Environment and Sustainable Development:

Issues

Dr. Ritu SinghEmail: drritusinghinc@gmail.com

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

23 February 2015International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED)

Jaipur

Structure of lecture

Part I: Concepts related to Environment andSustainable development

Part II: Case study

PART I: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTS AND EVOLUTION

QUESTION

Why sustainable development?

Environmental Challenges

• Global warming or green house gas effect

• Process of deforestation

• Increase in air pollutants

• Depletion of earth’s ozone layer

• Depletion of non-renewable resources

Global Warming or Green House Gas Effect

- Caused by excessive emission of carbon dioxide from industry, transportation, the heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings, energy production, deforestation and agriculture

- May lead to thermal expansion of earth’s surface water, melting of glaciers and ice caps which may cause destruction of beaches, coastal cities, catastrophic storms etc.

Cities under Threat

• Tokyo, Japan – earthquake

• Mumbai, India – monsoons and flooding

• Mexico city, Mexico – pollution

• Sao Paulo, Brazil – crime and vice

• Seoul, Korea – overcrowding

• Lagos, Nigeria – inadequate sanitation and waste

Deforestation

• Reduces earth’s carbon absorbing capacity, soil erosion, land desertification

• Intensive irrigation lead to water logging, salinization, ground water depletion

• Implication on food production – erosion of 24 billion top soil reduces the grain harvest by 6%

Air Pollutants

• High concentration of Sulphur dioxide – lung diseases

• Excessive lead in the air in Industrialized cities –circulatory, respiratory, and nervous system

• Nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide – viral infection, influenza, lung irritation, bronchitis, pneumonia

• Disposal of chemical wastes in water pollutes water

Depletion of Earth’s Ozone Layer

• Caused by emission of chlorine and bromine

• Comes from chlorofluorocarbons (CFC11)used in production of refrigerants, air conditioners, foam, solvents

• Comes from chlorofluorocarbons (CFC12) used in production of fire extinguisher

Depletion of natural resources

• Forests- Direct use (timber, fuelwood, non-timber forest products such

as bamboo, sandal wood, honey, gum, tendu leaves etc, and eco-tourism)

- Indirect use (the value of flood and drought control, watershed maintenance, carbon storage, etc)

- Optional values (willingness to pay either for conservation of forest for future use or for its own sake)

• Agricultural Cropland and Pasture land• Sub-Soil Assets (coal, iron ore, petroleum, and natural gas)• Freshwater (surface water and ground water)

QUESTION

What do you understand by sustainable development?

Sustainable Development

• Sustainable – resources intact

• Development – rise of income

Sustainable Development

A timeline

Sustainable Development: Global Genesis

DEFINITIONSustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

– the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

– the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

(Chapter 2, Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)

Sustainable Development: Indian Context

The Constitution of India

The National Environment Policy

Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-1990)

• Article 21 conferring the Right to Life encompasses right to clean environment, right to livelihood, right to live with dignity and a number of other associated rights

• The Directive Principles of State Policy often referred to as the ‘conscience’ of the Constitution are intended to ensure ‘distributive justice’ and that political democracy in India is accompanied side by side with social and economic democracy

• “only such development is sustainable, which respects ecological constraints and the imperatives of social justice”

• “If the gains in productivity are to be sustained, resources must also continue to be available over time. This requires that, while providing for current needs, the resources base be managed so as to enable sustainable development.” (Volume 2, Chapter 18)

Sustainable Development: Indian Context

• The ideology of sustainable development was a part of Seventh Five Year Plan and predates the United National Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992

• National Environment Policy, 2006 of India articulates that sustainable development should respect ecological constraints while harmonize the imperatives of social justice

• In the context of sustainable development and India, it is evident that sustainable development has been much more than a narrative and is deeply embedded in Indian culture and in the ideology of development; tradition in India has always embraced sustainability

• For developing countries sustainable development and related concepts like green economy will be linked to

social pillar and inclusivity

Components of Sustainable Development: Dominant View

• Three pillars of sustainable development– Economic

– Social

– Environmental

• Achievements– policy mainstreaming and

consensus building

– Responsible corporate conduct

– Formal and informal institutions working together

• Criticisms– Compartmentalized – Leading

to Isolated actions?

– An oxymoron?

– Fuzziness?

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Sustainable development

Inspired by Our Common Future, 1987;World Summit, 2005

Figure Three pillars of sustainable development

Governance

Components of Sustainable Development: Emerging View

• Also focus on interfaces around components of sustainable development

• Social ecology (social and environment)

• Green economy (economic and environment)

• Social equity (social and economic)

Social

Environment

Social

Ecology

Sustainable

Development

Green

Economy

Social Equity

Economy

Social

Environment

Social

Ecology

Sustainable

Development

Green

Economy

Social Equity

Economy

GoI (2010), official submission to UNCSD second preparatory committee meeting, pg 30

Figure Interfaces of the components of sustainable development

Institutions

Institutions and stakeholders

• Major Groups• Governments• International community

Source: MoEF-TERI (2011)

Global Policy: Some developments

United Nations General Assembly to agree on Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals - The Outcome Document of the United Nations Open Working Group on the Post-2015 Development Agenda including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will form the basis.

SDGs are supposed to be action oriented, global in nature and universally applicable to all countries, while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

Global Policy: Some developments

List of Proposed Sustainable Development Goals to be attained by 2030

1. End poverty everywhere

2. End hunger, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Attain healthy lives for all

4. Provide quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all

5. Attain gender equality, empower women and girls everywhere

6. Ensure availability and sustainable use of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure sustainable energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9. Promote sustainable infrastructure and industrialization and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality within and between countries

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable

12. Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Tackle climate change and its impacts

14. Conserve and promote sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources

15. Protect and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, halt desertification, land degradation and biodiversity loss

16. Achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective and capable institutions

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and the global partnership for sustainable development

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

QUESTION

Can we measure sustainable development?

Framework

• Social

• Economic

• Environmental

• Institutional

Theme Sub-theme IndicatorEquity Percent of population living below poverty line

Poverty Gini index of income inequality

Unemployment rate

Gender equality Ratio of average female wage to male wage

Nutritional status Nutritional status of children

Mortality Mortality rate under 5 years old

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth

Health Sanitation Percent of population with adequate sewage disposal

facilities

Drinking water Population with access to safe drinking water

Percent of population with access to primary health care

facilities

Healthcare delivery Immunization against infectious childhood diseases

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Education Education level Children reaching grade 5 of primary education

Adult secondary education achievement level

Social

Theme Sub-theme Indicator

Economic

structure

Economic performance per capita

Investment share in

Trade Balance of trade in goods and

services

Financial status

Debt to GNP ratio

Total ODA given or received as

a percent of GNP

Fiscal Deficit

Consumption

and production

patterns

Material consumption

Intensity of material use

Annual energy consumption

per capita

Share of consumption of

renewable energy resources

Energy use

Energy use per unit

Energy use per unit by sector

Intensity of energy use:

Transportation

Energy Imports

Economic

Theme Sub-theme Indicator

Atmosphere Climate change Emissions of greenhouse

gases

Ozone layer depletion Consumption of ozone

depleting substances

Air quality Ambient concentration of air

pollutants in urban areas

Land Agriculture

Arable and permanent crop land area

Per hectare food grain

production

Percentage of gross

cropped area irrigated

Use of fertilizers

Environmental

Theme Sub-theme IndicatorInstitutional

framework

Strategic implementation of

SD

National sustainable

development strategy

International cooperation Implementation of ratified

global agreements

Institutional

capacity

Science and technology Expenditure on research

and development as a

percent of GDP

Disaster preparedness and

response

Economic and human loss

due to natural disasters

Communication

Infrastructure

Main telephone lines per

1000 inhabitants

Information Access Number of internet

subscribers per 1000

inhabitants

Institutional

Life Cycle Assessment

• Aims to consider all processes from “cradle to grave”

• Need data for each stage of life cycle– Energy

– Materials

– Emissions

• Popular and standardized

Production

Extraction

& Processing

Use

Disposal

Reuse or

recycle

Energy

MaterialWaste

Emission

Waste Emission

Environment

Life Cycle Approaches – example of paper bag

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): Some indicators

Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) as a tool for decision-making

Multiple-criteria decision-making or multiple-criteria decision analysis is a sub-discipline of operations research that explicitly considers multiple criteria in decision-making environments.

MCA Decision

Note: Criteria can be economic, social, ecological, cultural, institutional….

Question to auditors: Who

makes decision?

Sustainability goal

Factor 1

Attribute 1

Constraint 1

Attribute 2

Goal

Criteria

Attributes

PART II: CASE STUDY

The 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) Mega-Event

• The commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, November 2003- Delhi won the bid to host XIX CWG in 2010 and bear the financial liability

• 8000 athletes and team officials• 290 sessions across 17 sports and 4para sports • 23 competition Venues and 40 Training Venues• Longest Queen Baton Relay• Opening and closing ceremony was a mega event

attended by more than 5lakh spectators

Key Challenges in the Host City

Host City Economic Social Environmental

New Delhi

Increasing populationExpanding urban aggloLack of emp oppInadequate soc infrasas water, health

High slum prevalence as share of total housingHigh absolute BPL nosLimited access to basic services like water, education, healthSecurity concerns

Air pollutionWater quality and quantityInadequate waste managementProne to natural hazards (earthquake)Biodiversity loss and land degradation

Event Business Model

• Revenue Neutral Model

Governance of the Event

• Commonwealth Games Federation

• Indian Olympic Association

• Organizing Committee

• Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) established empowered committee headed by Chief Secretary

• Government of India authorized Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS)

Initiatives taken during CWG

Economic Environment Social Institutional

USD 4.94 billion to India’s GDP during 2009-122.47 million empSteep rise in GSDP3750 MW of electricity generation846MGDof water supply 76000 tourist influx agnst 180000 target

Campaign Go Green – It works to inspire people to adopt sustainable lifestyle.Plantation of 2.07 million saplings by MOEF, with support from State Govt and Global Environment Fund, the UNDP, UNEP.Installation of state of art air quality at 11 locations.Non-biodegradable waste management.

30000-40000 families displaced. Relocated under Rajiv Ratna AwasYojana.13000 against target of 15000 houses constructed.Emp in informal sector.

Seven year window not appropriately utilised for clearance, approval, and planningLack of compliance with public procurement process by OC. Unequal power distribution between depts at domestic level

Case of Games Village on Yamuna river banks

• Residential complex for athletes to be developed on land in Yamuna river banks.

• Games Village was developed on an area of 59.28 hectares on the banks of river Yamuna.

• The first step towards regularization of the site for development of the Games Village was in the form of ‘change of land use’ of the earmarked area.

• According to public notification in 2006, the land use of area measuring 42.5 hectares (105.0 acres) was sought to be changed from ‘agricultural and water body’ to ‘public and semi-public facilities’.

• Further, the land use of an area of 16.5 hectares was changed to ‘Residential’ for 11 hectares and 5.5 hectares to ‘Commercial/ Hotel’.

Land-use and sustainability

• Delhi and changing land-use and land cover (LULC) dynamics

• Development of urban agglomerations

Source: Sudhira, HS (2011)

Expansion of built-up area in Delhi

Picture of site

Common Wealth Village (2011)

Civil society voices

Comptroller and Auditor General key reports• July 2009• August 2011

Source: TERI study

Pictures of site

Source: TERI study

Findings of the 2011 Comptroller and Auditor General’s Report

• Proved to be expensive and cost overruns and delays. No tangible benefits for tourism.

• Flood mitigation and abatement measures as directed by MOEF to DDA was not undertaken.

• Increase in built up area was due to construction and debris left at site.

• Absence of effective planning

• Decision making highly centralized between OC and group of ministers

Case study discussion

• Governments are responsive to civil society and knowledge communities

• Only ex-post?• Could measures be taken ex-ante?• Social issues?

Extra reading material

Proposed Goals and Targets on Sustainable Development for the Post2015 Development Agendahttp://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

!nclusive growth

Lets us and the society reflect on the social, economic and environmental conditions

Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction-- Mahatma Gandhi

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Pearls of wisdom

THANK-YOU