TOPIC: GS 3 Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
Reworking net-zero for climate justice
What is the news?
Along with comparable levels of commitments there need to be equally comparable metrics for well-being
Global temperature increased sharply only after 1981 with little contribution from the developing countries as their industrialization and urbanization had yet to begin.
In 2015, at the UN General Assembly when the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 was adopted and at the Paris Conference
Indian government stressed a reframing of climate change to climate justice, arguing that just when countries such as India were becoming major industrial and middle class nations, they should not pay the price for the pollution caused by the West
The Paris Agreement, explicitly recognizes that peaking will take longer for such countries and is to be achieved in the context of “sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty
India will meet its Paris Agreement target for 2030, its Percapita emissions are a third of the global average, and it will in future remain within its share of ecological space.
India and Climate change
Annual emissions make India the fourth largest emitter, even though climate is impacted by cumulative emissions, with India contributing a mere 3% compared with 26% for the United States and 13% for China.
 According to the United Nations, while the richest 1% of the global population emits more than two times the emissions of the bottom 50%.
India has just half its population in the middle class and per capita emissions are an eighth of those in the U.S. and less than a third of those of China.
Climate diplomacy
The diplomatic history of climate negotiations shows that longer term goals without the strategy to achieve them, as in the case of finance and technology transfer, solve a political problem and not the problem itself.
The focus on physical quantities, emissions of carbon dioxide and increase in global temperature, measures impacts on nature whereas solutions require an analysis of drivers, trends and patterns of resource use
The current framework considers symptoms, emissions of carbon dioxide, and was forced onto developing countries to keep the discussion away from the causes of the problem , the earlier excessive use of energy for high levels of wellÂbeing
Role of infrastructure in climate change
The vaguely worded ‘net zero’ emissions, balancing emissions and removals, could be disastrous for development latecomers
India current frame fails to recognise that more than half the global cumulative emissions arose from infrastructure, essential for urban wellÂbeing
Infrastructure has a defining role in human wellÂbeing both because of the services it provides outside the market and the way it shapes demand distinct from manufacturing (production) and lifestyles (consumption), which alone are captured in model projections
The global trend is that in an urbanized world, two thirds of emissions arise from the demand of the middle class for infrastructure, mobility, buildings and diet
There is no substitute to cement, steel and construction material, and worldwide they will need half the available carbon space before comparable levels are reached around 2050, while developed countries use most of the rest
Developed countries, peaking of emissions came some 20 years after infrastructure saturation levels were reached and netÂzero emissions are being considered some two decades even later to take advantage of aging populations and technology
New framework
A global goalÂshaping national strategy requires a new understanding. India must highlight unique national circumstances with respect to the food, energy and transportation systems that have to change
Eg: Consumption of meat contributes to a third of global emissions. Indians eat just 4 kg a year compared with around 68 kg per person for the European Union and twice that in the U.S. where a third of the food is wasted by households
Coal use
Coal accounts for a quarter of global energy use, powered colonialism, and rising Asia uses three quarters of it as coal drives industry and supports the renewable energy push into cities.
India with abundant reserves and Percapita electricity use that is a tenth that of the U.S. is under pressure to stop using coal, even though the U.S. currently uses more coal
India wants to eliminate the use of oil instead with renewable energy and hydrogen as a fuel for electrification, whose acceleration requires international cooperation around technology development and transfer.
Way forward
Paris Agreement, ‘climate justice’ was relegated to the preamble as a political, not policy, statement. It needs to be fleshed out with a set of ‘big ideas’. International cooperation should centre on sharing technology of electric vehicles and hydrogen as a fuel, as they are the most effective response to climate change.
PRELIMS PUNCHERS
- Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Signs and symptoms may vary from mild to severe. They usually start two to five days after exposure. Symptoms often come on fairly gradually, beginning with a sore throat and fever. In severe cases, a grey or white patch develops in the throat. This can block the airway and create a barking cough as in croup. The neck may swell in part due to enlarged lymph nodes. A form of diphtheria which involves the skin, eyes or genitals also exists.
Diphtheria is usually spread between people by direct contact or through the air. It may also be spread by contaminated objects. Diagnosis can often be made based on the appearance of the throat with confirmation by microbiological culture. Previous infection may not protect against future infection. A diphtheria vaccine is effective for prevention and available in a number of formulations. Three or four doses, given along with tetanus vaccine and pertussis vaccine, are recommended during childhood. Further doses of diphtheria-tetanus vaccine are recommended every ten years.
- Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM)
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions.
As Reported by Press Trust of India, under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures. Additionally, 1,000 SC youth would be identified in the next 4 years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in various higher educational institutions. They will then be funded INR 30 Lakhs in 3 years as equity funding so that they can translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures. Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to INR 5 Crore from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs. It is further reported that this initiative under VCF-SC will promote innovation in the SC youth and would help them to become job-givers from job-seekers; and would further give fillip to the ‘Stand Up India’ initiative.
- Djibouti
The Republic of Djibouti, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Somaliland in the south, Ethiopia in the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in the east. Across the Gulf of Aden is Yemen. Djibouti is situated in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea at the northernmost point of the Great Rift Valley. It is here in Djibouti that the rift between the African Plate and the Somali Plate meet the Arabian Plate, forming a geologic tripoint. The tectonic interaction at this tripoint has created the lowest elevation of any place in Africa at Lake Assal, and indeed, the second lowest depression on dry land found anywhere on earth (surpassed only by the depression along the border of Jordan and Israel).
4.Chenab bridge
The Chenab Bridge is an Indian railway steel and concrete arch bridge between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. When completed, the bridge will span the Chenab River at a height of 359 m above the river, making it the world’s highest rail bridge. The ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project that will link Kashmir, for the first time in India’s history, to the rest of the country via a railway network.
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 Rs28,000 crore. 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. 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 kilometre per hour.
Qn 1 .Consider the following statement regarding Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission.
- It will be implemented by NITI Aayog
- They will then be funded 50 Lakhs in 5 years as equity funding so that they can translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only      (b) 2 only
(c).Both      (d). None of above
Answer: D
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions.
As Reported by Press Trust of India, under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures. Additionally, 1,000 SC youth would be identified in the next 4 years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in various higher educational institutions. They will then be funded INR 30 Lakhs in 3 years as equity funding so that they can translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures. Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to INR 5 Crore from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs. It is further reported that this initiative under VCF-SC will promote innovation in the SC youth and would help them to become job-givers from job-seekers; and would further give fillip to the ‘Stand Up India’ initiative.
Qn 2.Consider the following statement regarding Chenab Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla
- The Chenab Bridge is an Indian railway steel and concrete arch bridge between Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir
- The bridge will span the Chenab River at a height of 359 m above the river, making it the world’s highest rail bridge
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only      (b) 2 only
(c).Both      (d). None of above
Answer: B
The Chenab Bridge is an Indian railway steel and concrete arch bridge between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. When completed, the bridge will span the Chenab River at a height of 359 m above the river, making it the world’s highest rail bridge. The ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project that will link Kashmir, for the first time in India’s history, to the rest of the country via a railway network.
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 Rs28,000 crore. 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. 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 kilometre per hour.