ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA

(This paper was presented in the National Seminar on " Globalization - Enivornmental Issues & Challenges on 15th & 16th March, 2009 at Kakatiya University, Warangal - India) 

- Dr.S.VijayKumar

             Economic development is a process where by an economy’s real national income increases over a long period of time. There is direct relationship between environment and economy. Economic development without environmental considerations can cause serious environmental damage in turn impairing the quality of life of present and future generations. In the process of economic development, the environmental problems have been ignored or less concentrated. Now, the need of the hour is to concentrate on sustainable development. Sustainable development means, “Meeting the needs of present generation without compromising with the needs of future generations.”

             In 1983, the United Nations set up the World Commission on Environment and Development called 'the Brundtland Commission' to examine the problems related to this area. The Commission in its report entitled "Our Common Future" submitted in 1987, used and defined this concept of sustainable development for the first time.

OBJECTIVES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

            Sustainable development aims at the creation of the sustainable improvements in the quality of life for all people and this should be the principal goal of development policy. Accordingly, the main objectives of sustainable development are stated as under:

(1) Accelerating economic growth (2) Meeting basic needs (3) Raising living standards (4) Helping in ensuring clean environment free from all types of pollution (5) Maximizing the net effects of economic development (6) Preservation and enhancement of the stock of the environmental, human and physical capital (7) Inter generational equity and (8) Overall strict control on gross exploitation of the natural resources of each country.

           The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of the environment and identifying the policy issues for promoting sustainable development. It is broadly divided into six sections they are i) Environment-economy linkages, ii) Review of major environmental concerns, iii) Impact of environmental degradation on society, (iv) the policies of sustainable development, v) Global Environmental Issues, and vi) Link between bio-diversity and climate change.

SECTION - I

ENVIRONMENT-ECONOMY LINKAGES:

         All economic activities either affect or are affected by natural and environmental resources. Activities such as extraction, processing, manufacture, transport, consumption and disposal change the stock of natural resources add stress to the environmental systems and introduce Wastes to environmental media. Moreover, economic activities today affect the stock of natural resources available   for the welfare of the future and have intertemporal welfare effects. From this perspective, the productivity of an economic system depends in part on the supply and quality of natural and environmental resources.

       Natural and environmental resources have three economic roles: (1) Waste disposal services, (2) Natural resources inputs into production and (3) Directly consumed life support services and authentic amenities. The natural and environmental resource input function is central to understanding the relationship between economic growth and environment. Water, soil, air, biological, forest and fisheries resources are productive assets, whose quality helps to determine the productivity of the economy. Focusing on this role of environment as producer good highlight the direct effect the environmental problems have on economic growth. Thus economic management lays emphasis on the environment and the environmental quality in turn on the efficient working of the economy. Environmental degradation imposes costs on the economy that results in output and human capital losses.

       Loss of labor productivity resulting from ill health, foregone crop output due to soil degradation and erosion, lost fisheries output and tourism receipts from coastal erosion or lost soil productivity from deforestation can be some of the manifestations of such reduced output. Moreover growing bodies of epidemiological studies suggest that air and water population are taking a heavy toll, particularly of people in the developing world, through ill health and premature mortality. The impact of water and air pollution is particularly adverse on the younger, the very aged and the poor. Pollution control is thus linked to sustainable development and not a luxury good to be afforded after the development process has taken off.

                                                                                                                          

SECTION-II

MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS:

A country's environmental problems vary with its stage of development; structure of its economy, production technologies in use and its environmental policies. While some problems may be associated with the lack of economic development, others are exacerbated by the growth of economic activity, Poverty presents special problems for a densely populated country with limited resources.

Soil Degradation:

In India out of the total geographical areas of 329 million hectares, 175 million hectares are considered degraded. Erosion by water and wind is the most important factor to soil erosion with other factors like water logging, salivation etc., adding to the degradation. While soil erosion by rain and river in hill areas causes landslides and floods, deforestation, overgrazing, traditional agricultural practices, mining and incorrect setting of development projects in forest areas have resulted in opening up of these areas to heavy soil erosion. In the arid west, wind erosion causes expansion of desert, dust storms, whirlwinds and destruction of crops, while moving sand covers the land and makes it sterile. In the plains, riverine erosion due to floods and eutrophication due to agricultural run off are noticed. Increased dependence on intensive agriculture and irrigation also results in salination, alkalization and water logging in irrigated areas of the country.

Deforestation:

Forest is renewable resource and contributes substantially to the economic development by providing goods and services to forest dwellers, people at large and forest based industries, besides generating substantial volume of employment. Forests are playing main role in enhancing the quality of environment by influencing the ecological balance and life support system.

Biodiversity:

Biodiversity is one of the major environmental concerns in India, now India is in the tenth position in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity. The biodiversity in forests, non-irrigated lands, irrigated lands and hill areas deserts and marines ecosystems is subject to many pressures. One of the major causes of the loss of biological diversity has been the depletion of vegetative cover in order to expand agriculture. Since most of the biodiversity rich forests also contain the maximum mineral wealth and also the best sites for water impoundment, mining and development projects in such areas have led to destruction of habitats. Poaching and illegal trade of wildlife products too, have adversely affected biodiversity.

Pollution:

The main factors contributing to urban air quality deterioration are growing industrialization and increasing vehicular pollution. It has been aggravated by developments that typically occur as countries industrialize, growing cities, increasing traffic, rapid economic development and industrial growth, all of which are closely associated with higher energy consumption. Industrial pollution is concentrated in industries like petroleum refineries, textiles, pulp and paper, industrial chemicals, iron and steel and nonmetallic mineral products. Small scale industries especially foundries, chemical manufacturing and brick making are also significant polluters. In the power sector, thermal power, which constitutes bulk of the installed capacity for electricity generation, is an important source of air pollution.

Vehicle traffic is the most important source of pollution in all the mega cities. The number of vehicles in these cities has increased manifold. This increase has been characterized by a boom in private transport. Other reasons for high vehicular pollution are two stroke engines, aged vehicles, congested traffic, poor roads and outdated automotive technologies and traffic management system.

Coastal and marine pollutions are most contributing factors to environment. The coastal areas of India, with a coast line of over 7500 km harbor a variety of specialized marine ecosystems like mangroves, corral reefs, salt lakes and mudflats which mainly form the habitat for endangered marine species and commercially important marine flora and fauna.

            An important impact of climate change and global warming may be the rise in sea level. The primary effect of sea level rise will be increased coastal flooding, erosion, storm surges and wave activity. Primary studies on the impact of one-meter sea level rise on the Indian coastline indicate that 0.41 % of India's coastal area will be inducted.

Poverty is also one of the reasons for environmental degradation in India. The circular link between poverty and environment is an extremely complex phenomenon. Inequality may foster unsustainability because the poor, who rely on natural resources more than the rich, deplete natural resources faster as they have no real prospects of gaining access to other type of resources. Acceleration in poverty alleviation is imperative to break this link between poverty and environment.

SECTION - III

IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON SOCIETY:

Environmental degradation is the result of the dynamic interplay of socioeconomic, institutional and technological activities. Environmental changes may be driven by many factors including economic growth, population growth, urbanization, intensification of agriculture, rising energy use and transportation. Poverty still remains a problem at the root of several environmental problems. The impact of environmental degradation on society has been discussed in the following:

It has been estimated that the process of deforestation, bad soil and water management, submergence of and in dam reservoirs, industrial and urban expansion, overgrazing, wind and water erosion, salination, flooding, water logging and so on, contribute to a loss of productivity in roughly one million hectare of land annually. The above process results in desertification and creation of drought prone conditions, leading to the immersion of those dependent on land for their daily subsistence.

Given these processes and the resultant, decline in livelihood for the millions critically dependent on these resources, there are few options but to cultivate increasingly marginal lands, thereby compounding the sustainability crisis. The impact on women is even more severe, as the loss access to fuel, fodder and water forces them to walk miles to collect the essential necessities for their subsistence.

       The consequent escalation in the pressure on available arable land is so enormous that it has contributed to the growth of criminalization in the country side with illegal occupation of community lands, the formation of land armies by land lords to oppose any demands by marginal farmers for land, as well as increasingly militant movements to assert local control over productive resources like land and forests. The latter process most often results in state repression, compounding the climate of social unrest.                                                                                                                                    

         

Much of these have severally strained social relations within communities and between communities and the state. For instance, every year, over five lakh people are forcibly displaced by development projects alone. Most of them are not rehabilitated, and alternatives are rarely provided. In the process, communities and families are broken up, destroying structure of social and economic support.

Loss of cultural diversity is an inevitable consequence. For instance, a report based on a comprehensive survey of people displaced by the Rihan Dam stated that, "Many of the oustees, particularly the tribals, have fallen into the typical cycle of debt bondage, coupled with increasing destitution and intermittent employment as contract labourers in coal mines and elsewhere ... most were simply kicked out with nothing left to fend for themselves."

DIMENSIONS OF THE ENVIRONEMENTAL CRISIS IN INDIA:

• Of the 266 million hectares considered productive, about 175 million hectares are degraded in varying degrees (arid, alkaline, saline, waterlogged, ravine and the like). About 90 million hectare are acutely degraded, chiefly on account of loss of tree cover and top soil, leading to floods and drought.
• Depletion of forest covers to about 19% of the total geographical area, instead of the desired 33%. India has only 2% of the forestland of the world but supports 16% of the world population.
• Shortage of fuel wood and fodder for rural needs, leading to more pressure on the forests.
• Threats to faunal and floral species and biological diversity, because of disturbance of their habitat.
• Adverse impact of development activities such as mining, power generation, irrigation and industrialization.
• Degradation of fragile ecosystems such as mangroves, irrigation lands, beaches and hill areas due to over exploitation, use of commercial agricultural practices, tourism and indiscriminate building activities.
• Pollution of water from domestic and industrial waste.
• Pollution of coastal areas and seas.
•  Air pollution due to emission from industries.
• Increased production, transportation and use of hazardous chemicals.
• Degradation of the urban environment because of rapid expansion and inadequate basic services.

SECTION - IV

POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

Environmental problems like air pollution, water pollution, soil degradation, deforestation, loss of bio-diversity, etc are caused by such diverse factors population growth, poverty, industrialization, agricultural development, transport development, urbanization, market failure etc. Such environmental degradation harms human health, reduces economic productivity and leads to the loss of amenities. Therefore, the damaging effects of environmental degradation can be reduced by a judicious choice of economic and environmental policies and environmental investments. The important policy measures for sustainable development are as follows:

1.       Reducing Poverty:

Reduction of poverty should be the foremost priority of the Government. It should select those projects which provide greater employment opportunities to the poor. It should expand health, family planning and education that will help reduce population growth. Supply of drinking water, sanitation facilities, and slum clearance should be given top priority.

2.       Removing Subsidies:

To reduce environmental degradation at no net financial cost to the Government, subsidies for resource use by the private and public sectors should be removed. Because, subsidies on the use of electricity, fertilizers, pesticides, diesel, petrol, gas, irrigation, water etc lead to their wasteful use and environmental problems.

3.       Clarifying and Extending Property Rights:

Lack of property rights over excessive use of resources leads to degradation of environment. This leads to overgrazing, deforestation and over exploitation of minerals. Therefore, clarifying and assigning ownership titles to private owners will solve environmental problems

4.       Market based Approaches:

Various market based approaches should be adopted to protect environment. Market based instruments in the form of emission tax, pollution taxes, marketable permits, depositor fund system, input taxes, differential tax rates, user administrative charges, subsidies for pollution abatement equipment etc should be extensively used to protect environment.

5.       Regulatory Policies:

Regulatory policies are the other weapons for reducing environmental degradation. Regulators have to make decisions regarding price, quantity and technology. They decide the technical standards, regulations and charges on air, water and land pollutants.

6.       Public Participation:

Public awareness and participation are highly effective to improve environmental conditions. For this purpose various formal & informal education programme, environmental awareness programmes, advertisement, public movements, aforestation, conservation of wild life etc are to be organized on a large scale.

7.       Trade and Environment:

The Government should formulate an environment friendly trade policy covering both domestic and international trade. It should encourage the establishment of less polluting industries, adoption of cleaner technologies, adoption of environment friendly processes etc to control environmental degradation.

8.       Participation in Global Environmental Efforts:

Participation in various international conventions and agreements on environmental protection and conservation can also help to minimize damages of environmental degradation. They include the Montreal protocol, the Basel convention, the Rio Declaration, the Agenda 21, the Earth summits, etc.

9.   Renewable energy:

Policies should be framed for the use of renewable energy like solar and wind in place of coal and petrol. Atomic Energy Agency predicted that renewable energy would overtake natural gas to become the second largest source of power generation world wide with in two years, and that global wind and solar generating capacity would increase by more than 30 per cent.

SECTION- V

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

As early as 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius had predicted that human activities would interfere with the way, the sun interacts with the earth, resulting in global warming and climate change. His prediction has become true and climate change is now disrupting global environmental stability. The last few decades have seen many treaties, conventions, and protocols for the cause of global environmental protection.

Few examples of environmental issues of global significance are:

·         Ozone layer depletion

·         Global warming

·         Loss of biodiversity

Ozone Layer Depletion:

Earth’s atmosphere is divided into three regions, namely troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere. The stratosphere extends from 10 to 50 kms from the Earth’s surface. This region is concentrated with slightly pungent smelling, light bluish ozone gas. The ozone gas is made up of molecules each containing three atoms of oxygen; its chemical formula is O3. The ozone layer, in the stratosphere acts as an efficient filter for harmful solar Ultraviolet B (UV-B) rays. Ozone is produced and destroyed naturally in the atmosphere and until recently, this resulted in a well-balanced equilibrium. Ozone is formed when oxygen molecules absorb ultraviolet radiation with wavelengths less than 240 nanometres and is destroyed when it absorbs ultraviolet radiation with wavelengths greater than 290 nanometres. In recent years, scientists have measured a seasonal thinning of the ozone layer primarily at the South Pole. This phenomenon is being called the ozone hole.

Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion:

Effects on Human and Animal Health:

Increased penetration of solar UV-B radiation is likely to have high impact on human health with potential risks of eye diseases, skin cancer and infectious diseases.

Effects on Terrestrial Plants:

In forests and grasslands, increased radiation is likely to change species composition thus altering the bio-diversity in different ecosystems. It could also affect the plant community indirectly resulting in changes in plant form, secondary metabolism, etc.

Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems:

High levels of radiation exposure in tropics and subtropics may affect the distribution of phytoplanktons, which form the foundation of aquatic food webs. It can also cause damage to early development stages of fish, shrimp, crab, amphibians and other animals, the most severe effects being decreased reproductive capacity and impaired larval development.

Effects on Bio-geo-chemical Cycles:

Increased solar UV radiation could affect terrestrial and aquatic bio-geo-chemical cycles thus altering both sources and sinks of greenhouse and important trace gases, e.g. carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulfide (COS), etc. These changes would contribute to biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks responsible for the atmosphere build-up of these greenhouse gases.

Effects on Air Quality:

Reduction of stratospheric ozone and increased penetration of UV-B radiation result in higher photo dissociation rates of key trace gases that control the chemical reactivity of the troposphere. This can increase both production and destruction of ozone and related oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide, which are known to have adverse effects on human health, terrestrial plants and outdoor materials.

The ozone layer, therefore, is highly beneficial to plant and animal life on earth filtering out the dangerous part of sun’s radiation and allowing only the beneficial part to reach earth. Any disturbance or depletion of this layer would result in an increase of harmful radiation reaching the earth’s surface leading to dangerous consequences.

Ozone Depletion Counter Measures:

• International cooperation, agreement (Montreal Protocol) to phase out ozone depleting chemicals since 1974
• Tax imposed for ozone depleting substances
• Ozone friendly substitutes- HCFC (less ozone depleting potential and shorter life)
• Recycle of CFCs and Halons.

Global Warming:

Before the Industrial Revolution, human activities released very few gases into the atmosphere and all climate changes happened naturally. After the Industrial Revolution, through fossil fuel combustion, changing agricultural practices and deforestation, the natural composition of gases in the atmosphere is getting affected and climate and environment began to alter significantly. Over the last 100 years, it was found out that the earth is getting warmer and warmer, unlike previous 8000 years when temperatures have been relatively constant. The present temperature is 0.3 - 0.6oC warmer than it was 100 years ago.

           The key greenhouse gases (GHG) causing global warming is carbon dioxide. CFC's, even though they exist in very small quantities, are significant contributors to global warming. Carbon dioxide, one of the most prevalent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, has two major anthropogenic (human-caused) sources: the combustion of fossil fuels and changes in land use. Net releases of carbon dioxide from these two sources are believed to be contributing to the rapid rise in atmospheric concentrations since Industrial Revolution. Because estimates indicate that approximately 80 percent of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions currently come from fossil fuel combustion, world energy use has emerged at the center of the climate change debate.

Global Warming (Climate Change) Implications:

Rise in global temperature:

Observations show that global temperatures have risen by about 0.6 °C over the 20th century. There is strong evidence now that most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is caused by human activities. Climate models predict that the global temperature will rise by about 6 °C by the year 2100.

Rise in sea level:

In general, the faster the climate change, the greater will be the risk of damage. The mean sea level is expected to rise 9 - 88 cm by the year 2100, causing flooding of low lying areas and other damages.

Food shortages and hunger:

 Water resources will be affected as precipitation and evaporation patterns change around the world. This will affect agricultural output. Food security is likely to be threatened and some regions are likely to experience food shortages and hunger.

India could be more at risks than many other countries

Models predict an average increase in temperature in India of 2.3 to 4.8^oC for the benchmark doubling of Carbon-dioxide scenario. Temperature would rise more in Northern India than in Southern India. It is estimated that 7 million people would be displaced, 5700 km of land and 4200 km of road would be lost, and wheat yields could decrease significantly.

Loss of Biodiversity

          Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth, and its biological diversity. The number of species of plants, animals, micro organisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all a part of a biologically diverse earth. Biodiversity actually boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play and that it is in this combination that enables the ecosystem to possess the ability to prevent and recover from a variety of disasters.

          It is now believed that human activity is changing biodiversity and causing massive extinctions. The World Resource Institute reports that there is a link between biodiversity and climate change. Rapid global warming can affect ecosystems chances to adapt naturally. Over the past 150 years, deforestation has contributed an estimated 30 percent of the atmospheric build-up of CO2. It is also a significant driving force behind the loss of genes, species, and critical ecosystem services.

SECTION - VI

Link between Biodiversity and Climate change:

• Climate change is affecting species already threatened by multiple threats across the globe. Habitat fragmentation due to colonization, logging, agriculture and mining etc. are all contributing to further destruction of terrestrial habitats.
• Individual species may not be able to adapt. Species most threatened by climate change have small ranges, low population densities, restricted habitat requirements and patchy distribution.
• Ecosystems will generally shift northward or upward in altitude, but in some cases they will run out of space – as 10C change in temperature correspond to a 100 Km change in latitude, hence, average shift in habitat conditions by the year 2100 will be on the order of 140 to 580 Km.
• Coral reef mortality may increase and erosion may be accelerated. Increase levels of carbon dioxide adversely impact the coral building process (calcification).
• Sea level may rise, engulfing low-lying areas causing disappearance of many islands, and extinctions of endemic island species.
• Invasive species may be aided by climate change. Exotic species can out-compete native wildlife for space, food, water and other resources, and may also prey on native wildlife.
• Droughts and wildfires may increase. An increased risk of wildfires due to warming and drying out of vegetation is likely. Sustained climate change may change the competitive balance among species and might lead to forests destruction.

The Kyoto Protocol:

There is a scientific consensus that human activities are causing global warming that could result in significant impacts such as sea level rise, changes in weather patterns and adverse health effects. As it became apparent that major nations such as the United States and Japan would not meet the voluntary stabilization target by 2000, Parties to the Convention decided in 1995 to enter into negotiations on a protocol to establish legally binding limitations or reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It was decided by the Parties that this round of negotiations would establish limitations only for the developed countries, including the former Communist countries (called annex A countries).

           Negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specify, legally binding reductions in emissions of six greenhouse gases. The 6 major greenhouse gases covered by the protocol are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur xafluoride (SF6).

          Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, who received the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2009 at the Delhi Sustainable Summit said “a balanced, comprehensive and effective” international agreement will take place by the end of Dec.2009 at Copenhagen. As a regime, it must also be “ratifiable” as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

          Mr. Ban said eradication poverty is not possible if we neglect or depleted our natural capital. He said science had shown that we were depleting the planet’s natural assets at an unsustainable rate. “Failure to combat climate change would increase poverty and hardships, destablise economies, and breed insecurity in many countries.

CONCLUSION:

Rapid environmental degradation that has been taking place all over the world in recent decades has alarmed economists and environmentalists alike. Fostering sustainable development requires the effective management of naturally human and physical capital. Improved coordination across the countries to share the global resources, technology and also scarce resources has become the need of the hour. Global level generosity in promoting and protecting democracy, exchange of technology, maintaining stability of prices in the various economies, judicious use of all environmental material throughout to enhance human development and sustainable development. Sustainable development can be achieved only if the environment is conserved and improved.

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