Prelim Bits 14-10-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Green Credit Program (GCP) and Ecomark scheme

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has introduced GCP and Ecomark scheme to take ahead the LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) movement.

• Objective – Both initiatives promotes
  • Sustainable living
  • Environmental conservation
  • Embody eco-friendly practices in India through individual and collective choice.
• They align with global sustainability goals.
• They reflect the India’s commitment to conservation and protection of the environment.

To know more about LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), click here

Green Credit Program (GCP)

• It is an innovative market-based mechanism.

• Objective – Incentivize voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors by various stakeholders like individuals, communities, private sector industries, and companies.
• GCP's governance framework – Inter-ministerial Steering Committee and GCP administrator.
• GCP Administrator – Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
• It implements, manage, monitor and operate the program.
• Focus – Water conservation and afforestation.
• Digital platform – It will streamline registration of projects, its verification, and issuance of Green Credits.
• Green Credit Registry and trading platform – It allows buying and selling of Green Credits.
• Condition to obtain Green Credits

Ecomark Scheme:

• Objective
  • To promote eco-friendly products.
  • To build consumer awareness of environmental issues.
  • To motivate manufacturers to shift towards environmentally friendly production.
  • To ensure accurate labelling and prevent misleading information about products.
• Accreditation – It accredits products that meet specific environmental criteria with minimal environmental impact.
• It also maintains quality standards as per Indian norms.
• Administration – The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

BIS is the national body for standards and certification.

References

PIB| Green Credit Program and Ecomark Scheme

Kawar Lake

Bihar’s only wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention lies neglected and is on the brink of drying up.

• It is also known as Gokhur lake.
• Geographical location – Begusarai in Bihar
• Ramsar Status – 2020

There are a total of 75 Ramsar sites in India.

• Source of water – It draws water from the confluence of the Gandak, the Bia and the Kareh river.
• Ecosystem – Plenty of aquatic vegetation around the lake that attracts thousands of birds during the winter season.
• Current water level – It is significantly low due to a deficit rainfall this monsoon.
• It has been drying up since 2010 and if the situation continues, the entire lake will dry up.
• Challenges
  • Increased demand of fishing by the ‘Nishad’ community.
  • Dominance of rich farmers and unsustainable farm land disputes between the fisher folks and farmers.
  • Deforestation by the local and not a single one in the forest near the lake is over 50 years old.
  • Silt accumulation in the lake has been increasing for year and reducing the depth of the waterbody.
• Impacts
  • The fishing community will have to give up their work.
  • Migratory birds will stop coming.
  • It affects tourism potential of the lake.

The major obstacles for wetland conservation in Bihar

• Hunting of migratory birds.
• Agriculture around wetland areas.
• Insufficient government policies for wetland management and conservation.
• No timely actions.
• Encroachments over wetlands with increasing urbanisationand land acquisitions.

Vikramshila Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar serves as a haven for endangered dolphins which has the issue of illegal dredging of the Ganga River on its banks along with hunting of dolphins for many purposes.

References

Down To Earth| Kawar Lake

P20 Summit

9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) was held recently in New Delhi.

• Set up – 2010
• Objective – To deepen efforts and methods of international collaboration upon emerging issues faced by the global community.
• 2023 Theme – Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future.
• It draws inspiration from the ancient Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is one Family).
• 2023 Presidency – India
• Participants – Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries.
• Pan-African Parliament – It participated for the 1^st time

African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit in 2023.

• A Parliamentary Forum on ‘LiFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) – It was conducted as a pre-Summit event.
• It is to promote adoption of sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of production and consumption.
• Indian PM had invited all P20 delegates to visit again next year to witness the polls of 17^th General elections.

Key points delivered at P20 Summit

• To promote peace and brotherhood, a time to move together.
• To overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking.
• To look at the world in the spirit of One Earth, One Family, One Future.
• To take a tough approach in dealing with terrorism.
• Encourage public participation to deal with the world’s challenges.

References

1. PIB| P20 Summit 2023
2. The Hindu Business Line| Key highlights of P20 Summit

Cricket in Olympics

International Olympic Committee approves cricket among other 5 sports for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics whose final voting will be held soon.

• 5 new sports under consideration were Twenty20 cricket, baseball/softball, flag football (non-contact American football), squash and lacrosse.

T20 cricket is the sport’s shortest international format.

• 1900 Paris Olympics – Cricket last featured at this event.
• Britain beat a side representing France.
• Significance – Adding cricket to the Olympic programme is an obvious move in term of financial advantages.
• It would tap into the lucrative south Asian market, attracting fans in countries such as India and Pakistan.

India hosts the men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup.

Roadmap of Cricket in Global stage

• In 2019, International Cricket Council (ICC) took a decisive move to make cricket a global sport.
• In 2022, it returned to the Commonwealth Games 2022, when women's T20s team played.
• BCCI agreed to come under the ambit of India's National Anti-Doping Agency, an affiliate of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

IOC mandates that every global sport body must be WADA compliant.

References

The Hindu| Cricket in Olympics

G20 FMCBG meeting

Recently, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Indian Presidency was held in Marrakech, Morocco.

• It is the 4^th and final meeting of the G20 FMCBG.
• It is on the side-lines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

• Presidency – India
• Objective – To enhancing global economic cooperation to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.
• Important discussions and adaptations
• Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR)
  • 2^nd meeting of GSDR held before this meeting.
• Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI)
  • It advised to continue the work of GPFI.
  • To advancing financial inclusions in all 3 dimensions viz. access, usage, and quality, for individuals and MSMEs.
• G20 Sustainable Finance Technical Assistance Action Plan
  • It proposed implementation mechanisms for this.
  • To scaling up capacity building efforts in sustainable finance, especially in EMDEs and SMEs.
• IMF-FSB synthesis paper on Crypto assets
  • It adopted the proposed Roadmap to achieve common goals of macro-economic and financial stability.
• Enablers of Inclusive Cities: Enhancing Access to Services and Opportunities
  • It endorsed this G20 - World Bank report.

FMCBG meetings under Indian Presidency

• 1^st meet – Bengaluru
• 2^nd meet – Washington DC
• 3^rd meet – Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• 4^th meet – Marrakech, Morocco

Key achievements under India presidency

• Strengthened Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to address the shared global challenges of the 21st century.
• Advanced financial inclusion and productivity gains through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
• Financing cities of tomorrow.
• Mobilising climate finance and enabling finance for Sustainable Development Goals.
• Managing global debt vulnerabilities.
• Enhancing tax transparency and capacity-building.
• Advancing the work on the two-pillar solution for addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy.

References

PIB| G20 FMCBG Meeting