Type: Prelims Only

Why in the News?

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations reached a record 423.9 ppm in 2024, marking the highest annual increase (3.5 ppm) since global measurements began in 1957.

About WMO Report 2025:

• Publisher: Issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN specialised agency for weather, climate, and water systems.
• Document: The 2025 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin presents global atmospheric data for carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O).
• Global Record: Confirms 2024 as the warmest year ever, with average temperatures 1.55 °C above pre-industrial (1850–1900) levels.
• Context & Timing: Released ahead of COP30 (Belém, Brazil) to guide mitigation policies and national climate commitments.
• Key Warning: Notes a record surge in CO₂ and the weakening of natural carbon sinks such as oceans and forests.

Key Highlights about Greenhouse Gases:

• Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): Global mean reached 423.9 ppm in 2024, up 3.5 ppm from 2023, the largest annual rise since 1957. Concentrations are 152 % above pre-industrial (278.3 ppm); land and ocean sinks are declining in efficiency.
• Methane (CH₄): Climbed to 1,942 ppb, 166 % above pre-industrial levels; ~60 % of emissions stem from livestock, fossil fuels, and rice cultivation.
• Nitrous Oxide (N₂O): Reached 338 ppb, 25 % higher than pre-industrial; emitted mainly from fertiliser use, biomass burning, and industry; the third major long-lived GHG.
• Drivers of Increase: Human emissions, El Niño-linked droughts and wildfires, and reduced oceanic absorption, especially from the Amazon and southern Africa in 2024.

Implications and Risks:

• Warming Acceleration: CO₂ causes ~66 % of total warming and 79 % over the last decade; persistent buildup locks in long-term temperature rise.
• Weakening Carbon Sinks: Warmer seas and drought-stricken lands absorb less CO₂, reinforcing a feedback loop of accumulation.
• Extreme Events: Intensified heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires signal proximity to irreversible tipping points like ice-sheet loss and coral die-off.

Why in the News?

The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the cancellation of Community Forest Rights (CFRs) granted to villagers of Ghatbarra in the Hasdeo Arand forest, an area where Adani Enterprises–linked coal mines operate.

About the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006:

• Overview: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, commonly called the Forest Rights Act (FRA).
• Purpose: Enacted to correct historical injustices faced by forest-dwelling communities deprived of traditional land and resource rights during colonial rule.
• Core Objective: Ensures tenurial security, livelihood protection, and ecological stewardship of forest-dependent populations.
• Beneficiaries: Covers Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) who have lived in and depended on forests for generations.
• Scope: Recognises both individual and collective rights over forest land and produce, extending to cultivation, habitation, and minor forest produce use.
• Governance Principle: Empowers Gram Sabhas as the central authority for recognising and managing forest rights, reinforcing local autonomy.
• Integration Goal: Aligns forest governance with tribal self-rule, complementing the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA).

Key Features of the FRA:

• Individual & Community Rights: Legal recognition for occupation, cultivation, residence, and use/sale of minor forest produce.
• Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights: Grants Gram Sabhas control to protect, regenerate, and manage community forests.
• Habitat Rights: Protects Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and pre-agricultural forest communities.
• Governance Structure: Multi-level verification, Gram Sabha → Sub-Divisional Committee → District-Level Committee, for rights adjudication.
• Development Provisions: Allows limited diversion of forest land for public utilities with Gram Sabha consent.
• Eviction Safeguard: No eviction until claims are fully processed and rights recognised.
• Decentralised Oversight: Empowers Gram Sabha as the final decision-making authority on forest rights and management.
• Legal Integration: Reinforces PESA’s participatory governance and community-led conservation in Scheduled Areas.

Why in the News?

The SAIME Initiative, developed by the Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, has been conferred Global Technical Recognition by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

What is SAIME Initiative?

• Concept: A multi-stakeholder partnership model integrating shrimp aquaculture with mangrove restoration in the Sundarbans.
• Implementing Agencies: Developed by the Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) with support from the Global Nature Fund (Germany), Naturland, and Bangladesh Environment & Development Society (BEDS).
• Purpose: Promotes climate-adaptive, conservation-linked livelihoods balancing ecological health with local economic growth.
• Implementation: Covers 29.84 hectares with 42 fish farmers, achieving 100% rise in net profits through low-input, eco-friendly methods.
• Target Group: Focuses on climate-vulnerable coastal communities, encouraging chemical-free shrimp farming to build coastal resilience.

Core Features and Approach:

• Ecosystem Integration: Maintains 5–30% mangrove cover within aquaculture ponds, directly linking productivity with ecosystem restoration.
• Community Participation: Adopts a bottom-up co-management model, involving local farmers in planning, monitoring, and benefit-sharing.
• Sustainable Practices: Utilises mangrove litter as shrimp feed, cutting chemical dependence and improving natural nutrient cycles.
• Climate Resilience: Mitigates cyclones, salinity intrusion, and erosion, functioning as a nature-based adaptation system.
• Economic Efficiency: Promotes low-input, high-yield aquaculture, enhancing smallholder profitability and resource efficiency.
• Environmental Benefits: Supports carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and blue carbon economy objectives.
• Global Alignment: Advances SDG-13 (Climate Action), SDG-14 (Life Below Water), and SDG-15 (Life on Land) through integrated coastal sustainability.

Why in the News?

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has invoked Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the Delhi–NCR as air quality slipped into the ‘poor’ category (AQI 211) after more than three months.

About Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP):

• Objective: To ensure anticipatory, graded, and region-wide responses that reduce PM₂․₅ and PM₁₀ concentrations, controlling emissions from vehicles, dust, and industries.
• Coverage: Applies across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and other NCR districts, ensuring uniform regional implementation.
• Legal Mandate: Issued under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, binding on all NCR states and agencies.
• Genesis: Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016 (M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India) and notified in Jan 2017 by MoEFCC under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• Implementation: Initially enforced by EPCA (till 2020); now implemented by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) established via ordinance in Oct 2020.
• Functioning: CAQM works with CPCB, IMD, and IITM Pune, which provide forecast-based modelling for pre-emptive action.

• Key Stages of Action:

• 1. Stage I (Poor: 201–300): Road sweeping, water sprinkling, dust control at sites, solid-waste removal, old-vehicle enforcement.
  2. Stage II (Very Poor: 301–400): Hotspot regulation, DG set restrictions, enhanced public transport.
  3. Stage III (Severe: 401–450): Ban on BS-III petrol & BS-IV diesel cars, construction halt, school closures.
  4. Stage IV (Severe+ >450): Complete construction ban, truck entry restriction (essentials exempted), curbs on non-essential vehicles.