Treaty on crimes against humanity

Context: 

• Crimes against humanity: Key U.N. committee adopts resolution paving way for first-ever treaty

News:

• A key United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly committee adopted a resolution paving way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity.
• The resolution was approved by consensus by the assembly’s legal committee, which includes all 193-member U.N. nations.
• It is virtually certain to be adopted when the General Assembly puts it to a final vote.
• This agreement sends a crucial message that impunity for the kinds of crimes inflicted on civilians in Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, southern Israel, Gaza and Myanmar will not go unheeded.

ICC:

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established to punish major perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and it has 124 countries that are parties to it.
• The ICC says crimes against humanity are committed as part of a large-scale attack on civilians and it lists 15 forms including murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, sexual slavery, torture and deportation.
• But the ICC does not have jurisdiction over nearly 70 other countries.
• There are global treaties that cover war crimes, genocide and torture – but there has been no specific treaty addressing crimes against humanity.
• And according to sponsors of the resolution, led by Mexico and Gambia and backed by 96 other countries, a new treaty will fill the gap.

India’s road to net-zero

With 45 years to go, how sustainable is India’s road to net-zero?

• A few COPs ago, India committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
• Since then, it has implemented several policies while others are in the works to support this transition.
• It is widely acknowledged that this journey will not be without challenges, especially financial ones.
• However, other resource constraints such as land or water availability also matter, limiting the choices available for a sustainable long-term pathway for India.

Why net-zero at all?

• With each passing day, climate change is becoming more evident.
• The scientific consensus is that to avoid devastating and irreversible consequences, the world must keep the global average annual surface temperature rise to within 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
• The current increase is at least 1.1 °C over that in 1880.
• The Sixth Assessment Report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that from 2020, the remaining (cumulative) global carbon budget for a 50-67% chance of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 °C is 400-500 billion tonnes (Gt) of CO2.
• Currently, annual global emissions are around 40 GtCO₂.
• This means net global emissions must drop drastically to stay within the carbon budget.
• Several countries have announced net-zero targets, but we also really need a sharp decline in total emissions.

Is net-zero equitable?

• The developed world, having caused the problem of climate change in the first place, is expected to lead this transition and reach net-zero emissions well before 2050, allowing more time for developing countries to balance their development goals with climate action.
• These expectations aren’t being met, however.
• Developed countries are also expected to help finance climate action, but this hasn’t materialised at the required scale either.
• Developing countries, especially those that are small islands, are bearing more than their fair share of the brunt of climate change.
• So overall, neither climate change nor climate action is currently equitable.
• COP29 is expected to build consensus on the level of financing required.
• India’s per-capita emissions are among the lowest in the world.
• However, according to the World Inequality Database, the per-capita emissions of the richest 10% are 20-times greater than that of the poorest 10% and in absolute terms almost half of the country’s total.
• Climate change more severely affects the economically weaker sections.
• India’s size and diversity mean it’s a country of countries, and some of them are more polluting than others vis-à-vis the climate.
• Importantly, India lacks the carrying capacity to support the developed world’s lifestyle standards for its entire population.
• If it should, India will run into significant food shortage due to groundwater depletion by the 2040s, extreme heat stress in urban areas due to the ever-increasing vehicular pollution and AC use, irreversible biodiversity loss due to non-ideal land-use changes encroaching on habitats, etc.
• India’s lifestyle aspirations could easily become unsustainable in the long run, jeopardising our access to basic needs.

A new consumption corridor:

• In a scenario where consumption rises unchecked and India electrifies all end-use applications, the power demand could increase nine to tenfold by 2070.
• Meeting it entirely via renewable energy will require more than 5,500 GW of solar and 1,500 GW of wind, up from the current 70 GW and and 47 GW, respectively.
• This target is achievable if India’s only priority is to expand renewable energy generation capacity.
• But if India is to maintain food and nutritional security, increase forest cover, and preserve biodiversity as well, these energy targets will become very challenging.
• By modelling land-use change dynamics over time, the authors have found going beyond 3,500 GW solar and 900 GW wind will demand considerable land trade-offs.
• In sum, India has a tough balancing act to pull off: availing good quality of life to a large share of its population (which has significant material and energy implications) while working towards its climate adaptation and mitigation goals.
• To this end, it is important to recognise the pitfalls of economic models.
• For example, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesises that beyond a threshold, economic growth can be decoupled from carbon emissions.
• In reality, even the richest countries haven’t achieved this decoupling (other than by shifting their emissions to poorer countries).
• This is why it is in our best interest to not aspire to achieve the lifestyle standards of the west.
• Instead, we need to envisage a long-term strategy incorporating ‘sufficiency consumption corridors’, with a floor well suited to meeting our developmental goals and a ceiling of excess that will help avoid unsustainable growth.
• Equally, if not more, important are demand-side measures to help maintain this corridor of consumption that will keep us on a sustainable pathway.
• Our power consumption here could increase six or sevenfold by 2070.

Demand and supply measures:

• Some of these demand-side measures include the use of better construction materials and passive design elements to provide thermal comfort that doesn’t require air-conditioning, energy-efficient appliances, public and/or non-motorised transport within urban areas and railways for intercity travel, local products to reduce the demand for long-haul freight, mindful dietary choices, and alternative fuels in industries in addition to some electrification.
• On the supply side as well, India needs to further decentralise energy production (including by the use of rooftop solar cells and of solar pumps for agriculture).
• Finally, it should continue to expand its nuclear power generation capacity to diversify its energy mix and to complement a grid becoming more dependent on intermittent energy sources.
• Nuclear power could also offer a precious low-carbon baseload energy and help the government effectively phase out the national economy’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Conclusion:

• As the world trundles towards its net-zero and other climate-related targets, the leeway for governments to miss some of them or postpone their achievement also shrinks.
• Of course some things are out of our control – for example who becomes the US President – but the things that we can we must, before we cannot.

Commission for Air Quality Management

What can Commission for Air Quality Management do to improve Delhi air?

Why did the Supreme Court pull up the Commission for Air Quality Management?

Introduction:

• Air pollution in Delhi has been in the ‘severe’ and ‘severe plus’ category for the most part of the last 10 days.
• This week, the Supreme Court pulled up the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the government’s monitoring agency, on its inadequate pollution control response.

CAQM:

• The CAQM in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas came into existence through an ordinance in 2020, which was later replaced by an Act of Parliament in 2021.
• The CAQM was set up for better coordination, research, identification and resolution of problems surrounding air quality and connected issues.
• It initially had 15 members, comprising officials, past and present, of the environment ministry and other departments of the Union government, as well as officials of various State governments, and representatives from NGOs and other agencies.
• The CAQM is now has 27 members.
• The CAQM replaced the EPCA (Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority), which was formed in 1998 by the Supreme Court.
• However, the EPCA was not backed by a statute and experts had raised the issue that it lacked the teeth to act against authorities which did not follow its orders.
• Despite that drawback, it was under the EPCA that many of the measures being followed by the CAQM started, including the Graded Response Action Plan or GRAP, a list of temporary emergency measures to control air pollution.

Powers of CAQM:

• Under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021, the CAQM was given the power to take all measures, issue directions and entertain complaints, as it deems necessary, for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of air in the NCR and adjoining areas.
• Under Section 14 of the Act, the CAQM can initiate stringent actions against officers for not following its orders.

Reason for SC pulls up the CAQM:

• Over the years, the Supreme Court which has been hearing an ongoing case on air pollution, has pulled up different governments and agencies for their laxity.
• Recently, Judges orally observed about CAQM: “Like pollution, your directions are in the air.”
• The court was referring to various stakeholders not following the CAQM’s orders despite specific provisions under the 2021 Act.
• There has been total non-compliance of the Act.
• Please show us a single direction issued to any stakeholder under the Act… We are of the view that though the Commission has taken steps, it needs to be more active.
• The Commission must ensure that its efforts and directions issued actually translate into reducing the problem of pollution, the Bench observed.
• Also, the Supreme Court slammed the CAQM for delayed action while directing stringent curbs under Stage IV of the GRAP and noted that rather than taking pre-emptive action to contain air pollution, it waited in vain for the air to improve.
• Stage IV is the highest level of restrictions under GRAP, and according to the CAQM’s rules, it is supposed to be implemented when the air quality category is likely to fall to ‘severe plus’, and is likely to remain in that level for three or more days.
• The court pulled up the CAQM for delaying implementation of curbs though the AQI had slipped to the ‘severe plus’ category.

CAQM and Delhi Pollution:

• Though the CAQM makes plans and coordinates with different agencies, it is the agencies that have to implement them on the ground.
• CAQM officials said the commission has improved coordination and planning.
• For example, though the paddy stubble burning, which is a source of severe pollution, happens in October-November, we start meeting State officials from February and continue talks till the season is over,” the official said.
• The CAQM had also coordinated with Punjab and Haryana to prepare action plans for controlling stubble burning in 2022 and it is updated every year.
• About challenges that the commission faces, the official said, Over the years, though we were looking at different sources of pollution and trying to control them, our main focus was on controlling stubble burning.
• But from now onwards, we will try to focus on multiple areas.
• We will be putting more energy and time on controlling dust and vehicular pollution too.

What can CAQM do to improve Delhi air?

• Decision to impose GRAP should be taken proactively by the CAQM.
• Pollution forecasting methods have to be more accurate.
• CAQM should work with different State governments to work out the specific time bound targets to be achieved in different sectors.
• Then identify gaps in actions and ensure proper strategy development, and resource allocation have been done and accordingly track implementation.
• It is more important to focus on enabling action at ground level.

Lothal’s Maritime Heritage Complex

Context:

• PM Modi Highlights Lothal’s Maritime Heritage Complex in Mann Ki Baat

More info:

• PM emphasized the significance of Lothal in India’s maritime history.
• Known as the site of the world’s first dockyard, Lothal is now witnessing the construction of the National Maritime Heritage Complex, under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, a grand museum dedicated to showcasing India’s 5000-year-old maritime history that began with the Harappan civilization.
• Lothal is a proud symbol of India’s maritime brilliance and ancient trading capabilities.
• The museum being developed here will become a global hub for learning and appreciating our rich seafaring heritage.