Contemporary World Politics Chapter 8 Environment And Natural Resources

C.

The global commons are exploited and polluted due to technology and industrial development.

The idea could be implemented by making larger contributions by the developed countries in view with technological and financial resources they command.

(i) The cultivable area is not expanding anymore and substantial portion of existing agricultural land is losing fertility.

(ii) About 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion have no access to sanitation. This has resulted in death of more than three million children every year.

(iii)Natural forest are being cut down and people are being displaced. There is loss of biodiversity due to destruction of habitat in areas which are rich in species. 

(iv) The ozone poses a real danger to ecosystems and human health.Coastal pollution too is increasing globally

(i) The approach to development should be ‘of sustainable development’. For example, there was consensus at the Rio Summit in 1992 on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility.

(ii) There should be more cooperation over the global commons i.e., earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space. Some agreements such as the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the 1987 Montreal Protocol and the 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol have been signed to break the deadlock among the states.

(iii) The Kyoto Protocol has set the targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.Forest clearing in the Third world which continues at an alarming rate should be stopped.

(iv) The mineral industry’s extraction of earth, its use of chemicals and its clearance of vegetations, pollution of waterways and land should be checked.

(v) The construction of the Mega-dams should be discouraged while the usage of renewable resources should be encouraged.

(i) There is difficulty in achieving consensus on common environmental agendas on the basis of vague scientific evidence and time frames.

(ii) The history of outer space as a global commons shows that the management of these area is thoroughly influenced by North-South inequalities. 

(ii) Economic growth has to be in combination with ecological responsibility.

(ii) The Energy Conservation Act 2001 outlines to improve energy efficiency.

(iii) The Electricity Act 2003 encourages the use of renewable energy.

(iv) The government is keen to launch a National Mission on Biodiesel, as India has one of the largest renewable energy programmes in the world.

(i) Existing agricultural land is losing fertility due to excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides.About 1.2 billion people in the developing countries have no access to drinking water and 2.6 billion have no access to sanitation.

(ii) Natural forests are being cut  down and people are being displaced.The loss of biodiversity continues due to the destructions of habitat in areas which are rich in species.

(i)Rio Declaration :It states that states shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the earth’s ecosystem. It states that in view of the different contributions of global environmental degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge their responsibilities that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development.

(ii) The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change :  It 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 and respective capabilities”.

(iii) The Kyoto Protocol (1997): It is an international agreement settings targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. As the per capita emissions in developing countries is low, China and India were exempted from cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

(i) India signed and ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in August 2002.

(ii) 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 developed world.

(iii) India believes in the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and therefore is of the view that the major responsibility of curbing emission rest with the developed countries, which have accumulated emissions over a long period of time.

(iv)India's international negotiation position relies heavily on principles of historical responsibility, as enshrined in UNFCCC.

(v) India has initiated different programmes and policies such as National Auto-fuel Policy, the Energy Conservation Act 2001, Electricity Act 2003 to improve environment.

(vi) India wants that SAARC countries should adopt a common position of major global environment issues,so that region voice carries greater weight.

(i)There are forest movements in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia. Indonesia, Continental Africa and India are faced with enormous presure. Forest clearing in the Third World continues at an alarming rate despite three decades of environmental activism.

(ii) Mineral industry’s extraction of earth, its use of chemicals, its clearance of native vegetation and its displacement of communities continue to invite criticism and resistance in various parts of the globe.Much opposition to the company in its own country, Australia, is based on anti- nuclear sentiments and advocacy for the basic rights of Australian indigenous peoples.

(iii) There are struggles and movements against the construction of mega dams such as Narmada Bachao Andolan in India. Increasingly anti dam movements are pro river movement for more sustainable and equitable manangement of river systems and valleys.

(ii)The stockpiling of strategic resources

(iii)Efforts to prop up friendly governments in producing countries

(iv)Support to multinational companies

(v)Have favourable international agreements

(ii) Oil is the most important resource in global strategy.

(iii)The global economy relied on Oil because it is portable and indispensable fuel.

(i)Regional variations and increasing scarcity of freshwater in some parts of the world may lead to disagreements over shared water resources as a leading source of confliicts in 21st century.

(ii)It is feared that there might be “water wars” to describe the possibility of violent conflicts over this life-sustaining resource. States have used force to protect or seize freshwater resources.

(ii) The governments should accept the existence of indigenous people as enduring communities with an identity of their own.

(ii) Most indigenous populations in India depend for their subsistence primarily on the cultivation of land.

(iii) They enjoy a constitutional protection in political representation, they have not got much of the benifits of development in the country.

(iv)In fact they have paid huge cost for development since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.

(i)The Rio Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry, and recommended a list of development practices called ‘Agenda 21’.

(ii)There was a consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. This approach to development is commonly known as ‘sustainable development’.

(i) 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.

 (ii) Moreover developing countries are in process of industrialization and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions. They 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’.

 (iii) 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.”

(iv) The KYOTO Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. 
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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.

 (i) 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.

 (ii) 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.

 (iii) India‘s international negotiating position relies heavily on principles of historical responsibility, as enshrined in UNFCCC. 

Commons are those resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. 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 earth’s atmosphere Antarctica, the Ocean floor and outer space.

 Two steps for the protections of ‘Global commons’ are-

 (i) By achieving consensus on common environmental agendas on the basis of vague scientific evidence and time frames.

 (ii) By preventing exploitative activities in outer space.

The reasons are-

(i) They have paid a huge cost for development.

(ii) They are the largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.

Yes, I agree.

(i) 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.

(ii) Moreover developing countries are in process of industrialization and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions. They 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’.

(iii) 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.”

(iv) The KYOTO Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

The suggestions are:
(i) Plantation of more and more trees.
(ii) Usage of renewable energy.

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.

The reasons:
i. 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.

ii. The benefits of exploitative activities in outer space are far from being equal either for the present or the future.

The measures:
(i)National Auto Fuel Policy should be followed.
(ii) Usage of Renewable sources of energy should be encouraged.

It is true because World Economy is based on petroleum and immense wealth is associated with oil. It generates political struggles and wars to have control over it.