Environment and Sustainable

development
• What is environment and why to study environment?

• What is difference between need and wants?

• What is difference between quality of life and standard of life?
What is Happy Planet Index?

• What is environment have to do with development ?

• What is sustainable development? (How It’s different from development?

• What are the three pillars of sustainable development? and how they are
interlinked?

• What is egg of sustainability model developed by IUCN?

• What is ecological footprint ? What is carrying capacity of a habitat?

7 Year Old

?
 What is Environment?

Living Organism and its Surroundings-

Our Home- Mother Earth

HOME- She is alive: 7 min film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeXdv-uPaw
She is Alive, Unique, Finite, Complex,

Supporting Life
 Gaia Hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis/ Gaia theory proposes that
living organisms interact with their abiotic
surroundings on Earth to form a self regulating
complex system that helps to maintain the
conditions for LIFE on the planet.
The hypothesis was formulated by the James Lovelock
•We are highly dependent on our environment for our
•food,
•air, water,
•agriculture,
•fuel wood,
•fodder,
•fish.
•Plant and animal communities and Web of life

•We are just a part of that Web of Life

•We can not live without natural resources

•Ancient time Human being use to respect our Mother Earth

•All our traditions are based on these values.

Emperor Ashoka’s edict proclaimed that all forms of life are

. important for our well being in Fourth Century BC
The World’s changing scenario
Human beings used to live in harmony with Nature

Hunters and Gatherers in Forests and Grasslands

Agriculture dependent on rain, River and streams.

Ability to grow food increased

Dug Well…Use of Ground water, build dam

Recently ...Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides

Industrialization…

Consumer goods….
More Use of Energy.. Transport
Consequences of overexploitation:
- Easter Island

- Madagascar Island

- Tuvalu Island

- Lohachara Island (Sunderbans)

Assignment: Presentation on each island story by students

 WANTS/ GREED

I want More , I want More and More

and More

More cloths, More Food, More

houses, More cars, More
mobiles…more …more
Greatest Challenge
World population
 Truth or Myth ?
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT &
Industrialization
is the
ONLY ANSWER
 Nature is supreme

■ We can not imitate process of

■ photosynthesis in Laboratories

■ We can’t have factories of Rice, Wheat,

Mangoes, Bananas and we can not survive on
Nuts and Bolts
■ We need land to do agriculture
 Nature is Supreme
■ Formula of Mother’s Milk

■ Formula of Blood -
■ We have to donate Blood

■ Ecosystem services worth 70 trillion dollars

per year globally-Study by UN
 Nature’s wonders
■ Migratory Birds.

We can’t mimic Chameleon Butterflies colours optical prism

Movement of snake.
Coordination of Centipede,
Lizard walks on wall.
Muscle strength of grass hoppers
 Answer to all problem
Modern Development
What kind of future we are heading forward?

ARE WE Really HAPPY?

WATER SCARCITY
Water (Living Planet Report 2014)
World:
• 80 countries of the world suffer from serious water
shortages: Global water demand is expected to
increase by 40% (LPI 2014)
• 768 million people, have no access to safe
drinking water.
• Half the population lacks sanitation facilities.
India:
• No drinking water in more than 60,000 villages
• Diarrhea kills one million children per year
• 45 million affected by bad water per year
 Air Pollution
■ Caused by gaseous pollutants
■ Burning of fossil fuels
■ Vehicular pollution

■ Acid rains
 Air Pollution
Alarming Facts

• -At least one billion people in the

world breathe unhealthy air.

• -More than 2 million people globally die prematurely

every year due to outdoor and indoor air pollution.

• -Out of the 23 mega cities, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmadabad

and Mumbai are most polluted cities
• -Out of 10 children, one is suffering from asthma in
Delhi
Carry Oxygen Cylinder
Global Warming

Earth's surface
temperature increased
by an estimated 0.6°C
in the 20th century
 Global Warming

■ Sea level rise due to the melting of

the polar ice caps and glaciers

Flooding of the low lying coastal

areas and islands
Sunderbans

Lohachara Island

WWF-Film
■ Currently we have a level of around 380 ppm
(parts per million) of CO2 in our atmosphere.

■ Scientist’s current view is that the "point of no

return" is at a level of around 500 ppm of CO2.

■ If we continue on our present course we'll reach

this level around 2030. This could spell disaster
for all of us.

■ Source: Measurements from peak of Mauna Loa mountain in

Hawaii
 Impacts of Global warming
Cyclones, hurricanes, floods, changing pattern in rainfall

Famine, Droughts, Agricultural loss, Food shortage, Malnutrition

Vector born diseases

Loss of forest, ecosystem, biodiversity, 1700 plants, animals and

insects species moved pole wards at an average rate about 4
miles per decade in the last half of the 20th Century.

Mass death of coral reefs because of coral

bleaching World wide

Islands in Sunderban sinking,

Threat to Bengal Tiger

Over the past 25 years, penguin populations
have shrunk by 33 percent in parts of Antarctica, due to
declines in winter sea-ice habitat.

According to a new global study 90 percent of all large

fishes have disappeared from the world's oceans in the
past half century.

The golden toad (Bufo periglenes) and the harlequin frog

(Atelopus varius) of Costa Rica have disappeared as a
direct result of global warming
 The Uttarakhand Disaster

Natural or Manmade? Nature protects only if she is protected

 Hunger
One billion people suffer from hunger

Industrialization of Agriculture: Debt

trap….. Farmers’ Suicide

Green revolution….Use of Chemical Fertilizers, Pesticides

Use of Energy intensive equipment, Monoculture, Cash crop

Monopolization of Corporate companies like Monsanto

GM Crops. Environmental health impact is not studied

Middlemen- Huge Margin and loot farmers

 Pesticide Pollution
■Persistent Organic Pollutants
(DDT is found in Mother’s milk)

■ Kasargoad- Endosulphon

■ Health impact: Cancer, birth

defects, mental retardations,
Infertility etc.

■ Cancer train from Bhatinda to

Bikaner
 DEFORESTATION

■ Soil degradation
■ Loss of Bio-diversity 52 % loss
between 1970 to 2010
■ Loss of habitats
 Therapeutic pollution
■ The decline of Asian vultures is
one of the steepest declines
experienced by any bird species

■ As few as one in 760 carcasses

containing diclofenac at a dose
lethal to vultures would be
sufficient to cause the observed
decline in vulture numbers
(30% per year).

■ Clearly, even small-scale usage

of the drug can have
catastrophic consequences.
Living Planet Index: 2014
 Loss of Forests, Wetlands
(Mangroves, Corals, refer details in Ecology PPT)

• Oxygen and water

• Conserve soils and their fertility
• Stabilize Climatic conditions
• Decomposition of wastes
• Maintenance of Biodiversity
• Provision of aesthetic beauty and intellectual and
spiritual stimulation for the human spirit
Ecosystems provide 70 trillion dollars worth
services per year Globally: UN report
 Every Single day
■ We are losing
• 300 km2 of rainforest, (1 acre / second)
• 186 km2 land due to desertification,
• Loss of Biodiversity (40 to 100 species)
■ And we are adding
• 250,000 people
• 15 million tons of carbon.
• 2,700 tons of CFC (chlorofluorocarbons)

Tonight the Earth will be a little hotter, its

waters more acidic"
 Endangered Indian Wildlife

@ Arun P R
 Noise Pollution
Alarming facts

Sources of Noise pollution:

Industrial activities
Vehicular traffic, Road/Rail/Air ..
Festivals, crackers/
Loud speakers

Effects of Noise pollution

Short term: disorientation, disruption in
muscular responses etc
Long term: general stress, blood
pressure, heart attack, sleep interference.
Can you guess what this is?
How about now?
Certainly now, it is obvious!!
Land Pollution
 Land Pollution:

□ Waste Generation: 0.5 Kg/capita/day;

□ 9 major metropolitan cities generate
approximately. 8.5 million tones of garbage
per annum.
□ Mumbai produces 7500 tons of Garbage
everyday
□ Bangalore produces 1200 tons
Are we Happy?
 No, We are not happy… Why?
1. Over-exploitation of Natural Resources'
✓Resources are limited and Wants are Unlimited
✓ We are becoming Selfish: We want more and more
✓ Ever increasing Population in developing countries

Eg: Helicopter from one floor to other floor

Mahatma Gandhi Says Earth has enough for Every body’s

Need but for not every once greed
 What is difference between

Need and Want?

Activity1: Our Planet is
sinking
Imagine…Our Planet, Earth is sinking

We have to vacate Earth and move to other Planet

Space ship:
15 things….10 things…5 things
 What is happiness?
■ What’s difference between Standard of living & Quality of life
■ Rich is equal to Happy…. Is it true???
■ GDP only Economic Growth
■ HAPPY PLANET INDEX: Life expectancy,
Experienced well-being & low Ecological Footprint

Health, individual vitality, opportunities to undertake meaningful,

engaging activities, inner resources that help one cope when things go
wrong, close relationships with friends and family, belonging to a wider
community)

■ www.happyplanetindex.org/data/
 Ecological Footprint > Bio-capacity

Ecological Footprint
Area (in ha) required to supply the amount of natural
resources ie Food, Water, Fuel, Fiber, land we need.
■ Forest we need to absorb pollution/CO2.

Bio-capacity :
■ is the amount of biologically productive land & sea
area that is available to regenerate these resources
We are overshooting the Bio-capacity
■Exercise: Carbon footprint calculator
 In 2010, global
ecological footprint
was 18.1 billion gha,
or 2.6 gha per capita.

Earth’s total bio-

capacity was 12
billion gha, or 1.7 gha
per capita.

WWF Living Planet Index Report 2014

Planetary Boundaries
The framework was first introduced in 2009,
when a group of 28 internationally renowned
scientists identified and quantified the first set of
nine planetary boundaries within which humanity
can continue to develop and thrive for generations
to come.

Crossing these boundaries could generate

abrupt or irreversible environmental changes.
Respecting the boundaries reduces the risks to
human society of crossing these thresholds.
Disparity: Developed-Developing countries
■ Demand is not even

■ Developed countries consume at much

faster rate

■ Ecological footprint per capita of high

income countries remains five time more
than the low income countries
 Local need, global pressure
Low income countries High income countries
■ Low- income countries ■ High income countries
have the smallest maintain greater per
footprint, but suffer the capita footprint than the
greatest ecosystem amount of biocapacity
losses available per person on
this planet
■ They show a marked
■ They show an increase in
decline in biodiversity biodiversity
■ They import resources
from the low income
countries
 So what should we do ?
Shall we go back and live in
the Forests?
What kind of Future we want?
The development which
meets the needs of the
present generation without
compromising the needs of
future generation.
Development with minimum impact on
Environment

Inclusive development : All sectors in

the Society
Sustainable Development
Development at the cost of whom?
livelihood of poor communities?
Egg Shell Model
 Fundamental dependency on
Ecosystems and Environment:
People are dependent on Environment for food, water and land

Ecosystem sustain Societies and Societies create

economies…It’s not other way round

Human beings are just product of Natural World

No development is possible without Natural resources

We must live within the carrying capacity of the planet

Not protecting Ecosystems is like Seating on

the Tree branch and cutting the same branch
Video: Gao Chodeb Nahi
Path way towards
Sustainability
 Conservation of Natural Resources

✓Conservation of Forest, Wetlands, Rivers, Lakes

✓Peoples’ Actions

✓Chipko Movement (1973)

✓Silent Valley movement (1973) (to protect

forest in palakkad)

http://www.thebetterindia.com/16294/couple-man-made-
wildlife-sanctuary-hosts-animals-like-bengal-tigers/
 Water Conservation
■ Watershed management
■ Rain Water harvesting
■ Traditional Water
conservation systems
Water : Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Dry toilets, Fixtures to reduce water usage

Waste Water treatment

Sewage treatment plants

Conventional wastewater treatment is expensive and energy-
intensive (1800-8000 KWh/MG). We are already in an energy
crisis!

Constructed Wetlands, Root Zone treatment, Bio-digester

bacteria- DRDO
Renewable Energy
Solar Energy: Sunlight is unlimited and free of cost

Technology, innovation –to develop cost effective and efficient

systems

Arizona in US: A 290-megawatt project and the largest solar-

panel power plant -electricity to California

Dharnai Village India

• Wind Energy

• Biomass energy

• Geothermal Energy
Sustainable Farming
Traditional Agriculture

Organic manure, Mulching.

Poly culture

indigenous varieties are resistant to pest and adaptable to climatic

conditions

No to Chemical fertilizers, Pesticides, GM crops

Low input cost

High nutritive value and healthy food with out Chemicals

Bhutan is 100% Organic

Bhutan: Green and Happy
http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/12/24/bhutan-environmental-conservation

Avoiding globalization and staying isolated from the world. –

Happiest Country in Asia

Bhutan's progressive environmental standards are so impressive,

they're becoming discussion points at climate change and
environmental events.

Bhutan’s Constitution says 60% of the forest must be preserved

100% Organic

TED talk on Sustainable development in Bhutan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lc_dlVrg5M

See more at: http://www.oneworldeducation.org/bhutan-worlds-happiest-

country#sthash.w1wjA2Aa.dpuf
 SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
•Cleaner technologies
•Cleaner fuel
•Green buildings
•Reducing GHG Emissions
•Water, energy conservation, Renewable energy
•Waste minimization
•Industrial Ecology (Closed loop economy)
•Using Recycled material
•Product lifecycle approach
•Fair trade
•Sustainability Report/CSR
 POPULATION
■ Ever-increasing population in
developing Countries

■ Carrying capacity

■ POPULATION CONTROL
 SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE
■ Change in Consumption Pattern.
Developed countries: We follow them
blindly. AC …CAAAR

Solution
 I am supreme: Everything is for me
and for my well being

■ Human being think whole universe is for them

■ Every single species has equal right to live on this
planet
■ Nature is Supreme
■ If we disturb natural cycles, break natures rules, our
existence itself will be in Question
 Attitudinal Change
■ Short term benefits
■ No empathy towards fellow human-beings,
Neighbor, Neighboring Country
■ My profit and wellbeing at the cost of
whom?
■ Nero’s Guest

■ Vasudhaivam Kutumbakam

Loka samasta Sukhino Bhavantu

 Tragedy of the common
English economist William F L published an article giving
hypothetical example of over-use of a common resource.

This was the situation of cattle herders sharing a common parcel of

land on which they are each entitled to let their cows graze, as was the
custom in English villages. He postulated that if a herder put more than
his allotted number of cattle on the common, Overgrazing could result.

For each additional animal, a herder could receive additional benefits,

but the whole group shared damage to the commons. If all herders
made this individually rational economic decision, the common could be
depleted or even destroyed, to the detriment of all.
Policies and governance

✓ Pro-Environmental Policies

✓ Implementation of laws

✓ Awareness…Peoples’ Actions
Earth Charter
The Earth Charter Initiative is a global
movement of organizations and
individuals that embrace
the Earth Charter and use it to guide the
transition towards a more just,
sustainable, and peaceful world.

http://earthcharter.org/
 International Agreements

Stockholm Convention , 1972 :Regional pollution &

acid rain problems of Northern Europe was discussed.
Establishment of UNEP.
Montreal Protocol,1987 :On substances that deplete
ozone layer.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
1988 :Established to access the most up-to-date
scientific, technical and socio economic research in
climate change field.
Basal Convention, 1989 :To control Trans-boundary
movements of hazardous waste & their disposal.
 International Agreements
Earth Summit, 1992:
Held in Rio de Janeiro by UNCED and reached on
Agenda 21, the convention on biological diversity, the
frame work on Climate Change, the Rio declaration.
World Trade Organisation, 1995:
WTO was established for formal recognition of trade,
environment and development linkages.
ISO 14001, 1996:
Formal adoption as a voluntary international standard
for corporate environmental management systems.
International Agreements

Kyoto Protocol,1997
Arranged by UNFCCC to sign Kyoto Protocol.
This document commits developed nations to
reduce overall emissions of GHGs by atleast
5% below 1990 levels between 2008 & 2012.
Emission trading, certified emission reduction
between developed countries and CDM for
developing countries.
 Environment related laws

• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• CRZ Notification 1991
• EIA Notification 1994
• National Green Tribunal 2010
• The Hazardous waste (Management and
Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003

• Mangrove order by Mumbai High Court

To keep a watch on the
environmental problems………..
Watch Dogs
Peoples’ Action:
Ralph Emerson 1840
Spoke of the dangers of commerce to our environment way
back in the 1840s.

John Muir, 1890, Forest conservation in US. Sierra club, which is

a major conservation NGO in the USA

Rachel Carson 1960s

Rachel Carson published several articles & book ‘Silent Spring’
that caused immediate worldwide concern on the effects of
pesticides on nature and man kind which eventually led to a
change in Government policy and public awareness.

EO Wilson 1993
is an entomologist who envisioned that biological diversity was
a key to human survival on earth. He wrote ‘Diversity of Life’
Wangairi Maathai: Kenya, Nobel prize, Green belt Movement

Sunderlal Bahugna
Chipko Movement -an internationally well-known example.
Fought to prevent the construction of the Tehri Dam in a fragile
earthquake prone setting. Walked 20,000Km walk. Gadhwal hills

Medha Patkar (Video): Narmada Bachao Andolan: Supported

downtrodden tribal people whose livelihood is being affected by
the dams on the Narmada river.

Vandana Shiva (Video) Navdanya, Sustainable Agriculture, GMO

issues

Madhav Gadgil: Ecologist in India. Community Biodiversity

Registers and conserving sacred groves. Western-Ghat EMP

Ramesh Aggarwal, Green Nobel Prize, Illegal mining in

Chhattisgarh.
MK Prasad, Sugath Kumari, VS Vijayan
Kerala shastra sahitya parishad
Save silent valley campaign to save pristine evergreen forest in
Kerala from construction of Hydroelectric dam in Kerala

M C Mehta: Environmental lawyer. Since 1984, several PIL for

environmental conservation. protecting the Taj Mahal,
cleaning up the Ganges River, banning intensive shrimp farming
on the coast, initiating Government to implement environmental
education in schools and colleges.

Anil Agarwal first report on the ‘State of India’s Environment’ in

1982. Founder of the Center for Science and Environment -an
active NGO working on various environmental issues.

Anna Hazare, Rajendra Singh: Watershed Management,

Sustainable rural development
Organizations in Environment
•Bombay Natural History Society
•World Wildlife Fund for Nature
•Green Peace
•Centre for Environment Education
•CP Ramasamy Environment Education
•Centre for Science and Environment..Down to Earth
•Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute for Environment Education
•Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology & Natural History
•Uttarkhand Seva Nidhi (UKSN), Almora
•Kalpavriksha, Pune
•Botanical Survey of India
•Zoological Survey of India
•Wildlife Institute of India
•Kerala Forest Research Institute
•ATREE
 Summary
We do not inherit the Earth from our
ancestors, we borrow it from our children
 SOLUTIONS
■ WWF’s “One Planet Perspective” outlines
better choices for managing, using and
sharing natural resources within the
planet’s limitations- so as to ensure food,
water and energy security for all.
■ PRESERVE NATURAL CAPITAL
■ PRODUCE BETTER
■ CONSUME MORE WISELY
■ REDIRECT FINANCIAL FLOWS
■ EQUITABLE RESOURCE GOVERNANCE
 SOLUTIONS
■ PRESERVE NATURAL CAPITAL:
I. Restore damaged ecosystems
II. Halt the loss of priority habitats
III. Significantly expand protected areas
■ PRODUCE BETTER:
I. Reduce inputs and waste
II. Manage resources sustainably
III. Scale-up renewable energy production
 SOLUTIONS
■ CONSUME MORE WISELY:
I. Through low-Footprint lifestyles
II. Sustainable energy use
III. Healthier food consumption patterns

■ REDIRECT FINANCIAL FLOWS:

I. Value nature
II. Account for social and environmental costs
III. Support and reward conservation

IV. Sustainable resource management and

innovation
 SOLUTIONS
■ EQUITABLE RESOURCE
GOVERNANCE:
I. Share available resources
II. Make fair and ecologically informed

choices
III. Measure success beyond GDP
 What can I do?
Sustainable lifestyle: Reducing our Ecological Footprint

➢Reduce Reuse and Recycle (Buddha’s Story)

STORY OF THE STUFF, STORY OF THE CHANGE (Videos)
➢Conserve water, electricity
➢Use common transport system
➢Do not buy leather, Fur and Ivory products
➢Minimise the use of plastic.
➢Buy products from Environmentally responsible companies
➢Participation in Public hearings
➢Be vigilant. Report violations to Police or Forest Department
 Participation in plantation drives, awareness
campaigns

•Generating awareness among the Society

Visit Natural forests and Sanctuaries and feel the

Nature.

•Respect every ones right to live

Join hands with organizations such as BNHS, WWF,

Green Peace etc., which are working for Nature
Conservation & Environment protection. Be member
of your university/ College Nature club

ARE YOU READY to BECOME YOUNG

ENVIRONMENTALIST?
Ambassador of Change?
WE KNOW WHERE WE WANT TO BE

WE KNOW HOW TO GET THERE

NOW WE NEED TO GET MOVING!

 It’s high time to take action

Together We Can make a big difference

Dr Maya Mahajan (PhD Environmental Sciences)

Associate Professor
Centre For Sustainable Future

Coimbatore 641 112

Email: maya.arun@gmail.com
Cell: 09489518865