AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES & ETHICS

Introduction
Environmental studies are the study
of human interaction with
the environment and in the interests
of solving complex problems.
Environment includes which we are
directly or indirectly dependent for
our survival, whether it is living
component like animals, plants or
non-living component like soil, air
and water.

 Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human

interaction with the environment.
 Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the
humanities, and social sciences to address complex contemporary environmental issues.
 It is a broad field of study that includes the natural environment, the built environment, and the
relationship between them.
 The field encompasses study in basic principles of ecology and environmental science, as well as
associated subjects such as: ethics, geography, anthropology, policy, politics, urban
planning, law, economics, philosophy, sociology and social justice, planning, pollution
control and natural resource management.
Significance:
Environmental scientists study
subjects like the understanding of
earth processes, evaluating
alternative energy systems,
pollution control and mitigation,
natural resource management,
and the effects of global climate
change.

Why multidisciplinary in nature

Goals of environmental education
 to improve the quality of
environment
 to create an awareness
among the people on
environmental problems and
conservation
 to create an atmosphere so
that people participate in
decision-making and develop
the capabilities to evaluate
the developmental
programmes
Environmental Ethics
Definition
It is a branch of applied philosophy that studies the conceptual foundations of environmental values as well
as were concrete issues surrounding societal attitudes, actions and policies to protect and sustain biodiversity
and ecological systems
Axiology : study of value
Moral Considerability
One of the key issues in environmental philosophy is who and what is worthy of moral (or political/legal)
consideration.
Do we have any moral obligations to animals?
Do trees have legal standing?
Should we consider the well-being of a desert ecosystem when we make decisions about mining?
The issue of moral considerability concerns both what is worthy of moral consideration, and to what degree
it has.
Instrumental Value
Something has instrumental value if it is valuable for something else.
A deer, for instance, could be considered to have instrumental value as an object of sport hunting or a source
of food.
Similarly, a forest can be considered to have value only as a resource for creating lumber and paper (two
examples of anthropocentric instrumental value).
Or an individual organism can be given value only insofar as it contributes to the health of a species or vitality
of an ecosystem (ecocentric or holistic instrumental value).
Anthropocentrism usually sees nature as having only instrumental value.
Intrinsic (Inherent) Value
Something has intrinsic value if its value is “for itself” and independent of its value for something else.
A deer, for instance, can be considered to have value in and for itself, whether or not it has value for humans
or for species or ecosystem.
Biocentrism and ecocentrism see nature as having intrinsic value.
Basic principles
 Principle of minimum harm
 Principle of coordination
 Principle of moderate consumption
 Principle of distributive justice
 Principle of fair compensation
Importance/ significance
 make us aware of indiscriminate and destructive human activities
 inculcate moral values towards nature and learn to respect various life forms through environmental
ethics
 concerned with the issues of responsible personal conduct with respect to natural landscape,
resources, species and non-human organism
 conduct with respect to person is, of course, the direct concern of modern philosophy
Anthropocentrism/ biocentrism/ ecocentrism
• Anthropocentrism: the focus is primarily or exclusively on humans, with the natural world ignored or
merely a background.
• Value is placed primarily on humans, with the natural world having lesser or (usually) only
instrumental value.
• Both biocentrism and ecocentrism oppose anthropocentric views.
• Both focus on the natural world and accord it high degrees of intrinsic value.
• Biocentrism: focus and value are placed on living organisms (animals and perhaps plants),
• Ecocentric views tend to include abiotic factors
• Biocentric thinkers often emphasize the value of individual organisms,
• Ecocentric thinkers tend to be characterized by a more holistic approach, giving value to species,
ecosystems, or the earth as a whole.
Global Environmental Issues and Conventions
 Ozone depletion
 Green house effect, global warming
 Climate change
 Desertification
 Deforestation
 Pollution
 Waste disposal
 Water Scarcity & Water Pollution
 Loss of Biodiversity
 Overpopulation
 Land Management & Urban Sprawl
 Public Health
North –South conflict
environmental issues refers to the difference in opinion between the developed world (North America,
western Europe, Japan etc.) and the developing world (most of Asia, S America, Africa etc.) on carbon emission
cuts, compensation, subsidies and technology transfers for moving towards a greener economy and a host of
other contentious issues which have arisen in the context of global warming and climate change.
The developing world, South, contends that developed world (i.e. the North) is responsible for the major chunk
of the historic carbon emissions since the industrial revolution, therefore it has a moral obligation to accept
binding emission cuts, to take the major share of the emission cuts in any future climate change deal.
Developing countries have yet to pull a large number of their populations out of poverty. Thus, they feel that
they cannot afford to cut emissions by large levels as it would hurt economic growth. The south, wants funds
and tech transfers to adapt to climate change and for moving towards a greener economy. Differences in
opinion regarding the quantum of funds and extent of tech transfer for adaptation that the North should pay
the south for moving towards a greener economy.
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro
Earth Summit, the Rio Summit, the Rio Conference, and the Earth Summit was a major United
Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June in 1992. Due to issues relating
to sustainability being too big for individual member states to handle, Earth Summit was held as a platform
for other Member States to collaborate.
The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
Agenda 21
Forest Principles
Moreover, important legally binding agreements (Rio Convention) were opened for signature:
Convention on Biological Diversity
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of
the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the
environment. Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of
principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178 Governments at the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3 to 14
June 1992.
Concept of sustainability & sustainable development
Concept
Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their needs. The concept of sustainability is composed
of three pillars: economic, environmental, and social—also
known informally as profits, planet, and people.
Sustainable development
Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is
from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report: "Sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs."
Principles

 Living within environmental limits

 Achieving a sustainable economy
 Promoting good governance
 Using sound science responsibly
 Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society
What are the Sustainable
Development Goals?
The Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), also known as the Global
Goals, were adopted by all United
Nations Member States in 2015 as a
universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet and
ensure that all people enjoy peace
and prosperity by 2030.
The 17 SDGs are integrated—that is,
they recognize that action in one
area will affect outcomes in others,
and that development must balance
social, economic and environmental
sustainability.
NO POVERTY GOAL
Eradicating poverty in all its forms remains one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.
While the number of people living in extreme poverty dropped by more than half between 1990 and 2015,
too many are still struggling for the most basic human needs.
As of 2015, about 736 million people still lived on less than US$1.90 a day; many lack food, clean drinking
water and sanitation.
Rapid growth in countries such as China and India has lifted millions out of poverty, but progress has been
uneven.
Women are more likely to be poor than men because they have less paid work, education, and own less
property.

Priority actions on poverty eradication include:

 Improving access to sustainable livelihoods, entrepreneurial opportunities and productive resources;
 Providing universal access to basic social services;
 Progressively developing social protection systems to support those who cannot support themselves;
 Empowering people living in poverty and their organizations;
 Addressing the disproportionate impact of poverty on women;
 Working with interested donors and recipients to allocate increased shares of ODA to poverty
eradication; and
 Intensifying international cooperation for poverty eradication.
Targets
• By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on
less than USD1.25 a day.
• By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty
in all its dimensions according to national definitions.
• Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and
by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
• By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights
to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other
forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services,
including microfinance.
• By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure
and vulnerability to climate- related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental
shocks and disasters.
• Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced
development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing
countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end
poverty in all its dimensions.
• Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor
and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty
eradication actions.
ZERO HUNGER GOAL
Why is zero hunger so important?
From ending poverty and hunger to
responding to climate change and
sustaining our natural resources, food
and agriculture are an important part
of every goal. Achieving Zero
Hunger also means that we can
achieve many other goals – without
first providing healthy food for all, you
can't achieve education or good
health.
The mission of the Zero Hunger
Challenge is:
• to bring together all stakeholders
to communicate the importance
of food security; nutrition; and
inclusive, sustainable, and
resilient agriculture in fulfilling
the promise of the 2030 Agenda; and
• to encourage, engage, accelerate, and amplify collective action to create food systems that deliver for all
people.
How do you solve Zero Hunger?
• Put the furthest behind first
• Pave the road from farm to market
• Reduce food waste
• Encourage a sustainable variety of crops
• Make nutrition a priority, starting with a child's first 1000 days
Targets
• By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable
situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
• By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent
girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
• By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular
women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal
access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and
opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
• By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that
increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for
adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that
progressively improve land and soil quality.
• By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals
and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks
at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as
internationally agreed.
• Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure,
agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks
in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed
countries.
• Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets,
• Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and
facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme
food price volatility.
SDGs in INDIA
Sustainable Development Goals have been built on the universal principle of ‘leave no one behind’
As far as India is concerned, the national development goals of India, converge well with the SDGs and India is
expected to play a leading role in determining the success of the SDGs, globally
The main challenges to sustainable development which are global in character includes-
 poverty and exclusions,
 unemployment,
  climate change,
 conflict and humanitarian aid,
 building peaceful and inclusive society,
 building strong institutions and supporting rule of law
Measures taken for implementing SDGs in India
NITI Aayog, the Government of India’s premier think tank, has been entrusted with the task of coordinating
the SDGs. States have also been advised to undertake a similar mapping of their schemes, including centrally
sponsored schemes.
In addition, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is engaged in the process of
developing national indicators for the SDGs.
Government’s flagship programmes such as Swachh Bharat, Make in India, Skill India, and Digital India are
at the core of the SDGs.
State and local governments play a pivotal role in many of these programmes. State governments are paying
keen attention to visioning, planning, budgeting, and developing implementation and monitoring systems for
the SDGs.
UN Support for SDG initiatives in India
The United Nations in India supports the participation of civil society organisations, think tanks and the
Indian media in discussions and side sessions at the International Conference on Financing for Development
in New York.
The UN Country Team in India supports NITI Aayog in its efforts to address the interconnectedness of the
goals, to ensure that no one is left behind and to advocate for adequate financing to achieve the SDGs. In close
collaboration with NITI Aayog and partners, the UN has supported thematic consultations on the SDGs to bring
together various state governments, central ministries, civil society organisations and academia to deliberate
on specific SDGs.
Support to State Governments
The UN in India currently supports five State governments (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, and
Odisha) in localising the SDGs to address key development challenges at the state level.
Challenges in attaining SDGs in India
Defining Indicators (monitoring and measurement of outcomes)
One of the major challenges for India is devising suitable indicators to effectively monitor the progress of SDGs.
India’s past records reveal that it has not been very successful in setting relevant indicators to measure
outcomes.
The definition for “safe” drinking water has been misinterpreted with the availability of hand pumps and
tube wells and the official data suggested that 86% of Indians had access to safe drinking water and therefore
were “on track” for the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) goal on drinking water . . But the number of
waterborne diseases and deaths due to diarrhea are quite high in India.
Financing SDGs:
Despite India’s best efforts to reduce poverty it has the highest number of people living below international
poverty line. As per the World Bank report 2013, 30 per cent of its population was under the $1.90-a- day
poverty measure.
According to the United Nations MDG 2014 report, despite high economic growth, in 2010, one-third of the
world’s 1.2 billion extreme poor lived in India alone.
At today’s level of investment – public and private in SDG related sectors in developing countries, an average
annual funding shortfall over 2015-2030 of some $2.5 trillion remains. This gap can be bridged only through
increased private sector investments, especially in infrastructure, food security and climate change
mitigation sectors.
Monitoring and Ownership: A third significant challenge in implementing SDGs would be with respect to
ownership. Though NITI Aayog is expected to play the lead role in tracking the progress of SDGs, its members
have expressed reservations on being able to take on this mammoth task.
Measuring Progress: The last challenge is how to measure the progress or achievement of SDGs. The Indian
government has admitted that non-availability of data (particularly in respect to sub-national levels),
periodicity issues and incomplete coverage of administrative data, have made accurate measuring progress of
even MDGs virtually impossible.
THE 8 MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the eight goals set by the 189 UN member
states in September 2000 and agreed to be achieved by the year 2015
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Measures to overcome Challenges

• Developing an exclusive model for implementing, monitoring, measuring and reporting SDG related course
of action
• Developing suitable indicators to assess the progress of SDGs
• Developing a system that can support this exercise by supplying the required data
• Financing SDGs can be resolved to some extent by strengthening the existing academic infrastructure in
the nation
• Well developed institutions resources can be pooled and effectively utilized in designing, developing and
measuring indicators meant for sustainable development
• Penalizing firms with higher carbon footprints by making them finance the sustainable goal programmes
in the developing and least developed countries
• Active participation of locals and society
• Decentralization of the task (NITI Ayog)