Environmentalism

D r. Ramesh Chandra Sethi

Assistant Professor
School of Law
KIIT University
What you will learn out of this lesson?

• Concept - Environment
• Problems & consequences of global warming & climate change
• Views of different religious groups on Environment
• Environmental movements in India
• What is Environmentalism ?
• Environmental movements in America
• What is Green Politics ?
•Environmental Regulations in India with reference to Indian
Constitution

• UNO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 2015-2025

• Q & A Session followed by Conclusion
Some of the Problems (global crisis) due to global warming &
climate change
Irregularities of agricultural engagement
Unemployment
Migration
Refugees
Civil wars
Poverty (due to climate change i.e. drought, famine & other issues)
Spreading of diseases

Nature: More frequent & severe weather/climate (temperature, ice melting, rising
sea level, floods, & acid rains etc.)
Life under the water & on the land related human beings, wild animals, living
and non-living elements of the earth
Understanding the environment

The surrounding in which we are living, it includes all those things

required directly or indirectly for the survival & existence of both living
& non-living components

It is the “the complex of physical, chemical & biotic (living things in

an ecosystem) factors affecting an organism & ultimately determining
its form & survival is known as environment

According to WHO - definition of environment

•Total environment including
•Behavioral, social, cultural, natural & physical factors/problems caused
by the human beings to the environment

•The environment consists of all the physical, chemical, and biological

factors external to a person, and all the related behaviors
Contribution from various religious groups on Environment

• According to Christianity - Man doesn’t have dominion

on nature he is a steward for all of creations of nature

• Hinduism - Hindus agues that hey are original

environmentalist compare to Christianity

• Buddhist - Actually, our men are born in the forest, got

enlightenment under the tree and practiced in the middle
way so, Buddhist are the original environmentalist.
Understanding of Environmentalism

• Environmentalism/Environmental movement/Environmental rights are consist of

following:
•
• Broad philosophy, ideology & as modern phenomenon, social movement to care of
and concerned about the Environment

• As a responsibility for protection, improvement, & creating a conditions for a

healthy & sustainable environment

• A product, reaction & response to the industrial revolution (dramatic environmental

consequences i.e. new resources invented, new technologies of extraction, massive
production system previously unknown to human beings, new forms of transport &
communication that could capture the whole world, for European particularly it is
massive expansion of their resources catchment)

• Access to resources of the environment

In a simple sentence for ecological definition of industrial revolution - More
people (huge population) producing more, consuming more & excreting
more, for the survival of human race in human history became imperiled by
their own action
Most of the environmentalists don’t think of “the environment”
as a mental category at all - they think of it as a real “thing” to
be protected and defended. They think of themselves, literally,
as representatives and defenders of this thing.
According to Rootes, Christopher (1999): The environmental movements are
conceived as broad networks of people and organizations engaged in collective
action in the pursuit of environmental benefits. Environmental movements are
understood to be very diverse and complex, their organizational forms ranging from
the highly organized and formally institutionalized to the radically informal, the
spatial scope of their activities ranging from the local to the almost global, the
nature of their concerns ranging from single issue to the full panoply of global
environmental concerns. Such an inclusive conception is consistent with the usage
of the term amongst environmental activists themselves and enables us to consider
the linkages between the several levels and forms of what activists call ‘the
environmental movement (Rootes, Christopher: 1999: 2).
People don’t get all the connections. They say the
environment is over here, the civil rights group is
over there, the women’s group is over there, and
the other groups are here. Actually, all of them are
one group, and the issues we fight become null
and void, if we have no clean water to drink, no
clean air to breathe and nothing to eat.
- Cora Tucker
(Environmental Justice Activist)
What is Environmental Movement?

• An environmental movement can be defined as a social or political

movement, for the conservation of environment or for the improvement
of the state of the environment.

• The environmental movements favour the sustainable management of

natural resources.

• It stresses for protection of the environment via changes in public

policy.

• Movements are centred on ecology, health and human rights.

• Environmental movements range from the highly organized and

formally institutionalized ones to the radically informal activities.

• The spatial scope of various environmental movements ranges from

being local to the almost global.
Environmental movements in India
1. Bishnoi Movement (1700s):
Place: Khejarli Marwar region, Rajasthan

Leaders: Amrita Devi along with Bishnoi

villagers Khejarli & surrounding villagers

Aim: Save the sacred trees from being cut down by

the king’s solders to build a new palace, 63 Bisnoi villagers were killed in the movement.
Result: Soon afterwards, the maharajah designated the Bishnoi state as a protected area,

forbidding harm to trees and animals. This legislation still exists today in the region.
Please read the reading materials provide to you on Bishnoi Movement
2. Chipko Movement (1973)

•Place: In (Chamoli district and later at Tehri-Garhwal district of Uttarakhand): To

protect the trees on the Himalayan slopes from the axes of contractors of the forest.

•Leaders: Sundarlal Bahuguna, Gaura Devi, and others

•Aim: To protect the trees on the Himalayan slopes from the axes of contractors of the
forest.

•Result: The then State CM-Hemawati Nandan Bahuguna, set up a Committee to look
into the matter, which eventually ruled in favor of the villagers.

•This became a turning pointing the history of eco-development struggle in the region
and around the world
3. Save Silent Valley Movement (1978) - Palakkad district of Kerala

Leaders: The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), an NGO & the poet-
activists Sughathakumari played an important role in the silent valley protests

Aim: To protect the Silent Valley, the moist evergreen forest from being
destroyed by a hydroelectric project.

Result: In November 1983, the Silent Valley Hydroelectric project was called
off.
In 1985, the then then PM Rajiv Gandhi formally inaugurated the Silent
Valley NationL Park
•

4. Jungle Bachao Andholan (1982, Singhbhum district of Bihar): Against

governments decision to replace the natural sal forest with Teak.

•Leaders: The tribals of Singhbhum district, Bihar

•The tribals of Singhbhum district of Bihar started the protest when the
government decided to replace the natural sal forests with the highly
priced teak. This movement was called by many as “Greed Game Political
Populism”, Later it was spread to Jharkhand and Odisha
5. Appiko Movement (1983, Uttar Kanada): Against the felling and commercialization of natural
forest and the ruin of ancient livelihood.
Leaders: Pandurang Hegde with support of other people. It was not formally institutionalized.
Aim: The locals embraced the trees which were to be cut by Contractors of the forest Department.

Against the felling and commercialization of natural forests and the ruin of ancient livelihood

Result: The movement got success and the project was stopped.
6. Narmada Bachao Andholan (1985, Gujarat, M.P.,
Maharashtra):
A social movement against a number of large dams
being built across the Narmada River
which flows through the States of Gujarat, M.P.,
& Maharashtra.

Leaders: Media Patker, Baba Amte, Adivasis,

Farmers Environmentalists, and Human Rights Activists

Aim: A social movement against a number of

large dams being built across the Narmada river

Result: This movement was not success but received the attention of the Super Court (SC) and the SC gave the
following order:

In October 2000, the Supreme Court gave a judgment approving the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam
with a condition that height of the dam could be raised to 90 m. This height is much higher than the 88 m which
anti-dam activists demanded, but it is definitely lower than the proposed height of 130 m. The project is now
largely financed by the State Governments and market borrowings. The project is expected to be fully
completed by 2025.
7. Tehri Dam Conflict (1990s):

•Place: Bhagirathi River near Tehri

in Uttarakhand
Leaders: Sundarlal Bahuguna

Aim: To protest was against the

displacement of town inhabitants &

environmental consequences of
the weak ecosystem

Result: It had attracted national attention in 1990s. The

movement was failed to gather enough popular support
at the national as well as international levels
Understanding Environmentalism
•Environmentalism/Environmental Movement are consist of following:

•Broad philosophy, ideology & as modern phenomenon, social movement to care of

and concerned about the Environment

•It is a belief that environmental protection is a significant ethical, social & political
value

•As a responsibility for protection, improvement, & creating a conditions for a

healthy & sustainable environment

•A product, reaction & response to the industrial revolution (dramatic environmental

consequences i.e. new resources invented, new technologies of extraction, massive
production system previously unknown to human beings, new forms of transport &
communication that could capture the whole world, for European particularly it is
massive expansion of their resources catchment)

•Environmentalist considers the environment only in terms of accessing the

resources from the environment for human life support system
The importance of environmental issue is now so widely
acknowledge that social & political activists are almost as
likely to claim a commitment to principles of
environmentalism as they are to those of democracy

The environmental activists believe it is not enough to aim for

policies that deal with problems as they arise. Rather, it is
necessary to rethink the basic organization of the societies
that generate such problems in the 1st place.

Environmentalism argues for a managerial approach to

environmental problems, secure in the belief that they can be
solved without fundamental changes in the present value or
patterns of production & consumption

Ecologism believe that a sustainable & fulfilling existence

presupposes radical changes in our relationship with the non-
human natural world, & in our mode of social & political life
American Environmental Movement:
During 19th Century American Environmentalist
had focused on community beautification & public
hygiene as a part of public health to a broader
concern with ecological identity & a sense of place.
With regard to sense of place, they say it is because
mistrustful of science & management. The
environmental problems are largely caused by
failed attempts of manage complex systems, so you
need to have more intensive management to the
solutions of the failures.
Think Globally and Act Locally:

•Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment - 1972

•Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit - 1992

•World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa - 2002

•International communities have agreed to take global action on primarily local problems

•Local Politics and Environment

•Government actions on local environmental problems

•Partnerships between Governments, INGOs, NGOs & Transnational Corporations should

work together on partnership basis for the global environmental problems by giving priority
to their local environmental issues
•Mobilizing the resources for a free earth
• Please Read the materials provided to you on Think Globally and Act Locally
•
Partnerships Coordinate Action on Sustainable Development
The following to make the partnership program more effective:
(a) establishing a learning network;
(b) increasing the transparency of partnerships;
(c)increasing private sector and small stakeholder
participation;

(d) establishing an institutional home to support partnerships; &

(e)ensuring that the partner- ships are consistent with
multilateral priorities.
Two School of thoughts by American Environmentalist
A. First Era (1870s): Conservation and Preservation (Resource
exploitation dominated development patterns in the West)
1. The philosophies of Conservation: Emphasized the efficient
use and development of physical resources to combat inefficient
and management. First era emphasized the protection or
efficient management of the natural environment

Conservationists put forth a developmental strategy based on

efficiency, scientific management, centralized control, and
organized economic development. It believes in management
systems, which were created to emphasize the balance between
immediate and long-term production necessary to sustain a
continuous yield.
2. The philosophies of Preservation:

American frontier ideology and notions of the environment as

defined in terms of wildernesss. It means simply resources for
human consumptions, rather, wilderness has an independent
value as a “fountain of life”. They emphasized wildernesss with
religious sacredness.

They focus on rights use of wildernesss resources by

combating waste and spoilage associated with unregulated
private development & the science & technology would
enhance the value of preservation & the necessity of wilderness
B. Second Era (1960s): The Rise of Modern Environmentalism in the 1960s

•Modern environmentalism is based on the cleanup & control of pollution

•Modern environmentalism displayed “social roots” decided absent from the first era

•Modern environmentalism transformed from top-down control by technical &

managerial leaders into bottom-up grassroots demands from citizens and citizen
groups.

•By the late 1960s, activists began to link the destruction of the natural environment
to he complex interplay of new technology, to industry, political power, and economic
power.

•Grassroots community groups arose to support family and community autonomy

against the powerful institutional forces of corporate industry and government
bureaucracy.

•Concerns regarding human health led to demands for increased activism to make
natural environment more available for use & ward off threats from industrial
production
C. Third Era (1970s): Mainstream Environmentalism

•The 1970s marked as the emergence of new issues regarding toxic

chemicals, energy, & the possibilities of social, economic & political
decentralization brought greater publicity & momentum to the
movement

•The energy crisis during the 1973 to 1974 alarmed the American
public. Shortages of oil etched into the American experience the
natural limits of human consumption.

•In 2nd July1970, President Nixon had passed the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) bill & passes variety of environmental laws
& policies & finally in this process environmental issues themselves
became “mainstream.”
D. Fourth Era: Grassroots Environmentalism

•Grassroots environmentalism embraces the principles of ecological

democracy & is distinguished from mainstream environmentalism by
its belief in citizen participation in environmental decision making.

•Mainstream environmental organizations as too accommodating to

both industry and government, grassroots groups utilize “community
right-to-know laws, citizen-enforcement provisions in federal and state
legislation, and local input in waste clean-up methodology and siting
decisions.”

• The variety of environmental issues addressed by these groups

include: toxic abatement; ecological economics; civil rights; human
rights; secular and religious issues; and wilderness preservation.
Green Politics/Global Green Politics
1. Historical background of Green Politics
• Green parties were born in the early 1970s, grew in the 1980s and green politics is
now a global phenomenon.

• In1983, 28 Members of the German Green Party were elected to the West German
parliament. Dressed informally in jeans, some of them brought in plants to place on
their desks. Their colorful arrival contrasted with the suited members from the
traditional parties.

• The German Greens were elected into national parliament in 1983 with four key
elements: ecology, social justice, peace and grassroots democracy.

• Green politics is first & foremost the politics of ecology; a campaign to preserve the
planet from corporate greed, so we can act as good ancestors to future generations.
Focus areas of Green Politics (GP)

•Andrew Dobson (English Green Party member and academician) says about GP
is a distinct political ideology & they are more concerned about the environment.
There are 4 pillars of green politics:

•The 1st pillar - Ecology: Protection of the environment in a holistic perspectives

•The 2nd pillar - Social justice: It is vital in their politics, social justice element is
the central idea of the greens on their political spectrum.

•The 3rd pillar - Grassroots democracy: also distinguishes greens from many
traditional socialists who have often promoted centralized governance of
societies.

•The 4th pillar - Nonviolence: Green parties evolved partly out of the peace
movement and oppose war, the arms trade and solutions based on violence
Protection of the Environment with reference to Indian Constitution
• Indian Constitution – Article 48A:
In the Directive Principles of State Policy, Article 48-A was inserted which
enjoins the State to make endeavor for protection and improvement of the
environment and for safeguarding the forest and wildlife of the country (42nd
Amendment w.e.f. 3 January 1977).

• Indian Constitution (Part-IVA-FD) – Article 51-A (G)

It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the
natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have
compassion for living creatures (42nd Amendment w.e.f. 3 January 1977).
The SDGs were born at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in
2012. The major objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent
environmental, political & economic challenges facing our world.

The following Global Goals are included under SDGs:

1. No Poverty, 2. Zero Hunger, 3. Good Health & Well-Being, 4. Quality Education,
5. Gender Equality, 6. Clean Water & Sanitation,7. Affordable & Clean Energy, 8.
Decent Work & Economic Growth, 9. Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, 10.
Reduced Inequalities, 11. Sustainable Cities & Communities, 12. Responsible
Consumption & Production, 13. Climate Action, 14. Life Below Water, 15. Life &
Land, 16. Peace, Justice & Strong Institution, 17. Partnership for the Goals

The SDGs came into effect in Jan. 2016, & it will continue to guide UNDP policy & funding
until 2030. As the lead UN development agency, UNO will implement the Goals through it’s
various work in 170 countries & territories.
Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet
&ensure that all people enjoy peace & prosperity.

6. Clean Water & Sanitation:

• Water scarcity affects more than 40% of people around the world. Goal is by 2030,
achieve universal & equitable access to safe & affordable drinking water for all

• At least 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water that is
contaminated

• 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines

• Everyday, 1,000 children die due to preventable water & sanitation related diarrhea
diseases
 17. Partnership for Goals: The SDGs can only
be realized with a strong commitment to global
partnership & cooperation

The world today is more interconnected than ever before. Improving access to
technology and knowledge is an important way to share ideas and foster innovation.
The goals aim to enhance North-South & South-South Cooperation by supporting
national plans to achieve all the targets.
• According to the report published by The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, 2018:
Pollution is the world’s largest environmental cause & premature deaths
• In 2015, diseases caused by pollution were responsible for 9 million premature deaths that is
16% of all global deaths.

• Nearly 92 percent of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries.

• The cost of inaction is high, while solutions yield enormous economic gains.

• Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated at $4.6 trillion per year - 6.2 percent of global
economic output.

• In United States, investment in pollution control has returned $200 billion each year since 1980
($6 trillion total).
We can all help to make a difference & achieve the goals:

• Governments: Governments can integrate pollution challenges and

control strategies into planning processes.

• Design & implement programs that reduce pollution, & save lives.
End government subsidies & tax breaks for polluting industries.

• Work together: Governments, International Organizations,

International Development Agencies, Civil Societies & NGOs

• International donors, foundations, health professionals, and individuals

should prioritize funding for pollution planning, interventions, and
research.
References:
• Alan Finlayson (Edited), Contemporary Political Thought: A Reader &
Guide, Edinburgh University Press, 2003, pp. 351-358 & 386-413.

• Stacy J. Silveirs, The American Environmental Movements: Surviving

Through Diversity, Source: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/
journals/bcealr/28_2-3/07_TXT.htm

• United Nations Development Programmes, Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs), Source: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/
sustainable-development-goals.html

•Thinking Globally and Acting Locally: Can the Johannesburg

Partnerships Coordinate Action on Sustainable Development?,
Source: https://www.princeton.edu/~mauzeral/papers/
Hale.Mauzerall.JED.final.pdf
Q & A Session