7. Environment and Sustainable Development

Introduction

As we step into an era of globalization that promises higher economic growth, we have to bear in mind the adverse consequences of the past developmental path on our environment and consciously choose a path of sustainable development. To understand the unsustainable path of development that we have taken and the challenges of sustainable development, we have to first understand the significance and contribution of environment to economic development.

Environment – Definition and Functions

Environment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources. It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence each other. While all living elements – the birds, animals and plants, forests, fisheries etc. – are biotic elements, abiotic elements include air, water, land etc. Rocks and sunlight are examples of abiotic elements of the environment. A study of the environment then calls for a study of the inter-relationship between these biotic and abiotic components of the environment.

Functions of the Environment – The environment performs four vital functions (i) it supplies resources: resources here include both renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are those which can be used without the possibility of the resource becoming depleted or exhausted. That is, a continuous supply of the resource remains resource are the trees in the forests and the fishers in the ocean. Non-renewable resources, on the other hand, are those which get exhausted with extraction and use, for example, fossil fuel (ii) it assimilates waste (iii) it sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity and (iv) it also provides aesthetic services like scenery etc.

State of India’s Environment

• India has abundant natural resources in terms of rich quality of soil, hundreds of rivers an tributaries, lush green forests, plenty of mineral deposits beneath the land surface, vast stretch of the Indian Ocean, ranges of mountains, etc. The black soil of the Deccan Plateau is particularly suitable for cultivation of cotton, leading to concentration of textile industries in this region.
• India accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the world’s total iron-ore reserves. Bauxite, copper, chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite, manganese, zinc, uranium, etc. are also available in different parts of the country. However, the developmental activities in India have resulted in pressure on its finite natural resources, besides creating impacts on human health and well-being.
• The priority issues identified are (i) and degradation (ii) biodiversity loss (iii) air pollution with special reference to vehicular pollution in urban cities (iv) management of fresh water and (v) solid waste management. Land in India suffers from varying degrees and types of degradation stemming mainly from unstable use and inappropriate management practices.
• Some of the factors responsible for land degradation are (i) loss of vegetation occurring due to deforestation (ii) unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction (iii) shifting cultivation (iv) encroachment into forest lands (v) forest fires and over grazing (vi) non-adoption of adequate soil conservation measures (vii) indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides (ix) improper planning and management of irrigation systems (x) extraction of ground water in the competing uses of land for forestry, agriculture, pastures, human settlements and industries exert and enormous pressure on the country’s finite land resources.

Sustainable Development –

• Environment and economy are interdependent and need each other. Hence, development that ignores its repercussions on the environment will destroy the environment that sustains life forms. What is needs is sustainable development : development that will allow all future generations to have a potential average quality of life that is at least as high as that which is being enjoyed by the current generation. The concept of sustainable development was emphasized by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which defined it as: ‘Development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.
• Edward Barbier defined sustainable development as one which is directly concerned with increasing the material standard of living of the poor at the grass root level – this can be quantitatively measured in terms of increased income, real income. Educational services, health care, sanitation, water supply etc.
• The Brundtland Commission emphasises on protecting the future generation. This is in line with the argument of the environmentalists who emphasize that we have a moral obligation to hand over the planet earth in good order to the future generation; that is, the present generation should bequeath a better environment to the future generation.
• The present generation can promote development that enhances the natural and built environment in ways that are compatible with (i) conservation of natural assets (ii) preservation of the regenerative capacity of the world’s natural ecological system (iii) avoiding the imposition of added costs or risks on future generations.
• A leading environment economist, to achieve sustainable development, the following needs to be done (i) limiting the human population to a level within the carrying capacity of the environment. The carrying capacity of the environment is like a ‘plimsoll line’ of ship which is its load limit mark. In the absence of the plimsoll line for the economy, human scale grows beyond the carrying capacity of the earth and deviates from sustainable development (ii) technological progress should be input efficient and not input consuming (iii) renewable resources should be extracted on a sustainable basis, that is, rate of extraction should not exceed rate of regeneration (iv) for non-renewable resources rate of depletion should not exceed the rate of creation of renewable substitutes and (v) inefficiencies arising from pollution should be corrected. In 2015, the UN formulated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intended to be achieved by the year 2030. Collect the details of those goals and discuss them in the context of India.

Strategies for Sustainable Development

1. Use of Non-conventional Sources of Energy – India, as you know, is hugely dependent on thermal and hydro power plants to meet its power needs. Both of these have adverse environmental impacts. Thermal power plants emit large quantities of carbon dioxide which is green house gas. It also produces fly ash which, if not used properly, can cause pollution of water bodies, land and other components of the environment. Hydroelectric projects inundate forests and interfere with the natural flow of water in catchment areas and the river are good examples of conventional.
2. LPG, Gobar Gas In Rural Areas – Households in rural generally use wood, dung cake on other biomass as fuel. This practice has several adverse implications like deforestation, reduction in green cover, wastage of cattle dung and air pollution. To rectify the situation, subsidized LPG is being provided. In addition, gobar gas plants are being provided through easy loans and subsidy. As far as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is concerned, it is a clean fuel – it reduces household pollution to a large extent.
3. CNG in Urban Areas – In Delhi, the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel in public transport system has significantly lowered air pollution and the air has become cleaner. In the last few years many other Indian Cities also began to use CNG.
4. Wind Power – in areas where speed of wind is usually high, wind mills can provide electricity without any adverse impact on the environment. Wind turbines move with the wind and electricity is generated. No doubt, the initial cost is high. But the benefits are such that the high cost gets easily absorbed.
5. Solar Power through Photovoltaic Cells – India is natural endowed with a large quantity of solar energy in the form of sunlight. We use it in different ways. For example, we dry our clothes, grains, other agricultural products as well as various items made for daily use. We also use sunlight to warm ourselves in winter. Plants use solar energy to perform photosynthesis.
6. Mini- hydel Plants – In mountainous regions, streams can be found almost everywhere. A large percentage of such streams are perennial. Mini-hydel plants use the energy of such streams to move small turbines. The turbines generate electricity which can be used locally. Such power plants are more or less environment – friendly as they do not change the land use pattern in areas where they are located; they generate enough power to meet local demands. This means that they can also do away with the need for large scale transmission towers and cables and avoid transmission loss.
7. Traditional knowledge and practices – Traditional, Indian people have been close to their environment. They have been more a component of the environment and nto its controller. If we look back at our agriculture system, healthcare system, housing, transport etc., we find that all practices have been environment friendly. Only recently have we drifted away from the traditional systems and caused large scale damage to the environment and also our rural heritage. Now, it is time to go back. One apt example is in healthcare.
8. Bio composting – in our quest to increase agriculture production during the last five decades or so, we almost totally neglected the use of compost and completely switched over to chemical fertilizers. The result is that large tracts of productive land have been adversely affected, water bodies including ground water system have suffered due to chemical contamination and demand for irrigation has been going up year after year.
9. Biopest Control – With the advent of green revolution, the entire country entered into a frenzy to use more and more chemical pesticides for higher yield. Soon, the adverse impacts began to show; food products were contaminated, soil, water bodies and even ground water were polluted with pesticides. Even milk, meat and fisher were found to be contaminated.

Conclusion –

Economic development, which aimed at increasing the production of goods and services to meet the needs of a rising population, puts greater pressure on the environment. In the initial stages of development, the demand for environmental resources was less than that of supply. Now the world is faced with increased demand for environmental resources but their supply is limited due to overuse and misuse. Sustainable development aims at promoting the king of development that minimizes environmental problems and meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.