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Subject: Environment

  • Deconstructing declarations of carbon-neutrality

    Against the global clamour for the declaration of carbon neutrality, India must consider several factors and their implications. The article highlights these factors.

    Countries declaring carbon-neutral
    targets

    • At the latest count by the non-profit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), at the beginning of April, 32 countries had declared, in some documented form.
    • The impetus for such declarations arises from Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement.
    • It is evident that the balance of emissions and removal of greenhouse gases is not sought on a country-wise basis but for the world as a whole.
    • Both developed country governments and civil society outfits commonly state this as an individual commitment by all countries.
    • The text of the Paris Agreement clearly indicates, based on considerations of equity and differentiation, that this is a global goal.

    2 critical and related issues

    • The first is the compatibility of the intent of Article 4.1 and Article 2.
    • 1) Is the achievement of carbon neutrality compatible with achieving the 1.5°C or 2°C goals?
    • And whether the mid-century carbon neutrality goals of developed countries are compatible with Article 2.2 of the Paris Agreement which focuses on equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

    The current pledges fall short of achieving the targets

    • Three-way compatibility between temperature goals, carbon neutrality, and equity is not only not guaranteed, but cannot be achieved for the 1.5°C temperature goal at all.
    • Even for the 2°C goal, the current pledges are highly inadequate.
    • This conclusion is based on the global carbon budget.
    • According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report to restrict temperature rise less than 1.5° with 50% world can emit total 480 Giga-tonnes (billion tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq) from 2018 onwards.
    • At the current rate of emissions of about 42 GtCO2eq per year, this budget would be consumed in 12 years.
    • To keep within the 480 Gt budget, at a steady linear rate of decline, global carbon neutrality must be reached by 2039.
    • For a 50% probability of restricting temperature rise to below 2°C, the world can emit 1,400 GtCO2eq, that provides considerably greater room for manoeuvre.

    Emission of the U.S. and Europe

    • Emissions in the U.S. peaked in 2005 and have declined at an average rate of 1.1% from then till 2017.
    • Even if it did reach net-zero by 2050 at a steady linear rate of reduction, which is unprecedented, its cumulative emissions between 2018 and 2050 would be 106 GtCO2, which is 22% of the total remaining carbon budget for the whole world. [480 GtCO2 total]
    • This is so high that unless others reduced emissions at even faster rates, the world would most certainly cross 1.5°C warming.
    • Similarly, the European Union, to keep to its fair share of the remaining carbon budget would have to reach net-zero by 2033, with a constant annual reduction in emissions.
    • If the EU reaches net-zero only by 2050 it would consume at least 71 GtCO2, well above its fair share.
    • Regrettably, a section of the climate policy modelling literature has promoted the illusion that this three-way compatibility is feasible through speculative “negative emissions”
    • They have also been promoting the other illusion that not resorting to any serious emissions increase at all is the means to guarantee the successful development of the Third World.

    Why India should avoid net neutrality target

    • For one, India has to stay focused on development — both as its immediate need as well as its aspirational goal.
    • While sustainability is desirable, the question of how low India’s future low-carbon development can be is highly uncertain.
    • India’s current low carbon footprint is a consequence of the utter poverty and deprivation of a majority of its population, and not by virtue of sustainability.
    • Second, India does not owe a carbon debt to the world for excessive use in the past.
    • India’s emissions (not considering land use and land use change and forest-related emissions) are no more than 3.5% of global cumulative emissions prior to 1990 and about 5% since till 2018.
    • Any self-sacrificial declaration of carbon neutrality today in the current international scenario would be a wasted gesture reducing the burden of the developed world and transferring it to the backs of the Indian people.

    Consider the question “What are the factor India needs to consider about joining the global chorus on carbon neutrality targets.”

    Conclusion

    India’s approach to eventual net-zero emissions is contingent on deep first world emissions reductions and an adequate and unambiguous global carbon budget. Meanwhile, India must reject any attempt to restrict its options and be led into a low-development trap, based on pseudo-scientific narratives.

  • What is net-zero, and what are India’s objections?

    In its bid to reclaim the global climate leadership (stalled since Trump) the US is widely expected to commit itself to a net-zero emission target for 2050 at the virtual Climate Leaders’ Summit convened by Prez Joe Biden.

    Net-Zero Goal

    • Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
    • Rather, net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
    • Absorption of the emissions can be increased by creating more carbon sinks such as forests, while the removal of gases from the atmosphere requires futuristic technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
    • This way, it is even possible for a country to have negative emissions, if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
    • A good example is Bhutan which is often described as carbon-negative because it absorbs more than it emits.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1. The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
    2. The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 20C or even 1.50C above pre-industrial levels.
    3. Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate S 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a)    1 and 3 only

    (b)    2 only

    (c)    2 and 3 only

    (d)    1, 2 and 3

    The global target

    • The goal of carbon neutrality is only the latest formulation of a discussion going on for decades, on having a long-term goal.
    • A very active campaign has been going on for the last two years to get every country to sign on to a net-zero goal for 2050.
    • It is being argued that global carbon neutrality by 2050 is the only way to achieve the Paris Agreement target of keeping the planet’s temperature from rising beyond 2°C compared to pre-industrial times.
    • Current policies and actions being taken to reduce emissions would not even be able to prevent a 3–4°C rise by the turn of the century.
    • Long-term targets ensure predictability, and continuity, in the policies and actions of the countries. But there has never been a consensus on what this goal should be.

    Going beyond emission reduction

    • Earlier, the discussions used to be on emission-reduction targets, for 2050 or 2070, for rich and developed countries.
    • These unregulated emissions over several decades are mainly responsible for global warming and consequent climate change.
    • The net-zero formulation does not assign any emission reduction targets to any country.
    • Theoretically, a country can become carbon-neutral at its current level of emissions, or even by increasing its emissions, if it is able to absorb or remove more.

    Global actions for net-zero

    • Several other countries, including the UK and France, have already enacted laws promising to achieve a net-zero emission scenario by the middle of the century.
    • The EU is working a similar Europe-wide law, while many other countries including Canada, South Korea, Japan and Germany have expressed their intention to commit themselves to a net-zero future.
    • Even China has promised to go net-zero by 2060.
    • India, the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, after the US and China, is the only major player holding out.

    India’s position is unique

    • India is the only one opposing this target because it is likely to be the most impacted by it.
    • Over the next two to three decades, India’s emissions are likely to grow at the fastest pace in the world, as it presses for higher growth to pull hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
    • No amount of afforestation or reforestation would be able to compensate for the increased emissions.
    • Most of the carbon removal technologies right now are either unreliable or very expensive.

    Why does India object to net-zero emissions?

    • The net-zero goals do not figure in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the new global architecture to fight climate change.
    • The Paris Agreement only requires every signatory to take the best climate action it can.
    • Countries need to set five- or ten-year climate targets for themselves, and demonstrably show they have achieved them.
    • Implementation of the Paris Agreement has begun only this year.
    • Most of the countries have submitted targets for the 2025 or 2030 period.
    • India has been arguing that instead of opening up a parallel discussion on net-zero targets outside of the Paris Agreement framework, countries must focus on delivering on what they have already promised.

    India is already doing more

    • India is hoping to lead by example. It is well on its way to achieving its three targets under the Paris Agreement and looks likely to overachieve them.
    • Several studies have shown that India is the only G-20 country whose climate actions are compliant with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures from rising beyond 2°C.
    • Even the actions of the EU, which is seen as the most progressive on climate change, and the US are assessed as “insufficient”.
    • In other words, India is already doing more, relatively speaking, on climate than many other countries.

    Fuss over developed countries contribution

    • New Delhi also repeatedly points to the fact that the developed nations have never delivered on their past promises and commitments.
    • No major country achieved the emission-cut targets assigned to them under the Kyoto Protocol, the climate regime preceding the Paris Agreement.
    • Some openly walked out of the Kyoto Protocol, without any consequences.
    • None of the countries has delivered on the promises they made for 2020.
    • Even worse is their track record on their commitment to providing money, and technology, to developing and poor countries to help them deal with the impacts of climate change.

    India’s way forward

    • India has been arguing that the 2050 carbon-neutrality promise might meet a similar fate, although some countries are now finding themselves in law.
    • It has been insisting that the developed countries should, instead, take more ambitious climate actions now, to compensate for the unfulfilled earlier promises.
    • At the same time, it has been saying that it does not rule out the possibility of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 or 2060.
    • Just that, it does not want to make an international commitment so much in advance.

    Back2Basics: Paris Agreement

    • The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
    • Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
    • To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
    • It is a landmark process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.

    The action plan

    • Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science.
    • The Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries.
    • By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

    [Burning Issue] Five Years of Paris Agreement

  • ‘Seechewal Model’ of wastewater management

    A new wastewater treatment plant opened recently in a village in Punjab’s Patiala district uses a unique method devised to treat, recycle and reuse wastewater.

    Seechewal Model

    • The plant in the village of Patiala aims to achieve the following objective using the ‘Seechewal Model’ of wastewater management:
    1. Recycling and reusing the treated wastewater for irrigation
    2. Preventing further contamination of groundwater
    • The model is a pipe-and-pump formula used to remove heavy solid particles, oil and other material from water.
    • It was introduced by Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and was first used in Seechewal, Punjab.
    • The project aims to implement a combination of processes through four-well systems of wastewater treatment for reuse apart from human consumption.
    • The water wells need to be cleaned regularly; otherwise, they produce extremely poor effluents with high suspended solids, which can be detrimental to the constructed wetland and cause clogging of beds.
    • To ensure continuous and effective operation, the accumulated material must be emptied periodically.

    Benefits  offered

    • The project will reduce the usage of freshwater by providing an option of treated water to farmers. It will aim at water sustainability with appropriate technologies of water recycle-reuse-recharge.”
    • The project has engaged, empowered and evolved community sustained processes for water management and strengthened community collectives.

  • Mahendragiri Hills

    The Odisha government has proposed a second biosphere reserve in the southern part of the state at Mahendragiri, a hill ecosystem having a rich biodiversity.

    The 5,569-square kilometre Similipal Biosphere Reserve is Odisha’s first such reserve and was notified May 20, 1996.

    Mahendragiri Hills

    • Mahendragiri is a mountain in the Rayagada subdivision of the district of Gajapati, Odisha, India.
    • It is situated amongst the Eastern Ghats at an elevation of 1,501 metres.
    • The hill and its surrounding areas are recognized as a biodiversity hot spot due to numerous medicinal plants and other species that are found here.
    • Mahendragiri is inhabited by the Soura people, a particularly vulnerable tribal group as well as the Kandha tribe.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.From the ecological point of view, which one of the following assumes importance in being a good link between the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats? (CSP 2018)

    (a) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve

    (b) Nallamala Forest

    (c) Nagarhole National Park

    (d) Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve

    Why designate it as a biosphere reserve?

    • The area of the proposed Mahendragiri Biosphere Reserve is around 470,955 hectares and is spread over Gajapati and Ganjam districts in the Eastern Ghats.
    • The hill ecosystem acts as a transitional zone between the flora and fauna of southern India and the Himalayas, making the region an ecological estuary of genetic diversities.
    • The rich flora in Mahendragiri represents 40 per cent of the reported flora of Odisha, with around 1,358 species of plants.

    Back2Basics:  Biosphere Reserves

    • A biosphere reserve is an area of land or water that is protected by law in order to support the conservation of ecosystems, as well as the sustainability of mankind’s impact on the environment.
    • Each reserve aims to help scientists and the environmental community figure out how to protect the world’s plant and animal species while dealing with a growing population and its resource needs.
    • To carry out the complementary activities of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, biosphere reserves are traditionally organized into 3 interrelated zones, known as:
      1. the core area
      2. the buffer zone and
      3. a transition zone or ‘area of cooperation

  • Why forest fires break out in the spring?

    Uttarakhand has witnessed over 1,000 incidents of a forest fire over the last six months, including 45 in the last 24 hours alone.

    Forest fires this year

    • Since the start of 2021, there has been a series of forest fires in the Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland-Manipur border, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, including in wildlife sanctuaries.
    • April-May is the season when forest fires take place in various parts of the country.
    • But forest fires have been more frequent than usual in Uttarakhand and have also taken place during winter; dry soil caused by a weak monsoon is being seen as one of the causes.

    As of 2019, about 21.67% of the country’s geographical area is identified as forest, according to the India State of Forest Report 2019 (ISFR) released by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).  Tree cover makes up another 2.89% (95, 027 sq km).

    How vulnerable are forests in Uttarakhand?

    • Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are the two states that witness the most frequent forest fires annually.
    • In Uttarakhand, 24,303 sq km (over 45 per cent of the geographical area) is under forest cover.

    What causes forest fires?

    • Forest fires can be caused by a number of natural causes, but officials say many major fires in India are triggered mainly by human activities.
    • Emerging studies link climate change to rising instances of fires globally, especially the massive fires of the Amazon forests in Brazil and in Australia in the last two years.
    • Fires of longer duration, increasing intensity, higher frequency and highly inflammable nature are all being linked to climate change.
    • In India, forest fires are most commonly reported during March and April, when the ground has large quantities of dry wood, logs, dead leaves, stumps, dry grass and weeds that can make forests easily go up in flames if there is a trigger.
    • Under natural circumstances, extreme heat and dryness, friction created by rubbing of branches with each other also have been known to initiate fire.

    Why Uttarakhand?

    • In Uttarakhand, the lack of soil moisture too is being seen as a key factor. In two consecutive monsoon seasons (2019 and 2020), rainfall has been deficient by 18% and 20% of the seasonal average, respectively.
    • But, forest officials say most fires are man-made, sometimes even deliberately caused.
    • Even a small spark from a cigarette butt, or a carelessly discarded lit matchstick can set the fire going.
    • For example, in Odisha, which saw a major fire last month in Simlipal forest, villagers are known to set dry leaves to fire in order to collect mahua flowers, which go into preparation of a local drink.

    Why are forest fires difficult to control?

    • The locality of the forest and access to it pose hurdles in initiating firefighting efforts.
    • During peak season, shortage of staff is another challenge in dispatching firefighting teams.
    • Timely mobilization of forest staff, fuel and equipment, depending on the type of fire, through the thick forests, remain challenges.
    • As it is impossible to transport heavy vehicles loaded with water into the thick forests, a majority of fire dousing is initiated manually, using blowers and similar devices.
    • But there have been incidents when forest fires were brought under control using helicopter services.
    • Wind speed and direction play a critical role in bringing a forest fire under control. The fire often spreads in the direction of the winds and towards higher elevations.

    What factors make forest fires a concern?

    Forests play an important role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

    • Carbon emission: They act as a sink, reservoir and source of carbon.
    • Livelihood loss: In India, with 1.70 lakh villages in close proximity to forests (Census 2011), the livelihood of several crores of people is dependent on fuelwood, bamboo, fodder, and small timber.
    • Destruction of animals’ habitat: Heat generated during the fire destroys animal habitats. Soil quality decreases with the alteration in their compositions.
    • Soil degradation: Soil moisture and fertility, too, is affected. Thus forests can shrink in size. The trees that survive fire often remain stunted and growth is severely affected.

    Various efforts taken

    • Since 2004, the FSI developed the Forest Fire Alert System to monitor forest fires in real-time.
    • In its advanced version launched in January 2019, the system now uses satellite information gathered from NASA and ISRO.
    • Real-time fire information from identified fire hotspots is gathered using MODIS sensors (1km by 1km grid) and electronically transmitted to FSI.
    • This information is then relayed via email at state, district, circle, division, range, beat levels. Users of this system in the locality are issued SMS alerts.

  • How Asian desert dust enhances Indian summer monsoon?

    A new study has revealed how dust coming from the deserts in West, Central and East Asia plays an important role in the Indian Summer Monsoon.

    Try this PYQ:

    With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’, sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1. IOD phenomenon is characterized by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean.
    2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino’s impact on the monsoon.

    Select the correct Option using the code given below:

    (a) Only 1

    (b) Only 2

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Why study dust?

    • Many studies have shown that the dust emission scheme is extremely sensitive to climate change.
    • Understanding these mechanisms and effects of dust will help us understand our monsoon systems in the face of global climate change.

    Impact of dust on Indian Monsoon

    • Dust swarms from the desert when lifted by strong winds can absorb solar radiation and become hot.
    • This can cause heating of the atmosphere, change the air pressure, wind circulation patterns, influence moisture transport and increase precipitation and rainfall.
    • A strong monsoon can also transport air to West Asia and again pick up a lot of dust.
    • The researchers say this is a positive feedback loop.

    Role of the Iranian plateau

    • Not just the dust from the Middle East, the Iranian Plateau also influences the Indian Summer Monsoon.
    • The hot air over the Iranian Plateau can heat the atmosphere over the plateau, strengthen the circulation over the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and increase dust emission from the Middle East.
    • The researchers also explain how the Indian Summer Monsoon has a reverse effect and can increase the winds in West Asia to produce yet more dust.

    Transported aerosols

    • Deserts across the globe play important roles in monsoons.
    • The dust aerosols from deserts in West China such as the Taklamakan desert and the Gobi Desert can be transported eastward to eastern China and can influence the East Asia summer monsoon.
    • And in the southwest United States, we have some small deserts that influence the North African monsoon.

    Anthropogenic contributions

    • Some studies have found that the anthropogenic aerosols emitted from the Indian subcontinent can decrease summer monsoon precipitation.
    • However, some others found that absorbing aerosols such as dust can strengthen the monsoon circulation.

    Minor components

    • Earlier it was believed that dust from deserts across the globe will have the same components.
    • But it was found that different deserts have different chemical compositions and this can influence the dust’s properties.
    • For example, dust from the Middle East has the more absorbing ability of solar radiation than dust from North Africa and this difference in absorbing ability might influence monsoon systems.

  • Satellites and Light Pollution

    Objects sent to space that orbit the Earth can increase the overall brightness of the night sky by 10 per cent above natural levels, showed a new study.

    Light Pollution

    • Light pollution is the presence of anthropogenic and artificial light in the night environment.
    • It is exacerbated by excessive, misdirected or obtrusive use of light, but even carefully used light fundamentally alters natural conditions.
    • Specific categories of light pollution include light trespass, over-illumination, glare, light clutter, and skyglow.
    • A single offending light source often falls into more than one of these categories.

    How does a satellite contribute?

    • Large fleets of communication satellites that have been unleashed in space not just add to the light pollution but also collide and form more debris.
    • Light from this piling debris cloaks astronomical bodies like ‘the glowing clouds of stars in the Milky Way’ from human sight.
    • While telescopes and sensitive cameras often resolve space objects as discrete points of light, low-resolution detectors of light such as the human eye see only the combined effect of many such objects.
    • Astronomers have complained that the growing number of artificial space objects choke the sky and disturb observations.

    Impacts of light pollution

    • As a major side-effect of urbanization, it is blamed for compromising health, disrupting ecosystems and spoiling aesthetic environments.
    • Health effects of over-illumination or improper spectral composition of light may include increased headache, worker fatigue, medically defined stress and an increase in anxiety.
    • Likewise, animal models have been studied demonstrating unavoidable light to produce adverse effect on mood and anxiety.
    • For those who need to be awake at night, the light at night also has an acute effect on alertness and mood.

  • Places in news: Chenab Arch Bridge

    A half-a-kilometre long arch, the defining feature of the world’s highest railway bridge over river Chenab, is set to be completed today.

    Chenab Arch Bridge

    • The bridge is part of an ambitious 272-km rail link project and is being constructed by the Northern Railway at an estimated cost of â‚č28,000 crores.
    • The bridge will be able to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of up to eight and high-intensity blasts.
    • The bridge, which will include a 14-metre dual carriageway and a 1.2-metre-wide central verge, will have a design speed of around 100 kilometres per hour with a lifespan of 120 years.

    Its inception

    • The preparations of the rail link began in 2002 and the initial plan was to connect Kashmir’s northernmost city Baramulla to New Delhi.
    • Work on the bridge started again in July 2017 with the aim of completing the construction by the end of 2019 but due to contractual issues in 2018, it was delayed.
    • Steel was specifically chosen for the construction of the bridge as it will make the project more economical.
    • The metal will also be able to resist temperatures of minus 20 degree Celsius and wind speeds of above 200 kilometres per hour.

    Significance

    • A railway bridge like this, with this kind of geography, has not been made anywhere in the world, according to the Railways.
    • It will symbolise the Kashmir rail link, to be ready for at least a century.
    • In other words, a train from Kanyakumari can reach all the way to Kashmir uninterrupted.
    • The cable crane that will do the job of completing the arch itself measures around 900 meters and is said to be the longest in the world, made especially for this project.

  • Net-zero emissions target is unjust for developing countries

    The article explains why the net-zero emission targets are unjust for developing countries like India.

    Understanding climate justice

    • The principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) based on historical responsibility have been the bedrock of climate actions under the UNFCCC ever since 1992.
    • Based on these principles in Paris Agreement, developed countries promised to deliver higher finance commitment by 2025 and a more facilitative technology regime, apart from leading mitigation actions.
    • Developing countries agreed to take legal obligation that entails undertaking domestic mitigation measures and reporting on their implementation as part of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
    • These are also the central pillars on which India’s call for climate justice is premised.

    How India is leading by example

    • Indian government introduced climate sensitivity in domestic policies.
    • Climate sensitivity is reflected in interventions like energy for all, housing for all, health insurance and crop insurance, action like the “Clean India” and “give it up” campaigns, popularising yoga and sustainable lifestyle practices.
    • Together, these initiatives ensure climate justice to the vulnerable and poor sections that are worst hit by climate change.
    • While the rich were cajoled to move towards sustainable living, the poor were provided with the safety nets to fight climate change.

    Addressig 3 aspects of climate justice

    • In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle distinguished three forms of justice, namely distributive, commutative and corrective. 
    • With the onset of the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement, it would be useful to take stock of how well the global community is addressing these three aspects of justice.

    1) Distributive justice

    • Distributive justice pertains to how resources should be distributed in terms of principles of equality, equity and merit.
    • For climate change, the most important resource is the global carbon space.
    • The developed countries continue to corner a lion’s share of the carbon space for their luxurious consumption while they goad developing countries to cut their emissions emanating from even basic needs.
    • Therefore, the focus should be on ensuring ambitious climate action by developed countries in the near-term to ensure distributive climate justice.

    2) Commutative justice

    • In the climate change discourse, commutative justice refers to the honouring of past commitments in good faith.
    • The Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997 was a historic turning point with legally binding targets for industrialised countries to reduce overall GHG emissions.
    • However, the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol that commits developed country parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 18 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2020 only entered into force in December 2020, just one day before its expiry.
    • These targets unambitious and grossly inadequate to meet the principal objective of UNFCCC.
    • Also, several developed countries backtracked and refused to take on any targets in the second commitment period.
    • The developed country delivery of finance, technology transfer, and capacity building support to developing countries is also not up to the mark.
    • The fulfilment of these past commitments would be a critical precursor to any enhancement of climate ambition by developing countries.

    3) Corrective justice

    • Corrective justice pertains to the righting of wrongs.
    • Climate justice demands that every individual who is born on this earth has a right to development and dignified living.
    • For this, developed countries need to repay the climate debt by shouldering greater mitigation responsibilities and providing finance, technology and capacity-building support.

    Consider the question “Why net zero emission targets are considered to be unjust for developing countries?”

    Conclusion

    So, while many herald the call for net zero by 2050 as a positive signal in avoiding runaway climate breakdown, in reality it delays climate action by developed countries and is being used to evade historical responsibility and transfer burdens to developing countries.

  • Species in news: Nacaduba sinhala ramaswamii Sadasivan

    The discovery of the species Nacaduba sinhala ramaswamii Sadasivan in the Agasthyamalais in the Western Ghats a decade ago has now found a place in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.

    William Shakespeare’s words hold true! Really “Whats in a name!”

    Nacaduba sinhala ramaswamii Sadasivan

    • The new taxon of Lycaenid butterflies belonging to the Nacaduba genus had been first sighted by a team of Bombay Natural History Society.
    • Line Blues are small butterflies belonging to the subfamily Lycaenidae and their distribution ranges from India and Sri Lanka to the whole of southeastern Asia, Australia and Samoa.
    • It is the first time that a butterfly species was discovered by an all-Indian research team from the Western Ghats.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

    Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are

    (a) Birds

    (b) Primates

    (c) Reptiles

    (d) Amphibians