ESD Module 4 PDF

Environment and Sustainable Development Module 4 Environmental Protection: Report of Club of Rome The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists of one hundred full members selected from current and former heads of state a...

Environment and Sustainable Development Module 4 Environmental Protection: Report of Club of Rome The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists of one hundred full members selected from current and former heads of state and government, UN administrators, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business leaders from around the globe. It stimulated considerable public attention in 1972 with the first report to the Club of Rome, The Limits to Growth. Since 1 July 2008, the organization has been based in Winterthur, Switzerland. The Club of Rome was founded in April 1968 by Aurelio Peccei, an Italian industrialist, and Alexander King, a Scottish scientist. It was formed when a small international group of people from the fields of academia, civil society, diplomacy, and industry met at Villa Farnesina in Rome, hence the name. The Club of Rome's report combined an optimism regarding the human potential to innovate and capacity to transcend environmental and demographic limitations with a series of detailed models and scenarios warning that if existing trends continued, negative economic and ecological consequences. The Club of Rome report and other warnings of imminent environmental disaster encouraged environmentalists to believe that an environmentally sound society had to be a ‘no-growth society,’ and that achieving it had to become a priority everywhere in the world. 1  The goal of ‘sustainable development’ popularized by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) allows that development and growth can occur within the carrying capacity of the planet. Sustainable development is supposed to leave room for development within poorer countries and encourage those in wealthier countries to look for more environmentally sound ways of maintaining their living standards. There is a lot of room for disagreement, not only about what the environment can sustain but also about the relation between environmental preservation and sustainability. Sustainable development does not necessarily mean that wilderness areas or threatened species will be preserved, or that the values that eco centred environmentalists find in nature will be respected. ‘Sustainable development’ also raises normative questions about how much environmental risk it is legitimate to impose upon present and future people for the sake of development. The Club of Rome’s model for global development was constructed to investigate five major trends – accelerating industrialization, rapid population growth, widespread malnutrition, depletion of non-renewable resources, and a deteriorating environment. In the 1970s, the debate on the relation between growth and the environment focused on the report, The Limits to Growth, by the Club of Rome. The common wisdom was that economic growth meant greater environmental impacts and the main way to environmental gains was reduced population and consumption. Economists and others argued that substitution and innovation could reduce environmental impacts. But these were minority views. The mainstream view was that environment and economy were conflicting goals. 2  By the late 1980s, however, with the emergence of the idea of sustainable development, the conventional wisdom shifted to one of “too poor to be green.” Less developed countries lacked the resources for environmental protection and growth, and development was needed to provide for environmental protection. This idea was embodied in the empirical models that became known as environmental Kuznets curves (EKCs). The hypothesis states that there is an inverted U-shape relation between various indicators of environmental degradation and income per capita, with pollution or other forms of degradation rising in the early stages of economic development and falling in the later stages. The EKC is named for the economist Kuznets, who hypothesized that the relationship between a measure of inequality in the distribution of income and the level of income takes the form of an inverted U-shape curve. However, Kuznets had no part in developing the EKC concept. The Idea has become one of the “stylized facts” of environmental and resource economics. This is despite considerable criticism on both theoretical and empirical grounds. The EKC has been interpreted by many as indicating that no effort should be made to adopt environmental policies in developing countries, i.e., when those countries become rich, the current environmental problems will be addressed by policy changes adopted at that later time. As a corollary, it is implied that little in the way of environmental clean-up activity is being conducted in developing countries. These views are challenged by recent evidence that, in fact, 3 pollution problems are being addressed and remedied in developing economies. Sustainable Development: Sustainable development can be defined as an approach to the economic development of a country without compromising with the quality of the environment for future generations. In the name of economic development, the price of environmental damage is paid in the form of land degradation, soil erosion, air and water pollution, deforestation, etc. This damage may surpass the advantages of having more quality output of goods and services. Sustainable Development Goals:  To promote the kind of development that minimises environmental problems.  To meet the needs of the existing generation without compromising with the quality of the environment for future generations.  Sustainable development can be achieved if we follow the following points:  It can be achieved by restricting human activities.  Technological development should be input effective and not input utilising.  The rate of consumption should not surpass the rate of salvation. 4   For renewable resources, the rate of consumption should not surpass the rate of production of renewable substitutes.  All types of pollution should be minimised.  It can be achieved by sensible use of natural resources. Wind Power: Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Historically, wind power has been used in sails, windmills and windpumps. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines, which are connected to the electric power transmission network. Water Power: Water power, produced by a stream of water as it turns a wheel or similar device. The waterwheel was probably invented in the 1 st century BCE, and it was widely used throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times for grinding grain, operating bellows for furnaces, and other purposes. The more-compact water turbine, which passes water through a series of fixed and rotating blades, was introduced in 1827 by Benoît Fourneyron, a French experimenter, whose first turbine developed about 6 horsepower. By 1832 he had perfected a turbine capable of developing 50 horsepower. Bio-fuel: 5  Biofuel, any fuel that is derived from biomass- that is, plant or algae material or animal waste. Since such feedstock material can be replenished readily, biofuel is considered to be a source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Biofuel is commonly advocated as a cost-effective and environmentally benign alternative to petroleum and other fossil fuels, particularly within the context of rising petroleum prices and increased concern over the contributions made by fossil fuels to global warming. Many critics express concerns about the scope of the expansion of certain biofuels because of the economic and environmental costs associated with the refining process and the potential removal of vast areas of arable land from food production. Geothermal Energy: Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth’s crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pressure in Earth’s interior cause some rock to melt and solid mantle to behave plastically. This results in parts of the mantle convicting upward since it is lighter than the surrounding rock. Temperatures at the core–mantle boundary can reach over 4000 °C (7200 °F). Geothermal energy is a type of renewable energy taken from the Earth’s core. It comes from heat generated during the original formation of the planet and the radioactive decay of materials. This thermal energy is stored in rocks and fluids in the centre of the earth. 6  High temperatures of over 4000°C cause some of the rock in the centre of the Earth to melt and form hot molten rocks called magma. These heats also cause the mantle to behave plastically and portions of it to convict upwards, since it is lighter than the surrounding rock. The rock and water in the Earth’s crust can reach heats of around 370°C. Thermal energy contained in the rocks and fluids can be found from shallow depths right down to several miles below the Earth’s surface. Nuclear Power: Nuclear power is a clean and efficient way of boiling water to make steam, which turns turbines to produce electricity. Nuclear power plants use low-enriched uranium fuel to produce electricity through a process called fission—the splitting of uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor. Uranium fuel consists of small, hard ceramic pellets that are packaged into long, vertical tubes. Bundles of this fuel are inserted into the reactor. A single uranium pellet, slightly larger than a pencil eraser, contains the same energy as a ton of coal, 3 barrels of oil, or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. Each uranium fuel pellet provides up to five years of heat for power generation. And because uranium is one of the world’s most abundant metals, it can provide fuel for the world’s commercial nuclear plants for generations to come. 7  Nuclear power offers many benefits for the environment as well. Power plants don’t burn any materials so they produce no combustion by-products. Additionally, because they don’t produce greenhouse gases, nuclear plants help protect air quality and mitigate climate change. When it comes to efficiency and reliability, no other electricity source can match nuclear. Nuclear power plants can continuously generate large-scale, around-the-clock electricity for many months at a time, without interruption. Nuclear energy supplies about 10 percent of the world’s electricity and approximately 20 percent of the energy in the United States. A total of 30 countries worldwide are operating 440 nuclear reactors for electricity generation. Chipko Movement: Chipko movement, also called Chipko andolan, nonviolent social and ecological movement by rural villagers, particularly women, in India in the 1970s, aimed at protecting trees and forests slated for government-backed logging. The movement originated in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh) in 1973 and quickly spread throughout the Indian Himalayas. The Hindi word chipko means “to hug” or “to cling to” and reflects the demonstrators’ primary tactic of embracing trees to impede loggers. 8 Narmada Bachao Andolan: NBA is an Indian social movement led by native tribes, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the construction of a number of large dams under the Narmada Dam Project across river Narmada. The river Narmada flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Know about the Major Indian River System for relevant details. Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the Narmada River and was one of the first focal points of the Save the Narmada Movement. SSD is a part of the Narmada Dam Project that aims to provide irrigation and electricity to people of the above states. Candidates can know in detail about the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the link provided here. The aim of this to keep candidates abreast with the facts and relevant information about the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The topic holds relevance for various competitive or Government exams under the General awareness section. Tahri Dam Conflict: Tehri Dam is the tallest dam in India. It is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River in New Tehri, Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand, India. It is the primary dam of 9 the THDC India Ltd. And the Tehri hydroelectric complex. Phase 1 was completed in 2006. The Tehri Dam withholds a reservoir for irrigation, municipal water supply and the generation of 1,000 megawatts (1,300,000 hp) of hydroelectricity. The dam’s 1,000 MW variable-speed pumped- storage scheme is currently under construction with expected commissioning in 2025. The Tehri dam project has always been embroiled in controversies. The initial protests against the dam started in the late 1960s when surveys were conducted at the dam site. An organised movement took shape after the Planning Commission gave its nod to the dam in 1972. In the 1980s and the 1990s, numerous committees were formed and several experts spoke both for and against the dam. The case went before the Supreme Court which passed a 2:1 verdict in September 2003. The dissenting judgement ordered further studies to establish the safety of the dam. The main opposition to the dam was on account of it being built in a highly seismic zone. Another factor against it was the geological fragility of the young Himalayan range. So even if the main dam structure was strong, the surrounding mountains were not. Therefore, in the event of an earthquake or due to creation of a big reservoir, a major disaster could occur. Experts pointed out that in the event of the dam being breached, the reservoir built at such a height will be emptied in 22 minutes: within 63 minutes, Rishikesh will be under 260 meters of water. Soon 10 after, Haridwar will be totally submerged. Bijnor, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandsahar will be under water within 12 hours. ******* 11