our own country
first and foremost.”
• Entered into force in 2005, was the first
implementation of measures under the UNFCCC
until 31 December 2020.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• A convention of the United Nations
Environment Programme; provides a global
legal framework for action on biodiversity.
• To decrease the rate of extinction of the
world’s endangered species.
• Requires that each signatory nation inventory
its own biodiversity and develop a national
conservation strategy, a detailed plan for
managing and preserving the biological
diversity of that specific country.
• Despite an increase in conservation efforts
since the Earth Summit, however, the loss of
biological diversity is not declining.
CBD and CITES (1973)
• The exploitation of endangered species is
somewhat controlled at the international
level by the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Flora and Fauna (CITES), which went
into effect in 1975.
• CITES banned the hunting, capturing, and
selling of endangered or threatened
species and regulates the trade of
organisms listed as potentially threatened.
• Country level enforcement and penalties
vary and not enough to deter illegal trade.
CITES ( Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
• An international voluntary agreement among
members of International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution
adopted in 1963 entered into power in 1975
Currently 183 parties
• Ensure that international trade in specimens of
wild animals and plants does not threaten their
survival.
• Although legally binding on the Parties, it
does not provide laws to the states.
• Provides a framework to be respected by each
Party, which has to adopt its own domestic
legislation to ensure implementation.
How CITES worked
• The CITES works by subjecting international trade
in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
• All import, export, re-export and introduction
from the sea of species covered by the Convention
has to be authorized through a licensing system.
• Each Party to the Convention must designate one
or more Management Authorities in charge of
administering that licensing system and one or
more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the
effects of trade on the status of the species.
• Appendices I, II and III to the Convention are
lists of species afforded different levels or types of
protection from over-exploitation.
CITES: Successes
• The CITES regulates international
trade in close to 35,000 species
(prohibits trade for 3%, regulates for
97%).
• The International Consortium on
Combating Wildlife Crime
(ICCWC), a consortium of the
CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL
(International Criminal Police
Organization), the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime, the World Bank
and the World Customs
Organization has been established
to tackle illegal wildlife trade.
CITES: Criticisms and Gaps
• First, placing a particular species of flora or fauna on
Appendix I or II can lead to an increase in its value on
the black market. An increase in value results in
increased poaching and illegal sale of that species.
• The most notable example of this phenomenon occurred
when the South African white rhinoceros was protected
under CITES. Inclusion of the South African white
rhinoceros led to in an increase in the price of ivory and a
corresponding increase in poaching.
• Second, critics assert that split grouping of a species
may lead to laundering of plants and animals.
• Split grouping occurs when a species is placed on
Appendix I in one country and Appendix II in another
country. An animal captured or killed in the Appendix I
country may then be taken to the Appendix II country for
sale on the international market.
• Finally, CITES only addresses the trade of endangered
species and does not address loss of habitat or other
issues that may lead to extinction.
CITES: Tiger and Trade (In Europe and US)
• <4,000 tigers in the wild, demand for tigers and their
parts is pushing these animals closer to extinction.
• While wild tigers are found in just 13 Asian countries,
the illegal wildlife trade of parts and products from
captive tigers comes from all corners of the globe.
• Despite protection of tigers under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES), the EU and UK continue to
trade in live captive bred tigers and tiger products with
countries where tiger farms are known to feed the
illegal tiger trade, such as China, Thailand, and Viet
Nam.
• total of 111 direct exports of tigers from the EU
between 2013 and 2017, 103 of which were live tigers,
and a total of 165 EU tiger re-exports, 84 of which
were live tigers.
How is this enabled?
• weak regulations, compliance checks, and no
comprehensive system for monitoring captive
tigers across the EU and UK.
• Inspections of facilities are infrequent, and the
procedures to dispose of tigers after they die
are weakly legislated without comprehensive
government oversight.
• In many countries, private individuals and/or
circuses can still keep tigers.
• Loopholes exist and must be addressed at the
national and EU-level to ensure tigers and
their parts do not enter the illegal wildlife
trade.
How is this enabled?
• ~ 850 tigers across the EU and the UK,
according to animal welfare organization Four
Paws.
• However, the US captive tiger population is
somewhere around 5,000.
• Privately owned facilities like roadside
attractions or tigers being kept as pets.
• lacks a central accountable agency to identify
tigers held by private owners and cannot say
where they all are, when they are sold or
traded, or what happens to their parts when
they die.
• Inconsistent regulation and prevalent
loopholes plague the handling of tigers in the
US.
CITES and World Animal
Trade
• The goals of CITES often stir up
controversy over such issues as who
actually owns the world’s wildlife
and whether global conservation
concerns take precedence over
competing local interests.
• These conflicts often highlight
socioeconomic differences between
wealthy consumers of CITES
products and poor people who trade
in endangered organisms.
Big-Game Hunting and International Law
• At the end of June 2015, a Zimbabwe lion known
as Cecil was wounded by a crossbow bolt shot by
American dentist Walter Palmer.
• Sometime later Cecil was shot and finally killed.
• The media attention that followed made it clear that
many people were unaware of the realities of
modern-day African hunting.
• In fact, if you have enough money and are so
inclined, you can legally hunt pretty much any
African animal, including lion, leopard, elephant,
buffalo and hippo.
• You'll need the right permits and it's subject to
quotas and regulations but if you do it by the book,
then it's perfectly legal. And once you've killed it
you can export the "trophy" home.
Pro-Hunting argument
• Many sought-after trophy animals, such as
kudu and impala, are maintained in large
numbers.
• Animal numbers need to be controlled to
prevent over-stocking and over-grazing. so
what if additional revenue can come through
hunting them?
• The taking of trophy animals in such reserves
is of limited conservation concern and the
money generated helps to pay for the
management that is required to keep reserves
in good condition.
• Hunting provides revenue that directly funds
conservation.
Ecologial argument
• Trophy hunting is not always beneficial for
wildlife.
• Over-harvesting can clearly have a detrimental
effect on numbers.
• Also, trophy hunters select large males and
this can have more profound effects on the
breeding dynamics of animals in that region.
• These problems are greatest when land is not
stably owned and a "tragedy of the commons"
happens.
• Hunting could be replaced or at least
supplemented by tourism in some countries
depending on socio-political and cultural
paradigms.
Convention on Biological Diversity
• First to recognise that conservation of biodiversity
is "a common concern of humankind" and is an
integral part of the development process.
• The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and
genetic resources.
• It links traditional conservation efforts to the
economic goal of using biological resources
sustainably.
• It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing
of the benefits arising from the use of genetic
resources, notably those destined for commercial
use.
• Importantly, the convention is legally binding;
countries that join it ('Parties') are obliged to
implement its provisions.
 CBD: an answer to fill the gaps?
• Measures the incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
• Regulated access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, including Prior Informed Consent of the party
providing resources.
• Sharing, in a fair and equitable way, the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the
commercial and other utilization of genetic resources with the Contracting Party providing such resources
(governments and/or local communities that provided the traditional knowledge or biodiversity resources utilized).
• Access to and transfer of technology, including biotechnology, to the governments and/or local communities that
provided traditional knowledge and/or biodiversity resources.
• Technical and scientific cooperation.
• Coordination of a global directory of taxonomic expertise (Global Taxonomy Initiative).
• Impact assessment.
• Education and public awareness.
• Provision of financial resources.
• National reporting on efforts to implement treaty commitments
Outcomes of CBD (1992)
• Cartagena Protocol (2000): Biosafety Protocol
seeks to protect biological diversity from the
potential risks posed by living modified
organisms resulting from modern
biotechnology
• Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
(2002):a 16-point plan aiming to slow the rate
of plant extinctions around the world by 2010.
• Nagoya Protocol (2010): a transparent legal
framework for the effective implementation of
one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair
and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of
the utilization of genetic resources. To ensure
sustainable use and conservation.
Criticisms to CBD
• Too supportive to developing
nations.
• a case of a hard treaty gone soft
in the implementation trajectory.
• As of 2016, the convention has
196 parties, which includes 195
states and the European Union.
All UN member states—with the
exception of the United States—
have ratified the treaty.
Ramsar Convention (1971)
• An international treaty for the conservation
and sustainable use of wetlands.
• Named after the city of Ramsar in Iran.
• Number of Contracting Parties: 171
• Number of Wetlands of International
Importance: 2,422 (2020)
• Total surface of designated sites: 254,590,454
ha
• As of 2016 there are 18 transboundary Ramsar
sites, and 15 Ramsar regional initiatives
covering regions of the Mediterranean, Asia,
Africa, and South America.
Ramsar Convention
• The convention works in tandem with other
international organization partners (IOPs).
• IOPs support the work of the convention by
providing expert technical advice, helping
implement field studies, and providing
financial support.
• The convention entered into force in India on
1 February 1982.
• India currently has 42 sites designated as
Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar
Sites), with a surface area of 1,081,438
hectares.
Chemical Weapon Convention
• A multilateral treaty banning chemical
weapons and requiring their destruction within
the stipulated time.
• Negotiations for the CWC began in 1980 at
the United Nations Conference on
Disarmament.
• The convention was drafted in September
1992 and opened for signature in January
1993. It became effective from April 1997.
• It makes it mandatory to destroy old and
abandoned chemical weapons.
• Members should also declare the riot-control
agents (sometimes referred to as ‘tear gas’) in
possession of them.
Chemical Weapons Convention
• 192 state parties and 165 signatories.
• India signed the treaty in January 1993.
• Convention Prohibits:
• The development, production,
acquisition, stockpiling, or retention of
chemical weapons.
• Transferring of chemical weapons.
• Using chemical weapons.
• Assisting other States to indulge in
activities that are prohibited by the
CWC.
• Using riot-control devices as ‘warfare
methods’.
OPCW
• Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons.
• Headquarters: Hague, Netherlands.
• Established by the CWC in 1997 to
implement and enforce the terms of
the CWC.
• By the 2001 Relationship Agreement
between the OPCW and the UN, the
OPCW reports on its inspections and
other activities to the UN through the
office of the Secretary General.
• The OPCW was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 2013.
OPCW functions
• It is authorized to perform inspections to
verify that signatory states are complying with
the convention.
• This includes a commitment to grant
inspectors full access to chemical weapons
sites.
• It also performs testing of sites and victims of
suspected chemical weapons attacks.
• It also provides for assistance to and
protection of States attacked or threatened
with chemical weapons, cooperation in the
peaceful use of chemicals.
“If there must be a war, let it be against
environment contamination, nuclear
contamination, chemical contamination; against
the bankruptcy of soil and water systems;
against the driving of people away from the
lands as environmental refugees. If there must
be war, let it be against those who assault
people and other forms of life by profiteering at
the expense of nature’s capacity to support life.
If there must be war, let the weapons be your
healing hands, the hands of the world’s youth in
defense of the environment.”
Mustafa Tolba
Former Secretary General
United Nations Environment Programme
Global Environmental Issues-3
Sustainable Development and India
National Action Plan on Climate Change
• Launched in 2008 by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.
• Aims: creating awareness among the representatives of the public, different agencies of the
government, scientists, industry and the communities on the threat posed by climate change and the
steps to counter it.
• 8 national missions forming the core of the NAPCC (multi-pronged, long term and integrated
strategies).
• National Solar Mission
• National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• National Water Mission
• National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
• National Mission for A Green India
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
• National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
Why NAPCC was different on paper?
• Inclusive and sustainable
development strategy, sensitive to
climate change (to protect most
vulnerable sections of society).
• Achievements of national growth
through qualitative changes
enhancing ecological sustainability.
• Deployment of appropriate
technologies for both adaptation
and mitigation of GreenHouse
Gases emissions extensively and at
an accelerated pace.
Why NAPCC was different on paper?
• Regulatory and voluntary mechanisms to
promote sustainable development and
engineering new and innovative forms of
market.
• Effective implementation of plans using
unique linkages like civil society and local
governments through public-private
partnership.
• Invite international cooperation for
research, development, sharing and
transfer of data and technologies enabled by
sufficient funding and backed up by a global
IPR regime under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).
NAPCC strategy
• The action plan outlines a number of
steps to simultaneously advance
India's development and climate
change-related objectives.
• NAPCC addresses the country’s
critical and urgent needs by
directionally shifting the
development path and enhancing the
current and planned programmes
and technologies.
• It identifies measures that promote our
developmental goals and co-benefits
by addressing climate change also.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
• Governed by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• It was launched in 2010 with the primary aim of achieving grid parity
by 2022 and with coal-based thermal power by 2030.
• The NAPCC aims to promote the development and use of solar
energy for power generation and other uses, with the ultimate
objective of making solar competitive with fossil-based energy
options.
• It also includes the establishment of a solar research center,
increased international collaboration on technology development,
strengthening of domestic manufacturing capacity, and increased
government funding and international support.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
• Making solar water heaters mandatory in
buildings to promote the already proven and
commercially viable solar heating systems.
• By the remote village electrification programme,
using solar power as an off-grid solution to
provide power to the power deprived poor.
• Creating conditions for research and application
in the field of solar technology and support &
facilitate the already on-going R&D projects.
• The ultimate objective is to develop a solar
industry in India, capable of delivering solar
energy competitively again the fossil fuel options.
• It is hoped that by the end of the third phase, 2022,
India should have installed 20,000 MW of solar
power.
National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• Governed by the Ministry of Power.
• Based on the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
• The NAPCC recommends mandating specific energy consumption
decreases in large energy-consuming industries.
• Using a system for companies to trade energy-saving certificates,
financing for public–private partnerships to reduce energy
consumption through demand-side management programs.
• Inviting developments in the municipal, buildings, and agricultural
sectors, and energy incentives, including reduced taxes on energy-
efficient appliances.
National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• Spread awareness about the efficacy and
efficiency of energy efficient products and create
demand.
• Ensure adequate supply of energy efficient
products, goods, and services by forming a cadre of
energy professionals.
• Create financing platforms which can make risk
guarantee funds, financial derivatives of
performance contracts.
• Formulate well thought out evaluation and
monitoring mechanisms to capture energy savings
in a transparent manner.
• Overcome market failures through regulatory and
policy measures.
• Key areas to work upon are Energy, Efficiency,
Equity and Environment.
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• Governed by the Ministry of Urban Development.
• Manifold agenda mission because it looks at energy efficiency
within buildings, waste disposal from these buildings and betters the
public transport system.
• Plans to make urban areas more climate friendly and less
susceptible to climate change by a multi-pronged approach to
mitigate and adapt to it.
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• To create and adopt a more holistic approach
for solid and liquid waste management,
ensuring their full potential for energy
generation (conversion of solid waste into
energy), recycling, reusing and composting.
• To encourage alternative transport systems
and establish fuel efficiency standards and
reduce fuel consumed per passenger travel by
the provision of pedestrian pathways.
• To provide for adoption and creation of
alternative technologies mitigating climate
change and to encourage community
involvement for it.
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
• Establish financial incentives based
on green rating.
• Reduce need for pumping of water,
proper treatment of waste water and
use of better designed toilets.
• Promote use of natural gas and
alternative & renewable fuels.
• Comprehensive urban renewal master
plan proposals with sustainable
designs.
• Better enforcement of Urban
Development Plan Formulation and
Implementation (UDPFI) guidelines.
National Water Mission
• Governed by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• sets a goal of a 20% improvement in water use efficiency through
pricing and other measures to deal with water scarcity as a result of
climate change.
• Ensures better integrated water resource management leading to
water conservation, less wastage, equitable distribution forming better
policies.
• Looks into the issues of groundwater and surface water management,
domestic and industrial water management, improvement of
water storage capacities and protection of wetlands.
National Water Mission
• Review and data collection on the network of
hydrological, automatic weather and
automated rain gauge stations.
• Expeditiously implement water projects in
climate sensitive regions.
• Promotion of water purification and
desalination techniques.
• Enactment of a bill for the regulation and
management of groundwater sources.
• Research in water use efficiency in industry,
agriculture and domestic sectors.
• Providing incentives for water neutral &
positive technologies.
National Water Mission
• Review National Water Policy to
include integrated water resources
management, evaporation
management and basin level
management.
• Water data base in the public domain
and the assessment of impact of
climate change on water resource
• Promotion of citizen and state action
for water conservation, augmentation
and preservation.
• More focused attention to over-
exploited areas.
National Mission for sustaining Himalayan
Ecosystem (NMSHE)
• Governed by the Department of Science and Technology.
• Created to protect the Himalayan ecosystem. The mandate is to evolve measures to sustain and
safeguard the Himalayan glaciers, mountain ecosystems, biodiversity and wildlife conservation
& protection.
• Launched in 2010 but was formally approved by the government in 2014.
• Aimed to the sustainable development, enhancing the understanding of climate change, its
likely impacts and adaptation actions required for the Himalayas.
• Eleven states: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur,
Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal.
• Two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
• One of the primary objective of the mission is to assess the health of Himalayan Ecosystem.
• For which the scheme was released with an outlay of Rs.550 Crores during the 12th "Five Years
Plan" period.
Himalayas: backbone of Indian Economy?
• A region on which a significant
proportion of India’s population
depends for sustenance.
• Source of the three largest rivers
on the subcontinent.
• Major factor behind Monsoon
climate of the country.
• Source of Biodiversity related
goods and natural resources.
National Mission for sustaining Himalayan
Ecosystem (NMSHE)
• Human and knowledge capacities.
• Institutional capacities
• Evidence based policy building and
governance
• Continuous self learning
• Establishing of a modern centre of Glaciology,
standardisation of data collection to ensure
interoperability and mapping of natural
resources in the area.
• Identification and training of experts and
specialists in the area relevant to sustaining the
Himalayan ecosystem.
National Mission for Green India
• Governed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change.
• It has the mandate of reviving degraded forest land with a focus on
increasing forest cover & density and conserving biodiversity.
• Works towards reducing fragmentation of forests, enhancing
private public partnerships for plantations, improving schemes
based on joint forestry management etc.
• Makes plans to tackle the challenges posed by climate change.
National Mission for Green India: functions
• Enhancing carbon sinks in sustainably
managed forests.
• Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable
species and ecosystems to adapt to climate
change.
• Enabling forest dependent communities to
adapt to climate variability.
• Double the area to be taken up for
afforestation.
• Increase greenhouse gas removals by Indian
forests.
• Enhance resilience of forests and ecosystems
falling under the mission.
National Mission for Green India: Goals
• A cumulative target of increasing
forest cover on 5 million hectares
of land while improving the
forest cover on additional 5
hectares.
• To provide livelihood to 3
million people through the forest
based activities.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
• Governed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
• It works towards devising strategies to make Indian agriculture less
susceptible to climate change.
• It would identify and develop new crop varieties, use traditional and
modern agricultural techniques.
• This mission sees dry land agriculture, risk management, access to
information and use of biotechnology as areas of intervention.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture:
goals
• Strengthening agricultural
insurance, develop a system
based on Geographic
Information System (GIS) and
remote sensing to map soil
resource and land use.
• Providing information and
collation of off-season crops and
preparation of state-level agro-
climatic atlases.
• Strategise to evolve low input
agriculture with enhanced water
and nitrogen efficient crops.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture:
Functions
• Encourage using of micro irrigation
systems.
• Promotion of agricultural techniques
like minimum tillage, organic
farming and rain water conservation.
• Capacity building of farmers and
other stakeholders.
• Production of bio-fertilizer, compost
along with subsidies for chemical
fertilizers.
• Strengthening of National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme.
National Mission on Strategic Knowledge on
Climate Change
• Recognizes that there is a need for strong strategic knowledge system
on climate change.
• Governed by the Department of Science and Technology.
• It identifies challenges and requisite responses to climate change.
• Achieved through open international collaboration and would ensure
sufficient funding for this research.
National Mission on Strategic Knowledge on
Climate Change
• Develop regional climate science.
• Leverage international cooperation.
• Develop Indian National Network for
Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), a
stock taking exercise conducted every two
years as part of the national obligations
under UNFCCC.
• Creation of a data generation and sharing
system.
• Identifying knowledge gaps.
• Creating new centres dedicated to climate
research within existing institutional
framework.
NAPCC: A success?
• Fairly comprehensive, has cross-sectoral links through the eight
National Level Missions.
• The focal point is India's impetus on following on a low carbon energy
path without impending economic growth and quality of life of people
(WWF-India).
• Brings a balanced perspective on mitigation and adaptation through
some new dimensions like creation of National Mission on Strategic
Knowledge for Climate Change as this would ensure exchange of
knowledge and informed research in India.
NAPCC: The road ahead
• Still in early stage of development and it
contributes very little to the changing
climatic conditions.
• Makes no commitment to cut the country's
carbon emission.
• Unequal emphasis on individual missions
(Major State push to Solar Power), requires
equal attention for viable results.
• Missions multi-sectoral, overlapping, multi-
departmental, advisory and very slow
moving (ought to be integrated to save time
and expenses)
• Lack of effective Monitoring systems
(Progress reports for only NSM, NMEEE, and
NWM are currently available)
Global Environmental Issues-4
Environmental Legislation and India
• Article 48-A (Directive Principles of State policy):
“The State shall try hard to achieve a clean environment, protect and
improve the environment, and safeguard the wildlife and forest of the
country.”
• Article 51A (g) (Fundamental Duties of Indian Citizen):
“It is the duty of every citizen to protect the natural resources like lakes,
rivers and also the wildlife.”
“Every citizen should have compassion for living creatures.”
Major Legislative Framework
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
Environment Protection Act, 1986
Schedule Tribes and other Traditional forest dwellers (Recognition of
Forest rights) Act, 2006
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WPA)
• Enacted for the protection of plants and animal
species.
• Extends to the whole of India except the State
of Jammu and Kashmir (as of 2019?).
• Prior to this legislation, India had only five
designated national parks.
• At present, there are 101 National Parks in
India.
• The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, Forests and
Protection of Wild Animals and Birds was
transferred from State to Concurrent List.
• Amended multiple times to added various
species to its schedules (‘82, ’86, ’91, ’93, ’02,
’08, ’13)
Provisioned under WPA
• Central Government appoints the Director of Wildlife Preservation and
their subordinates.
• State Governments appoint a Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW)
administrative head of all the protected areas in a state.
• Formation of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) chaired by the PM
• Apex body for the review of all wildlife-related matters and for the
approval of projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• “Advisory” in nature, Government still the decision making body.
• Standing Committee of NBWL chaired by MOEF head.
• State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) all wildlife related matters in the
state.
• Central Zoo Authority, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA),
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).
Schedules under WPA
• Six schedules which give varying degrees of
protection.
• Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide
absolute protection - offences under these are
prescribed the highest penalties (The Black
Buck, Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, Assamese
Macaque, Pig Tailed Macaque).
• Species listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV
are also protected, but the penalties are much
lower (Chital (spotted deer) Bharal (blue
sheep),Flamingo, Hares, Falcons).
• Up to April 2010 there have been 16
convictions under this act relating to the death
of tigers.
Schedules under WPA
• Animals under Schedule V, e.g. common crows,
fruit bats, rats and mice, are legally considered
vermin and may be hunted freely.
• The specified endemic plants in Schedule VI are
prohibited from cultivation and planting (Slipper
orchids (Paphiopedilum spp.), Pitcher plant
(Nepenthes khasiana)).
• The hunting to the Enforcement authorities have
the power to compound offences under this
Schedule (i.e. they impose fines on the offenders).
• The 2002 Amendment Act which came into force
in January, 2003 have made punishment and
penalty for offences under the Act more stringent.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1974
• Enacted in 1974 to provide for the
prevention and control of water
pollution, and for the maintaining or
restoring of wholesomeness of water
in the country.
• Amended in 1988
• Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Cess Act was enacted in
1977, to provide for the levy and
collection of a cess from industries
consuming water.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess
Act was enacted in 1977
• Passed to generate financial resources to meet
expenses of the Central and State Pollution
Boards.
• Creates economic incentives for pollution
control and requires local authorities and
certain designated industries to pay a cess
(tax) for water effluent discharge.
• The Central Government, after deducting the
expenses of collection, pays the central and
state boards such sums, as it seems necessary.
• To encourage capital investment in pollution
control, the Act gives a polluter a 70%
rebate of the applicable cess upon installing
effluent treatment equipment.
Provisions under Water Act
• A regulatory authority in State Pollution Control
Boards to establish and enforce effluent standards
for factories.
• A Central Pollution Control Board performs the
same functions for Union Territories and
formulates policies and coordinates activities of
different State Boards.
• The Act grants power to SPCB and CPCB to test
equipment and to take the sample for the
purpose of analysis.
• Prior to its amendment in 1988, enforcement
under the Act was achieved through criminal
prosecutions initiated by the Boards.
• The 1988 amendment act empowered SPCB and
CPCB to close a defaulting industrial plant.
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1981 amendment 1987
• Follow up to United Nations
Conference on the Human
Environment held at Stockholm
in June 1972.
• The main objectives: to improve
the quality of air and to prevent,
control, and abate air pollution in
the country.
• 1987 amendment to the act also
added ‘noise’ to the list of
harmful substances.
Provisions under Air Act
• Similar to that of the Water Act of 1974.
• Expanded the authority of the central and state
boards to include air pollution control.
• States not having water pollution boards were
required to set up air pollution boards.
• Under the Air Act, all industries operating
within designated air pollution control areas
must obtain a “consent” (permit) from the
State Boards.
• The states are required to prescribe emission
standards for industry and automobiles after
consulting the central board and noting its
ambient air quality standards.
Provisions under Air Act
• The Act grants power to SPCB and to test
equipment and to take the sample for the
purpose of analysis from any chimney, fly ash
or dust, or any other.
• Prior to its amendment in 1988, enforcement
under the Act was achieved through criminal
prosecutions initiated by the Boards.
• The 1988 amendment act empowered SPCB
and CPCB to close a defaulting industrial
plant.
• Notably, the 1987 amendment introduced a
citizen’s suit provision into the Air Act and
extended the Act to include noise pollution.
Laws and Forests of India
• Indian Forest Act of 1865: The Imperial Forest Department,
set up in 1864, attempted to establish British control over
forests.
• It empowered the British government to declare any land
covered with trees as a government forest and make rules to
manage it.
• Indian Forest Act of 1878: By the Forest Act of 1878, the
British Administration acquired the sovereignty of all
wastelands which by definition included forests.
• Regulate the collection of forest produce by forest dwellers
and some activities declared as offences and imprisonment
and fines.
• Indian Forest Act of 1927: This Act impacted the life of
forest-dependent communities. The penalties and
procedures given in this Act aimed to extend the state’s
control over forests as well as diminishing the status of
people’s rights to forest use.
Indian Forest Policy Post Independence (1952)
• A simple extension of colonial forest policy.
• However, it became conscious about the need
to increase the forest cover to one-third of the
total land area.
• At that time maximum annual revenue from
forests is the vital national need.
• The two World Wars, need for defence,
developmental projects such as river valley
projects, industries like pulp, paper and
plywood, and communication heavily
depended on forest produce on national
interest, as a result, huge areas of forests were
cleared to raise revenue for the State.
Forest (conservation) Act, 1980
• This act deals with the conservation of forests
and related aspects.
• Except J & K, the act is adopted all over India.
• The Act covers under it all types of forests
including reserved forests, protected forests or
any forested land irrespective of its ownership.
Forest (Conservation) Act 1980
(i) The State Govt. has been empowered under
this Act to use the forests only for forestry
purposes. If at all it wants to use it in any other
way, it has to take prior approval of central
Government, aftewhich it can pass orders for
declaring some part of reserve forest for non-
forest purposes (e.g mining) or for clearing some
naturally growing trees and replacing them by
economically important trees (reforestation).
(ii) It makes provision for conservation of all
types of forests and for this purpose there is an
Advisory committee which recommends funding
for it to the Central Government.
(iii) Any illegal non-forest activity within a
forest area can be immediately stopped under
this Act.
Forest (Conservation) Act: Exemption
Non-forest activities include clearing of
forest land for cultivation of any type of
plants/crops or any other purpose
(except re-afforestation).
However, some construction work in the
forest for wildlife or forest management
is exempted from non-forest activity
(e.g. fencing, making water-holes,
trench, pipelines, check posts, wireless
communication etc.)
Forest (Conservation) Act, amendment 1992
• Provisions for allowing some non-forest activities in
forests, without cutting trees or limited cutting with
prior approval of Central Govt.
• These activities are setting of transmission lines,
seismic surveys, exploration, drilling and
hydroelectric projects.
• Cultivation of cash-crops are included under non-
forestry activity and not allowed .
• Even cultivation of fruit-bearing trees, oil-yielding
plants or plants of medicinal value in forest area need
to be first approved by the Central Govt. T
• This is because newly introduced species (in not
native) in the forest area may cause an imbalance in
the ecology of the forest.
• Tusser cultivation (a type of silk-yielding insect) in
forest areas by tribals as a means of their livelihood is
treated as a forestry activity as long as it does not
involve some specific host tree
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Why?)
• The purpose of the Act is to implement the decisions of the United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972).
• They relate to the protection and improvement of the human
environment and the prevention of hazards to human beings, other
living creatures, plants and property.
• An “umbrella” legislation designed to provide a framework for central
government coordination of the activities of various central and state
authorities established under previous laws, such as the Water Act and
the Air Act.
• Trigger (?)
Environment (Protection) Act
• In the wake of the Bhopal gas Tragedy or
Bhopal Disaster, the [Government of India]
enacted the Environment Protection Act of
1986
• Under Article 253 of the Constitution.
• Passed in May 1986, it came into force on 19
November 1986. It has 26 sections and 4
chapters.
• Authorizes the central government to protect
and improve environmental quality, control
and reduce pollution from all sources, and
prohibit or restrict the setting and /or
operation of any industrial facility on
environmental grounds.
EPA, 1986: nuances
• In this Act, main emphasis is given to
“Environment”, defined to include water, air
and land and the inter-relationships which
exist among water, air and land and human
beings and other living creatures, plants,
micro-organisms and property.
• “Environmental pollution” is the presence of
pollutant, defined as any solid, liquid or
gaseous substance present in such a
concentration as may be or may tend to be
injurious to the environment.
• “Hazardous substances” include any
substance or preparation, which may cause
harm to human beings, other living
creatures, plants, microorganisms, property
or the environment.
Centre’s power under EPA
The Act empowers the centre to “take all such
measures as it deems necessary”. The Central
Government can
• Coordinate action by state,
• Plan and execute nationwide programmes,
• Lay down environmental quality standards,
especially those governing emission or discharge of
environmental pollutants,
• Place restriction on the location of industries and so
on.
• Claim authority to issue direct orders, included
orders to close, prohibit or regulate any industry.
• Has power of entry for examination, testing of
equipment and other purposes and power to analyse
the sample of air, water, soil or any other substance
from any place.
EPA provisions
• The Act explicitly prohibits discharges of
environmental pollutants in excess of prescribed
standards.
• There is also a specific prohibition against handling
hazardous substances except those in compliance
with regulatory procedures and standards.
• Section 19 provides that any person, in addition to
authorized government officials, may file a
complaint with a court alleging an offence under
the Act.
• This “Citizens’ Suit” provision requires that the
person has to give notice of not less than 60 days of
the alleged offence of pollution to the Central
Government.
• The jurisdiction of Civil Court is barred under the
Act. Every State has to set up Green Bench Courts
to attend to Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases
concerning environmental hazards.
EPA penalties
• The Act provides provision for
penalties. For each failure or
contravention, the punishment
included a prison term up to five
years or fine up to Rs. 1 lakh, or
both.
• The Act imposed an additional fine
of up to Rs. 5,000 for every day of
continuing violation.
• If a failure or contravention occurs
for more than one year, offender may
be punished with imprisonment
which may be extended to seven
years.
EPA: Drawbacks, limitations and criticisms
• Regulatory/ enforcing manpower in
regulatory agencies is less than
required as compared to the ever-
growing number of industries.
• The shortfall of required technical
skills/ knowledge as needed for
enforcement of regulation.
• Aversion to change/ attitudinal
difficulties.
• One of the major drawbacks of
environmental protection act 1986 is
the limitation is financial facilities.
Enough resources of money are
needed to implement the bare act.
Case studies for discussion
• Dehradun valley litigation (Dehradun vs. State of Uttar Pradesh AIR
1987 SC 2187)
• TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India and Ors. (WP (Civil)
No. 202 of 1995)
Union of India vs. People of India
• A large number of people especially the scheduled tribes have lived in and around forests for a long
period in symbiotic relationship.
• This relationship has led to formalized or informal customary rules of use and extraction, often
governed by ethical beliefs and practices that have ensured that forests are not too degraded.
• During the colonial time the focus shifted from the forests being used as a resource base for
sustenance of local communities to a State resource for commercial interests and development of
land for agriculture.
• Several Acts and policies such as the 3 Indian Forest Acts of 1865, 1894 and 1927 of Central Govt
and some state forest Acts curtailed centuries‐old, customary‐use rights of local communities.
• The IFA (1927) empowers the government to declare any area to be a reserved forest, protected
forest or village forest.
• The WPA (1972) allows any area to be constituted as a "protected area", namely a national park,
wildlife sanctuary, tiger reserve or community conservation area.
• This continued even after independence till much later until enactment of The Scheduled Tribes
and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Settlement ?
• Under these laws, the rights of people living in
or depending on the area to be declared as a
forest or protected area are to be "settled" by a
"forest settlement officer."
• This basically requires that officer to enquire
into the claims of people to the land, minor
forest produce, etc., and, in the case of claims
found to be valid, to allow them to continue or
to extinguish them by paying compensation.
• 82.9% of the forest blocks in undivided
Madhya Pradesh had not been settled as of
December 2003, while all the hilly tracts of
Odisha were declared government forests
without any survey.
• In Odisha, around 40% of the government
forests are "deemed reserved forests" which
have not been surveyed.
FRA: necessity
• Those whose rights are not recorded during
the settlement process are susceptible to
eviction at any time.
• This "legal twilight zone" leads to harassment,
evictions, extortion of money and sexual
molestation of forest dwellers by forest
officials.
• The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the
Forest Rights Act describes it as a law
intended to correct the "historical injustice"
done to forest dwellers by the failure to
recognise their rights.
• "The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional
Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006" was enacted by the
Parliament of India in December 2006
Provision of FRA, 2006
• It recognizes and vests the forest rights and
occupation in Forest land in forest Dwelling
Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD)
• Establishes the responsibilities and authority
for sustainable use, conservation of
biodiversity and maintenance of ecological
balance of FDST and OTFD.
• To rectify colonial injustice to the FDST and
OTFD who are integral to the very survival
and sustainability of the forest ecosystem.
• Recognizes four kinds of rights.
Native Rights under FRA, 2006
• Title rights (recognition of non-
transferrable ownership to a limited
area)
• Use rights (rights to extract a
predefined quantity of forest produce
or limited use of resource)
• Relief and Development rights (in
case of eviction or displacement,
suitable recompensation and access
to basic amenities)
• Forest Management Rights (right to
protect, regenerate or conserve or
manage any traditional community
forest resource).
Who can claim these Rights?
• Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside
in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bona fide
livelihood needs.
• It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at
least three generations (75 years) prior to the 13th day of December,
2005 primarily resided in forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.
• The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining
the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community
Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.
FRA: Challenges ahead?
• Administrative apathy
• Lack of Awareness
• Dilution of Act
• Reluctance of Forest
Bureaucracy
• Institutional Roadblocks