Environmental Sustainability

CO1
Global Environmental Issues, socio-environmental
Interactions; impact of consumerisation and global
economy; Sustainability: Fundamentals, Science
behind sustainability, challenges, potential; role of
technology, policies.
 Global Environmental Issues
1. Global Warming.
2. Ozone Depletion
3. Pollution
4. Deforestation
5. Declining of Biological Diversity.
6. Acid Rain
7. Land Desertification.
 Global Warming
Global warming refers to the phenomenon of gradual temperature rise of
atmosphere, soil, water and vegetative cover on Earth’s surface year by year,
major cause of which is “greenhouse effect” due to emission of such
greenhouse gases (GHG) as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous
oxide (N2O).
 Ozone Depletion

Ozone depletion is the gradual thinning of Earth's ozone layer in

the upper atmosphere caused by the release of chemical
compounds containing gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry
and other human activities. The thinning is most pronounced in
the polar regions, especially over Antarctica.
 Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of any substance (Solid, Liquid or Gas) or
any form of energy (Heat, Noise or radioactivity) to the natural
environment at faster rate than it can disperse, dilute, decomposed,
recycled or stored in some harmless form.
Pollutant is a substance or energy introduced into the environment
that has undesired effects or adversely affect the usefulness of a
resource.
Pollution is classified as
1) Point Source 2) Non-point source
Types of pollution:
1) Air pollution 2) Water pollution 3) Soil pollution
4) Noise pollution 5) Light pollution 6) Thermal pollution
7) Radioactive pollution
 Socio-Environmental Interactions

It can be defined as interactions between the

human social system and (the “rest” of) the
ecosystem.

In order to analyse Socio-Environmental interactions it is important to be aware

of specific characteristics of the human social system. The type of
society strongly influences peoples attitude towards nature, their behaviour and
therefore their impact on ecosystems. Important characteristics of human social
systems are population size, social organization, values, technology, wealth,
education, knowledge and many more. Especially values and knowledge
strongly influence peoples “view of life” and consequently define the way
people act. The choice of possible actions is then limited by the available
technology.
 Impact of consumerization

1. Consumerism is related to the constant purchasing of new goods, with little

attention to their true need, durability, product origin, or the environmental
consequences of their manufacture and disposal.

2. Consumerism interferes with the sustainable use of resources in a society by

replacing the normal common sense desire for an adequate supply of life’s
necessities, with and insatiable quest for things that are purchased by larger and
larger incomes.

3. Especially in developed countries, landfills are being rapidly filled with cheap
discarded products that fail to work within short time and cannot be repaired.

5. The inordinate amount of waste that is generated by consumer-oriented

societies around the world is now a serious environmental issue.
 Sustainability?
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
 Challenges of Environmental Sustainability

1. Global warming due to CO2 emissions: The climate change is accelerating

and threatens the whole global ecosystem by causing serious meteorological
disasters like droughts, fires and floods, which are becoming increasingly
frequent and more extreme. So, it is strongly advised to mitigate the climate
change.
2. Air pollution and water contamination: Experts estimate that nearly 90% of
humanity breathes polluted air. That’s why, it is important to reduce air
pollution and minimize the use of chemicals, treating more wastewater – to cut
rates of respiratory illnesses, thus preventing seven million deaths a year.
Contaminated water also causes major health problems.

3. Pollution of the oceans, seas and inland waters: The oceans have become
the giant waste dumps for plastic and other synthetic materials. Due to
economic advancement of many economically underdeveloped regions – there
are serious environmental problems related to the oceans such as damage to
ecosystems from dumping pollutants, wastewater and fuel spills.
4. Slow energy transition and insufficient share of renewable energy: Quite a
number of the world’s population lacks access to electricity and depends on fossil
fuels for cooking. This situation requires an energy transition towards a cleaner,
more accessible and efficient model based on the use of renewable energy
sources to build communities that are more sustainable.
5. Uncompromising food production harms: Overexploitation of natural resources
and disturbance of the environment depletes the soil and damages the marine
ecosystems. It requires focus and consideration in order to change the food
production model and food habits, including a more plant-based diet featuring local
ingredients to save energy and reduce gas emissions.

6. Animal species extinction and destruction of their natural habits: The experts
from UN call for protecting biodiversity and undertake conclusive actions to put
an end to these threats and conserve our natural heritage, including our
increasingly threatened forests. Animal species extinction and destruction of their
natural habits.
7. Significant development of modern cities and agglomerations without a
transparent and comprehensive urban strategy.
8. Hydric stress and water scarcity: The lack of this resource affects more than 40%
of the world population, and according to the World Economic Forum, agriculture
accounts for more than 70% of the water used in the planet’s most arid countries.
The responsible use of hydrological resources will improve food and energy
production, as well as protecting the biodiversity of our water ecosystems and
helping us slow climate change.

9. Overpopulation and waste management: The world population is expected to

exceed 8.5 billion by 2030, forcing us to considerably reduce the amount of
waste we generate through prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling as part of
the circular economy, with the aim of minimizing the impact on health and the
environment.
 Solutions for sustainability
Public electric transport: It’s not only individual vehicle owners who
have better access to electric vehicles (EVs) than ever before.
Although eBuses have higher acquisition prices due to upfront
battery costs, their total cost of ownership is lower. They also
eliminate local particulates, including SOx, NOx, and CO2, which are
all a major issue in most cities today.

Electric trucks: With personal electric vehicles grabbing more and more
market share, commercial fleets could follow suit rapidly. Adoption of
battery electric commercial vehicles (BECVs), especially in the light- and
medium-duty segments, could surpass the car EV sales mix in some
markets by 2030.

Cheap energy storage: The new age of electric vehicles has rapidly
expanded the market for lithium and cobalt batteries—and reduced
their price. Industry and utilities are finding broader use for them as
energy-storage solutions. With prices for batteries rapidly dropping,
they are proving valuable to reduce power costs, increase reliability
and resiliency, and make power systems more flexible to operate.
Long-term storage: A new series of innovators believe they are close to
developing long-duration storage technologies. What’s clear is that if
long-term energy storage works, the price of power will decline
significantly. These long-term solutions could eliminate the cost incurred
through the underutilization of assets and save money by inserting
lower-cost generators such as solar and wind in the power supply.

Plastic recycling: 260 million tons of plastic waste is generated across

the globe every year, but only 16% gets recycled. The plastics industry
has the opportunity to adopt a circular model, which aims to eliminate
waste across sectors while creating economic, societal, and
environmental benefits. One promising circular process is pyrolysis,
which uses heat and the absence of oxygen to reconvert plastic waste
back into liquid feedstock. The benefits are economic as much as
environmental.
LED light efficiency: Energy-efficient LED lighting is quickly replacing
traditional incandescent bulbs and is expected to achieve 84 percent
market share by 2030. LED lights will reduce energy consumption by 40
percent by 2030, which adds up to $26 billion in savings adjusted to
today’s energy prices.
Accessible solar power: Renewable energy continues to become cheaper and more
accessible. While expanding the grid is part of the access solution, countries in
sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, which account for a majority of the
world’s unelectrified population, are exploring renewable solutions like solar
energy to bring energy quickly and inexpensively to millions. Innovative
financing plans can help to bring a smart solution for communities that are too far
from a reliable grid connection.
Carbon capture and storage: Instead of just focusing on completely decarbonizing
the major industrial commodities behind plastics and cement, we can also consider
safely capturing the carbon emitted when these commodities are produced.
Carbon capture and storage allows industry to capture carbon at its source,
compress it, and move it to a suitable permanent storage site. Several industries are
already working to put captured carbon dioxide to profitable use, including
manufacturers who use it to make plastics, such as polyurethane. Emerging
technologies are quite promising in this area.
Hydrogen in the energy transition: It’s difficult to imagine how we meet
ambitious global warming benchmarks without including hydrogen as a critical
part of the solution. Hydrogen-led pathways to cleaning up the environment
forecast hydrogen powering more than 400 million cars, 15 to 20 million buses,
and more than 20 percent of passenger ships and locomotives by 2050
Policies
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC)
that commits State Parties to reduce six greenhouse gas emissions
[Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O),
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and Sulfur
hexafluoride (SF6)].
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11,
1997 and entered into force on February 16, 2005. There are currently
192 parties (Canada withdrew effective December 2012) to the
Protocol.
As of 2012, 37 countries have signed and ratified the treaty and
191 states are participating and there are 28 articles in the Kyoto
Protocol
The Kyoto protocol didn't meet targeted emission reductions but
increased awareness and international cooperation toward resolving
the global climate crisis.
 Major articles of Kyoto Protocol
Article Description
Article 6 1) Empower and educate stakeholders on policies related to climate
& change (Awareness)
Article 10 e 2) Fosters international cooperation and provides mechanisms for
countries to meet their emission reduction targets in cost-effective
ways
Article 10 Participating parties to cooperate in the promotion, development,
transfer of and access to environmentally sound technologies,
particularly to developing countries
Article 11 Recognizes the need for funding mechanisms to assist developing
countries in technology transfer.
Article 3 Allows developed countries to meet their targets by providing
carbon sinks or removals of carbon through various forest and land
management practices that are measured as changes in carbon
stocks.
Article 2 Addresses emissions from fuel used for international aviation and
maritime transport and encourages developed countries to pursue
limited or reduced emissions from these sources.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the protection of the
ozone layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone
layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are
responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987,
and entered into force on 1 January 1989.
An international agreement, signed by most of the industrialized
nations, to substantially reduce the use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).
Montreal protocol on the substances that deplete ozone layer was
designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone
depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in
atmosphere and thereby protect earth’s fragile ozone layer.

The protocol sets limits on the production of Chlorofluorocarbons

(CFC), halogens and related substance that releases chlorine or
bromine to ozone layer of the atmosphere.

If the parties of Montreal protocol were to

eliminate all the emission of ozone depleting
substances soon after 2006, then its effects would
have been advanced by 15 years & visible in 2035
instead of 2050, which equal to the global ozone
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010
The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (No. 19 of 2010) (NGT Act) has
been enacted with the objectives to provide for establishment of a
National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the effective and expeditious disposal
of cases relating to environment protection and conservation of forests
and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right
relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages
to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.
The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (the "Air Act") is an
act to provide for the prevention, control and abatement of air pollution
and for the establishment of Boards at the Central and State levels with a
view to carrying out the aforesaid purposes.

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

The Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1974 (the "Water Act")
has been enacted to provide for the prevention and control of water
pollution and to maintain or restore wholesomeness of water in the
country. It further provides for the establishment of Boards for the
prevention and control of water pollution with a view to carry out the
aforesaid purposes. The Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants
into water bodies beyond a given standard, and lays down penalties for
 The Environment Protection Act, 1986
The Environment Protection Act, 1986 (the "Environment Act") provides
for the protection and improvement of environment. The Environment
Protection Act establishes the framework for studying, planning and
implementing long-term requirements of environmental safety and laying
down a system of speedy and adequate response to situations threatening
the environment. It is an umbrella legislation designed to provide a
framework for the coordination of central and state authorities established
under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act. The term "environment" is
understood in a very wide term under s 2(a) of the Environment Act. It
includes water, air and land as well as the interrelationship which exists
between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures,
plants, micro-organisms and property.
The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Forest Conservation Act, 1980

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

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