Political Science 5 Marks Question

Suggestions to save the environment:

1. India’s Environment Policy should be based on strict rules and their implementation.
2. More trees should be planted.
3. Green House Gas emissions should be controlled.
4. Promote more use of renewable source of energy.
5. Public vehicles should be used for transport in place of private vehicles.
6. Polybags and other plastic articles should be banned and discouraged.

India’s Stand on Environment Issues:India’s stand towards environmental issues have always been positive.

1. India signed and ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in August 2002.
2. At the G-8 meeting in June 2005 India pointed out that the per capita emission rates of the developing countries are a tiny fraction of those in the developing countries.
3. India’s international negotiating position relies heavily on principles of historical responsibility as enshrined in UNFCCC.
4. Indian emissions are predicted to rise from 0.9 tonnes per capita in 2000 to 1.6 tonnes per capita in 2030.

• Indigenous people are the descendants of people who inhabited the present territory of a country at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world and overcome them. These are treated as scheduled tribes in constitution of India.
• The problems of the indigenous people:

1. Issues related to the rights of the indigenous communities have been neglected in domestic and international politics for very long.
2. The loss of land, which also means the loss of an economic resource base, is the most obvious threat to the survival of indigenous people.
3. Although, they enjoy a constitutional protection in political representation, they have not got much of the benefits of development in the country.
4. They pay a huge cost for development since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.

Common property resource means common property for a group. The underlying norm is that members of the group have both rights and duties with respect to the nature, levels of use and the maintenance of a given resource.
For example, the management of sacred groves on State owned forest land along the forest belt of South India. The institutional arrangement for the actual management of the sacred groves on state-owned forest land appropriately fits the description of a common property regime.

Environmental concerns that have become issues of global politics:-

1. Throughout the world cultivable are is barely expanding any more and a substantial portion of existing agricultural land is loosing fertility.
2. About 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access to safe drinking water.
3. Natural forest are being cut down throughout the world which has disestablished the climate.
4. A steady decline in the total amount of ozone is taking place in the earth‟s stratosphere which is posing real danger to eco system.

Global commons are areas or regions of the world which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, and therefore require common governance by the international community. they include earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space.
Two steps suggested for the protection of 'global commons' are-

1. Cooperation over global commons.
2. Common but differentiated responsibility.

1. Earth Summit was a conference on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in June 1992:
2. Benefits of Earth Summit:

• This Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity and forestry.
• It recommended a list of development practices called Agenda 21.
• Under this list, there was consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility, known as sustainable development.

Steps taken by the Indian government to check Environmental Degradation:

1. National Automobile: fuel policy: Indian National Auto Fuel Policy mandates cleaner fuels for vehicles.
2. Energy Conservation Act: The Energy Conservation Act passed in 2001, outlines initiatives to improve energy efficiency. The Electricity Act of 2003 encourages the use of renewable energy.
3. National Mission on Biodiesel: The Indian Government is also keen to launch a National Mission on Biodisesel, using about 11 million hectres of land to produce Biodiesel, and India has one of the largest renewable energy programmes in the world.

There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage, and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collection and environmental assessment studies of World Band experts, Between 1995 through 2010, India has made one of the fastest progress in the world, in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India.
Environmental issues are one of the primary cause of disease, health issues and long term. Livelihood impact for India. Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand rocks etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss of resilience in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor.
The major sources of pollution in India include the rampant burning of fuelwood and biomass such as dried waste from livestock as the primary source of energy, lack of organised garbage and waste removal services, lack of flood control and monsoon water drainage system, diversion of consumer waste into rivers, cremation practices near major rivers, government mandated protection of highly polluting old public transport, and continued operation by Indian government of government owned, high emission plants built between 1950-1980.

• According to 1992 UNFCC, all the countries should act to protect the climate system on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities. Since the largest share of historical and current global emissions of green house gases has originated in the developed countries, the major responsibility lies on these countries only.
• Per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low. That is why China, India and other developing countries were exempted from the requirements of Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, those who pollute the most, should bear the brunt and pay the most.

India's stand is:

1. Per capita emission rates of developing countries are a fraction of those in the developed world.
2. Following the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, the major responsibility of curtailing emissions rests with developed counties which have accumulated emissions over a long period of time.
3. Relies heavily on principles such as enshrined in UNFCC.
4. India is participating in global efforts through a number of programmes like Atomic Fuel Policy, Energy Conservation Act, Electricity Act of 2003 etc.

• Environment and its improvement is a global issue. Therefore, special attention is being paid to the concept of ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibility’.
• Developed countries uphold equal responsibility for ecological conservation.
• Developing countries opine that the environmental degradation was mainly caused by the developed countries and hence they should undo the damage.
• Developed countries, due to industrialisation, hold that they should not be subjected to restrictions.
• Special needs of developing countries must be taken into account in the development, application and interpretation of rules pertaining to international Environmental Law.

1. Internal weakness of political and economic institutions in USSR.
2. Stagnantion of Soviet economy.
3. Party bureaucrats gained more privileges than ordinary citizens.
4. Rampant corruption prevailed in Soviet Union.
5. Ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable as well as intelligent.
6. Stagnation in administration and political sence.
7. Less of popular backing.
8. Centralisation of power.

• No extension of cultivable area.
• Losing fertility.
• Over–grazing.
• Water-shortage.
• Natural forests-deforestation.
• Decline in total Ozone.
• Coastal pollution.​

1. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee formed Bhartiya Jan Sangha in 1951. It was known as Jan Sangh.
2. Difference between Jan Sangh and other political parties of India:-

• There was ideological difference as it emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation.
• It believed that the country could become modern, progressive and strong one the basis of Indian culture and traditions.

• Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
• China, India and other developing countries were exempted from Kyoto Protocol as the per capita emissions were still low in these countries.

Environmental concerns:

1. Throughout the world cultivable area is reducing and losing its fertility.
2. There is no access to safe water and sanitation in most of the developing countries.
3. Natural forests are being cut down and people are being displaced.
4. A steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the Earth’s Stratosphere (ozone layer).

Role of Environmental Movements:

1. Some of them work at the international level where as most of them work at the local level.
2. They are amongst the most vibrant, diverse and powerful social movements across the globe.
3. It is within social movements that new forms of political action are born or reinvented.
4. These movements raise new ideas and long-term visions of what we should do and what we should not do in our individual and collective lives.

Environmental concerns in global politics:

1. Cultivated area in world is limited and there is less scope to expand it. It is also a matter of concern that a substantial portion of existing agricultural land is losing fertility and are over- harvested.
2. Issues related to access safe water and sanitation is very important. According to UNDP report 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access to safe water and 2.6 billion have no access to sanitation.
3. For ecological balance natural forests are important environmental concerns in global politics. Ecological degradation may affect climate change and it may affect biodiversity on land.
4. A steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the earth's stratosphere poses a real danger to ecosystems and human health.
5. The Coastal waters are becoming increasingly polluted largly due to landbased activities. It may cause deterioration in the quality of marine environment

Common property resources (CPRs): Resources accessible to and collectively owned\held\managed by an identifiable community and on which no individual has exclusive property rights are called common property resources. Terms like "accessible", ''collectively owned/held/managed'', ''identifiable community'' and "exclusive property rights''.are explained briefly below.Common property resources (CPRs) have been defined in a number of alternative ways in the available literature. The element that-is common to most of these definitions attributes primary importance to the nature of access in identification. of CPRs. The conceptual.
approaches vary over a wide range. At the one extreme, there is an approach treating all that is not private property as common property. The approach at the other extreme adopts a much more stringent view to distinguish between common property and "free rider'' or ''free or open access'' resources. The latter category is characterised by absence of any rules for management of the resources. The proponents of this approach hold that ''a resource becomes common property only whenthe group of people who have the right to its collective use is well defined, and the rules that govern their use of it are set otft clearly and followed universally", In their view, common property implies existence of an institutional arrangement for management of the resources. Traditionally, systems of community. management of CPRs and forest land had existed in different forms in many parts· of the country till the end of the 19th century. A very large part of the country's natural resources was common property, in the sense that a wide variety of necessary resources was freelyavai lable to the rural population. The process of extending state control over the common resources, which .began with the declaration of "reserved" and ''protected'' forests in the closing years of the 19th century, has essentially been that of exclusion of villagers' access to common resources by law. As a result, the systems of community management gradually disintegrated and are now virtually extinct.

1. India signed and ratified 1997 Kyoto Protocol in 2002.
2. In 2001, the Energy Conservation Act was passed to improve energy efficiency.
3. India is one of the largest follower of renewable energy programmes.
4. Electricity Act 2003 has increased use of renewable energy.
5. India has been participating in all the international programme related to environment programme such as Rio Summit.

Indigenous People:
The UN defined indigenous populations comprising of the descendants of people who inhabited the present territory of a country at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world and overcome them.
Threats to their Survival:

1. The indigenous people in the world demand to be treated as equal. They appeal to governments to come to terms with the continuing existence of indigenous nations as enduring communities with an identity of their own.
2. The loss of land which also means the loss of an economic resource base is the most obvious threat to the survival of indigenous people
3. Although they enjoy a constitutional protection in political representation, they have not got much of the benefits of development in the country. They have paid a huge cost for development, since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.

• Global commons are the resources which are not owned by any one country but rather owned by international community such as earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and the outer space.
• It is difficult to achieve consensus on common environmental agenda.
• History of outer space as a global common shows that the management of these areas is influenced by North East inequalities.
• The benefits of exploitative activities in outer space are far from being equal either for the present or the future.

Positive Aspects of Chipko Movement:-

1. Issues of ecological and economic exploitation were raised.
2. This movement demanded that the forest-related contracts should be given only to the local communities to have effective control over natural resources like land, water, forest, etc.
3. The movement took up economic issues of landless forest workers and asked for a guarantee of minimum wages.
4. Active participation of women was a very positive aspect of this movement.

1. Global commons are those resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. They include earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the Ocean floor and outer space.
2. Different environmental concerns becoming important in global politics:

• Cultivable area is barely expanding any more, Agricultural land is losing fertility, grasslands have been overgrazed and fisheries over harvested.
• Safe drinking water is not available to many areas and population. Billions have no access to sanitation, resulting in the death of more than three million children every year.
• Natural forests are being cut and people are being displaced. It has cost climate disturbances and loss of biodiversity.
• A steady decline in the ozone layer in the Earth's stratosphere is posing a real danger to eco systems and human health.
• Coastal pollution is adding to the deterioration in the quality of marine environment.

The Rio summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry and recommended a list of development practices called ‘Agenda 21’
There is difference in the approach to environment between the countries of the North and the South. The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issue as it stands now and wants everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also take more responsibility for undoing the damage now. Moreover, the developing countries must be taken into account in the development, application, and interpretation of rules of international environmental law. This argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992 and is called the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’.

India, China and other developing countries were exempted from the requirements of KYOTO Protocol. But the critics of the KYOTO Protocol pointed out that sooner or later, both India, China along with other developing countries, will be among the leading contributors to Green House gas emission.

1. At the G-8 meeting in june 2005, India pointed out the per capita emission rates of the developing countries are a tiny fraction of those in the developed world.
2. India is of the view that the major responsibility of curbing emission. Rests with the developed countries, which have accumulated emissions over a long period of time.
3. India‘s international negotiating position relies heavily on principles of historical responsibility, as enshrined in UNFCCC.

1. The developing countries feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also take more responsibility for undoing the damage now.
2. Moreover developing countries are in process of industrialisation and so, this must be taken in account in the development application and interpretation of rules of international environmental law. This argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992 and is called 'common but differentiated responsibilities.'
3. The 1992 United National Framework Conversation on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also provides that the parties should act to protect the climate system ''on the basis of equality and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities.''
4. The KYOTO Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their green house gas emissions.

• Areas or regions of the world located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of anyone state that require common governance of international community are known as 'Global Commons'.
• Two suggestions:

1. Cooperation over global commons.
2. Common but differentiated responsibility.

1. The developed countries of the North want the discussion on environmental issues as they stand and want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the South hold that the developed countries are responsible for most of the ecological degradation and hence want them to take more responsibility for undoing the damage.
2. Developing countries are in the process of industrialisation and want differentiated restrictions to take care of the special needs of developing countries.

India signed and satisfied the 1997 Kyoto Protocol which was an international agreement for setting targets for industrial countries to cut this green house gas emissions in 2002. At the G-8 meeting in June, 2005. India pointed out that the per capita emission rate of the developing countries is a tiny fraction of those in the developed world.

• India’s auto fuel policy mandates clean fuel for vehicles.
• The Electricity, Act of 2003 encourages the rise of renewable energy.
• The government is also keen to launch a National Mission on Bio-diesel.
• India finds it necessary that developed countries with financial resources and clean technologies should meet their existing commitments under U.N. Framework Convention on climate change.
• It upholds that the SAARC countries should adopt a common position on major global environmental issues, so that the region's voice carries greater weight.

Kyoto protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their green house gas missions.

Outcomes of Rio Summit:-

1. Created awareness about the protection and conservation of environment.
2. Global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth eco-system.
3. Common but differentiated responsibilities regarding global environment degradation.
4. The developed countries acknowledged the responsibility for sustainable development.

Threats to global environment:

1. Deforestation– Natural forests which help to stabilise the climate, moderate water supplies and harbour a majority of the planets, bio-diversity on land is being cut down leading to loss of bio-diversity and loss of habitat.
2. Steady decline in the total amount of Ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere.
3. Increase in coastal pollution due to land based activities. Unchecked human settlement of coastal zones leads to deterioration in the quality of marine environment.
4. Rapid industrialisation and intensive mining of minerals.

The economic development can be achieved even without damaging global environment by following practices:

1. In June 1992, Earth Summit provided some conservative measures for sustainable growth without damaging environment anymore.
2. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 covered Global Commons for mutual economic development.
3. Kyoto protocol cut greenhouse emissions from industrialised countries to protect environment and to develop industries also.
4. Resource Geopolitics allocates and ‘distribute natural resources among the nation states of global arena for sustainable development of nations. Hence, the above mentioned practices protect the global environment and even though the states are developing we could achieve this challenge only if we follow the provisions and practices mentioned in all these conferences and summits.

‘Commons’ are those resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. There are some areas or regions of the world which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state and therefore require common governance by the international community. These are known as res communes humanitatis or global commons. They include the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space.They are exploited and polluted due to:

1. Vague scientific evidences, their lack of consensus on common environmental issues.
2. North-South inequalities and their exploitative activities and competition lack proper management area out space.
3. Technological and Industrial development have also affected the earth’s atmosphere and ocean floor.

Common but differentiated responsibilities mean that the state shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth’s ecosystem. As the states have common but differentiated responsibilities over various contributions of global environmental degradation. The developed countries acknowledge that the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technological and financial resources they command.We could implement the idea with the help of conventions and declarations:

1. The Rio-Summit held in June 1992 produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry and recommended a list of developed practices called Agenda 21.
2. The 1992 United Nations Framework convention on climatic change (UNFCCC) also emphasised that the parties should act to protect the climate system on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities;
3. An international agreement known Kyoto Protocol set targets for industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions which support for global warming.

Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies to save Planet Earth by the states but the states from North and South have different notions towards environmental issues.It was obvious at the Rio Summit that the rich and developed countries of the First World, generally referred to as the ‘global North’ were pursuing a different environmental agenda than the poor and developing countries of the Third World, called the ‘global South’.
Whereas the Northern states were concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, the Southern states were anxious to address the relationship between economic development and environmental management.
The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issues which stand equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the south feel that much of the, ecological degradation in the world is created by developed countries through their industrial projects. And if developed countries cause more environmental degradation they are supposed to take more responsibility onwards.
The developing counties are under process of industrialization and they should be exempted from restrictions imposed on developed countries through various conventions like protocol etc. The special needs of developing countries must be taken into considerations in the process of development, application and interpretation of rules of International Environmental Law.
All the above mentioned provisions were accepted in Earth Summit, 1992 while adopting common but differentiated responsibilities.