Heard about the Kerala landslide? The landslide of Kerala has taken nearly 50 lives and left others homeless, as a result of the continued heavy rains in Kerala. Caused by climate change, such dangers are becoming more frequent in other areas of India. Furthermore, the effect of climate change is not restricted to landslides but also results in destructive flooding coexisting with prolonged dry seasons and habitat loss.
Man-made alterations and natural development for economic development are, however, the biggest causes of climate change and its consequences. This is due to the implicit assumption that growth policies encourage economic well being, whereas environmental protections have been seen to be limiting it.
Let us take you on a tour on this interesting topic “Environment vs Development Initiative”
Environment vs Development Initiative: Environment for UPSC
Development and the environment are all important. The environment is usually the area around us where we work and make a decent living and conform ourselves to the environments and their changes. Inclusionary development is not feasible without an appropriate focus on the conservation of the environment.
We can see that in today’s era the development and the environment are two sides of a single coin. We are worried about the atmosphere as major problems such as global warming, greenhouse effect, water and air pollution are rising on a regular basis however, at the very same time as poverty eradication and economic growth rise, sustainability is necessary.
Without economic development, a country cannot recover from the vicious cycle of poverty. There is a significant need to find a balance between economic prosperity and the usage of natural resources. Development without an atmosphere has no significance. We need to conserve our energy for future centuries and this can be done only by understanding the idea of sustainable development.
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Environment and Sustainable Development: Environment for UPSC
While environmental protection and sustainable growth can appear to be the same, there are a variety of aspects in which they vary in their priorities. They both share the same overall aim of protecting natural resources and developing more energy-efficient programs and initiatives, but the two organisations that work on them do not agree on the goals of the operation. Getting a clear sense of how different and the same problems are will help you know how to handle coping with all of them.
Goal of Environmental Sustainability
The aim of environmental protection is to preserve renewable resources and create new sources of energy while at the same time reducing emissions and harming the ecosystem. For global protection, the future as calculated in 50, 100 and 1,000 years – is a fundamental theory. Many of the initiatives rooted in environmental preservation would include replanting forests, restoring wetlands and shielding natural areas from mineral harvesting. The strongest critique of environmental protection policies is that their goals might be at odds with the demands of a rising industrial community.
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Goal of Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is the process of constructing land and building projects in a way that decreases their environmental effects by encouraging them to develop energy-saving self-sufficiency projects. This may take the form of installing a solar panel or wind turbines at manufacturing sites, using geothermal heating methods, or even engaging in caps and trade deals. The main critique of sustainable development is that this does not do much to safeguard the environment at current and is focused on the idea that the destruction done in one part of the planet will be vastly outweighed by providing environmental safeguards in the other.
How to Promote Both? Environment and Sustainable Development
The ideal solution is to educate consumers and business, to leave behind every approach to growth and preservation and to follow a rational ratio strategy that finds the best of all worlds. This is very difficult to achieve since it involves an aspect of sacrifice to be embraced by the current culture. To this end, both parties need to work together to dedicate themselves to developing policies, investment schemes and tax credits that encourage economic growth while identifying environmental goals in diverse ways that will also support local populations back.
Difference between Environment and Ecology
The world is all that affects us, while the ecosystem is how it functions. It relates to the study of the relationship between species and their environment. Ecology attempts to consider life cycles, adaptation and biodiversity. Environment, on the other side, seeks to recognise internal and external factors influencing the population
Follow the table below to learn some more differences between environment and ecology
| Environment | Ecology |
| Environment relates to the relation of physical, chemical and biological elements. | Ecology is an analysis of the interaction between animals and the environment. |
| Environmental problems include deforestation, pollution, global warming and other bigger issues. | Ecological problems include the size of the population, variety, distribution of species and competitiveness between them. |
| About the internal and external factors causing problems in the environment | Purposes in understanding the process of life, production, evolution and biodiversity. |
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Environment and Development: Environment for UPSC
ESCAP seeks a development strategy that focuses on incorporating environmental resilience into development policymaking, in general by converting resource limitations and the changing climate into an economic incentive that creates a double benefit of higher economic growth required to minimise poverty with a smaller environmental effect by enhancing resource production and growing resource quality.
Economic development cannot, in itself, be an endpoint. Benefits from current development have not been fairly spread and environmental and social externalities are getting weaker. Nevertheless, poverty reduction and decent job production cannot be accomplished without economic development. That is why we need sustainable growth with various economic, social and environmental characteristics, such as high economic fluidity, social inclusion and environmental balance.
The Green Growth Solution, which has been implemented in the ESCAP area since 2005, focuses on enhancing the ecological sustainability of economic growth as an effective instrument for sustainable development and is a crucial policy for the green economy in the light of sustainable development and poverty end.
About Glacial Lake Outburst Flood: Environment for UPSC
The Uttarakhand incident occurred on a Sunday morning when a glacier burst into the Tapovan region. The landslide also carried muck and rubble to the river.
Glaciers are large masses of steadily flowing ice. So, as the ice retreats, it leaves behind a large impact on the surface, covering it with fresh water and creating a pool. This is defined as a moraine, which can be plundered by a fragile pile of rubble and submerged ice. Moraine dammed reservoirs weaken as the water level increases and the ice recedes. They could collapse under tension from the expanding lake, contributing to major floods. Glacial lakes can vary in size, but can contain millions to tens of millions of cubic metres of water, experts claim. Water outbursts may also occur due to erosion, snow or rock landslide, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions beneath the surface.
The glacial outbursts are also due to global warming. If the temperature rises during the summers, the glaciers melt, leaving behind water-filled, precarious moraine-dammed reservoirs.
Conclusion
In the UPSC exams or the interview, the topic of environment and sustainability is very common. An aspirant must have the knowledge of these two terms properly. The environmental problems are sickening the Earth and living beings, which is why sustainability is much needed. To serve the country as an IAS officer, you have to look after all the problems from society to the environment.
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Good luck!!!
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