Plastic pollution continues unchecked in India (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Context:
- On July 1, 2022 India banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items all across the country.
Items banned:
- The elaborate list of banned items included plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery (such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays), stirrers, earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, thermocol for decoration, wrapping films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, and plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns.
- Even though the move was aimed at reducing the growing plastic pollution in the country, the July rule did not include packaging plastic in the list of banned products. What’s more, companies were made responsible for recycling their plastic packaging waste under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
What is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)?
- On February 16, 2022, the central government published rules to amend Schedule II of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. The EPR guidelines and its implementation were clearly spelt out in the new rules.
- It was made clear that environmental compensation shall be levied on the polluters as per the Polluter Pays Principle if EPR targets are not met by producers, importers, and brand owners to improve the quality of the environment.
- They had to compulsorily register through the online centralised portal and submit their action plan to the CPCB.
Concerns:
- However, it is a cause for concern that only a negligible number are adhering to the EPR rule and few have registered on the online centralised portal. As a result, their activities remain unaccounted for. The CPCB and other departments concerned don’t know how much plastic waste they are collecting, segregating, recycling and what their infrastructure is.
- There’s no information about the action plan and EPR targets of these plastic producers, importers, and brand owners. It is ironic that in a new notification in July 2022, the obligation to submit an action plan was actually scrapped. However, the EPR remained as before.
Shortcomings:
- Interestingly, even though the EPR targets are laid down by the CPCB, they are based on voluntary disclosure by the plastic producers about the quantity or volume of plastic manufactured or imported. However, this is not happening since most of them are reluctant to make the disclosure publicly.
- The rules have emphasised that entities involved in waste collection will hand over the waste for treatment and recycling or for identified end uses. Every company has to get a recycling certificate from its recycling partner.
- Even though the EPR guidelines have prescribed a system of verification and audit of enterprises, it is almost like a paper tiger. Another lacuna stems from the fact that the producers or brands can buy credits if they fall short of EPR targets.
Non-recyclable plastics:
- EPR includes rigid plastic packaging, flexible plastic packaging (single or multilayer), plastic sheets and covers made of plastic sheet, carry bags, plastic sachets or pouches, multi-layered plastic packaging, and compostable plastic carry bags.
- A whopping 3.5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated in India annually, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Report (2019-20) had stated. It is estimated that 15.8 lakh tonnes per annum (TPA) of plastic waste was recycled and 1.67 lakh TPA was co-processed, which means 50 per cent of the total plastic waste produced is recycled.
- All plastics, mostly multi-layered ones like shampoo sachets, chocolate wrappers, and chips packets can’t be recycled. The multi-layered ones are mostly burnt, which causes another vicious form of air pollution.
Plastic demand:
- In 2021-22, India’s plastic demand was 20.89 million tonnes, which is projected to exceed 22 million tonnes by 2023, a Plastic Industry Status Report 2021 stated.
- As many as 4,953 registered units are engaged with plastic in 30 States/Union territories in India, a report by CPCB said. There are 823 unregistered plastic manufacturing/recycling units in nine states/UTs.
Conclusion:
- There is a robust informal sector, including the rag pickers, which carries out recycling in a big way. But non-recyclable plastic waste has no remedy. It has to be stopped at its very source. Until this is done, plastic pestilence will continue unabated.
Countries’ targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions insufficient: UNFCCC
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report wasreleased by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Details:
- The NDC pledged by countries to arrest climate change are insufficient.
- Cumulative CO2 emissions in 2020-2030, based on the latest NDCs, would likely use up 86 per cent of the remaining carbon budget, according to the new NDC Synthesis Report.
What is NDC Synthesis Report?
- The UNFCCC’s synthesis report is an annual summary of climate commitments made by countries and their impact on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- These commitments known as Nationally Determined Contributions were made by countries who signed on to the Paris Agreement to address climate change.
- The latest iteration of the report analyses 166 NDCs communicated to the UNFCCC as of September 2022. Some 39 countries have submitted new or updated NDCs since the previous report.
Marginal progress:
- The emission levels resulting from a hypothetical implementation of the latest NDCs are about 5 per cent lower in 2030, compared to the report’s previous edition.
- The previous one projected emissions of 54.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) in 2030. If implemented, the latest NDCs would lead to 52.4 GtCO2e of GHGs in 2030. And the updated NDCs point to a stronger likelihood of global emissions peaking before 2030 than the previous report.
- For the countries that have made their pledges more ambitious recently, the total GHG emissions will be about 10 per cent lower in 2030 than their previous NDCs.
Updated NDCs:
- Updated NDCs are manifestations of the Paris Agreement’s ‘ratcheting mechanism’— wherein countries must revise their pledges to be more ambitious every five years.
- The deadline was 2020. But inadequate ambition shown by the countries led to a decision at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the UNFCCC to revise them again in 2022, with a cutoff date of September 23, 2022.Only 24 countries submitted new or updated NDCs after COP 26.
NDC by India:
- India submitted its upwardly revised NDC in August, extending two of its previous NDC goals.
- India now stands committed to reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from its 2005 levels, according to the updated NDC.
- India will also target about 50 per cent of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Global emissions:
- Global emissions must amount to only 31 GtCO2e in 2030 (43 per cent lower in 2030 compared to 2019) to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celcius above pre-industrial levels, according to the IPCC.
- Thus, world is on track to exceed this by more than 20 GtCO2e despite country commitments, assuming 52.4 GtCO2e emissions in 2030.
- Full implementation of all latest NDCs (including all conditional elements) is estimated to lead to a 3.6 (0.7-6.6) per cent emission reduction by 2030 relative to the 2019 level.
Conditional elements:
- Conditional elements refer to NDC targets that are subject to the availability of financial, technical and other forms of support, mainly in the case of developing countries.
- For example, India has made one of its new NDC targets conditional. The country will switch 50 per cent of its total power capacity to non-fossil sources by 2030. This pledge depends on the “transfer of technology and low-cost international finance, including Green Climate Fund (GCF).”
Carbon budget:
- According to the NDC Synthesis report, currently, world is on track for about 2.5°C of temperature rise by 2100, from a possible range of 2.1°C to 2.9°C.
- Most worrying is the impact on the carbon budget, a biophysical threshold of CO2 that can be emitted to prevent global average temperatures from rising above a certain level.
- Carbon budgets are constructed on the premise that there is a near-linear relationship between rising global temperatures and the level of cumulative atmospheric CO2.
- The world can emit only about 500 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) starting January 1, 2020, for a 50 per cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
- Cumulative CO2 emissions in 2020–2030, based on the latest NDCs, would likely use up 86 per cent of the remaining carbon budget.
- Consequently, this leaves room to emit around 70 Gt CO2 after 2030 to stay within the 1.5°C threshold equivalent to “approximately two years of projected total global CO2 emissions by 2030”.
- Breaching 1.5°C would lead to irreversible damage to vital planetary features such as the Greenland Ice Sheet, the west Antarctic Ice Sheet and tropical coral reefs. It can lead to more “floods, droughts, heat, disease, storms”.
LT-LEDS:
- A second report published by the UNFCCC summarises 53 long-term emission reduction plans submitted by countries. These plans are known as long-term low-emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
- These plans typically follow the announcement of a long-term target, such as net zero emissions by 2050 or 2070. Some 87 per cent of these plans communicated 2050 as a date along with a quantifiable long-term mitigation goal. Most NDCs (92 per cent) in the NDC Synthesis report are dated to 2030.
- LT-LEDS are typically broader in scope than NDCs and incorporate developmental goals as well as required levels of investment and government expenditure.
- The UNFCCC estimates the total emissions of countries who submitted LT-LEDS to be 10.8 GtCO2e, 68 per cent lower than 2019 levels. Alignment between NDCs and LT-LEDS is still unclear, only 8 per cent of countries mentioned that their NDCs are aligned with their LT-LEDS.
- But 40 per cent said that their LT-LEDS would guide the development and ambition of their subsequent NDCs. LT-LEDS can be useful to guide future low-carbon development, but the criticality of front-loading emission reductions in this decade cannot be overstated.
World Bank bats for One Health to combat pandemics
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- Recently, a report titled, ‘Putting Pandemics Behind Us: Investing in One Health to Reduce Risks of Emerging Infectious Diseases’, was releasedby the World Bank.
- A One Health approach integrates the health of people, wildlife and the environment and can help end the cycle of devastating outbreaks. It estimated an annual expenditure to implement a One Health approach to be between $10.3 billion (Rs 84,856 crore) to $11.5 billion.
Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) outbreaks:
- The pace of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks has increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent from 1980 onwards and the number of outbreaks has grown to several hundred per year since 2000, the report said.
- This is largely due to humans extending their global footprint, altering natural habitats, and accelerating the spillover of animal microbes into human populations.
- Some 75 per cent of these outbreaks are zoonotic events, which means they jump from animals to humans. With increased interaction between the two, the volatility of EID outbreaks has increased. It’s resulting in more than 1 billion human infections and 1 million deaths each year.
Why One Health?
- COVID-19 has shown that a pandemic risk anywhere becomes a pandemic risk everywhere. The economic case for One Health is powerful, the cost of prevention is extremely modest compared to the cost of managing and responding to pandemics.
- The World Bank report described pandemic prevention as a global public good. It is non-excludable (no country can prevent others from benefitting) and non-rival (one country benefitting does not limit the extent to which other countries can benefit).
Three-pronged approach:
- The report details a three-pronged approach to make headway in implementing a One Health approach to prevent a potential pandemic.
- Timing:if there is anything the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, the moment is ripe to work towards mitigating emerging infectious diseases.
- Cost: The large proposed amount of between $10.3 billion to $11.5 billion per year is divided into $2.1 billion per year to bring public veterinary services up to international standards, $5 billion to improve farm biosecurity, and $3.2-$4.4 billion to reduce deforestation in higher risk countries.
- And lastly, the approach has other benefits for sustainable development.
Five core principles for funding:
- The One Health Investment Framework for national, regional and global stakeholders to adopt has five core principles for funding.
These principles are:
- Adopting an integrated One Health multisectoral approach that aims to sustainably balance the health of people, animals, and ecosystems
- Prioritising prevention, a most overlooked component of health security
- Complying with existing minimum standards that are relevant for One Health
- Focusing on geographical locations with higher risks of spillover at the human-animal-ecosystem interfaces
- Reducing risks of spillovers in forests (or wildlife habitat), farms (livestock), and sprawling urban areas
Way Forward:
- The World Bank noted the cost of inaction is higher than everything else, calling it an investment in humanity’s future.
- Benefits for sustainable development include reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, climate adaptation, improved food safety and nutrition, reduced economic burden from animal diseases, increased access to markets and strengthening the resilience of health systems by boosting awareness and multisectoral action.
Mathura gets its first Health ATM
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- Recently, a health ATM was installed at the Mathura district hospital. Such machines would be installed in every district hospital of Uttar Pradesh.
- The installation of health ATMs across the populous state is part of the Uttar Pradesh government’s plan to rejuvenate health infrastructure.
Developed by:
- The Uttar Pradesh government is installing Health ATMs manufactured and designed by Mumbai headquartered health-tech company, Yolohealth.
- This company is also responsible for Health ATMs in other cities.
What are health ATMS?
- Just like an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in a bank, a health ATM is a touch-screen kiosk hardware, designed for managing health-related information.
- In very simple words, it’s a machine that can carry out several pathological tests on a person, dispense medicines, and help patients interact with doctors virtually.
- Doctors and medical experts observe that a Health ATM can conduct a check-up for 23 diseases in 15 minutes.
- The machine can also check the patients’ condition, including their height, weight, body temperature, blood glucose, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation levels. It will also conduct electrocardiogram (ECG).
- The Health ATM is integrated with medical devices to conduct neurology, pulmonary, gynaecology, and cardiology tests.
Benefits of Health ATMs:
- The Health ATMs will help in ensuring medical services to all people, in every nook and corner of the country.
- As the machine enables patients to connect with doctors virtually, it will bridge the gap of quality healthcare, especially in rural areas, and help patients see well-qualified doctors even from remote locations.
- Furthermore, as people live a quick-paced life, this machine will help them save their precious time and avail of services and tests without having to wait long periods.
- The motive behind providing the facility of health ATMs 24×7 is to give benefit to those people who reach home late due to work. People will be able to get their full body check-up done in 10 minutes at a Health ATM.
- The machines also make health facilities more accessible as they are not exorbitant. While in some cases, a patient can get 30 tests done for Rs 200, in other places, a patient can undergo 18 various health check-ups for a nominal fee of Rs 100.
- Apart from these benefits, the Health ATMs will also maintain records of registered patients, including their lab reports, which they can access any time, any place.
- It will also help doctors to check and access the patient’s past health records during a video call.
Other Health ATMs:
- The Mathura Health ATM is not the first in the state. Earlier, in September, Chief Minister had inaugurated the first health ATM in Gorakhpur at the Chargawan Community Health Centre.
- Similar Health ATMs have also been installed by the Indian Railways at various stations where passengers can undergo medical check-up of 16 parameters (basic) at a cost of Rs 50 and 18 parameters (basic+HB+Sugar) for Rs 100.
- The state of Kerala also installed its first Health ATM early this year to bolster the in-house health check-ups without the constraints of time.
