Environment & Ecology: July 2022 Current Affairs | Environment for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 

Why in News?

Recently, the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022 (GP DRR 2022) took place in Indonesia.

• The outcome was summarised in the Bali Agenda for Reilience

What do we need to know about Global Platform 2022?

• Theme:
  • From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development For All in a Covid-19 Transformed World.
• About Global Platform:
  • It was the first global gathering for disaster risk reduction (DRR) actors since the Covid pandemic, and fell exactly midway between the UNFCCC COP26 and UNFCCC COP27 negotiations.
  • It is a biennial multi-stakeholder forum, a critical component of the monitoring and implementation process of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030).
  • The UN General Assembly recognizes the same.

What are the Important Outcomes of the Global Platform for DRR 2022?

• There is a need for a whole-of-society approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), ensuring no one is left behind
• DRR must be at the core of development and finance policies, legislation and plans to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
• Current greenhouse gas emission levels far exceed their mitigation, resulting in an increase in the frequency and intensity of catastrophic events.
• DRR and climate change adaptation have the common objective of reducing vulnerability and enhancing capacity as well as resilience.

What is GP 2022 Suggestions for Resilience Building?

• Greater focus on building resilience and sustainable livelihoods focusing on community level:
  • Need to build rural infrastructure in the disaster-prone areas in the country but not at the cost of livelihood recovery (climate-resilient, sustainable livelihoods) and meeting of the immediate needs.
• Greater accountability and transparency in relief and rehabilitation efforts:
  • Need to standardise transparency mechanisms to include transparency boards, clearly mentioning the cost, quality and quantity of relief items, social audits and citizens’ reports.
• Other Suggestions:
  • Third World countries are fighting to revive their economy after Covid-19.

What are the Initiatives for Disaster Risk Reduction?

Global:

• Sendai Framework:
  • It was adopted at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in 2015 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
  • The Sendai Framework is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)
  • It aims to guide the multi hazard management of disaster risk in development at all levels as well as within and across all sectors.
• The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS):
  • The specialized Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) an initiative under World Meteorological Organization, saves lives, assets and livelihoods through increased access to early weather warnings and risk information for people in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

India’s Initiatives:

• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Society (CDRIS):
  • CDRI is a global partnership of national governments, United Nations agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and research institutions.
• National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP):
  • Its primary purpose is coordinating response to natural or man-made disasters and capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.

Singalila National Park

Context

• The Singalila National Park, the highest protected area in West Bengal, will soon get new denizens. A zoo in the picturesque Darjeeling Hills has started an ambitious programme to augment the wild red panda population.

Key Details

• In the first re-wilding programme of red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) in India, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park has started an ambitious programme to release 20 of these furry mammals in about five years to the forests.

• The number of red pandas has been declining in the wild, even in the Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks, the two protected areas where the endangered mammal is found in the wild in West Bengal.
• The Padmaja Naidu park, at a height of about 2,000 metres above the sea level, is one of the high-altitude zoos in the country and has been quite successful in captive breeding of the furry mammals.
• A conservation breeding centre at Topkey Dara in Darjeeling where cubs are kept away from human presence.

About Red Panda

• Categorised as an endangered species as per IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, red pandas are shy, solitary and arboreal animals and considered an indicator species for ecological change.
• They are also one of the most iconic species in terms of their importance to global conservation.
• A couple of recent publications by scientists of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have resolved the mystery around the demography and speciation in red panda.
• The studies have concluded that India is home to both the (sub) species Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) and the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh splits the two phylogenetic species.

About the Singalila National Park

• The park is part of the Eastern Himalayas.
• The Singalila Ridge, which runs roughly North to South and separates Himalayan West Bengal from the other Eastern Himalayan ranges to the west of it.
• Lying within the park is Sandakphu top, one of the highest peaks in West Bengal, offering one of the best places for viewing stunning sunrises and sunsets, along with views of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak.
• The two highest peaks of West Bengal, Sandakphu (3630 m) and Phalut (3600 m), are located on the ridge and inside the park. Rammam river and Srikhola River flow through the park.
• The Singalila Ridge is a north–south mountain ridge running from northwestern West Bengal through Sikkim in the Indian part of the Himalayas.
• The district of Ilam in Nepal falls on the western part of this ridge.

Since SINGALILA NATIONAL PARK is a part of National Parks, to read more information on such topic: 

• National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries in INDIA

Ramsar Sites

Why in News?

Recently, India has added 10 more Ramsar sites, or wetlands that are of international importance, taking the number of such sites to 64.

• Earlier, India designated five new wetlands of international importance – the Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu, Pala wetland in Mizoram and Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.
• A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, which is also known as the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ — an intergovernmental environmental treaty established by UNESCO in 1971, and named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed that year.

Since Ramsar Sites are a part of Wetlands. To read more information on such topic :

• Wetlands

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)

In News

• The Central government’s Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and its Adjoining Areas has been shut down within five months of its constitution.

About

• Background
  • The Centre dissolved it after five months as the ordinance lapsed after failing to become an act.
  • The erstwhile Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority, or EPCA had been dissolved to make way for the Commission.
• Need
  • The air pollution is indeed a major challenge; it has health, economic and political implications; and the problem of multiplicity of bodies was a key reason why it could not be tackled effectively.
• Significance
  • Statutory Body: It is a statutory body that regulates the process by coordinating between the Central Government and the states concerned.
  • So far, the matter was overseen by the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority
  • Holistic Approach:The commission will have the power to coordinate with relevant state and central governments on the multi-sector plan including industry, power plants, agriculture, transport, residential and construction.
  • More teeth: The new commission will reportedly have more powers — in its constitution and scope as well in terms of punitive provisions.
• Issues
  • The Ordinance route was criticised, that is against the democratic setup. States and other stakeholders were not contacted.
  • Lack of a time-bound commitment to clean the air.
  • Sceptic about the working of the body
  • Over centralisation of the Central government.

Way ahead

• Outlines a time-bound commitment to achieving the set standards;
• Ensures adequate personnel and funds for pollution control bodies
• Stricter monitoring systems.
• Strong Political will and support is required.

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)

• Formed by an ordinance, “Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020”, in October 2020.
• The Commission will be a statutory authority.It will supersede bodies such as the central and state pollution control boards of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan.
• Composition: The new 18-member Commission brings together the Centre, states, and other stakeholders on one collaborative platform.
• Chaired by a government official of the rank of Secretary or Chief Secretary. The chairperson will hold the post for three years or until s/he attains the age of 70 years.
• It will also have five ex officio members who are either Chief Secretaries, or Secretaries in charge of the department dealing with environment protection in the States of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Three full time technical members.
• Powers & Jurisdiction: It will have the powers to issue directions to these state governments on issues pertaining to air pollution.
• Exclusive jurisdiction over the NCR, including areas in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, in matters of air pollution, and will be working along with CPCB and ISRO, apart from the respective state governments.
• The Commission will have the power to impose a fine of up to Rs. 1 crore and imprisonment of up to 5 years in case its directions are contravened.

Since Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is a part of air pollution , to read more information on air pollution:

• Shankar IAS: Summary of Environment Pollution
• Environmental Pollution

Monarch Butterflies

Why in the news?

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has designated the migratory monarch butterfly, a subspecies of the monarch butterfly that migrates around 4,000 kilometers across America each year, as "endangered" as of July 21, 2022.

What do we know about Monarch Butterfly?

About:

• It's a sub-species of the Danaus plexippus butterfly that travels around 4,000 kilometres across America.
• It’s the most recognizable butterfly species that are essential pollinators and further provides various ecosystem services such as maintaining the global food web.
• A smaller population of the species is also found in countries like Australia, Hawaii, and India.

What are the major threats?

• According to IUCN Habitat, destruction and climate change are mainly responsible for pushing the insect towards extinction.
• IUCN stated that "considerable portions of the butterflies' winter habitat in Mexico and California have been destroyed by legal and illegal logging and deforestation to make space for agriculture and urban expansion."
• The most recognizable species of butterfly, the monarch, is a vital pollinator and offers numerous environmental services, including preserving the world's food web.
• Over the past ten years, their population on the continent has decreased by 23% to 72%.
• West of the Rocky Mountains, where they are found, the number of western monarch butterflies decreased by 99.9%, from 10 million in the 1980s to just 1,914 in 2021.
• The population of the larger group of eastern monarchs, who travel from eastern Canada and the United States, decreased by 84% between 1996 and 2014.
• Most of these butterflies spend their winters in the woodlands of central Mexico and the California coast.
• Other nations with smaller populations of the species include Australia, Hawaii, and India.
• The elimination of this nesting area by farmers because they are considered "weeds" is a major reason for the declining population.
• A common weedicide in Midwest farms in the 2000s was glyphosate.
• The milkweed, where the female monarchs deposit their eggs, was severely damaged as a result.

What is unique about these butterflies?

Twice a year, they travel the entire length and breadth of the American continent, gorging on the nectar of various plants. However, they can only reproduce in milkweeds, a specific type of plant. When they hatch, the monarch larvae feed on this species.

What are the steps necessary to prevent its extinction?

• A slight but necessary rise in the number of monarchs has been seen as a result of conservation initiatives such as conserving breeding and wintering grounds.
• The IUCN emphasized that broad policy changes are urgently needed to stop deforestation, stop thoughtless urbanisation, and keep climate change under control.
• For a major and long-lasting recovery of the monarch population, however, more targeted measures, such as "growing native milkweed and lowering pesticide use to assist the protection of overwintering locations," are essential.

What is IUCN?

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global environmental organization that works for the conservation of biodiversity.
• It also supports and participates in environmental scientific research, promotes and helps implement national conservation legislation, policies, and practices, and operates or manages thousands of field projects worldwide.
• Its membership includes more than 1,000 governmental and non-governmental organizations from more than 140 countries.
• It maintains the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, a comprehensive assessment of the current risk of extinction of thousands of plant and animal species.
• The IUCN has been granted observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.
• The IUCN Red List Categories define the extinction risk of species assessed. Nine categories extend from
  (i) NE (Not Evaluated) to EX (Extinct).
  (ii) Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with extinction.