CHAPTER 8 : Environment and Natural Resources NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 12TH POLITICAL SCIENCE | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short Answer Type Questions:

Q1. What were the outcomes of Rio-Summit?
Answer

• Rio-Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry and recommended a list of development practices called Agenda 21.
• It gave the concept of sustainable development to be combined economic growth with ecological responsibility.
• Rio-Summit developed various contentious issues like Commons, Global Commons in global politics of the environment.

Q2. What is meant by Global Commons? How are they exploited and polluted?
Answer

The areas or regions located outside the jurisdiction of any one state and region, common governance by the international community are Global Commons. They include the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor, and outer space.They are exploited and polluted due to:
• Vague scientific evidence, their lack of consensus on common environmental issues.
• North-South inequalities and their exploitative activities and competition lack proper management area out space.
• Technological and Industrial development has also affected the earth’s atmosphere and ocean floor.

Q3. What is meant by ‘Common but differentiated responsibilities’? How could we implement the idea?
Answer

Common but differentiated responsibilities was the first international step to address climate change and equally responsible for ecological conservation. It 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.
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:• 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.
• The 1992 United Nations Framework convention on climatic change (UNFCCC) also emphasized that the parties should act to protect the climate system on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities.
• An international agreement is known Kyoto Protocol set targets for industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions which support for global warming.

Q4. Why have issues related to global environmental protection become the priority concern of states since the 1990s?
Answer

Issues related to global environmental protection became the priority concern of states since the 1990s because at the global level, the environmental issues drew the attention of various states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992 through Agenda 21:• Rio-Summit 1992 dealt with climatic change, biodiversity and forestry.
• Agenda 21 combined economic growth with ecological responsibilities.
• Kyoto Protocol set targets for greenhouse emissions.

The above-mentioned conferences and summits raised the environmental issues at the global level to take steps by various states to check environmental degradation in a co-operative manner.

Q5. Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies required by states to save Planet Earth. Substantiate the statement in the light of the ongoing negotiations between the North and South on environmental issues.
Answer

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:
• The Northern states (developed countries) were concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, the Southern states (developing countries) 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 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.
• The developing counties are under the 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.
These provisions were accepted in Earth Summit, 1992 while adopting common but differentiated responsibilities.

Q6. The most serious challenge before the states is pursuing economic development without causing further damage to the global environment. How could we achieve this? Explain with a few examples.
Answer

The economic development can be achieved even without damaging the global environment through various measures:
• In June 1992, Earth Summit provided some conservative measures for sustainable growth without damaging the environment anymore.
• There have been  many  path-breaking agreements such as the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the 1987
Montreal Protocol, and the 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol.• Kyoto protocol cut greenhouse emissions from industrialized countries to protect the environment and to develop industries also.
• The purification, consumption, reuse, disposal and treatment of solid waste should be undertaken by the government.

Long Answer Type Questions:

Q1. Explain the meaning of‘global commons’. How are environmental concerns becoming important in global politics?
Answer. ‘Commons’ are those resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. This could be a ‘common room’, a ‘community centre’, a park or a river. Similarly, 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 ‘global commons’. They include the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space.
Although environmental concerns have a long history, awareness of the environmental consequences of economic growth acquired an increasingly political character from the 1960s onwards. The Club of Rome, a global think-tank, published a book in 1972 entitled Limits to Growth, dramatising the potential depletion of the earth’s resources against the backdrop of rapidly growing world population. International agencies began holding international conferences and promoting detailed studies to get a more coordinated and effective response to environmental problems. Since then, the environment has emerged as significant . issue of global politics.
The growing focus on environmental issues within the arena of global politics was firmly consolidated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, in June, 1992.
This was also called the Earth Summit. The Summit was attended by 170 states, thousands of NGOs and many multinational corporations. The Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry and recommended a list of development practices called ‘Agenda 21’. But it left unresolved considerable differences and difficulties. There was a consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. This approach to development is commonly known as ‘sustainable development’.

Q2. Explain the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. How and where was it emphasised upon?
Or
States have common but differentiated responsibilities towards environment. Analyse the statement giving suitable examples.
Answer. Common but differentiated responsibilities mean that ‘the states shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth’s eco system. As the states have common but differentiated responsibilities over various contribution 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 Nation’s 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 by its Protocol set targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions which support for global warming.

Q3. Analyse India’s stand on any three environmental issues. Or
Analyse India’s stand on environmental issues.
Answer. India plays a dominating role among the Asian countries on environmental issues:
1. India signed and ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in August 2002 which emphasised to follow the principle common but differentiated responsibility.
2. India feels this convention is the very spirit of UNFCCC. Neither does it seem fair to impose restrictions on India when the country’s rise in per capita carbon emissions by 2030 is likely to still represent less than half the world average.
3. The Indian government is also keen to launch a National Mission on Biodiesel which makes India to have one of the largest renewable energy programmes in the world.
4. The Indian government is also participating in global efforts through a number of programmes i.e. National Auto Fuel Policy, Electricity Act 2003, Energy Conservation Act, 2001, etc.

Q4. Explain any three environmental concerns in global politics.
Answer. Some environmental issues have been considered as the global issues:
1. Natural resources are being depleted i.e. cultivable area has not been sustained any more, agricultural land lost fertility and grass lands have been overgrazed.
2. Waterbodies have suffered a depletion and pollution both.
3. A steady decline in ozone layer also poses a threat to ecosystem and human health.
4. Natural forests stabilize the climate, moderate water supply and habitat various species also which are also being lost creating destruction to biodiversity through industrial pollution etc.
5. Due to land based activities, coastal pollution is also increasing which affects fisheries.

Q5. Mention the rights of indigenous peoples.
Answer. The UN defines indigenous population as 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 world and overcome them. The rights of indigenous people can be summarised as follows:
1. Indigenous people speak of their struggles, agenda and fights like social movements.
2. Their voices in world politics call for the admission of indigenous people to the world community as equals.
3. Many of the present day island states in the Oceania region (including Australia, New Zealand) were inhabited by various indigenous people over the course of show for thousands of years.
4. Indigenous people appeal to government to create indigenous nations with an identity of their own.
5. The World Council of indigenous people was formed in 1975. The council became the first of 11 indigenous NGOs to receive consultative status in the UN.