TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Prakriti and Green Initiatives
2. National Maritime Day
3. IPCC report on mitigation of Climate Change

1. Prakriti and Green Initiatives

Syllabus: GS III, Conservation, environment pollution and degradation

Prelims: Salient features of the green initiatives

Mains: India’s commitment towards sustainable development and its green initiatives.

Context: For effective plastic management in the country, the government of India has launched “Prakriti” which is a mass awareness programme that emphasizes green initiatives. 

About the Event:

• The Prakriti Initiative has been launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change along with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to adopt sustainable measures in the lifestyle for a better environment and management of plastic wastes that pose serious threats to the environment. 
• India has pledged to phase out single-use plastics by 2022 to tackle the issue of plastic pollution. 
• The Swachh Bharat Harit Bharat Green Pledge was administered during the launch event. 

Need for such Green Initiatives:

• India generates about 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually and the per capita generation has almost doubled over the last five years. 
• Plastic pollution imposes an adverse effect on the ecosystem and also contributes to air pollution. 
• The Sixth Assessment Report of IPCC Working Group III focuses on mitigating measures to keep the world aligned to the Plastic Waste Management Goals and steps to give effect to the roadmap set by the Paris Agreement. 

Green Initiatives launched for Plastic Waste Management:

• The National Dashboard on Elimination of Single Use Plastic and Plastic Waste Management – This is an initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to bring together all the stakeholders including central ministries/departments, governments of state/UTs at one place and the track the progress of elimination of single-use plastics. This dashboard will also assess the effectiveness of managing plastic waste.
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) portal for plastic packaging – This Programme of the CPCB aims at improving accountability, traceability, transparency and facilitating compliance to EPR obligations by producers, importers and brand owners. 
• Mobile App for Single Use Plastics Grievance Redressal has been launched by the CPCB to empower the citizens to check the usage of plastic (single-use) and manage the plastic waste in an area. 
• Monitoring module for SUP (by CPCB) was released to assist the local bodies, the state pollution control boards to get the details of SUP production/sale and usage in commercial establishments at the district level and on-ground enforcement of the ban on Single Use Plastic (SUP). 
• Industrial Production of Graphene from plastic waste has been decided with the objective of promoting more industries to engage in the up-cycling of plastic waste. 

Signs of hope:

• Through the futuristic vision of “Prakriti”, India conveyed a message of hope and optimism that humanity is capable of meeting the challenges posed by climate change.

Read more about Plastic Wastes in the linked article.

2. National Maritime Day

Syllabus: GS III, Various security forces and agencies

Prelims: Facts related to National Maritime Day 

Context: The Prime Minister commemorated the glorious history of National Maritime Day highlighting the progress made in the maritime sector with the introduction of the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. 

An Overview:

• Over the gradual progress of time, India has witnessed a port-led development in the maritime sector that led to the expansion of port capacities and making the existing facilities better. 
• Waterways have been harnessed to ensure new market access for Indian products. 

To understand more about National Maritime Day, follow the link.

3. IPCC report on mitigation of Climate Change

Syllabus: GS III, Conservation

Prelims: Important highlights of IPCC report AR6

Context: The sixth assessment report (AR6) of the IPCC that included the Summary of Policymakers and the Working Group III (WG3) was released. 

Important Highlights:

• This report on climate change mitigation and international cooperation is a significant contribution of IPCC to the global fight against climate change. 
• This report specifically notes the shortfalls in the financial flow that is required to meet the goals of climate change across all sectors and regions. 
• The report determined that the challenge of closing gaps is largest in developing countries as a whole.
• The report also deals with the assessment of Climate Finance and states that accelerated financial support for developing countries from developed countries and other sources are crucial enablers to mitigate climate change and address the inequities in access to finance, including its cost, terms and conditions and economic vulnerability for developing countries. 
• It has been necessitated by the IPCC report that there is an urgent need for global emissions reduction and provided an estimate that four-fifths of the total carbon budget for a 1.5-degree rise in temperature and two-thirds of the total carbon budget for a 2-degree rise in temperature have been already consumed. 
• India’s role in both historical cumulative emissions and per capita annual emissions has been minimal. 

Importance of Equity:

The report has justified India’s firm commitment to equity at all scales in climate action and sustainability. Equity is essential for:

• Social and economic transformation required for climate mitigation
• Manage negative consequences of climate mitigation on vulnerable populations
• Enable just transition towards low emissions development
• Ensure Sustainable Development
• The report declares equity as the central element in the UN climate regime supporting India’s stance on the need for curbing unsustainable consumption. 

Read previous PIB here.

April 5th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here