Given India’s net zero emission goal for 2070, courses blending economics, environment, and policy are set to see a high demand.
With extreme weather conditions, more people now want to know and study its cause and solutions. (Representational Image: Anant National university Official Website)
NEW DELHI: “Many years ago, working on sustainability and climate-related mandates was more ‘nice’ than necessary. But now it has become mandatory. With extreme weather conditions, more people now want to know and study its cause and solutions,” said Miniya Chatterji, founding director of Anant School of Climate Action, a part of the private Anant National University.
The trend started with Stanford University in the United States which, in 2022, launched a new climate school. Columbia University’s climate school joined in and started degree courses in the field. In India, too, many have taken the plunge in the last few years. Though these schools have added new bachelor’s courses in climate change according to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandates, there are challenges in demand and supply overall.
Tanu Jindal, group additional pro vice-chancellor (research and development), director of Amity University, pointed out that since last year, the university had witnessed a 20% increase in enrollments in its masters in environment science and engineering courses. “Due to this rise, we launched an MSc in climate change and green technology and a BSc in environmental science last year,” she said. “Earlier students were not keen on taking environmental science courses immediately after their 12th. But now many want to take up jobs in this area.”
TERI School of Advanced Studies (SAS), New Delhi, has also introduced courses on environmental science and resource management (ESRM), climate science and policy across all its courses along with a bachelor’s in environmental studies.
Why climate change courses are key
Chatterji explained that the big reason for the rise in climate education is the massive job boom since 2022 due to which they started the school. “While timelines in attaining net zero carbon emission are decided for every country, there is nobody to implement it. That’s what makes it extremely relevant today,” she said.
Jindal said that more students are choosing climate technology now because we need a sustainable world and these courses will directly take you to industry-ready jobs. “Once students get to know about green technologies and once we have such technologies and skilled people in this area, issues related to climate change will automatically have a solution,” she stated.
Ashish Garg, head of department, Sustainability Energy Engineering at IIT Kanpur, said rising energy demands are the main cause of issues related to global warming. “Because of climate change, the whole world is facing the challenge of sustainability and increase in energy demand is the driver behind it. It’s all interrelated. However, we need to prepare people and human resources who understand this problem, can develop solutions and work for industries as well as other sectors in energy, climate change, climate modelling, sustainability, environmental social governance (ESG) governance, and other facets of sustainability,” he said.
Climate change education: Curriculum
Chatterji said that Anant’s BTech in climate change has been pegged to the advancements in technology of the world along with multidisciplinarity.
“The course covers climate finance that teaches you how to fund these technologies. It has 54 hours of applied research with students working in actual industry live projects from all the companies working with Sustain labs. The course has eight streams in the first six semesters, including climate simulation, engineering, mathematics and climate engineering, climate chemistry, energy and technology, climate finance, design thinking and behavioural science and technology and society,” she said. Further, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US is a partner of the Climate School at Anant and provides support in specialisations technology and innovation and climate and policy.
In TERI SAS, the new addition to its already-available climate and development-focused courses are aspects of sustainable development which are more practice-based.
“The courses are very interdisciplinary with components on management, economics and climate along with a dedicated community programme where students have to go to rural communities and get involved in various aspects like ESG, development economics and others,” said Swarup Dutta, assistant professor and programme coordinator, MA in Sustainable Development Practice, department of policy and management studies, TERI School of Advanced Studies.
Jindal said that in its master’s courses in green technologies, a basic understanding of science is required due to its technical nature. But a student doesn’t need to have a master’s in environmental sciences only. “We have kept it open for any discipline in sciences,” she said.
She said because climate change is an important subject, the University Grant Commission (UGC) has given four credit courses to each field. At Amity, the courses include training about the toxicants in the environment, water testing, air pollution monitoring techniques, soil testing techniques, health safety measures, how to patent natural pesticides, water testing kits, degrading the toxic substance matter faster in natural conditions and many others.
Industry placements
At Anant, back in 2022, the internship stipends were around Rs 17 lakh per annum for a student. “The trend has continued and the paying capacity of this sector is very high as compared to other branches,” said Chatterji. She also said that in the last three years, they have seen 100% internship placements every year. “Students from BTech in climate change courses have an edge over others. Companies that have placed students include TechMahindra, Bharti Airtel, Jindals, Hitachi, IIT Mandi, different departments of United Nations in Africa and others,” she added.
Jindal stated that generally after a bachelor’s at Amity, students go for a master’s in climate and technology and after which the package varies from Rs 35,000- Rs 70,000 a month. Placement companies include grassroots organisations like the Centre for Science and Environment as well as ministry of earth sciences, ministry of environment forest, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and India Meteorological Department (IMD). Many students have opened their biodiversity non-profits as well, she added.
Challenges
Garg stated that since India has a net zero emission goal of 2070, programmes related to energy, economics and policy will see a high demand because of rising job opportunities. However, there are challenges.
Chatterji pointed out that online courses providing “cookie cutter” programmes are causing inertia in India’s climate action space. “We have to be careful with the kind of education that’s been rolled out and be wary of quality control and standardisation,” she said.
Anant is working closely with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the premier government body for technical education, on a policy for this. “We worked
with AICTE to create that nomenclature of BTech (Climate Technology) which took years and is now part of the AICTE handbook.”
Dutta noted that environmental studies students are getting jobs in big consulting companies with Rs 13- Rs 16 lakh per annum salaries that rival those of MBA-holders but they possess little practical training. “Organisations are closely working on climate change issues, but not in mitigation. Most courses talk about scientific aspects but are removing the social science and community aspects. Hence, the demand is huge, but quality supply limited,” he stated.
Read MoreBisleri will share its findings with the central government to facilitate discussions and develop a framework, advancing the concept of water credits for the beverages industry. The proposal is aimed at making beverage makers more accountable towards water usage.
Mumbai: Packaged water maker Bisleri is looking to introduce water credits akin to carbon credits, aimed at making beverage makers more accountable for water usage.
The company has partnered TERI School of Advanced Studies to conduct a study that would set a benchmark for the beverage industry's commitment to water conservation.
The study assumes significance given that several large beverage makers have been criticized for extracting water from water stressed areas. Several companies now report initiatives to replenish water used during their manufacturing process.
Green credit for water conservation
Bisleri said it will share its findings with the central government to facilitate discussions and develop a framework, advancing the concept of water credits for the beverages industry.
“The water sector can generate green credits through water conservation, water harvesting, and water use efficiency, including treatment and reuse of wastewater," the company said. This will be similar to how companies buy credits to offset their emissions.
"This report is about proposing a model to the government—they can use and craft it. So, we are requesting the government to set up a platform as quickly as possible, similar to carbon credits, using this as a template," Angelo George, CEO, Bisleri International said in an interview.
Water savings need localized approaches
The study aimed to review national and international practices and policies in water trading, water credits and fiscal instruments and develop a methodological framework to estimate water footprint of a production unit. The study also tested and estimated the water footprint of two production units of Bisleri in two distinctly different terrains.
Unlike carbon emissions, water savings require a localized approach, factoring in variables such as rainfall and consumption at a watershed level, it said.
Problem of water scarcity
In India, 11 out 15 major river basins will be water-stressed by 2025, with per-capita annual water availability below 1,700 cubic meters, according to data from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a New Delhi-based think tank.
Bisleri’s move also comes after the government notified a Green Credit Program (GCP ) in October, 2023. The CPG is a market-based mechanism designed to incentivize voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors, by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies. In its initial phase, the CPG will focus on two key activities i.e. water conservation and afforestation. However, there is no official platform yet that permits trading of green credits in India.
Those in the beverage industry said that while the idea is novel, it could face challenges in implementation. “This is a responsible way for the industry to be more water-efficient, although several large companies are already replenishing water they use," said a senior executive in the beverages industry, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Additionally, ground water usage in India is already governed by various national and state-level rules that restrict the amount of water companies can draw for industrial and commercial use.
For instance, bottled water companies must obtain necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for groundwater extraction and then undertake measures for groundwater replenishment. Packaged water units are also penalized for going above the minimum quantum of ground water withdrawal. Rates of ground water abstraction charges for packaged drinking water units vary in safe, semi-critical and critical assessment units, per rules laid out by the Central Ground Water Authority. However, companies also use other sources such as surface or municipal water—tariffs on which are different.
Others said the move is largely aligned to step up sustainable and environment-friendly practices followed by companies.
"If companies are able to follow efficient water use practices and earn credits their processes will be considered more environmentally friendly, because they are going to reduce their water footprint. Moreover, internationally, their product will have more acceptance, because you're contributing to environmental conservation. Third, is that it also reduces regulatory and reputational risk for organizations, said Nitin Bassi, senior programme lead for the sustainable water team at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
However, Bassi warns that creating a baseline water footprint for the industry may have its challenges given the scale and scope of a given water unit. Smaller water units may be at a disadvantage when it comes to assessing their water footprint as their technology may not be at par with those deployed that large companies. "Additionally, while undertaking such projects, validating claims in the long-run becomes a challenge," he said.
Read MoreGuwahati, April 30: A two-day-long ‘Exposure Visit Programme’ for CBSE School Principals has successfully culminated here today at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) where 34 school principals from various renowned CBSE schools from across the country participated.
The visit has been organized by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in collaboration with USTM from 29th to 30th April 2024. The program has been supported by the Department of Skill Education, CBSE under the Skill Education sector.
Addressing the school principals in an interactive session today, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM said that the role of a school principal is multifaceted and essential for creating an environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. He welcomed all the participants and said that USTM is always open to extending all kinds of support to uplift school education.
In the inaugural session yesterday, Prof GD Sharma, Vice Chancellor of USTM welcomed all the school principals and said that the National Education Policy 2020 has emphasized on Skill Education to become integral to School and Higher Education. Accordingly, CBSE has envisioned promoting Skill Education from Class 6th onwards in all its affiliated schools. He said that an added benefit of such an exposure visit is that it gives the principals a chance to meet other like-minded school leaders, share stories, and gain a lot in the process.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr Jagadish Barman, Jt Secretary, CBSE Centre of Excellence Guwahati said, “This Exposure Visit is expected to leverage the synergies between schools and Higher Educational Institutions and create a positive platform for cohesive interaction in the future learning ecosystem.”
These Principals may, in turn, mentor the teachers of schools in their neighborhood thus, unfold unlimited opportunities for educator empowerment, he added.
In this context, Prof Amit Choudhury, Dean, School of Technology and Management at USTM said that this year CBSE has selected USTM for principals’ exposure visit apart from six other institutions including TERI School of Advanced Studies New Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Asian Academy of Film Television Noida, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati, Whistling Woods International Mumbai, and Indian Institute of Management–Raipur. The resource persons from USTM were: Dr E Karim, Dr Azmol H Barbhuiya, Dr Monalisa Bora Deka, Dr Alika Borgohain, Dr Baharul Islam, Dr K Aye, Dr S Gazi, Dr Nitu Borgohain, Dr Deboja Sharma, Dr Moutushi Das, Dr Mehjabin Rahman, Dr Papiya Dutta, Dr Palme Borthakur.
Dr Nirmaljit Singh Kalsi, Chairman, National Council for Vocational Education and Training took an online session on “Up-scaling of Skill Education in line with NEP 2020”. Several sessions took place on both days.
The participating schools in the program were Christ International School Bangalore, Mahavir Senior Model School Delhi, RS Jhunjhunwala International School Gujarat, Poddar International School Maharashtra, Manipal School, Brahmani Public School Odisha, DPS Ahomgaon Guwahati, Faculty HS School North Guwahati, Sharada Vidyaniketan Public School Mangalore, Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Kunjaban, KV NFR Maligaon, Ideal English Senior Secondary School Manipur, Livingstone Foundation International, PM Shri KV Khanapara, Holy Brook Sr. Sec. School, North East Public School Udalguri, Army Public School PRTC Bangalore, SBOA Public School Guwahati, The Priceton School, Sree Swami Vivekananda Higher Primary School, Kendriya Vidyalaya NEHU Shillong, Army Public School Shillong, SJ Patel Eng School Gujarat, Delhi World Public School Haryana, Jnana Ganga Central School, Dr. M Ramanna Shetty Memorial English Medium High School, Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC Agartala, Kendriya Vidyalaya Assam University, Kendriya Vidyalaya Aizawl, Buhai School Sikkim and Kingcup Public School Itanagar.
Read MoreDate | News Title | Source |
08-August-2024 | Teaching climate change: Globa... | Careers360 (Online) |
02-June-2024 | Bisleri proposes water credit ... | Mint (Online) |
30-April-2024 | Principals from CBSE schools a... | The Shillong Times (Online) |
02-March-2024 | International Conference on So... | Skilloutlook (Online) |
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The importance of ecosystem services is yet to be fully recognised by India’s policy makers despite the ever-growing threats of extreme weather
Over the course of a few days in August 2018, the village of Mukkodlu, about 15kms from Madikeri, the capital of the district of Kodagu in Karnataka, was washed away by a landslide. Mukkodlu was only one of several villages where houses were completely destroyed by landslides. Kodagu and the people of neighbouring districts of Karnataka, all located on or near the Western Ghats, were still recovering from the extreme rainfalls of late-2018, when heavier and more intense rainfall in 2019 destroyed many more villages and verdant coffee plantations, which this region is known for. In the two years preceding these extreme rainfall events, the region had witnessed one of its worst droughts.
These are just a few incidents of extreme weather wreaking havoc in southern India’s Western Ghats over the past few years. Apart from loss of life and homesteads, peoples’ source of livelihoods has also been severely affected. Inundated as well as drought-stricken coffee plantations have resulted in loss of harvest and destruction of plants. The farmers affected by this are still to recover. Some have gone out of business altogether.
At the same time, multiple projects are being planned through the remaining natural forests of the 1,600-kilometre-long Western Ghats. This despite the region being classified as a hottest hotspot of biological biodiversity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A railway line cutting through the Sahyadri mountains, to connect the Northern Karnataka city of Hubli to the coastal town of Ankola, is being planned and highways through the Western Ghats and multiple dam projects have already claimed thousands of trees in protected areas. The region is also exploited for sand mining on its riverbeds and stone quarrying of its rock formations. Many government-sanctioned reports, most famously the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report, more popularly known as the Gadgil report that was submitted to the government in 2011, have repeatedly warned about the catastrophic damage that is inevitable if India’s forests are sacrificed at the altar of infrastructure, mining and other development.
The report had warned that cultivation of commercial crops on steep slopes was leading to rapid erosion and increased run-off. It had also said there was a need to control the massive encroachment and deforestation in the catchment of major rivers such as the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. It also spoke against building large dams in the ecologically sensitive area. It is almost as if scientific knowledge is wilfully ignored by policy makers, even if it’s at the risk of not only the destruction of natural forests, but also of people’s lives and livelihoods. The warnings of such reports have been ignored and the result is that the impact of such extreme weather events is made all the worse as any resident of the Western Ghats region can testify.
Compromised ecosystems
One reason for these extreme weather events to cause more damage than they would have done otherwise is that incessant development has led to ecological balances being disturbed, compromising the ecosystem services that forests and protected areas offer. For example, deforestation in the catchment area of a river reduces the land’s ability to retain water. These compromised ecosystems, combined with the impacts of climate change in such eco-sensitive zones, have increased the intensity and damages from extreme weather events.
As this report stated, out of the 2,592 proposals for projects in Protected Areas (PA) that the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) received for environment clearance in the past six years, more than 87% have been approved. This is based on data available on the ministry’s clearance monitoring website, Parivesh. At the same time, according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that was released in February 2020, India’s projected GDP loss due to environmental degradation and future changes in water yield could be as much as $5.9 billion to $9.2 billion.
As the report states, “Nature’s loss undermines our ability to tackle climate change. The second-biggest economic impact from the loss of nature identified through this study relates to its impact on carbon sequestration. If we are to meet climate challenges in an optimal way, we will have to consider nature as a key contributor to the solution. Conversely, nature’s loss undermines our ability to tackle climate change.”
Professor Mahesh Sankaran, an ecosystem and community ecologist at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, says, “When we convert natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and savannas to other ‘human’ land-uses, what we are doing is essentially increasing the production of some services, but decreasing others (i.e. we are trading off between different services). More often than not, we end up increasing ‘provisioning’ services such as food and timber production, but negatively impacting regulating, supporting and cultural services (eg climate and flood regulation, carbon sequestration, regulation of hydrological cycles, eco-tourism).”
Sankaran is part of the Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Network- India (LEMoN) and has been studying India’s forests for many decades. He adds, “In the long term, this is not a viable option because these other services are critical to ensure the sustainability of even ‘human-dominated’ landscapes and ensure our quality of life. Biodiversity loss, land conversion and degradation are also well recognised to negatively influence the ability of systems to deal with extreme climatic events such as droughts and extreme rainfall events, and can result, for example, in increased flooding.”
According to a MoEF&CC report published 11 years ago, India’s forests absorb more than 10% of the country’s greenhouse gases. This August 2009 report values India’s ‘ecosystem services’ at 4.2% of India’s GDP or Rs6 lakh crore ($120 billion). While there has been recognition of the value that forests provide, there has been little action on the ground to dissuade development in eco-sensitive regions. The landslides, flooding and the loss of lives and livelihoods in recent years is the tremendous price that is being paid for this inaction.
Different models of development
Thousands of Goans had come out earlier this month to protest against their state government’s move to expand railway lines for transporting coal, at the cost of destroying national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state.
During the lockdown, among the 30 forest clearance proposals discussed by the National Board for Wildlife (NBW) were the proposals to develop railway lines through the Bhagwan Mahaveer Widlife Sanctuary and the Mollem National Park. If the projects go ahead, they will lead to the cutting of nearly 60,000 trees in these protected regions, diverting 170 hectares of forests for development. The Goan citizenry have decided that this development at the cost of their state’s forests is unwarranted and have taken to the streets to make their voices heard. The protestors say they are not against development but they don’t want to lose out on the environmental and economic benefits that these forests provide them. The forests are eco-tourism hotspots and are the source for multiple rivers, which act as the lifeline for Goa’s water supply. The benefits that the railway lines will bring will be much lesser than the value of the ecosystem services that these forests offer.
Experts state the idea of looking at environmental resources as being obstructive to economic development is outdated. As Professor Nandan Nawn, an economist who specialises in environment and development at TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS), New Delhi, says, “Reports such as the Gadgil report recommended putting some restrictions on some areas, no doubt, but also regulated use. Unfortunately, any kind of regulation is construed to be an anathema to economic growth. It is conveniently forgotten that the market itself is an institution and its efficient functioning requires a robust and functioning regulatory framework. Perhaps the short-term considerations of the elected governments take priority over sustainability of gains. The values derived by the resource people are mostly outside the market, and hence do not get reported in the GDP calculations.”
Professor Nawn, who specialises in environment and development, political economy and ecological economics, however, feels there are different, more sustainable models of development that are gaining a foothold in India and across the world. As he says, “However, things are changing. The System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) of the United Nations is about to be implemented in India soon. Among others, it extends the same treatment to depletion of natural capital as to the physical capital. At least, we will be able to know how much loss is taking place every year. Also, the pandemic had induced a large-scale urban to rural migration. Governments will be compelled to provide livelihood opportunities to these people. A bioeconomy is the easiest answer.”
Institutions such as the Biodiversity Management Committee, which is in place at the panchayat level, still largely remain toothless though. While such institutions provide a good framework, the need of the hour is to implement such sustainable models. Professor Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) says, “Ecosystem services are irreplaceable and it’s largely not helpful to look at the environment in economic terms. Our forests are our ecological assets. Clearly, they have to be a big part of our strategy for our future.”
Professor Krishnaswamy has researched extensively on various vegetation’s response to changes in climate and land cover change in India. He adds, “I personally think ecosystem services should be quantified in biophysical and socio-economic terms. We should be thinking in terms of quantifications, jobs provided through resources such as non-timber forest produce or capture fisheries in marine ecosystems or rivers. These kinds of services also provide food security for many forest-dependent people across India.”
The forest-dependent people, who are estimated to be anywhere from 275 to 400 million, are the worst-affected both by development that engulfs forest ecosystems as well as the impacts of climate change. As Professor Shankaran says, “We will need to rethink our approach. We need to stop making land-use decisions that prioritise short-term economic gains at the cost of longer-term losses in ecosystem service provisioning. Human well-being and quality of life does not just depend on the economic benefits that we derive from ecosystems, but also on these other non-material benefits.” Laws such as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, which are meant to act as a safety net for the forest-dependant people are either not applied or provisions made in the law are revoked or diluted, many times with other government ministry’s, such as the environment ministry, blocking the affecting implementation of the law.
This is the second installment in an in-depth three-part series on India’s forest conservation and afforestation policies on Carbon Copy. The third part will explore the double-squeeze experienced by forest-dependent people facing the brunt of both law and climate impacts.
Sibi Arasu is an independent journalist based in Bangalore.
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