The Environment

Prelims Revision
Module by
Karmayogi IAS for
Prelims 2025
provides a concise
and comprehensive
approach, helping
students cover
essential topics and
key developments

ENVIRONMENT for effective

preparation.

PRAYAS REVISION MODULE ADITYA SIR

 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and 26th Committee on
Environmental Protection (CEP) concluded

 The 46th edition of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, also known as
the Antarctic Parliament, kicked off on Monday (May 20) in Kochi, Kerala
attended by the 56 member countries of the Antarctic Treaty hosted by the
National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth
Sciences, Government of India.
 Signed by 12 countries on December 1, 1959, the treaty is a framework for
peaceful coexistence and scientific cooperation in the continent
 Key provisions
o Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only.
o Facilitate international scientific cooperation in Antarctica.
o Prohibits nuclear explosions, radioactive waste disposal, and
military deployments in Antarctica.
 Currently, 56 countries are part of the treaty — 29 of which, including all 12
original signatories, are ‘Consultative Parties’, which are part of the decision
making process.

 India, which joined the treaty in 1983, is also a Consultative Party.

 It has the right to propose and vote on decisions and resolutions made during
the ATCM in matters of administration, scientific research, environmental
protection, and logistical cooperation.
 Further, it can establish research stations, conduct scientific programs and
logistic operations, enforce environmental regulations and access scientific
data and research findings shared by Antarctic Treaty members

 ATCM and CEP are high-level global annual meetings conducted in

accordance with the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty
 The CEP was established under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to
the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) in 1991.
 The ATCM is administered through the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat
headquartered in Argentina.
 The CEP advises the ATCM on environmental protection and conservation in
Antarctica.

India Initiatives for Antarctica :

 India’s first Antarctic research station was Dakshin Gangotri (1983).

 India currently operates two research stations- Maitri (1989) and Bharati
(2012).

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  In ATCM- 46 India announced a plan to set up an Antarctic research station,
Maitri-II.
 In 2022, India enacted the Antarctic Act, reaffirming its commitment to the
Antarctic Treaty.
Related agreements to Antarctic Treaty

 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991):

Designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science.
 The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972): To promote
and achieve the protection, scientific study, and rational use of Antarctic seals.
 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980):
Provides for the conservation and rational use of krill, fin fish and other marine
living resources.

[Link]

[Link]
treaty-9350091/

30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD)

UNCCD is one of the three global agreements known as the Rio Conventions
(1992), alongside the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

This year’s slogan "United for Land: Our Legacy. Our Future”
About UNCCD:

 Established in 1994, UNCCD is the sole legally binding international

agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land
management.
 Members: 196 countries and the European Union.
 The Convention – based on the principles of participation, partnership and
decentralization
 Objectives:
o To protect and restore land and ensure a safer, just, and more
sustainable future.
o It’s committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation
of local people in combating desertification

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  UNCCD has a number of governing bodies:
o Conference of Parties (COP)- established by the Convention as its
main decision-making body. COP has been meeting biennially since
2001, and has held 16 sessions ( COP 16 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
o the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) - established as
a subsidiary body of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to provide
information and advice on scientific and technological matters relating
to combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought
o The Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the
Convention (CRIC) - committee for the Review of the Implementation
of the Convention (CRIC) was established in 2001, as a subsidiary
body to the Conference of Parties (COP).
o Intergovernmental Working Groups (IWG).

 Initiatives:
o In 2015, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target setting programme
(LDN TSP) : Parties were invited to formulate voluntary targets to
achieve LDN.
 LDN: It refers to the sustainable management of land
resources to support ecosystem services and food security.
 India committed to restore 26 million hectares by 2030.
o In 2017, the Strategic Framework 2018-2030: It urged nations to
incorporate desertification/land degradation and drought concerns into
national policies.
 Other initiatives:
o The Great Green Wall (2007),
o The Changwon Initiative (2011),
o International Drought Resilience Alliance (2022),
o G20 Global Land Initiative (2020), etc.

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 Flora & Fauna in news
Conservation planning for Conservation status
Gangetic dolphin in smaller IUCN : Endangered
rivers of the Ganga CITES: Appendix I
WPA 1972: Schedule I and IV.
Part of species recovery programme.

Characteristics
 A long thin snout, rounded belly, stocky
body and large flippers.
 Only live in freshwater and are essentially
blind.
 Also known as “Susu” based on sound
made by them while breathing.
 Females are larger than males.

Government initiative for protection:

 Declared as national aquatic animal,
 Project dolphins,
 Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Wildlife
Sanctuary

First discovery of living  They refer to a range of microbial

shallow-marine communities that are associated with
stromatolites was made in layers of rock.
the Middle East near the Red  They represent the earliest geological
Sea. record of life on Earth.
 They are partially responsible for the Great
Oxygenation Event, which changed the
composition of our atmosphere by
introducing oxygen.
 They are typically relegated to extreme
environmental niches, thus are found
Rarely and are sparsely scattered across
the globe.

Humble fern - Tmesipteris  Tmesipteris oblanceolata, has a genome

oblanceolata from New — all the genetic information of an
Caledonia boasts world's organism — that is 7% larger than that of
largest genome the previous record-holder, the Japanese
flowering plant Paris japonica, and more

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 than 50 times the size of the human
genome.
 Contains 160 billion base pairs (the units
that make up a strand of DNA) outstripping
the human genome by more than 50
times.
 It belongs to a primordial group of
plants that evolved long before dinosaurs
set foot on the earth.
 Found only in New Caledonia and a few
nearby islands in the Pacific Ocean and
thrives on the trunks and branches of trees
in rainforest

National parks/WLS/Ramsar sites in news

Two bird sanctuaries - Nagi  Both sites were declared as Wetlands of
and Nakti of Bihar added to International importance on the occasion
Ramsar list of World Environment Day on June 5.
 Both sanctuaries are man-made reservoirs
(Nagi dam and Nakti dam) and feature dry
deciduous forests surrounded by hills.
 Although Nagi lies in the Gangetic Plains
of India, it has a landscape reminiscent of
the Deccan Plateau.
 They are also recognised as an Important
Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife
International.
South America’s Pantanal  It is the world’s largest tropical wetland,
wetlands is grappling with world's largest flooded grasslands.
devastating  spread across three countries: Bolivia,
wildfires Brazil, and Paraguay, about 80 percent of
the Pantanal is in Brazil.
 It comprises a UNESCO World Natural
Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve and
two Ramsar sites.
 It is a seasonal floodplain, flooded by
waters of Paraguay River System.
 Home to South America’s highest
concentration of some wildlife species
such as jaguar and caiman.
 It has the largest concentration of
crocodiles in the world, with approximately
10 million caimans.

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  Less than 5% of Pantanal is protected and
around 95% is under private ownership.

Study highlights lack of About STR

awareness on vulture  Declared as tiger reserve in 2013.
conservation across  Located in Erode district, Tamil Nadu.
species’ key habitats in  It is contiguous with Mudumalai Tiger
Sathyamangalam tiger Reserve (TN); Biligiri Rangaswamy
reserve (STR) Temple Tiger Reserve and Bandipur Tiger
reserves (Karnataka).
 Links Eastern and Western Ghats.
 Fauna: Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth
bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer,
Nilgiri langur, etc.
 Rivers: Bhavani, Moyar, and Noyyal rivers.
 Tribal Communities: Irula and Kurumba
tribes
 Forest types: Tropical dry thorn, tropical
dry mixed deciduous; Tropical semi
evergreen; Sub tropical hill forest
New plant species About Phlogacanthus Sudhansusekharii:
‘Phlogacanthus  It is a newly discovered plant species
sudhansusekharii’ has been which belongs to the family ‘Acanthaceae’
discovered in Itanagar and the ‘Phlogacanthus’ genus.
Wildlife Sanctuary.  The species is named to honor Dr.
Sudhansu Sekhar Dash, a scientist at the
BSI, for his “significant contribution” to
plant and ecological research in the Indian
Himalayan region.
 The genus ‘Phlogacanthus’ comprises 13
species in India and is spread over mainly
the northeastern and eastern Himalayan
states

About Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary

 It is located in the southern-west part of
Arunachal Pradesh and state capital
Itanagar is located inside the sanctuary.
 The sanctuary has also been recognized
as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife
International as it lies in Eastern
Himalayas Endemic Bird Area.

Major streams: Poma, Pam, Pachin, Neorochi

and Chingke.

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 Habitat: Mixed evergreen to semi-evergreen
forests.

Fauna: Asian Elephant, Four species of Hornbills,

Tiger, Asiatic Black Bear etc.

Environment related schemes/ initiatives in news

E-flow Monitoring System Union Jal Shakti Ministry launched an e-flow
(Environmental Flow) ecological monitoring
system.

E-flow refers to the flow that is required to meet

the ecological functions of the flora and fauna
present in the water body.

About E-flow Monitoring System

 It is developed by National Mission for
Clean Ganga (Namani Gange).
 integral component of the PRAYAG Portal,
a real-time monitoring centre for the
planning and monitoring of projects, river
water quality, and other crucial parameters
 The Namami Gange program involves
cleaning the Ganga and now includes its
tributaries.
 It will allow real-time analysis of the water
quality of the Ganga, Yamuna, and their
tributaries.
 It will also allow monitoring of the Namami
Gange program activities at the central
level
EU’s Nature Restoration  This law is to tackle the triple crises
Plan (NRP) of climate change, biodiversity
loss, and environmental degradation.
 It is a first continent-wide and
comprehensive law that forms part of the
EU's European Green Deal ( aims for net
zero emissions of greenhouse gases by
2050).
 Member States will have to restore at least
20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030,
including terrestrial, coastal, and
freshwater, forest, agricultural, and urban
areas, ultimately all ecosystems in need of
restoration by 2050.

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  Member States must adopt "restoration
plans" detailing how they intend to achieve
these targets and ensure that the restored
areas do not significantly deteriorate.

PRI launches ‘Spring’ UN-backed network Principles for Responsible

initiative to help investors Investment (PRI) has launched “Spring”, a new
tackle nature loss initiative to halt or reverse nature loss by 2030.

About Spring Initiative

 Supported by a coalition of 200 investors
managing a combined $15trn in assets.
 Objective: To address systemic risk of
nature loss to societies and long-term
portfolio value creation by enhancing
corporate practices on forest loss and land
degradation.
 It focuses on responsible political
engagement, a vital aspect of corporate
governance.

Pachathuruth project  Aims to create man-made mini-forests

launched in Kollam natural forest biodiversity
 Initiative will help in protecting by planting
a variety of indigenous plants in barren
lands.
 Also, it will aid in carbon sequestration,
mitigating the urban heat island etc.
 These projects are planned by mobilizing
the masses through participatory
campaigns and through coordination and
leadership of the Local Self-Government
Institutions

Environment related treaties/conventions in news

Montreal Protocol effective  Signed in 1987, Landmark multilateral
in reducing emissions of environmental agreement that regulates
Ozone-Depleting the production and consumption of nearly
Substances (ODS): Study 100 man-made chemicals referred to as
ozone depleting substances (ODS)
 One of the rare treaties to achieve
universal ratification (first UN treaty to
achieve)
 Implemented under Vienna Convention
(adopted in 1985).

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  Developing and developed countries have
equal but differentiated responsibilities.
 Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol
was adopted in 2016 (and entered into
force in 2019) to phase-down production
and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs).
o HFCs are non-ODS alternative to
CFCs and HCFCs.
o HFC’s GWP is thousands of times
more than CO2.

The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of

the Montreal Protocol was established in 1991
under Article 10 of the treaty

India became a party in 1992, classified as an

Article 5 country, and receives assistance from
the Multilateral Fund.

Reports in news
State and trends of carbon World bank
pricing report
Carbon pricing (CP) is an instrument that
attaches a cost to greenhouse gas emissions,
typically through CO2 pricing mechanisms

Types of CP:
 Emissions trading system (ETS): It is a
system where emitters can trade emission
units to meet their emission targets.
o Types of ETSs are: Cap-and-trade
systems and Baseline-and-credit
systems
 Carbon tax

CP at national level
 In 2023, India introduced the Carbon
Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).
 Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT)
Scheme implemented by Bureau of
Energy Efficiency (BEE).
 Clean Energy Cess of Rs.400/- per tonne
of coal.
CP at Global Level

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  Carbon pricing took off under the Kyoto
Protocol (1997) with three market-based
mechanisms:
o International emissions
trading (IET), the clean
development mechanism (CDM)
and joint implementation (JI).
 Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows
countries to transfer carbon credits earned
from the reduction of Greenhouse Gas
emissions

Global Annual to Decadal issued annually by the World Meteorological

Climate Update (2024-2028) Organization (WMO)

Environmental Performance  published by Yale Center for

Index (EPI), 2024 Environmental Law & Policy.
 India is currently world’s third-largest GHG
emitter, with total emissions growing 32
percent over past decade.
 In 2022, India surpassed China as the
world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic
sulfur dioxide.
State of ocean report  Released by UNESCO annually on World
Oceans Day (June 8).
 Structured around the UN Decade of
Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development (2021-2023), as each edition
of the report aligns with the seven goals of
the UN Ocean Decade, aiming to foster
global collaboration and action for the
protection and preservation of our oceans.

Raising Ambition, published by UN Environment Programme

Accelerating Action: (UNEP)
Towards Enhanced NDCs for
Forests
Untapped Collective released by the UNDP explores the potential of
Intelligence for Climate Collective Intelligence (CI) initiatives in climate
Action report adaptation and mitigation
Sustainable Released by UN Sustainable Development
Development Report 2024 Solutions
Network (SDSN)

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 Miscellaneous
Researchers have shown  eDNA is organismal DNA that is released
the potential of freshwater in the environment from cellular material
biodiversity shed by organisms (via skin, excrement,
monitoring using etc.) into aquatic or terrestrial
(Environmental DNA ) environments.
eDNA.  eDNA is increasingly being used to detect
the presence of species and assess
biodiversity in an ecosystem.
 This information can be used to inform the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and
other conservation tools.
Thazhakara panchayat, Kerala was the first State in the country to publish
Kerala publishes second the first volume of the PBR across all local bodies
volume of People’s
Biodiversity Register (PBR) It serves as a comprehensive record of various
aspects of biodiversity, including
 the conservation of habitats,
 preservation of land races,
 domesticated stocks,
 breeds of animals, micro-organisms, and
 the accumulation of knowledge related to
the area's biological diversity.

Statutory recognition: Under the Biological

Diversity Act (2002), Biodiversity Management
Committee (BMC) to prepare PBR in consultation
with local people
Intergovernmental Platform About Blue Planet Prize:
on Biodiversity and  It was established in 1992, the year of the
Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Rio Earth Summit.
won the Blue Planet Prize  This award is given annually by Japan's
for 2024 Asahi Glass Foundation for outstanding
achievements in scientific research and its
application which have helped to solve
global environmental problems.
 Two winners are chosen every year and
the prize includes an award of USD
500,000.

About IPBES
 Established in Panama City in 2012, it is
an independent intergovernmental body to
strengthen science-policy interface for
biodiversity and ecosystem services.

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  It is not a UN body. However, United
Nations Environment Programme provides
secretariat services to IPBES.
 Secretariat: Bonn, Germany
 Currently, it has more than 145 member
States (including India).
 All States Members of UN are eligible for
IPBES membership.
India will apply for licences About Clarion-clipperton Zone:
from International Seabed
Authority (ISA) to explore  It is a region spanning 5,000 kilometers
deep-sea minerals in Clarion across the central Pacific Ocean, at depths
clipperton Zone of Pacific of 4,000 – 5,500 meters.
Ocean for Critical Minerals  It is a vast area between Hawaii and
Mexico, rich in polymetallic nodules.
 Polymetallic nodules are a potential
mineral resource for copper, nickel, cobalt,
iron, manganese, and rare earth elements.
 These minerals are essential for electric
vehicles and solar panels, including
manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt

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