Q.1. Explain any two outcomes of the ‘Earth Summit’ held in June 1992 at Rio-de-Janeiro. [2024]
Ans. Outcomes:
(i) A list of development practices called “Agenda 21” were recommended.
(ii) There was consensus on sustainable development.
(iii) The principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ was accepted.
Q.2. Analyse any two reasons as to why issues of environment and natural resources have become a part of the World Politics. [2024]
Ans. Reasons:
(i) Throughout the world cultivable area is barely expanding any more and a substantial portion of existing agricultural land is loosing fertility.
(ii) About 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access to safe drinking water.
(iii) Natural forest are being cut down throughout the world which has disestablished the climate.
(iv) A steady decline in the total amount of ozone is taking place in the earth’s stratosphere which is posing real danger to eco system.
(v) These issues can be solved at the global level by cooperation of the governments of various countries.
Q.3. Highlight any four outcomes of the ‘Earth Summit’ held in June 1992 at Rio. [2023]
Ans. Outcomes of the Earth Summit 1992:
(i)The environmental issues were brought into the focus of global politics.
(ii) A list of development practices called “Agenda 21” were recommended.
(iii) Sustainable development was emphasized upon.
(iv) The rich and the developed countries pursued different agenda than the poor and developing environmental countries of the third world.
(v)The principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ was accepted.
Q.4. “Globalisation is the outcome of developed technology.” Support the statement with two examples. [2023]
Ans. Globalisation is the outcome of developed technology as:
(i) Better communication technology has promoted the flow of ideas by smartphones, internet, telephone, etc.
(ii) The flow of ideas, capital, commodities and people to move more easily from one part of the world to another with the help of developed technology.
Q.5. “Development mostly causes degradation of environment.” Justify the statement referring to two environmental movements. [2023]
Ans. Development mostly causes degradation of environment as:
(i) Industrialisation and urbanisation have resulted in deforestation which increased environmental pollution. The forest movements of the South, in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, continental Africa and India started the movement against deforestation.
(ii) The minerals industry also harm the environment by extraction of earth, use of chemicals, pollution of waterways and land is increased. Philippines started a movement against an Australian based MNC known as Western Mining Corporation.
(iii) Building of large dams on the rivers in different countries is another serious cause of the environmental degradation. The early 1980s saw the first anti-dam movement launched to save the Franklin River and its surrounding forests in Australia. India has had some of the leading anti-dam, pro-river movements named Narmada Bachao Andolan is one of the best known of these movements to save environment.
Q.6. Suggest any two measures to conserve the natural resources. [2023]
Ans. (i) 3 Rs- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
(ii) Save forests – Plant more trees
(iii) Use renewable sources of energy
(iv) Obey international rules, regulation and environmental laws.
Q.7. Which among the following best explains the reason for growing concerns about the environment?
(i) The developed countries are concerned about projecting nature.
(ii) Protection of the environment is vital for indigenous people and natural habitats.
(iii) The environmental degradation caused by human activities has become pervasive and has reached a dangerous level.
(iv) None of the above.
Ans. (iii) The environmental degradation caused by human activities has become pervasive and has reached a dangerous level.
Q.8. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements about the Earth Summit:
(i) It was attended by 170 countries, thousands of NGOs and many MNCs.
(ii) The Summit was held under the aegis of the UN.
(iii) For the first time, global environmental issues were firmly consolidated at the political level.
(iv) It was a summit meeting.
Ans. (i) Correct
(ii) Incorrect
(iii) Correct
(iv) Incorrect
Q.9. Which of the following are true about the Global Commons?
(i) The earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor and outer space are considered as part of the Global Commons.
(ii) The Global Commons are outside sovereign jurisdiction.
(iii) The question of managing the Global Commons has reflected the North–South divide.
(iv) The countries of the North are more concerned about the protection of the Global Commons than the countries of the South.
Ans.(i) The earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor and outer space are considered as part of the Global Commons.
Q.10. Why were developing countries exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol?
Ans. The parties to the Protocol agreed that the largest share of global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries. It was acknowledged that per capita emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide was still relatively low in developing countries. Therefore, developing countries such as India and China were exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.
Q.11. List any four areas or regions which come under ‘Global Commons’.
Ans. Global Commons include :
(i) The Earth’s atmosphere
(ii) Antarctica
(iii) Ocean floor
(iv) Outer space
Q.12. What is Global Commons? Why is it said that international co-operation over the global commons is not easy?
OR
Explain the meaning of Global Commons. Give any four examples of global commons.
Ans. (i) Global Commons are the resources which are not owned by any one country but rather owned by international community such as the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and the outer space.
(ii) It is difficult to achieve consensus on common environmental agenda.
(iii) History of outer space, as a global common, shows that the management of these areas is influenced by North–East inequalities.
(iv) The benefits of exploitative activities in outer space are far from being equal either for the present or the future.
Q.13. Explain the importance and role of concept common but differentiated responsibilities pertaining to environment.
OR
What is meant by common but differentiated responsibilities? How could we implement the idea?
OR
Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies required by states to save planet Earth. Substantiate the statement in the light of the ongoing negotiations between the North and the South on environmental issues.
Ans. Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies to save the planet Earth by the states but the states from North and South have different notions towards environmental issues.
(i) The Northern states or the First World states are concerned with ozone depletion, and global warming whereas Southern States or the Third World states want to address the relationship between economic development and environmental management.
(ii) The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issues which stand equally responsible for ecological conservation.
(iii) The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation of the world is created by developed countries through their industrial projects and if developed countries cause more environmental degradation, they are supposed to take more responsibility onwards.
(iv) The developing countries are under the process of industrialisation and they should be exempted from restrictions imposed on developed countries through various conventions like Kyoto Protocol, etc.
(v) The special needs of developing countries must be taken into consideration in the process of development, application and interpretation of International Environmental Law.
Q.14. Suggest any two steps to be taken by the government to check pollution and save environment.
Ans. The two steps are:
(i) India’s National Auto Fuel Policy mandates cleaner fuels for vehicles. The Energy Conservation Act passed in 2001, outlines initiatives to improve energy efficiency.
(ii) The Electricity Act, 2003, encourages the use of renewable energy.
Q.15. What are environmental movements?
Ans. Environmental movements are the movements of groups which are environmentally conscious to challenge environmental degradation at national or international level. These movements are categorised as forest movements, movements against mining and mineral industry for creating water pollution and anti-dam movement.
Q. 16. Explain the role of environmental movements to meet challenge of environmental degradation.
Ans. Role of environmental movements:
(i) Some of them work at the international level whereas most of them work at the local level.
(ii) They are among the most vibrant, diverse and powerful social movements across the globe.
(iii) It is within social movements that new forms of political action are born or reinvented.
(iv) These movements raise new ideas and long–term visions of what we should do and what we should not do in our individual and collective lives.
Q. 17. Explain the concept of ‘common property resource’ with the help of an example from India.
OR
What is meant by common property resources? Explain with examples.
Ans. The concept of common property resource signifies that natural resources are common property for the group. The underlying norm is that members of the groups have both rights and duties with respect to the nature, levels of use and the maintenance of a given resource. Through mutual understanding and centuries of practices, many village communities in India, e.g., have defined member rights and responsibilities.A combination of factors including privatisation, agricultural intensification, population growth and ecosystem degradation have caused common property to dwindle in size, quality and availability to the poor in most parts of the world.
The sacred groves refer to a system that forces traditional communities informally to harvest natural resources in an ecologically sustained fashion. In India, the sacred groves in state-owned forest land appropriately fit the description of a common property resource. Along the forest belts of South India, sacred groves have been traditionally managed by the village communities.
Q. 18. Explain any four steps taken by India to improve the environment.
Ans. The Indian government is participating in global efforts through a number of programmes :
(i) India’s National Auto Fuel Policy mandates cleaner fuels for vehicles.
(ii) The Energy Conservation Act 2001 outlines initiatives to improve energy efficiency.
(iii) The Electricity Act 2003 encourages the use of renewable energy.
(iv) Recent trends in importing natural gas and encouraging the adoption of clean coal technologies show that India is making real efforts.
(v) India is also keen to launch a national mission on biodiesel using about 11 million hectares of land to produce biodiesel by 2020.
Q. 19. Who are indigenous people as defined in India?
Ans. In India, the definition of indigenous people is usually applied to the Scheduled Tribes who constitute 8.6% (according to National Census 2011) of the total population of the country.
Q. 20. What is resource geopolitics? How is global economy relied on it ?
Ans. Resource geopolitics is all about who gets what, when, where and how. Resources have provided some of the key means and motives of global European power expansion. They have also been the focus of inter-state rivalry. Western geopolitical thinking about resources has been dominated by the relationship of trade, war and power, at the core of which were overseas resources and maritime navigation.
The global economy relied on oil for much of the 20th century as a portable and indispensable fuel.The immense wealth associated with oil generates political struggles to control it.
Water is another crucial resource that is relevant to global politics. Regional variations and the increasing scarcity of fresh water in some parts of the world points to the possibility of disagreements over shared water resources as a leading source of conflicts in the 21st century.
Q. 21. Define indigenous population. Highlight any two problems of such people.
Ans. The United Nations defines indigenous population as comprising the descendants of people who inhabited the present territory of a country at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world and overcame them.
The following problems are faced by such people:
(i) They lost their lands which only belonged to them for a long period of time.
(ii) The loss of land refers to a loss of an economic resource base.
(iii) Issues related to the rights of the indigenous communities have also been neglected in domestic and international politics for long.
