BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS CLASS (1:16 PM)

UNCBD (1:24 PM)

• Objective:
• A. Conservation of biological diversity.
• B. Sustainable usage of biological diversity. 
• C. Fair and equitable sharing of benefits. 
• CBD is implemented by UNEP. 
• It is a legally binding convention.
• Two important protocols were signed:
• 1. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety:
• It is a protocol to CBD agreed in 2000. 
• It aims to ensure the safe handling, transportation, and use of Living-Modified Organisms (LMO) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biodiversity. 
• It establishes Advanced Informed Agreement (AIA) procedures for countries to make informed decisions before handling such organisms.
• It also establishes a biosafety clearing house to facilitate the exchange of information on LMOs.
• 2. Nagoya Protocol:
• It aims at sharing benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources fairly and equitably including appropriate access to genetic resources. 
• It was agreed in the year 2010 at Nagoya (Japan).
• Aichi Target:
• It is a strategic plan of 20 biodiversity targets agreed at COP 10 held at Nagoya.
• COP 11 was held in the year Hyderabad, in 2012. 
• Kunming-Montreal Protocol Global Biodiversity Framework: 
• COP 15, 2020 which was supposed to be held at Kunming was postponed to 2021 and finally held in 2022 in Montreal. 
• It aims to achieve the conservation of biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and protection of indigenous rights. 
• It has four goals to be achieved by 2050 and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030. 
• Goals:
• 1. Halting human-induced extinction of threatened species and reducing by 10-fold, the extinction rate of all species. 
• 2. Sustainable use and management of biodiversity.
• 3. Fair sharing of benefits
• 4. Adequate means of implementing the Global Biodiversity framework (GBF) to be accessible to all countries including developing and LDCs.
• Important Target to be achieved by 2030:
• 30 by 30: To restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. 
• To reduce food waste by half by 2030. 
• To eliminate or freeze out or reform harmful subsidies. 
• Establishment of GBF fund under Global Environment Facility (GEF).

UNCCD (1:58 PM)

• It is an outcome of the 1992, Earth Summit.
• It entered into force in 1994. 
• There are 197 members. 
• It is the sole legally binding convention linking development and the environment to sustainable land management. 
• It aims to protect and restore land and ensure a safer just and more sustainable future.
• It provided the concepts of land degradation neutrality. 
• It aims to achieve it by 2030. 
• UNCCD COP14 (2019)  was held in New Delhi, it resulted in a Delhi declaration on a range of issues related to desertification.
• India set a target of restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
• COP15 was held in Abidjan (Cote- De-Ivoire) in the year 2020. 
• The target of COP 15:
• Agreed to exhilarate the restoration of 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.
• The global pledge to boost drought resilience and invest in land restoration for future prosperity.
• Ensure women's involvement in Land management for effective land restorations which was incorporated as the Abidjan Declaration on Gender Equality and Land Restoration. 
• Hence, India became the only country that hosted all three COPs i.e. UNFCC, UNCCD, and UNCBD.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTS (2:13 PM)

• Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Component of sustainable development:
• 
• There are three components i.e. economics, social and environmental sustainability
• Economics sustainability- decisions are made in the most equitable and fiscally sound way possible while considering the other aspects of sustainability 
• Social sustainability- providing enabling conditions for everyone to have the capacity to realize their needs.
• Environmental sustainability- maintaining ecosystem integrity and carrying capacity of the natural environment 
• Why sustainable development?
• There should be growth with equity. 
• Intergenerational equity.
• Environmental conservation. 
• Reduces the loss of biodiversity.
• Increases resource utilization and efficiency. 
• Increases ecological and environmental productivity. 
• Reduces ecological footprints and helps us to live within the carrying capacity of the earth.
• Ecological Footprint:
• The ecological footprint is the biologically productive land and sea area needed to provide the resources that a population consumes and observe the waste it generates
• It is measured using a unit of global hectares (GHA)
• In most of the industrial nations, the ecological footprint varies between 8 to 4.
• For example, in the USA it is 8 GHA, in Japan - 4.7 GHA, and in India, it is 0.9 GHA.
• Earth overshoot day:
• The Global Footprint Network published an ecological footprint report which estimates the earth's overshoot day in 2022 which was July 28. 
•  Each year, Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth can renew during the entire year.

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• Carrying Capacity:
• The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources.
• It is the size of the population that can be supported by the ecosystem indefinitely by its supporting system.

INITIATIVES (2:56 PM)

Year	Initiatives
1798	Malthus's theory: Mathlus proposed that the human population of the earth increases in geometric progression while resources increase in arithmetic progression which may result in the collapse of the populations.
1972	The limits to growth report by the Club of Rome, concludes that, if no changes in historical growth trends are incorporated limits to growth on earth would become evident in rapid decline in population after 2050. In 1992, the Beyond the Limits report suggested that the incorporation of sustainability, economics and ecology could be achieved.
1972	The UN Conference on Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) agreed that both development and the environment can be managed in a mutually beneficial way.
1987	Our common future report by the Brundtland Commission, the report defined sustainable development.
1992	UN Conference of Environment Development (Rio Earth Summit): The summit resulted in the following 6 outcomes - UNFCC, UNCBD, UNCCD, Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and forest principles. Agenda 21: It is an action agenda for the UN and other multilateral organizations and governments at all levels in the 21st century. Forest principles: It involves recommendations for the conservation and sustainable development of forestry  UNGA established the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to monitor the implementation of decisions taken at the Rio Summit. Rio Declaration: It consists of 27 principles intended to guide countries in future sustainable development.  It also defines the rights of people to be involved in the development For eg - precautionary and polluters pay principles
2000	The Millennium Summit was held in New York to discuss the role of the UN at the turn of the 21st century. It adopted the UN Millennium Declaration committing the nations to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets to be achieved by 2015 which were called Millennium Development goals.
2002	The second Earth summit was held at Johannesburg,  It is also called RIO + 10  It resulted in Johannesburg's declaration of sustainable development.
2012	Third Earth summit  It is also known as the Rio + 20 summit  The two essential themes of the conference: 1. To develop an institutional framework for sustainable development  2. The green economy eradicates poverty and promotes sustainability  They decided to launch SDG in 2015. It is achieved between 2015-2030.  The summit agreed on a Declaration on sustainable development and a green economy called Future We Want.
2015	SDGs were signed with 17 goals and 169 targets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MDG & SDG (3:30 PM)

MDGs	SDGs
There are 8 goals and 21 targets	There are 17 goals and 169 targets
MDGs involve narrow consultation	SDGs wider consultation while framing the goals
MDGs are only for developed and less developed countries	SDGs are for all countries
MDGs majority target economic developments	SDGs have much broader goals including social and environmental targets too
In MDGs, there is no important role for civil service organization (CSO)	There are important roles for CSO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENERGY (3:49 PM)

• They can be classified as primary and secondary types 
• Primary are found in nature and can be used directly.
• For example: coal, wood, and natural gas 
• Secondary is not found in nature and is produced from primary source
• For example: syngas and electricity, etc
• They can also be classified as conventional and non-conventional.
• Conventional: a well-developed method of utilization is available. For example- coal, petroleum, hydropower
• Non-conventional: the method of utilization is not well-developed. For example- solar, wind etc
• They can also be classified as renewable and nonrenewable
• Renewable: An inexhaustible source of energy in the human timeline. For example- solar, wind, hydro and geothermal, etc
• Non-renewable - these deplete with time for eg fossil fuels 
• Note:
• Kindly refer to the handouts provided by the faculty for a holistic understanding of the above topics.
• Please note, that the information provided in the handouts is based on data up to 2022. For the most recent figures on energy-related topics kindly refer to the power ministry and update it accordingly. 

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (4:08 PM)

• Sustainable Agriculture:
• It is a method of agriculture involving balanced management of resources available on the farm without compromising the ability of the future to do so. 
• Organic farming:
• Agriculture production systems which avoid or exclude synthetically manufactured inputs such as chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides etc. It relies upon the organic method of cultivation only. 
• Natural farming:
• It is an ecological farming approach involving no human input and adopts nature's production method. 
• It involves the following principles:
• No-tillage
• No-sowing
• No-pesticides
• No-weeding 
• The inputs used for sustainable and organic farming:
• For nutrient management:
• Vermicompost, green manure and Bio-fertiliser. 
• Weed management:
• Through mulching, tilling and drip irrigations. 
• Using organic pesticides and fungicides. For example - Neem, Pongamia 

ISSUE WITH ORGANIC FARMING (4:28 PM)

• Low production in the initial use. 
• Costly inputs if it is not available on the farm.
• Farmer requires proper training. 
• Marketing of agricultural produce.
• Labelling and certification: It is either costly or too technical and not easily available. 
• Note: 
• Certification is given by National Programmes for Organic Production (NPOP) and Participatory Guarantee systems. 

ZERO BUDGET NATIONAL FARMING (4:37 PM)

• It was introduced by Subhash Palekar. 
• There are four components:
• Jivamrita: It enhances the soil microbiomes and is made using cow dung, cow urine and other local ingredients 
• Bijamrita: It involves seed treatment using microbial seed coating. 
• Acchadana: It involves cover crops and mulching 
• Whapasa: It involves soil aerations 
• Vertical farming:
• It is cultivating and producing crops in vertically stacked layers and vertically inclined surfaces. 
• It involves Aeroponics. 
• Aeroponics: 
• It involves growing crops without any growing medium and spraying of missed and nutrient solution directly to plant roots. 
• Hydroponics: 
• It involves growing crops in water without soil and continuously pumping the water rich in mineral nutrients.
• Aquaponics: 
• It integrates aquaculture with hydroponics where nutrient-rich wastewater from fish tanks is used for hydroponics. 

THE TOPICS FOR NEXT CLASS: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (CONTINUATION)