Dr J P Sharma & Dr Vivak M Arya
The year 1972 marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics, the first major conference on environmental issues convened under the auspices of the United Nations was held from June 5-16 in Stockholm (Sweden), known as the Conference on the Human Environment or the Stockholm Conference. Its goal was to forge a basic common outlook on how to address the challenge of preserving and enhancing the human environment. World environment day was first time celebrated in 1973. Since 1974, the celebration campaign of the world environment day is hosted in different cities of the world. It is a big annual celebration started by the United Nations General Assembly to engage millions of people from different countries across the globe as well as draw attention of political and health organizations to implement some effective actions. World Environment Day which is observed on 5th June every year across the globe is the largest annual event for positive environmental action. Since its first celebration on 5 June 1974, millions of people across the world have taken part in thousands of events to raise awareness and generate political momentum around growing concerns such as the depletion of the ozone layer, toxic chemicals, desertification and global warming. This year theme is Only One Earth. The Day has developed into a global platform for taking action on urgent environmental issues, driving change in our consumption habits as well as influencing national and international policy. Every year celebration is planned according to the particular theme and slogan of the year to bring effectiveness in the campaign all through the world. It is celebrated to successfully get carbon neutrality, focusing on the forest management, reducing greenhouse effects, promoting bio-fuels production by planting on degraded lands, use of hydro-power to enhance electricity production, encourage common public to use solar water heaters, energy production through solar sources, promoting coral reefs and mangroves restoration in order to get prevented from flooding and erosion including other ways of environmental preservation.
World Environment Day
Being a developing nation, India is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its dependence on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry. A 2002 study indicated that the temperature over the country increased at around 0.57° C per 100 year. The rapid economic growth experienced by India over the past decade and a half has come with some unwelcome consequences. The rapid industrialization and economic growth has resulted in unhealthy air and water pollution affecting infant mortality rates and life expectancy rates. From longstanding to emerging hazards, environmental factors are a root cause of a significant burden of death, disease and disability globally and particularly in developing countries. They range from poor water quality and access, vector-borne disease and air pollution to toxic chemical exposures, climate change and degraded urban environments. The resulting impacts are estimated to cause over 25 per cent of death and disease globally, reaching nearly 35 per cent in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. Much of this burden rests upon the shoulders of the poor and vulnerable. Definitely air and water pollution and climate change are more global issues that require a concerted effort by all nations to solve. A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on climate change suggests that the world will be experiencing more of ocean acidification, ice-sheet melting, sea-level rise, and so-called tipping points in climate affects much sooner than ever thought off. The existing environmental laws, although cover a wide spectrum of environmental concerns, they seem to be ineffective due to lack of enforcement, the lack of resources, and technical challenges faced by a large number of Indian companies. Under these conditions, India has to adopt some sustainable actions that need to address the myriad issues facing the country including environmental degradation in order to sustain its prospects for continued economic growth. Sustainable development, that is, both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment that in many respects is the goal of diverse interest in the area of environmental issues, is the key for the future of India and the world. Sustainable development implies managing the diverse interests of a prosperous economy and simultaneously maintaining a healthy environment. Agriculture University Jammu has developed many climate smart agriculture practices which are having the potential to reduce the carbon footprints without comprising the yield of crops. Author have popularized Leaf Colour Chart (LCC), a climate smart agriculture tool which can save up to 30 kg of urea in coarse variety of paddy and up to 6 kg of urea in Basmati per hectare. They have also proved and demonstrated that cover crops, run off control measures along with climate smart natural resource management practices can reduce the soil and water erosion. Our UT being situated in Himalayan range is very prone to soil and water erosion. But the good news is that we have developed and demonstrated many scientific technologies and modules which are climate smart and environment friendly. As Mahatma Gandhi had said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Holistic and climate smart development are the keys for our sustainable growth. Let’s work jointly step by step to protect our Mother Earth.
(The authors are Vice Chancellor SKUAST-J and Scientist).