Of Birds, Bees & Turtles: Celebrating Biodiversity in May

In May we celebrate Endemic Bird Day on 4th, World Bee Day on 20th, the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22nd and World Turtle Day on 23rd. All these days are observed to raise awareness about the various at-risk species and at-risk biodiversity itself. Early in May, the report from Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), warned that the impact of modern civilization nature has put 1 MILLION plant and animal species of our planet's estimated 8 MILLION species at risk of extinction. Basically, 

"due to humankind’s relentless pursuit of economic growth!"

Source: Felix Mueller/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

The quest for convenience and easy living is unleashing a pogrom on all other life forms. Ironic, that under the UN declared period of pursuing sustainable development goals (#SDGs) human activity is predominantly unsustainable and putting life and biodiversity at risk. Be it the quest for "Responsible Consumption and Production" #SDG12, or even "Life Below Water" #SDG14 and "Life on Land" #SDG15, the pursuit of so-called SDGs 8 & 9 "Decent Work and Economic Growth" & "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure" is putting other SDGs at risk in addition to biodiversity. The sixth mass extinction, a.k.a. the Holocene or Anthropocene Extinction is the existential threat of the 21st Century. Yet, powerful lobbies like Big Oil, Big Pharma, or as Vandana Shiva puts it the "Poison Cartel", Industrial Agriculture & Fishing, Manufacturing lobbies, FMCG and even Fast Fashion have worked to keep "Business as usual" even in the face of it's devastating impact on life on our planet and it's environment. 

The title of a recent paper by Jason Hickel of the Department of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London, "The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet" summarizes the dichotomy and the dilemma best. 

Human greed and gluttony manifesting in the love for mass production and mass markets is causing mass extinction! We can't allow "business as usual" when life is at stake:

•  5G has been seen as most devastating of all mobile technology on biodiversity in general and birds in particular.
•  Chemical insecticides and pesticides that kill bees more effectively than pests or harmful insects. 
• Unsustainable agricultural and fishing practices in the quest for food security and profits is actually fueling "hunger" as well as "food waste."
• A glut of plastics chokes the planet and all life forms, including turtles and birds shown in iconic the viral videos to be choking on plastic waste, be it through the subsequent air, water and soil pollution of plastic waste.
• Rainforests - the ultimate biodiversity hotspots - are cut down to make way for monoculture hubs of agriculture, cattle ranches and palm plantations.
• Climate change fueled by continued dependence on fossil fuels in turn super-sizes natural disasters devastating life.

The PETA ad campaign - Killer Cows - may be graphic but is apt, in the quest for meat in ur meals we are endangering biodiversity itself: 

Source: PETA.

We share our planet with many life forms, we are all connected. When the "bell tolls" for other species, if we ignore it, it will soon toll for us too, extrapolating and misquoting lines from John Donne's famous poem,

any man's  [species'] death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind [all life forms], and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee [us all!!!].

"Keep Oil in the Soil": Key to #StopSoilPollution

Soil sustains life! Yet, soil health across the planet is rapidly worsening and top soil loss is worryingly prevalent. This soil loss leads to food insecurity due to reduced soil fertility and reduced capacity to store water, desertification, biodiversity loss, and inability of the soil to perform its natural function as a powerful carbon sink. Soil pollution, bad agricultural practices such as excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, overgrazing by farm animals and introduction of invasive animal and plant species, as well as deforestation all lead to soil degradation and soil erosion.

 This World Soil Day, December 5, 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sought to raise awareness about the dangers of soil loss and reduced soil health by calling for people to be part of the "Solution to Soil Pollution" and #StopSoilPollution.

One key way to #StopSoilPollution is to stop the use of fossil fuels. Extraction, fracking, refining and use of fossil fuels are all leading causes for soil pollution. Even exploration for fossil fuels is highly damaging to the soil in particular and the environment in general. Thus the fact that People's Demand for Climate Justice that mandates keeping fossil fuels in the ground, i.e., halting further extraction, is not just positive climate action but also essential to preserve the soil and #StopSoilPollution. Thermal power plants produce fly ash after burning coal that if left as is and dumped on lands can pollute soil, water and air as well as affecting the health of humans and their environment. Fossil fuel mines devastate the soil, environment and lives of communities near them, as do refineries. Hence, the call to "Keep Oil in the Soil" and "Coal in the Hole" must become a war cry of people's movements for climate justice and the environment.

Instead of "Smart Agriculture" the soil needs organic farming to regenerate.  Organic agricultural practices improves the health of the soil and enables the soil to be transformed into a powerful carbon sink. As seed warrior and activist and physicist Vandana Siva reiterates, regenerative organic agriculture has the capacity to trap current carbon emissions in just three years.

Organic farming is the epitome of natural climate solutions and climate justice. And its practice using ancestral methods and know-how and women farmer-- and smallholding farmer--friendly, keeps people not corporations at the heart of the climate solution. Thus organic agriculture builds soil health and helps

"Reject false solutions that displace real, people-first solutions to the climate crisis." 

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides are produced from crude - that most insidious of fossil fuel guises. More use of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides means more fossil fuel and emissions. Thus by promoting organic agriculture, the use of these fossil fuel derived chemicals is cut. The carbon emissions are cut and finally the organic soil performs the function of a powerful and natural carbon sink. Hence combined with a halt to all fossil fuel extraction, globally scaled-up practice of organic agriculture can save the soil and save the planet. Policies that ensure this twofer can help speed up achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement - ensuring that a world where global warming is kept under 1.5 degrees can become a reality faster.

SDG7 for India’s Energy Security, Poverty Alleviation & Sustainable Development

Access to affordable and clean energy - the seventh sustainable development goal (SDG7) is central to enhancing the growth of developing nations in general and India in particular. 

Having renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and small hydroelectric (hydel) as well as biogas, power the nation instead of fossil fuels can help avoid the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. According to EKC theory, as per capita income first increases there is proportional detrimental effect on the environment. This makes for unsustainable development. Decoupling growth from fossil fuels, enhancing clean energy generation and cheap power for all can fillip to India’s developmental agenda and ensure energy security free from crude oil price and supply fluctuations. India like most developing nations has poverty alleviation by raising the per capita income of those below poverty line (BPL) as a key mandate. India according to the World Bank has the most number of people living BPL. That's 30 percent of the Indian population – approximately 276 million people! Improving the quality of life of this huge population will have a grave impact on the nation's and the world's environment and resource consumption. This can be averted by leapfrogging to powering the growth with clean energy.

 The low-carbon growth model prioritizing clean and affordable energy access, although requiring a huge initial investment, can yield phenomenal results. Energy security, poverty alleviation as well as sustainable development can become the norm in India's growth story when clean and cheap energy empowers the population. Energy security is a very important issue. The aggravating effect of fossil fuels on climate change and global warming makes them a poor choice to fuel growth in India and beyond. Coal that powers thermal power stations – the mainstay of India’s electricity grid – causes severe air, water and soil pollution in addition to taking a huge bite out of the limited carbon budget of an ever-heating world. With the soaring crude oil prices, oil’s exponential effect on global warming and the worrying trend of a significant portion of oil money funding terror – it’s wrong on multiple fronts to continue to couple our growth story with the use of fossil fuels. Gas extraction for LPG and LNG ( (liquefied petroleum/natural gas) cylinders routinely devastate the local environs yet ensure smoke- and air pollution–free cooking fuel and an affordable and greener choice of vehicle fuel. By promoting small and large-scale biogas and “Gobbar” [cow patties] gas plants families and communities can benefit from clean cooking fuel as well as generating a rich organic manure as byproduct. LNG cylinders filled in industrial-sized “washed biogas” plants with adequate safety regulations are less ecologically damaging than oil and gas extraction from the soil and river beds.

 Making the Indian power grid compatible with renewable energy supply by investing in optimal energy storage and smart grids can drastically improve India’s carbon footprint and clean up the environment.  India’s abundant solar and wind power generating capacity not to mention the potential of offshore hybrid renewable power generating installations – harnessing tidal, wave, offshore wind and solar energy – can easily offset the Indian power grid’s coal needs.

PM Modi said on Sunday that April 28 will be remembered as a historic day when a remote village in the northeast became the last to be connected to the power grid.

 Despite Power Ministry Officials putting this figure at 83% households electrified - with 15 % of this through battery based off-grid solutions and the rest on grid-connected - the environmental and health implications of such a demand if still powered mostly by thermal power is mind-boggling.

  Source: (c) The Hindu

With the World Health Organization stating that over 90 percent of the world’s population breathes polluted air, the health premium of fuels that cause air pollution skyrockets. Some of the most polluted cities in the world are in India and combined with the huge BPL population – who are most vulnerable to pollution – India is on the brink of a major health crisis. Poor indoor and outdoor air quality are claiming lives and causing morbidity. The healthcare costs and the lost man-hours adds to the “cost of pollution” - devastating the efficiency of health & safety of the laboring classes especially (a barriers to truly honoring the values enshrined in observing May Day). Hence clean energy access in India can ensure that that the nation’s growth is a healthy and sustainable one. There are many individuals and organizations that are pioneering and piloting adoption of clean energy and low-carbon growth models. These successful pilots need to be scaled up and replicated nationwide to power a clean energy revolution to power India's epic growth story.

Source: (c) Greenpeace India - Chennai #GoSolar event, Earth Day 2018