Daily Mains Practice Questions 24-03-2023

KEY POINTS

·        Global Fund has become the single largest channel of additional money for global TB control.

·        But it remains hostage to the zero-sum games imposed on it from its donor constituents and between the champions of the three diseases the Fund was set up to provide additional financing for.

·        Without strengthening or radically re-imagining them, the chances of success in ending TB by 2030 become slimmer.

·        India’s leadership of the G20 and the focus on health could be catalytic, in the same manner that the Japanese G7 presidency in 2001 was for the creation of the Global Fund.

·        Providing historical symmetry, Japan leads the G7 in 2023, providing leaders of both nations and groupings to act synergistically towards ending TB.

·        The experience with the COVID-19 vaccine development process gives us an understanding on how things can be done if there is collective will and action.

·        It is also no surprise that Indian efforts feature prominently in the list of vaccines that are under development.

·        India’s G20 presidency this year, the Varanasi StopTB board meeting this week, and the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB in September this year provide the perfect platform for India’s actions to speak loudly and will enable the world to get to the end of TB sooner.

KEY POINTS

·        Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the synthesis report of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) cycle, drawing together key findings from its six most recent reports

·        The IPCC report points out that humanity had already consumed 4/5ths of its total carbon budget for 1.5° C by 2019, with developed economies consuming the lion’s share.

·        The report also notes that existing modelling studies, which are often used to assess emission trajectories, do not explicitly account for questions of equity.

·        For example, the report finds that some coastal and polar ecosystems have already reached hard limits in their ability to adapt to a changing climate.

·        The leading message of the report is that of urgently adopting ‘climate-resilient development’ a developmental model that integrates both adaptation and mitigation to advance sustainable development for all.

·        It also points to the fact that there are more synergies than trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation actions and Sustainable Development Goals, although it warns against paying inadequate attention to these trade-offs.

·        The IPCC AR6 synthesis report is a landmark report because it offers a blueprint for sustainable development while presenting a sobering account of present and future damages to ecosystems and the most vulnerable amongst us.

KEY POINTS

·        With an annual global output of around 460 million tonnes, we produce nearly as much plastic as rice and less than 10 per cent of that is recycled.

·        A vast majority ends up in landfills and several more millions tonnes enter water systems causing serious long-term damage to our marine ecosystem too.

·        Globally, 46 per cent of plastic is generated by the packaging industry. In India, it is around 24 per cent according a 2017 estimate provided by CIPET (Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology).

·        Recycling is the answer, but that is easier said than done. A recent OECD report showed that globally the average rate of recycling plastic is just around 9 per cent with even in the US recycling only 4 per cent of its plastic waste (it is around 13 per cent in India).

·        Segregating plastic waste at a local community level and processing needs planning, investment and precise execution.

·        Further, not all plastic packaging can be recycled and the awareness about this among common consumers is woefully low.

·        But we need to go beyond and create an efficient segregation and collection mechanism to deliver it to the recycling plant and close the cycle by increasing the use of recycled plastic.

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