Table of Contents

Today’s News Bits

Is Reservation a fundamental right?

There is no fundamental right to reservation or promotion under Article 16(4) or Article 16(4 A) of the Constitution, rather they are enabling provisions for providing reservation, if the circumstances so warrant (Mukesh Kumar and Another vs State of Uttarakhand & Ors. 2020).
Article 46 mandates that the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections.

Relation between Mandal Case and Indra Sawhney Case

Reservation in employment which was otherwise confined to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes got extended to Other Backward Classes as well on the basis of the recommendations of the Second Backward Class Commission as constituted, headed by B.P. Mandal.
The recommendation of Mandal Commission (1980) to provide 27% reservation to Other Backward Classes in central services and public sector undertakings, over and above the existing 22.5% reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was sought to be implemented by the V.P. Singh Government in 1990 and the same was assailed in the Supreme Court resulting in the historic Indra Sawhney Judgment (1992).
In the judgment, a nine-judge bench presided by Chief Justice M.H. Kania upheld the constitutionality of the 27% reservation but put a ceiling of 50% unless exceptional circumstances warranting the breach, so that the constitutionally guaranteed right to equality under Article 14 would remain secured.
The Court dwelled on the interrelationship between Articles 16(1) and 16(4) and declared that Article 16(4) is not an exception to article 16(1), rather an illustration of classification implicit in article 16(1).
While Article 16(1) is a fundamental right, Article 16(4) is an enabling provision. Further, the Court directed the exclusion of creamy layer by way of horizontal division of every other backward class into creamy layer and non-creamy layer.

PM CARES for Children Scheme

PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 29 May 2021 to support children who have lost both the parents or legal guardian or adoptive parents or surviving parent to Covid-19 pandemic, during the period from 11 March 2020 to 28 February 2022.
The objective of the Scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children in a sustained manner by providing them boarding and lodging, empowering them through education and scholarships, equipping them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs. 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age and ensuring their wellbeing through health insurance.

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019

The 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), other Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes for government jobs and admission in educational institutions is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court which has referred the same to a constitution bench.
The adjudication awaited in this regard may also turn to be a critical milestone in the jurisprudence of reservation as traditional understanding of backwardness is broadened to specifically include economic backwardness without social backwardness as is traditionally seen.

NCTE

NCTE Background

The National Council for Teacher Education, in its previous status since 1973, was an advisory body for the Central and State Governments on all matters pertaining to teacher education, with its Secretariat in the Department of Teacher Education of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Despite its commendable work in the academic fields, it could not perform essential regulatory functions, to ensure maintenance of standards in teacher education and preventing proliferation of substandard teacher education institutions.

About Current NCTE

The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 and the Programme of Action thereunder, envisaged a National Council for Teacher Education with statutory status and necessary resources as a first step for overhauling the system of teacher education.
The National Council for Teacher Education as a statutory body came into existence in pursuance of the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (No. 73 of 1993) on the 17th August,1995.

Green Hydrogen

GS Paper 2: Indian Economy- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Green hydrogen in News

Recently, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas at World Economic Forum in Davos said that India will emerge as the leader of green hydrogen by taking advantage of the current energy crisis across the globe.
His assertion came almost a month after Oil India Limited (OIL) commissioned India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen plant in eastern Assam’s Jorhat.

About Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gaseous substance.
Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most abundant member of the family of chemical elements in the universe.

Green India Mission (GIM)

What is Green hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind or hydel power.
The ‘green’ depends on how the electricity is generated to obtain the hydrogen, which does not emit greenhouse gas when burned.

Analysis of Sansad TV Discussion: ”Green Hydrogen”

How Green hydrogen is different from Grey Hydrogen and Blue Hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind or hydel power.
Grey hydrogen is generated through fossil fuels such as coal and gas and currently accounts for 95% of the total production in South Asia.
Blue hydrogen, too, is produced using electricity generated by burning fossil fuels but with technologies to prevent the carbon released in the process from entering the atmosphere.

Need for Green hydrogen in India

Promoting Non-fossil fuels: India has just begun to generate green hydrogen with the objective of raising non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
Adhering to Paris Pledge: Under Paris Agreement 2015, India is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 33-35% from the 2005 levels.
- At the 2021 Conference of Parties in Glasgow, India reiterated its commitment to move from a fossil and import-dependent economy to a net-zero economy by 2070.
High Import Bills: India’s average annual energy import bill is more than $100 billion and the increased consumption of fossil fuel has made the country a high carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter.
- India’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emission accounts for nearly 7% of the global CO2 burden.
India’s quest to become energy independent by 2047: the government stressed the need to introduce green hydrogen as an alternative fuel that can make India the global hub and a major exporter of hydrogen.
National Hydrogen Mission (NHM): It was launched on August 15, 2021, with a view to cutting down carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable sources of energy.

India’s first Pure Green Hydrogen Plant

On April 20, India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen pilot plant was set up in eastern Assam’s Duliajan.
Key objectives: it was set up in keeping with the goal of “making the country ready for the pilot-scale production of hydrogen.
- This was also done to ensure that its use in various applications” go on while “research and development efforts are ongoing for a reduction in the cost of production, storage and the transportation” of hydrogen.
Location: The Hydrogen plant was set up at the petroleum exploration major’s Jorhat pump station, also in eastern Assam.
Key Features of the Plant:
- Powered by a 500 KW solar plant, the green hydrogen unit has an installed capacity to produce 10 kg of hydrogen per day and scale it up to 30 kg per day.
- A specialised blender has also been installed for blending green hydrogen produced from the unit with the natural gas and supplying the blended gas to the Jorhat area for domestic and industrial use.
- OIL has engaged experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati to assess the impact of the blended gas on the existing facility.

Advantages of Green hydrogen

Reliable source of energy: The intermittent nature of renewable energy, especially wind, leads to grid instability.
- Green hydrogen can be stored for long periods of time. The stored hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
Commercialization of Oxygen produced: Experts say the oxygen, produced as a by-product, can also be monetised by using it for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.
- According to estimates, 8 kg of oxygen is produced per 1 kg of hydrogen.
Investment opportunities: The possibilities of hydrogen have made many countries pledge investments with Portugal having unveiled a national hydrogen strategy worth $7.7 billion in May.
Huge Renewable Energy Markets: Renewable developers see green hydrogen as an emerging market and some have targeted the transport sector, although electric vehicles have begun to catch the imagination of consumers today.

Green Hydrogen Policy | Green Ammonia Policy

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Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022

GS Paper 3: Science and Technology-
- Developments and their applications and effects in everyday life;
- Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 in News

Recently, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s biggest Drone Festival – Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022.
He also interacted with Kisan drone pilots, witnessed open-air drone demonstrations and interacted with startups in the drone exhibition centre.

- Earlier, Prime Minister had flagged off 100 kisan dronesin different parts of the country for spraying pesticides and other farm materials.

What is Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022?

About: Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022, India’s biggest drone festival, is being conducted on 27th and 28th May 2022.
- Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 Venue: Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 is being organized at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Participation: more than 1600 delegates, consisting of government officials, armed forces, central armed police forces, Public Sector Units (PSUs), foreign diplomats, private companies as well as drone startups, etc., will participate in the Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022.
Key Events: more than 70 exhibitors will display various use cases of drones at the Drone Festival. The Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 will also witness-
- A virtual award of drone pilot certificates,
- Panel discussions,
- Product launches,
- A display of a ‘Made in India’ Drone Taxi prototype, and
- Flying demonstrations, among others.

Analysis of Sansad TV Discussion: ”Keeping Drones in Check”

Drones sector in India: Government steps

Droneshave been used in the ‘Swamitva Yojana’ aimed at creating a record of land ownership in villages, and transporting medicines and vaccines.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), in early 2022 notified a drone certification scheme to ensure minimum safety and quality requirements as it will boost indigenous manufacturing.
In 2021, government has formulated a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years.
The government has also made an ambitious target of making India the drone hub of the world by 2030.
Government amended the guidelines of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) which envisages granting 100 per cent of the cost of agriculture drone or Rs 10 lakhs, as a grant for the purchase of drones by the farm machinery training and testing institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and state agriculture universities.
In 2021, the government came up with liberalised Drone Rules to create a ‘digital sky platform” which is a business-friendly single-window online system, with minimum human interference, where most of the permissions will be self-generated.

PLI Scheme for Drones and Drone Components

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National Data Governance Policy

GS 3: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy: Context

Recently, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has a fresh draft data policy to improve governance through a whole-of government approach towards data-led governance.

Data policy India: Key points

The new draft, called ‘National Data Governance Framework Policy’, is a replacement of the now scrapped data accessibility policy.
The draft of data accessibility policy was released by the Ministry in February. It was axed as it faced severe criticism over its proposal to monetise government data.

Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy: Key guidelines

India Datasets programme: Under this initiative, private companies would be “encouraged” to share non-personal data with start-ups and Indian researchers.
No selling of data: In the older draft, there was a provision that data collected at the central level will be sold at open market. It faced widespread criticism with questions being raised about the government collecting data to monetise it in the absence of a data protection law in India. This provision has been omitted in the new draft.
India Data Management Office (IDMO): The draft calls for the creation of IDMO, which will be in-charge of designing and managing the India Datasets platform that will process requests and provide access to the non-personal datasets to Indian researchers and startups.
- IDMO will prescribe rules and standards, including anonymisation standards for all entities (government and private) that deal with data that will cause every government department to identify and classify available datasets.
- For purposes of safety and trust, any non-personal data sharing by any entity can be only via platforms designated and authorised by IDMO.

What is non-personal data?

Non-personal data is any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information.
Non-personal data essentially do not involve any information of individual that can be used to identify him/her by looking at such data.
The push to harness non-personal data was first proposed by a government committee headed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, which was set up to unlock the economic value of such data and also address concerns arising out of it.

National Data Governance Framework Policy objectives

To accelerate Digital Governance.
To have standardized data management and security standards across whole of Government
To accelerate creation of common standard based public digital platforms while ensuring privacy, safety, and trust;
To have standard APls and other tech standards for Whole of Government Data management and access.
To promote transparency, accountability, and ownership in non-personal data and Dataset’s access.
For purposes of safety and trust, any non-personal data sharing by any entity can be only via platforms designated and authorised by IDMO.
To build a platform that will allow Dataset requests to be received and processed.
To build Digital Government goals and capacity, knowledge and competency in Government departments and entities.
To set quality standards and promote expansion of India Datasets program and overall non-personal Datasets Ecosystem.
To ensure greater citizen awareness, participation, and engagement.

RBI Annual Report

GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

RBI in news: Context

Recently, RBI has released the Annual report for 2021-22. Following are some of the key highlights of the annual report.

RBI Annual Report 2022: Key highlights

Bank frauds: RBI has said that bank frauds by banks and other financial institutions in value terms more than halved in 2021-22, despite the number of instances of fraud increasing.
- The RBI data considers frauds of Rs 1 lakh and above only.
Fake currencies: After falling in 2020-21, counterfeit notes recorded a 10.7 per cent increase in 2021-22, with the Rs 500 denomination fake notes rising by 102 per cent. Similarly, fake notes of Rs 2,000 increased by 55% in 2021-22 over the previous fiscal year.
Economic recovery: The Indian economy renewed its tryst with the recovery from the pandemic in 2021-22, albeit interrupted by a virulent second wave of infections and a relatively milder third wave.
- Country’s growth prospects now essentially depend on how fast India can arrest the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Inflation: The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the consequent spike in commodity prices has “overcast the outlook for inflation” in India as in the rest of the world.
WPI increase: The RBI said that the cost-push pressures from high industrial raw material prices, transportation costs and global logistics, and supply chain bottlenecks continue to impinge on core inflation. It means there is a risk of high wholesale price inflation (WPI) putting pressure on the retail inflation.
Dividend to government: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) booked massive gains on its foreign currency sales and needed to provide much lesser for its reserves in 2020-21 (FY21), helping it to carve out a significant Rs 99,122-crore dividend for the government.
Decrease in core income: RBI’s core earnings, or interest income from its rupee and foreign exchange assets, were up just 2.3 per cent year-on-year in FY20, despite a 30 per cent rise in its assets during the same period due to the global decline in interest rates.
Increase in capital expenditure: The substantial increase in government capex outlay could crowd in private investment and propel a virtuous cycle, improving aggregate demand.

QUAD 2022 Summit

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

QUAD 2022 Summit in news?

Recently, the Quad (the U.S., India, Japan and Australia) held its second in-person leaders’ summit in Tokyo, Japan.
- This is the second interaction of the Quad leaders held after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
QUAD has emerged stronger and clearer in its strategy and goals for the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.

Associated Concerns with QUAD

Russia-Ukraine War: With India abstaining from most anti-Russia voting in multilateral bodies, experts in India worried about the impact of Ukraine on the Indo-Pacific region, particularly U.S.-India ties.
- However, it seems that India and the U.S. agreed to disagree on Ukraine.
Failure to Meet Commitments: The promise of making available at least one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to Indo-Pacific countries has fallen short.
- Excluding what the Quad countries contributed to COVAX, just 25% have been delivered to the region so far.

QUAD Summit amid Russia-Ukraine War

QUAD Summit 2022

QUAD Cooperation: The Quad agenda now covers nine sectors-
- Vaccine partnership and health security,
- Climate action,
- Critical and emerging technologies,
- Cooperation on infrastructure,
- Cyber security,
- Space cooperation,
- Education and people-to-people ties,
- Maritime domain awareness, and
- Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Investment in Infrastructure: a new commitment was made at Tokyo for the Quad to extend over $50 billion in investment and assistance to the Indo-Pacific countries over the next five years.
- While the focus is on the ASEAN countries and the Pacific Island States, a part of this funding should perhaps reach the Indian Ocean region too, with its touch points in Africa.
Cooperation on Semiconductors: The Common Statement of Principles on Critical Technology Supply Chains is significant, as it concerns cooperation on semiconductors.
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF): Joint announcement to establish IPEF was made by the Quad, seven ASEAN member-states (excluding Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos), South Korea and New Zealand.
- The plan is to prepare their economies for the future by conducting negotiations on the pillars of trade; supply chains; tax and anti-corruption and clean energy; decarbonisation and infrastructure.
India at QUAD Leader’s Summit 2022:
- India’s constructive participation in the Tokyo summit and agreement to join IPEF demonstrated commitment to strengthening its strategic partnerships in order to push back China’s dominance.
- India has also agreed to the expansion of BRICS membership. This simultaneous engagement with the Quad and BRICS is New Delhi’s strategic autonomy in full play.

New Quadrilateral Economic Forum- The Other Quad

QUAD 2022 Summit- Conclusion

The efforts by the Quad countries should be viewed not only from the prism of the summits, but also from the wider context of international developments and the continuing process of consolidation of the bilateral relations within, especially U.S.-India ties.
India’s presidency of the G20 in 2023 and the likelihood of India hosting the Quad summit in 2024 will ensure that it follows a calibrated policy and stays on track, as every major step will attract international attention.

Indo Pacific Economic Framework

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Acid Rain

What is acid rain?

Any form of precipitation i.e., rain, fog, mist, snow, that is more acidic than normal is called acid rain. Usually, precipitation whose pH of less than 5.6 is termed as acidic.
Acid rain, also called acid deposition, means any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms.
Acid rain can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic.

Cause of acid rain

When sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_X) are emitted into the atmosphere and transported by wind and air currents, it results into acid rain.
The SO₂ and NO_X react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids.
These then mix with water and other materials before falling to the ground.
Natural reason: A small portion of the SO₂ and NO_X that cause acid rain is from natural sources such as volcanoes.
Anthropogenic reason: Most of these gases comes from the burning of fossil fuels.
Major source of these gases
- Burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Two thirds of SO₂ and one fourth of NO_X in the atmosphere come from electric power generators.
- Vehicles and heavy equipment.
- Manufacturing, oil refineries and other industries.

Forms of acid deposition

Wet decomposition

When the sulfuric and nitric acids formed in the atmosphere fall to the ground mixed with rain, snow, fog, or hail, it is called wet decomposition. It is was commonly is known as acid rain.

Dry decomposition

Acidic particles and gases can also deposit from the atmosphere in the absence of moisture as dry deposition.
The acidic particles and gases may deposit to surfaces quickly or may react during atmospheric transport to form larger particles that can be harmful to human health.

Effects of acid rain

Effects on fish and wildlife: The ecological effects of acid rain are clearly visible in aquatic environments, such as streams and lakes where it can be harmful to fish and other wildlife. The young of most species are more sensitive to environmental conditions than adults. At pH 5, most fish eggs cannot hatch. At lower pH levels, some adult fish die.
Effects on plants and trees: In the areas affected by acid rain, dead or drying trees are a common sight. Acid rain leaches aluminium from the soil, which may be harmful to plants as well as animals.
Effects on materials: When acid rain and dry acidic particles fall, the nitric and sulfuric acid can land on statues, buildings, and other manmade structures, and damage their surfaces.
Effects on visibility: In the atmosphere, SO₂ and NO_X gases can be transformed into sulfate and nitrate particles, while some NO_X can also react with other pollutants to form ozone. All these particles make the air hazy and affects visibility.
Effects on human health: Many scientific studies have shown that these acidic particles effects heart function, such as heart attacks resulting in death for people with increased heart disease risk, and effects lung function, such as breathing difficulties for people with asthma.

What is ocean acidification?

When carbon dioxide (CO₂) dissolves in sea water, it forms carbonic acid, which further decreases the ocean’s pH. This process collectively known as ocean acidification.
Present ocean acidification occurs approximately ten times faster than anything experienced during the last 300 million years.

Impact of ocean acidification

Ocean acidification has the potential to change marine ecosystems and impact many ocean-related benefits to society such as coastal protection or provision of food and income.
Increased ocean temperatures and oxygen loss act concurrently with ocean acidification and constitute the ‘deadly trio’ of climate change pressures on the marine environment.
Increased sea water acidity has been demonstrated to affect the formation and dissolution of calcium carbonate shells and skeletons in a range of marine species, including corals.
Changes in species growth and reproduction, as well as structural and functional alterations in ecosystems, will threaten food security, harm fishing industries and decrease natural shoreline protection.

Thiruvananthapuram Declaration

GS 2: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Thiruvananthapuram Declaration: Context

Recently, Kerala legislative assembly hosted the first National Women Legislators’ Conference and has adopted Thiruvananthapuram Declaration on women’s reservation.

National Women Legislators’ Conference: Key points

The conference demanded immediate steps to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill which envisages 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State legislatures.
The Thiruvananthapuram Declaration lamented the trajectory of the Bill, which has been pending for 26 years, as a sullied blot on the democratic values and legislative traditions of the country.
The resolution called upon all political organisations, Union government and parliamentarians to take immediate steps for the passage of the long-standing bill.

Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008

The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008 seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
The minister pointed out that the bill could not be passed due to opposition from regional parties.
The Bill envisages 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislature. It has been pending in the Lok Sabha for the last 26 years.

Women representation in Parliament

In the last general election, 78 women were elected to the Lok Sabha even as the reservation Bill was pending legislation.
Currently, India ranks 148th in the international rankings for women’s representation in the legislature.

Defamatory remarks against women

Another resolution adopted in the conference called for a legislation to curb defamatory remarks against women.
According to the resolution, it has come to a stage where even senior women politicians are being defamed on social media.
The resolution called for a comprehensive legislation that could be implemented across the country to curb intimidation, abuse, defamatory statements and anti-feminist behaviour through social media.

Stockholm+50

Introduction

The world is all tuned in to the Stock holm+50, to be held in the same city in June this year, but with a vastly changed planet, notwithstanding the rooting of the multi-lateral environmental regime.

What was UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm?

It was the first worldwide convergence on planetary environment, with the theme “Only One Earth”.
The participating 122 countries—70 of them developing and poor countries—adopted the Stockholm Declaration on June 16, 1972.
They essentially committed to 26 principles and an action plan that set in a multilateral environmental regime.
This was the first globally subscribed document that recog- nised the “interconnections between development, poverty and the environment.”
The three dimensions of this conference were: countries agreeing not to “harm each other’s environment or the areas beyond national jurisdiction”; an action plan to study the threat to Earth’s environment; and establishment of an international body called the UN Environment programme (unep) to bring in cooperation among countries.

Stockholm declaration

Key principles agreed to at the Stockholm conference, 1972 were:

Earth’s natural resources, including air, water, land, flora and fauna, especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, must be safeguarded for the benefit of the present and future generations through careful planning or management.
The discharge of toxic substances or of other substances and the release of heat, in such quantities or concentrations as to exceed the capacity of the environment to render them harmless, must be halted in order to ensure that serious or irreversible damage is not inflicted upon ecosystems. The just struggle of the peoples of ill countries against pollution should be supported.
States shall take all steps to prevent pollution of the seas by substances that are liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea.
The environmental policies of all States should enhance and not adversely affect the present or future development potential of developing countries, nor should they hamper the attainment of better living conditions for all, and appropriate steps should be taken by States and international organizations with a view to reaching agreement on meeting the possible national and international economic consequences resulting from the application of environmental measures.
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

STOCKHOLM 2022

On June 2-3, world leaders will not discuss how the past half-century was, but how the next 50 years would be treated with emergency actions.
It is also aptly themed as “Stockholm+50: A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.”
If the Stockholm conference could accord some time to all, the current one comes without a deadline, as time has already run out.

Key Environmental Concerns Today

Since the “environmental era” started, there are no signs of a restrain on our relationship with nature.
As per UN data circulated as part of its Stockholm+50 commemoration, trade has gone up 10 times, the global economy by five times and the world population has doubled.
Human development is largely fuelled by a tripling in the extraction of natural resources, food production, and energy pro- duction and consumption over the past 50 years.
As per the unep’s “Inclusive Wealth Report 2018”, “During 1990-2014, produced capital grew at an average annual rate of 3.8%, while health and education induced human capital grew at 2.1%. Meanwhile, natural capital decreased at an annual rate of 0.7%.”
The world is on track to warm at least 3 ̊Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100— despite a temporary decline in emissions due to the pandemic.
That is double the 1.5 warming mandated in the Paris targets, which would require a 45% global emission reduction by 2030.

Conclusion

Where we are headed is a place we don’t want to go. So, the world need to fight with climate change on war footing without wasting a seconds time.