2020 Tyler Prize for the environment awarded to Indian economist who formulated Green Economy
The Tyler Prize 2020 has been awarded to two pioneers who quantified the economic value of our natural environment.
Pavan Sukhdev (currently President of WWF), an international banker by training, was the lead expert on the first report of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) published in 2008 as an initiative the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). TEEB has since become a leading global initiative focussed on “making nature’s values visible”.
(TEEB has been asked earlier in UPSC Prelims exam)
Following the 2008 report, the United Nations-appointed Sukhdev to lead the ‘Green Economy Initiative’ launched in 2009 by the UN secretary-general. For the first time, this initiative quantified the economic value of ‘natural capital’ and how moving towards a green economy could be a source of new employment and a means to alleviate poverty.
Sukhdev will be sharing the award with Gretchen C Daily, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University and co-founder of Natural Capital Project (NatCap).
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) was a study led by Pavan Sukhdev from 2007 to 2011.
It is an international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity.
Its objective is to highlight the growing cost of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions.
Locust attack: Swarms pose most serious threat since 1993
Swarms of locusts had invaded the border districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat in December 2019, in one of the most serious attacks by the insects since 1993.
The desert locust that belongs to the grasshopper family, covers large distances during the day, with the help of the wind. The insects rest at night.
Locusts are considered to be among the most dangerous pests known to humanity. They reproduce fast — 20-fold in three months.
But they are most lethal because they can eat through large swathes of crops. Adult locusts can eat their own weight every day and a swarm can consume vast quantities of food. They thus pose a threat to human food security.
Origin of recent Locust Swarms
The current attack of locust swarms is connected with the rise in frequency of cyclones in the otherwise-placid Arabian Sea.
In May 2018, Cyclone Mekunu turned parts of the arid Rub’ al-Khali desert — that sprawls over Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen — into a watery landscape.
This created favourable breeding conditions for desert locusts. In October 2018, the Arabian Peninsula was hit by Cyclone Luban, which created more favourable conditions for locusts to breed.
India’s Response
When they finally invaded India, the government was forced to use the most lethal pesticides, organophosphates (OPs),specifically Chlorpyrifos.
Ten types of chemicals divided into three categories are recommended to be used for controlling locusts by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The first category is mycoinsecticide (for instance, Metarhizium acridum). This is of low risk to non-target organisms including birds and reptiles which ingest the treated locusts.
The second category is insect growth regulators (like diflubenzuron, teflubenzuron and triflumuron).
The OPs should be the last resort, according to the FAO.
(Last year there was a question on name of Pesticides)
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is an international coalition of countries, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions, that aims to promote disaster-resiliant infrastructure.
Its objective is to promote research and knowledge sharing in the fields of infrastructure risk management, standards, financing, and recovery mechanisms.
It was launched by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019.
CDRI’s initial focus is on developing disaster-resilience in ecological, social, and economic infrastructure. It aims to achieve substantial changes in member countries’ policy frameworks and future infrastructure investments, along with a major decrease in the economic losses suffered due to disasters.
Headquarters- New Delhi
Statement of The State of the Global Climate – 2019
Report is released by UN’s World Meteorological Organization -WMO
Mangroves
Mangroves ,Corals etc are always important topics for Prelims exam,and should be prepared well.
One can go through this small doc of Forest Survey of India (10 -15 minutes read) –
http://fsi.nic.in/isfr2017/isfr-mangrove-cover-2017.pdf
Sundarbans Forests
Home to about 180 species of trees and plants, the Sunderbans is spread across India and Bangladesh. The Indian part has 4110 km sq in total, and the tides sweep over the swamp on a daily basis. This is the largest mangrove forest in the world and is a hub of animals such as the Gangetic dolphin, estuarine crocodiles, the Bengal tiger etc.
Godavari-Krishna Mangroves
Located on the eastern coast of India, the Godavari-Krishna mangroves extends from Odisha to Tamil Nadu, and is located in the delta of rivers Godavari and Krishna in Andhra Pradesh. The place is known for a world of amazing animal species, alongside aquatic birds such as flamingoes, spot-billed pelicans, spoonbills, and egrets. The mangrove also contains the now threatened, lesser florican bird species.
Baratang Island Mangroves
Baratang Island Mangroves is located 150 km away from Port Blair. The place is full of dense trees, and canopies, and some exotic bird species flying from branch to branch. One will also find the limestone caves here.
Pichavaram Mangroves
Tamil Nadu’s Pichavaram Mangroves are the second largest in the world.
