1. Write down the steps in conducting environment impact assessment in detail.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Can be defined as:

a. The systematic identification and evaluation of the potential impacts (effects) of

proposed projects plans, programmes or legislative actions to the environment.
b. The systematic process of identifying future consequences of a current or
proposed action.
EIA is both an art and a science. Management aspect in EIA is an art, whereas the technical
analysis is based on the scientific principles.
Objectives of EIA
Consequently, the aims and objectives of EIA can be divided into two categories.
• Inform the process of decision-making by identifying the potentially significant environmental
effects and risks of development proposals.
• Promote sustainable development by ensuring that development proposals do not undermine
critical resource and ecological functions or the wellbeing, lifestyle and livelihood of the
communities and peoples who depend on them.
• Protect human health and safety.
• Avoid irreversible changes and serious damages to the environment.
• Safeguard valued resources, natural areas and ecosystem components.
• Enhance the social aspects of the proposal.

Common Stages in an EIA Process

Typically, the EIA process begins with screening to ensure that time and resources are directed at
the proposals that matter environmentally and end with some form of follow up on the
implementation of the decisions and actions taken as a result of an EIA report. The eight steps of
the EIA process are briefly presented below.
1) Screening: First stage of EIA, which determines whether the proposed project, requires an EIA
and if it requires EIA, then the level of assessment required.
2) Scoping: This stage identifies the key issues and impact that should be further investigated. This
stage also defines the boundary and time limit of the study.
3) Impact analysis: This stage of EIA identifies and predicts likely environmental and social impact
of the proposed project and evaluates the significance.
4) Mitigation: This step in EIA recommends the actions to reduce and avoid the potential adverse
environmental consequences of development activities.
5) Reporting: This stage presents the result of EIA in a form of a report to the decision-making
body and other interested parties.
6) Review of EIA: It examines the adequacy and effectiveness of the EIA report and provides
information necessary for the decision-making.
7) Decision-making: It decides whether the project is rejected, approved or needs further change.
8) Post monitoring: This stage comes into play once the project is commissioned. It checks whether
the impacts of the project do not exceed the legal standards and implementation of the mitigation
measures are in the manner as described in the EIA report.
2. Introduce global warming and climate change. Also mention the impact of climate to
women and ethnic minorities in developing nations.
Global Warming:
A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the
greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants.
Global Warming is defined as the increase in the earth’s atmospheric and oceanic temperatures,
widely due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting from various reasons.
Climate Change:
Refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of
human activity. (IPCC TAR, 2001 a)
Refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its
variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may
be due to natural processes or external forcing, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the
composition of the atmosphere or in land-use. (IPCC TAR, 2001 b)
The climate of a place or region is changed if over an extended period (typically decades or
longer) there is a statistically significant change in measurements of either the mean state or
variability of the climate for that place or region. (Changes in climate may be due to natural
processes or to persistent anthropogenic changes in atmosphere or in land use. Note that the
definition of climate change used in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change is more restricted, as it includes only those changes which are attributable directly or
indirectly to human activity.) (UN/ISDR, 2004)
Impact of Climate Change to Women and Ethnic Minorities
Detrimental effects of climate change can be felt in the short-term through natural hazards, such
as landslides, floods and hurricanes; and in the long-term, through more gradual degradation of
the environment. The adverse effects of these events are already felt in many areas, including in
relation to, inter alia, agriculture and food security; biodiversity and ecosystems; water resources;
human health; human settlements and migration patterns; and energy, transport and industry. In
many of these contexts, women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men—
primarily as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent for their
livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. Furthermore, they face
social, economic and political barriers that limit their coping capacity.

Climate change creates more work

Women and girls are often the ones who spend time collecting water, disposing wastewater and
finding cooking fuels for the household.

These are time-consuming and labour-intensive activities. They can limit their access to
education and affect their health and well-being.

Climate change makes these challenges worse for women.

It results in more work, mental and emotional stress, occupational hazards and higher
mortality than men.

Women also tend to have limited access to and control of goods and services.

They're less likely to have access to land, decision-making positions, wealth and training.
These could all help to increase their ability to adapt to climate change.

Their livelihood is at risk

During extreme weather conditions, women face greater difficulties on a daily basis because of a
lack of infrastructure.

For example, women may be more affected by heatwaves. Through outdoor activities like
collecting cooking fuel or indoor activities like cooking, they experience more heat exposure.

During flood events, there's an added risk of catching water borne diseases due to insanitary
conditions.

• In South Africa, women reported walking up to 15km in extreme hot and cold weather
to collect water.
• In Ethiopia, a survey found that 18% of households kept a girl home from school to help
collect water.
• In Mexico, water scarcity has forced women to walk further to collect it. This reduces
their ability to earn more income.

Effect of Climate Change to Ethnic Communities:

The close relationship of some indigenous peoples and minorities with their natural environments
makes them especially sensitive to the effects of global warming. In some cases, peoples’ ways of
life and even their very existence are being threatened by climate change, and by the rapidly
increasing cultivation of biofuels, which are being touted as part of the ‘solution’.
This briefing sets out some of the evidence on how minorities and indigenous people are being
affected by climate change. It shows how discrimination against them means that they are not
getting the help they need, or influence over governments’ plans for combating and adapting to
climate change. Finally, it highlights some of the opportunities for change. The briefing uses the
term ‘minority’ to refer to groups that are normally numerically smaller, and who share a common
religious, ethnic or linguistic identity. Examples are the Roma across Europe, Dalits and Muslims
in India and Afro-descendants in Colombia. ‘Indigenous peoples’ refers to groups who have a
special connection with the natural environment and who are often seen as the ‘first people’ to
inhabit a particular territory. Examples include the Sami of the Arctic and the Miskitu of
Nicaragua. When groups working with minorities were contacted as part of the research for this
briefing paper, it was striking that, in three countries, they were caught up in weather related crises.
In India, the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights was urging greater attention to the plight
of Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis in India, following unusually severe monsoon floods in 2007.

Minorities tend to live in places that are worst hit by the impacts of climate change– their poverty
exacerbates their vulnerability

John Magrath, programme researcher at Oxfam, says: ‘Minorities tend to live in the more marginal
areas, exposed areas, that seem to be seeing more climate changes and are more susceptible to
climate impacts because they have got less, and get less, from government. It is a characteristic of
all the studies that I have seen, that the ethnic communities are the people who suffer most from
climate impacts and are the most vulnerable.’

The IPCC’s latest impacts report also clearly acknowledges that some groups are especially
vulnerable, although it rarely uses the term ‘minority’. For example, it states:
‘Impacts of climate change are likely to be felt most acutely not only by the poor, but also by
certain segments of the population, such as the elderly, the very young, the powerless,
indigenous peoples, and recent immigrants, particularly if they are linguistically isolated, i.e.
those most dependent on public support. Impacts will also differ according to gender.’

One of the most shocking examples of minorities’ greater exposure to climate change is in India,
where some 170 million people known as Dalits are physically, socially and economically
excluded from the rest of society. As a result they and two other minorities, Adivasis and Muslims,
were worst hit by the unusually severe monsoon floods in 2007.

Many Dalits lived in rickety homes in flood-prone areas outside main villages, leaving them
especially exposed. They were often last to get emergency relief, if they received it at all, because
relief workers did not realize that Dalits live outside the main villages, or because dominant groups
took control of distribution or were given priority.

2. In your opinion, how do population and resources are interrelated. Explain

Nature and natural resources are destroyed as human populations grow and require more space
for habitation and farming, and more fuel for cooking. In many cases the local people lost their
traditional power over the groves, and their groves have been opened up to commercial
forestry.

All world facing deforestation and environmental degradation as the population grows, and
with it the demand for space and resources. Much of the original vegetation in many places
has been cleared, and sacred groves remain as refuges for plants and animals. However, even
the sacred groves are being encroached upon as demand for space and resources increases.
Demand for cultivable land, fuel wood and other forest products, for the needs of a growing
agricultural population. In this context, it may often be true that “policies to slow down
population growth and enhance alternative employment opportunities are a necessary
complement to strategies to attain sustainable agricultural development”. There is some
uncertainty; however, as to how much national policies of this kind actually influence the
growth of rural populations, especially those living in subsistence agriculture, because those
populations typically are those who benefit the least from reproductive health services.

Demand for cultivable land, fuel wood/charcoal and other forest products, arising from the
needs of the non-agricultural (mostly, urban) population and the export sector. Population
growth is less important a factor here: income growth and the technological factor play a much
greater role in this case than in the preceding one. In this context, a national policy of limiting
population growth probably has a limited effect. Demand for forest products from non-
agricultural sectors (industries, mining etc., including through export channels). The role of
population growth as a determinant of growth in demand is even weaker in this case;
technological change and policies can carry far greater weight than demographic change.
Therefore, population growth policies probably have a negligible impact on this component.

The geometric rise in human population levels during the twentieth century is the fundamental
cause of the loss of biodiversity. It has led to an unceasing search for more arable land for food
production and livestock grazing, and for wood for fuel, construction, and energy. Previously
undisturbed areas (which may or may not be suitable for the purposes to which they are
constrained) are being transformed into agricultural or pasture land, stripped of wood, or mined
for resources to support the energy needs of an ever-growing human population. Humans also
tend to settle in areas of high biodiversity, which often have relatively rich soils and other
attractions for human activities. This leads to great threats to biodiversity, especially since
many of these areas have numerous endemic species.

4.Give a short introduction of:

UNFCC:

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an

international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) informally known as the Earth Summit, held in
 Rio de Jenerio from 3 to 14 June 1992. The objective of the treaty is to stabilize
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

• The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992 after an inter-governmental
negotiating committee produced the text of the framework convention as a report
following its meeting in New York from 30 April to 9 May 1992. It entered into force on
21 March 1994. As of March 2014, UNFCCC has 196 parties. The treaty is aimed at
stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system-commonly believed to be
around 20 C above the pre-industrial global average temperature.

• Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC). The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize atmospheric
concentrations of the GHGs at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference
of the climate system. Scientific analysis can provide information on the impacts of
climate change, but deciding which impacts are dangerous requires value judgment.

• The UNFCCC has the ultimate objective of preventing dangerous anthropogenic (i. e.
human) interference of the climate system. As is stated in the article 2 of the convention,
this requires that Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) concentrations are stabilized in the atmosphere
at a level where ecosystems can adopt naturally to climate change, food production is not
threatened and economic development can proceed in a sustainable fashion.

IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of

the United Nations that is dedicated in providing the world with objective
and scientific information relevant to understand the scientific basis of the risk of human-
induced climate change, its natural, political, and economic impacts and risks, and possible
response options.
The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The IPCC has adopted and published "Principles Governing IPCC Work",[7] which states that the
IPCC will assess:

• the risk of human-induced climate change,

• its potential impacts, and
 • possible options for prevention.

Three Working Group of IPCC:

• Working Group I: Assesses scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change.
• Working Group II: Assesses vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to
climate change, consequences, and adaptation options.
• Working Group III: Assesses options for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and
otherwise mitigating climate change.

Assessment Reports Prepared by IPCC

The IPCC has published five comprehensive assessment reports reviewing the latest climate
science, as well as a number of special reports on particular topics. These reports are prepared by
teams of relevant researchers selected by the Bureau from government nominations. Expert
reviewers from a wide range of governments, IPCC observer organizations and other
organizations are invited at different stages to comment on various aspects of the drafts.

Process in the preparation of the Reports:

There are generally three stages in the review process:[28]

• Expert review (6–8 weeks)

• Government/expert review
• Government review of:
o Summaries for Policymakers
o Overview Chapters
o Synthesis Report

Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol is a global Agreement that set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Protocol was adopted by Parties to the UNFCCC in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into
force in 2005. Kyoto Protocol aimed at combating global warming. The Kyoto Protocol is a
agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of
greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets
binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The
Kyoto Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: carbon dioxide
(CO2), Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons
(PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
The Protocol operationalised the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC). 192 nations committed to reducing their emissions by an average of 5.2% by 2012,

which would represent about 29% of the world’s total emissions. Countries that ratified the

Kyoto Protocol were assigned maximum carbon emission levels for specific periods and

participated in carbon credit trading. If a country emitted more than its assigned limit, then it

would receive a lower emissions limit in the following period.

Developed vs Developing Nations

Recognising that developed countries are principally responsible for the current levels of GHG

emissions as a result of more than 150 years of unmitigated industrial activity, the Protocol

placed a heavier burden on them. 37 industrialised nations plus the EU were mandated to cut

their GHG emissions, while developing countries were asked to voluntarily comply; more than

100 developing countries, including China and India, were exempted from the treaty.

The Protocol separated countries into two groups: Annex I contained developed nations, and

Non-Annex I contained developing countries. Emission limits were placed on Annex I countries

only. Non-Annex I countries could invest in projects to lower emissions in their countries. For

these projects, developing countries earned carbon credits that they could trade or sell to

developed countries, allowing the developing nations a higher level of maximum carbon

emissions for that period. This effectively allowed developed countries to continue emitting

GHGs.
The Protocol established a monitoring, review and verification system, as well as a compliance

system to ensure transparency and hold parties accountable. All countries’ emissions had to be

monitored and precise records of the trades kept through registry systems.

The Kyoto Mechanisms:

One important element of the Kyoto Protocol was the establishment of flexible market
mechanisms, which are based on the trade of emissions permits. Under the Protocol, countries
must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers
them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms:

1. The Emissions trading - known as the carbon market it is envisaged as the key tool to
reduce GHG emissions at global level. According to the UNFCCC Secretariat it
was worth 30 billion USD in 2006 and keeps growing.
2. The Clean development mechanism, CDM – it is a project-based mechanism that
feeds the carbon market and involves investment in sustainable development
projects that reduce emissions in developing countries.
3. The Joint implementation, JI – it is a project-based mechanism that feeds the
carbon market and helps stimulate green investment by encouraging industrialised
countries to carry out joint implementation projects with other developed countries.

5.What do you understand by environmental myths as well as

development narratives. Answer with appropriate examples.

Environmental Myths:

Environmental myths can be defined as the statements which are considered true and believed by
many people yet they are false.

Myth 1: Packaging is bad. Because of state-of-the-art packaging, the United States wastes less
food than any part of the world except Africa.
 Myth 2: Plastics are bad. Without the use of plastics, total use of packaging materials
(measured by weight) would increase four-fold, energy consumption would double and the garbage
disposal would increase more than double.

Myth 3: Disposables are bad. Careful studies show that disposables are not necessarily worse
than reusable or recyclable products. For example, aseptic juice boxes (which are usually disposed
of, rather than recycled) have a clear edge over their alternatives by most measures. Consumers who
care mainly about landfills may choose cloth diapers. But consumers who care more about air and
water pollution and conserving water and energy might choose disposables, which may also be
preferable on the grounds of health and convenience.

Myth 4: Recycling is always good. Recycling itself can cause environmental harm, e.g., more
fuel consumption and more air pollution. As a result, the environmental costs of recycling may
exceed any possible environmental benefits.
Myth 5: Recycling paper saves trees. Since most of the trees used to make paper are grown
explicitly for that purpose, if we use less paper, fewer trees will be planted and grown by
commercial harvesters. Recycling paper doesn't save trees, it reduces incentives to plant them.

Myth 6: We cannot safely dispose of solid waste. This was a valid concern in the past. In
fact, 22 percent of Superfund sites (hazardous waste disposal areas) are former municipal landfills.
But things are different today. Government regulations and new technology permit the safe
disposal of solid waste -- in landfills or by waste-to-energy incineration --- without threat to
human health or the environment. Even without new improvements, the Environmental Protection
Agency estimates that the aggregate risk from all operating municipal solid waste landfills in the
United States is one cancer death every 23 years.

Myth 7: We are running out of resources. Although all resources are finite, technology and
markets make it possible to use resources without exhausting them. That's why the international
price of virtually every raw material went down (reflecting abundance), not up (reflect ing scarcity)
over the past decade.
Myth 8: Forests are in rapid decline.
Myth 9: Air quality is getting worse.
Myth 10: The Kyoto Protocol will successfully reduce levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Myth 11: All environmentalists are motivated by altruistic concern for the planet.
Myth 6: All environmentalists are peace loving and engage in traditional forms of civil
disobedience.
Myth 7: Businesses are not hurt by onerous environmental regulations.
Myth 8: Oil can easily be replaced by renewable energy.
Myth 9: Genetically modified (GM) crops are "bad."
Myth 10: We are running out of freshwater
Development Narrative: It can be define as the statement regarding the development.

Author Key conclusions and implications for development aid

and
narrative

Collier, Focus on those living in countries where the potential for growth is
P. The trapped. Engage a broader sweep of instruments beyond aid.
Bottom
Billion

Sachs, Development aid should be large, focused, and integrated.

J. The Governance and institutions will develop as growth occurs.
End of
Poverty

Easterly, Weak accountability means that the interventions of top-down planners

W. The tend to fail.
White Be humble. Look for opportunities to support home-grown initiatives.
Man’s Be better at listening in- country. Support real accountability – for
Burden yourselves and for others.

Sachs, W. Climate change signals the biophysical limits of growth.

Global Link Northern domestic and Northern development efforts
Challenges: much more closely.
Climate There needs to be a convergence in resource use per unit of growth –
Chaos and in North and South.
the Future of Northern countries have to be prepared to act unilaterally on climate
Development change if necessary.

Chang, H-J. Rich countries want poor countries to do as they say, not as they did.
Bad Poor countries need selective, strategic integration with world economy.
Samaritans Tilt the playing field in favour of developing countries. Give them freer
access to open markets and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

Stiglitz, J. Fulfil G8 commitments; fairer trade; more open IPR; developed

Making country leadership on climate change; more responsible governance in
Globalization North of financial services, arms, narcotics.
Work Be more supportive of civil society to put more pressure on developed
and developing countries to make globalisation more inclusive.