Environment and Natural Resources | Class 12 Political Science Notes

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS IN GLOBAL POLITICS

This section introduces the growing importance of environmental issues within the realm of global politics. Traditionally, world politics was understood in terms of wars, treaties, state power, and intergovernmental organizations. However, the scope has expanded to include issues like poverty, epidemics, and now environmental concerns. Environmental degradation is no longer a purely geographical or scientific issue but a deeply political one because it involves questions of responsibility, power, and justice. Problems such as deforestation, soil degradation, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and ozone depletion affect multiple countries and require coordinated global responses. The section highlights the severity of these issues with examples such as the Aral Sea disaster, where toxic waters destroyed the fishing industry and agriculture, forcing thousands to migrate. The Human Development Report 2016 is cited, noting that 663 million people lack access to safe water and 2.4 billion lack sanitation, leading to millions of child deaths annually. The depletion of natural forests affects climate stability and biodiversity. Coastal pollution is increasing due to land-based activities, threatening marine environments. The political nature of these issues arises because no single government can address them alone, and questions of who causes degradation, who suffers, and who should act are inherently political. The environmental movement gained political momentum from the 1960s, notably with the Club of Rome's 1972 publication 'Limits to Growth,' which warned about resource depletion amid rapid population growth. International agencies like UNEP began coordinating global environmental efforts. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro marked a significant milestone, bringing environmental issues to the center stage of global politics, attended by 170 states, NGOs, and multinational corporations. The Summit produced conventions on climate change, biodiversity, forestry, and Agenda 21, a list of sustainable development practices. However, tensions between developed (global North) and developing (global South) countries persisted, with the former focusing on ozone depletion and global warming, and the latter emphasizing economic development and environmental management. The concept of sustainable development was agreed upon but its implementation remains challenging.

📊 Diagram: Images include the 1992 Earth Summit, rainforest and mangrove ecosystems, and the Aral Sea environmental disaster showing dried water bodies and affected communities.

🧪 Activity: Collect news clippings on reports linking environment and politics in your locality to understand local-global environmental connections.

🔗 Connection: Leads to the section on THE PROTECTION OF GLOBAL COMMONS, which discusses shared resources beyond national jurisdictions and the challenges of their governance.