<h5 id="overview">OVERVIEW</h5> <ul> <li>The text discusses the increasing importance of environmental and resource issues in world politics.</li> <li>It analyzes environmental movements from a comparative perspective, focusing on the rise of environmentalism from the 1960s.</li> <li>The concept of common property resources and global commons is examined.</li> <li>The stand of India in recent environmental debates is briefly discussed.</li> <li>The geopolitics of resource competition is covered, and the text concludes by acknowledging the voices and concerns of indigenous peoples in contemporary world politics.</li> <li>The image attached appears to be related to the concept of deforestation, which is a significant environmental issue.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="environmental-concerns-in-global-politics">Environmental Concerns in Global Politics</h5> <ul> <li>The Aral Sea region has experienced significant environmental degradation, including the destruction of the fishing and shipping industries, reduced crop yields, and displacement of local populations due to rising salt concentrations in the soil.</li> <li>Global environmental concerns include loss of fertile agricultural land, overgrazing of grasslands, over-harvesting of fisheries, depletion and pollution of water bodies, loss of natural forests and biodiversity, and the ozone hole.</li> <li>The UN Development Programme reports that 663 million people in developing countries lack access to safe water and 2.4 billion lack access to sanitation, resulting in the death of over three million children annually.</li> <li>The Rio Summit in 1992, attended by 170 states, thousands of NGOs, and many multinational corporations, highlighted differing perspectives between rich and poor countries on environmental protection and sustainable development.</li> <li>Critics argue that Agenda 21, the Rio Summit’s recommended list of development practices, may be biased towards economic growth over ecological conservation, leaving certain issues in global environmental politics unresolved.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-protection-of-global-commons">The Protection of Global Commons</h5> <ul> <li>The Antarctic is a commons, a region outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, covering 14 million square kilometers and 36 million square kilometers of ocean. It comprises 90% of all terrestrial ice and 70% of planetary fresh water.</li> <li>The Antarctic has a limited terrestrial life and a highly productive marine ecosystem, including marine mammals, fish, birds, and krill central to the marine food chain. It plays a crucial role in maintaining climatic equilibrium and provides valuable information about greenhouse gas concentrations and atmospheric temperatures.</li> <li>There are conflicting claims over Antarctic territory, with some countries asserting sovereign rights and others viewing it as a part of the global commons. Despite these differences, innovative rules have been adopted for the protection of the Antarctic environment and its ecosystem.</li> <li>The global commons, including the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor, and outer space, require common governance by the international community due to their shared importance. Cooperation over the global commons can be challenging, as seen with the management of the Antarctic and the ozone hole discovery.</li> <li>The management of global commons, such as outer space, is influenced by North-South inequalities, with crucial issues being technology and industrial development. The benefits of exploitative activities in outer space are not equally distributed among present and future generations.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="common-but-differentiated-responsibilities">Common but Differentiated Responsibilities</h5> <ul> <li>The principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ distinguishes the approach towards the environment between developed and developing countries.</li> <li>Developed countries of the North want equal responsibility for ecological conservation, while developing countries of the South argue that they should take more responsibility for past ecological degradation caused by industrial development.</li> <li>The Rio Declaration in 1992 accepted this principle, stating that states have common responsibilities but should also consider the different contributions to global environmental degradation.</li> <li>The 1992 UNFCCC agreement supports this principle, with parties acting to protect the climate system based on equity and respective capabilities.</li> <li>The Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement based on UNFCCC principles, sets targets for industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, exempting countries like China and India due to their lower per capita emissions.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="common-property-resources">Common Property RESOURCES</h5> <ul> <li>Common property refers to resources that are shared and managed by a specific group.</li> <li>This type of resource management is based on the understanding that group members have both rights and duties regarding the resource’s use and maintenance.</li> <li>In India, for example, village communities have defined members’ rights and responsibilities for centuries in relation to common property resources.</li> <li>However, factors like privatization, agricultural intensification, population growth, and ecosystem degradation have led to a decline in common property resources worldwide.</li> <li>Despite this, common property regimes still exist, such as the management of sacred groves on state-owned forest land in South India, traditionally managed by village communities.</li> </ul> <p>As for the selling of common property, it is not common practice and may not be possible due to the inherent nature of common property being shared and managed by a specific group. The example you heard about might be a misinterpretation or an exceptional case.</p> <p>======</p> <h5 id="indias-stand-on-environmental-issues">India’s Stand On Environmental Issues</h5> <ul> <li>India signed the Kyoto Protocol in 2</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="environmental-movements-one-or-many">Environmental Movements: One Or Many?</h5> <ul> <li>Environmental movements, often led by volunteers, are significant responses to environmental degradation, operating at both international and local levels.</li> <li>Forest movements in the South, such as Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Africa, and India, face enormous pressures from forest clearing, with the destruction of the world’s last remaining grand forests increasing in the last decade.</li> <li>The minerals industry, one of the most powerful forms of industry, has led to campaigns focusing on individual species and habitat conservation, particularly in the Philippines, India, Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia, with many initiatives funded by NGOs like WWF.</li> <li>Anti-mining sentiments and advocacy for basic rights of indigenous peoples have led to resistance against mining corporations like the Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the Philippines.</li> <li>Anti-dam movements, which have become pro-river movements for sustainable and equitable management of river systems, have been launched in various parts of the globe, with non-violence being a key shared idea in India’s environmental movements.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="resource-geopolitics">Resource Geopolitics</h5> <ul> <li>Resource geopolitics focuses on the control and management of resources, particularly in the context of global power and interstate rivalry.</li> <li>The supply of strategic resources, such as oil and timber, has been a key priority for major European powers since the 17th century. This need was driven by the importance of sea power, which relied on access to timber for naval construction.</li> <li>During the World Wars and the Cold War, industrialized countries adopted various methods to ensure a steady flow of resources, including military deployment, stockpiling, support for friendly governments, and backing for multinational companies.</li> <li>Oil remains a critical resource in global strategy, with the Gulf region accounting for 30% of global oil production and 64% of known reserves. Control over oil generates political struggles, as seen in West Asia and Central Asia.</li> <li>Water is another crucial resource, with potential for conflicts over shared water resources, particularly in regions where freshwater is scarce. Disagreements can arise between upstream and downstream states over issues like pollution, irrigation, and dam construction.</li> </ul> <p>Equation/Formula: N/A</p> <p>Note: The text provided a detailed overview of resource geopolitics, with a focus on oil and water. The summary has been kept brief to adhere to the instructions, but further details can be provided if required.</p> <p>======</p> <h5 id="the-indigenous-peoples-and-their-rights">The Indigenous Peoples And Their Rights</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Indigenous people are descendants of populations that inhabited a country at the time of arrival of people from other cultures. They continue to live according to their social, economic, and cultural traditions.</p> </li> <li> <p>There are approximately 30 crore indigenous people worldwide, with various groups in countries such as the Philippines, Chile, Bangladesh, North America, Panama, and the Soviet North. They call for recognition as equals in world politics and the acknowledgement of their existence as enduring communities.</p> </li> <li> <p>Indigenous people have a strong connection to land, which is an essential economic resource base for them. The loss of land is a significant threat, as it impacts their livelihoods and cultural traditions.</p> </li> <li> <p>In India, indigenous people, or Scheduled Tribes, make up nearly 8% of the population. They have constitutional protection in political representation but have not benefited equally from the country’s development. In fact, they are the largest group displaced by developmental projects since independence.</p> </li> <li> <p>The World Council of Indigenous Peoples was formed in 1975 to address the concerns and shared experiences of indigenous communities. Many globalization movements have focused on the rights of indigenous people, highlighting the importance of this issue in domestic and international politics.</p> </li> <li> <p>A classroom activity can be conducted by asking students to calculate the amount of natural resources used for producing items they consume daily. This exercise can help students understand the impact of their consumption on indigenous communities and the environment.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p>