Module IV.

Environment and Economic Development

Solid waste management – control measure of urban and industrial waste. Pollution control –
socially optimum level of pollution – environmental policies and legislations in India.
Deforestation –Stockholm Conference – Helsinki Convention – Montreal Protocol – Kyoto
Protocol – Rio Summit – Paris Convention. Population growth and Environment – market failure
– tragedy of commons.

Solid Waste Management

The term solid waste management mainly refers to the complete process of collecting, treating
and disposing of the solid wastes.

In the waste management process, the wastes are collected from the different sources and are
disposed of. This process includes transportation, analysis, legal procedures, along with
monitoring and enforcing regulations. There are a number of principles related to the waste
management system, but a generally accepted concept is one of the ‘Hierarchy of Waste
Management’.

Categories of Waste
1. Organic waste: Kitchen waste, waste from food preparation, vegetables, flowers, leaves,
fruits, and market places.
2. Combustibles: Paper, wood, dried leaves, packaging for relief items etc. that are highly
organic and having low moisture content.
3. Non-combustibles: Metal, Tins, Cans, bottles, stones, etc.
4. Toxic waste: Old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide
containers, batteries, shoe polish.
5. Recyclables: Paper, glass, metals, plastics.
6. Ashes or Dust: Residue from fires that are used for cooking.
7. Construction waste: Rubble, roofing, broken concrete etc.
8. Hazardous waste: Oil, battery acid, medical waste, industrial waste, hospital waste.
9. Dead animals: Carcasses of dead livestock or other animals.
10. Bulky waste: Tree branches, tires etc.
11. Soiled waste: Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.
Various Sources of Solid Waste
Every day, tonnes of solid waste are disposed of at various landfill sites. This waste comes from
homes, offices, industries and various other agricultural related activities. These landfill sites
produce foul smell if waste is not stored and treated properly. It can pollute the surrounding
air and can seriously affect the health of humans, wildlife and our environment. The following
are major sources of solid waste:

1. Residential
Residences and homes where people live are some of the major sources of solid waste. The
garbage from these places includes food wastes, plastics, paper, glass, leather, cardboard, metals,
yard wastes, ashes and special wastes like bulky household items such as electronics, tires,
batteries, old mattresses and used oil.
Most homes have garbage bins where they can throw away their solid wastes in and later, the bin
is emptied by a garbage collecting firm or person for treatment.

2. Industrial
Industries are known to be one of the biggest contributors to solid waste. They include light and
heavy manufacturing industries, construction sites, fabrication plants, canning plants, power and
chemical plants.

These industries produce solid waste in the form of housekeeping wastes, food wastes,
packaging wastes, ashes, construction and demolition materials, special wastes, medical
wastes as well as other hazardous wastes.
3. Commercial
Commercial facilities and buildings are yet another source of solid waste today. Commercial
buildings and facilities, in this case, refer to hotels, markets, restaurants, godowns, stores and
office buildings.

Some of the solid wastes generated from these places include plastics, food wastes, metals,
paper, glass, wood, cardboard materials, special wastes and other hazardous wastes.
4. Institutional
The institutional centers like schools, colleges, prisons, military barracks and other government
centers also produce solid waste. Some of the common solid wastes obtained from these places
include glass, rubber waste, plastics, food wastes, wood, paper, metals, cardboard materials,
electronics as well as various hazardous wastes.
5. Construction and Demolition Areas
Construction and demolition sites also contribute to the solid waste problem. Construction sites
include new construction sites for buildings and roads, road repair sites, building renovation sites
and building demolition sites.

Some of the solid wastes produced in these places include steel materials, concrete, wood,
plastics, rubber, copper wires, dirt and glass.

6. Municipal Services
The urban centers also contribute immensely to the solid waste crisis in most countries today.
Some of the solid waste brought about by the municipal services include street cleaning, wastes
from parks and beaches, wastewater treatment plants, landscaping wastes and wastes from
recreational areas, including sludge.

7. Treatment Plants and Sites

Heavy and light manufacturing plants also produce solid waste. They include refineries, power
plants, processing plants, mineral extraction plants and chemical plants.

Among the wastes produced by these plants, there are industrial process wastes, unwanted
specification products, plastics, metal parts, just to mention a few.

8. Agriculture
Crop farms, orchards, dairies, vineyards and feedlots are also sources of solid wastes. Among the
wastes they produce are agricultural wastes, spoiled food, pesticide containers and other
hazardous materials.

9. Biomedical
This refers to hospitals and biomedical equipment and chemical manufacturing firms. In
hospitals, there are different types of solid wastes produced. Some of these solid wastes include
syringes, bandages, used gloves, drugs, paper, plastics, food wastes and chemicals. All these
require proper disposal or else they will cause a huge problem for the environment and the
people in these facilities.

The functional elements of solid waste management are as follows:

1. Waste generation: Those activities in which materials are identified as no longer being of
value and are either thrown away or gathered for disposal.

2. Storage: Those activities associated with the handling, storage and processing of solid waste
wastes at or near the point of generation.

3. Collection: Those activities associated with the gathering of solid wastes and the hauling
wastes after collection to the location where the collection vehicle is emptied.

4. Transportation: Those activities associated with the transfer of wastes from the smaller
collection vehicle to the larger transport equipment and the subsequent transport of the wastes,
usually over a long distance to the disposal site.

5. Processing and recovery: Those techniques, equipment and facilities used both to improve
the efficiency of the other functional elements and to recover usable materials, conversion
products or energy from solid wastes.

6. Disposal: Those activities associated with ultimate disposal of solid wastes including those
waste collected and transported directly to the landfill site, semisolid waste from waste water
treatment plants, incinerator residue, compost or other substances from various solid waste
processing plants that are of no further use.

Methods of Solid Waste Management

There are different methods of solid waste management. The following are some of the
recognized methods:

1. Sanitary Landfill : This is the most popular solid waste disposal method used today. Garbage
is basically spread out in thin layers, compressed and covered with soil or plastic foam.
Modern landfills are designed in such a way that the bottom of the landfill is covered with an
impervious liner, which is usually made of several layers of thick plastic and sand. This liner
protects the groundwater from being contaminated because of leaching or percolation. When the
landfill is full, it is covered with layers of sand, clay, topsoil and gravel to prevent seepage of
water.

Advantage: If landfills are managed efficiently, it is an ensured sanitary waste disposal method.
Constraint: It requires a reasonably large area.

2. Incineration

This method involves the burning of solid wastes at high temperatures until the wastes are turned
into ashes. Incinerators are made in such a way that they do not give off extreme amounts of heat
when burning solid wastes.

Incinerators that recycle heat energy through furnace and boiler are called waste-to-energy
plants. These waste-to-energy systems are more expensive to set up and operate compared to
plain incinerators because they require special equipment and controls, highly skilled technical
personnel, and auxiliary fuel systems.

This method of solid waste management can be done by individuals, municipalities and even
institutions. The good thing about this method is the fact that it reduces the volume of waste up
to 20 or 30% of the original volume.

Advantage: The volume of combustible waste is reduced considerably by burning waste. In the
case of off-site pits, it is an appropriate method to minimize scavenging.

Constraint: It can cause smoke or fire hazard and also emits gaseous pollutants.

3. Recovery and Recycling

Recycling or recovery of resources is the process of taking useful but discarded items for the
next use. Plastic bags, tins, glass and containers are often recycled automatically since, in many
situations, they are likely to be scarce commodities.
Traditionally, these items are processed and cleaned before they are recycled. The process aims
at reducing energy loss, consumption of new material and reduction of landfills. The most
developed countries follow a strong tradition of recycling to lower volumes of waste.

Advantage: Recycling is environmentally friendly. Constraint: It is expensive to set up, and in

most emergencies, there is limited potential.

4. Composting

Due to a lack of adequate space for landfills, biodegradable yard waste is allowed to decompose
in a medium designed for the purpose. Only biodegradable waste materials are used in
composting. It is a biological process in which micro-organisms, specifically fungi and bacteria,
convert degradable organic waste into substances like humus. This finished product, which looks
like soil, is high in carbon and nitrogen. Good quality environmentally friendly manure is formed
from the compost that is an excellent medium for growing plants and can be used for agricultural
purposes.

Advantage: Composting is environmentally friendly as well as beneficial for crops. Constraint:

It requires intensive management and experienced personnel for large scale operation.

5. Pyrolysis : This is a method of solid waste management whereby solid wastes are chemically
decomposed by heat without the presence of oxygen. It usually occurs under pressure and at
temperatures of up to 430 degrees Celsius. The solid wastes are changed into gasses, solid
residue of carbon and ash and small quantities of liquid.

Advantage: This will keep the environment clean and reduce health and settlement problems.
Constraint: The systems that destroy chlorinated organic molecules by heat may create
incomplete combustion products, including dioxins and furans. These compounds are highly
toxic in the parts per trillion ranges. The residue it generates may be hazardous wastes, requiring
proper treatment, storage, and disposal.

To summarize, proper solid waste management is an integral part of environmental conservation

that should be observed by both individuals and companies globally.
Effects of Poor Solid Waste Management

Due to improper disposal of the solid waste particularly by waste management organizations, the
collected wastes gets heap up and become a problem for both the environment and also for the
public.

By dumping of huge garbage, drives biodegradable materials to decay and decompose under the
abnormal, uncontrolled and unhygienic conditions. After a few days of decomposition, it
becomes a breeding ground for different types of disease-causing insects as well as infectious
organisms. A foul smell is produced and also spoils the aesthetic value of the area.

The solid wastes collected from different industries include toxic metals, chemicals, and other
hazardous wastes. When these wastes are released into the environment, it can produce
biological and physicochemical problems to the environment, the chemicals may drain into the
soil and pollute the groundwater and also alter the productivity of the soils in that particular area.

In rare cases, the hazardous wastes may get mixed up with the ordinary garbage and other
combustible wastes causing the disposal process even harder and risky.

By burning the paper and other scraps along with the hazardous wastes, dioxins and poisonous
gasses are produced and released into the air which results in causing various diseases
including chronic disease, skin infections, cancer, etc.

Control Measures of Urban and Industrial Wastes

An Integrated Waste Management Strategy Includes Three Main Components:

• SOURCE REDUCTION
• RECYCLING
• DISPOSAL

SOURCE REDUCTION
Source Reduction is one of the fundamental ways to Reduce Waste. This can be done by using
less material when making a product, reuse of product on site, designing products or packaging
to reduce their quantity. On an individual level we can reduce the use of unnecessary items while
shopping, buy items with minimal packaging, avoid buying disposable items and also avoid
asking for plastic carry bags.
RECYCLING
Recycling is reusing some components of the waste that may have some economic value.
Recycling has readily visible benefits such as conservation of resources Reduction in energy
used during manufacture and reducing pollution levels. Some materials such as aluminium and
steel can be recycled many items. Metal, paper, glass and plastics are recyclable. Mining of new
aluminum is expensive and hence recycled aluminum is expensive and hence recycled aluminum
has a strong market and plays a significant role in the aluminum industry. Paper recycling can
also help preserve forests as it takes about 17 trees to make one ton of paper. Crushed glass
(cullet) reduces the energy required to manufacture new glass by 50 percent. Cullet lowers the
temperature requirement of the glass making process thus conserving energy and reducing air
pollution.
However even if recycling is a viable alternative, it presents several problems. The problems
associated with recycling are either technical or economical. Plastics are difficult to recycle
because of the different types of polymer resins used in their production. Since type has its own
chemical makeup different plastics cannot be recycled together. Thus separation of different
plastics before recycling is necessary. Similarly in recycled paper the fibers are weakened and it
is difficult to control the colour of the recycled product. Recycled paper is banned for use in food
containers to prevent the possibility of contamination. It very often costs less to transport raw
paper pulp than scarap paper. Collection, sorting and transport account for about 90 percent of
the cost of paper recycling.
DISPOSAL
Disposal of solid waste is done most commonly through a sanitary landfill or through
incineration. A modern sanitary landfill is a depression in an impermeable soil layer that is lined
with an impermeable membrane. The three key characteristics of a municipal sanitary landfill
that distinguish it from an open dump are :
• Solid waste is placed in a suitably selected and prepared landfill site in a carefully prescribed
manner.
• The waste material is spread out and compacted with appropriate heavy machinery.
• The waste is covered each day with a layer of compacted soil. The problems with older landfill
are associated with ground water pollution. Pollutants seeping out from the bottom of a sanitary
landfill very often percolate down to the ground water aquifer no matter how thick the
underlying soil layer. Today it is essential to have suitable bottom liners and leachate collection
systems along with the installation of monitoring systems to detect ground water pollution

Socially Optimum Level of Pollution

If there is an optimum level of cleanliness, then there is an optimum level of pollution. If the
marginal cost of pollution abatement is just equal to the marginal benefit from pollution
abatement, then we have reached the point where society's welfare has been maximized with
respect to environmental quality.
If the marginal benefit of reducing pollution where greater than the marginal cost of reducing
pollution, then society would benefit from a reduction in pollution. The benefit would be equal to
the amount by which marginal benefit of clean up exceeded the marginal cost of the clean up.
Just as it is possible to have to dirty an environment, it is also possible to have too cleaned an
environment. If the marginal cost of pollution abatement exceeds the marginal benefit from the
reduction, then the benefit of cleaning the environment is not worth the expense. Consequently,
further attempt to clean up the environment is result in a reduction in welfare.
Economists have argued that it is not efficient to reduce pollution to zero. The cost of this
reduction probably exceed the benefits. Waterways and the atmosphere have a natural capacity to
assimilate at least some pollution with no associated ill- effects on the environment or humans.
To not benefit from this natural assimilative capacity would be wasteful. Moreover one person's
pollution may be another person's consumption. Rafter's prefer a raging river, while boaters
prefer a dammed waterway and calmed lake. Teenagers like blast rap music, while adult prefer
the oldies.
The following diagram contains hypothetical curves for the marginal benefit of controlling air
pollution and marginal cost of controlling air pollution.
On the left side of the diagram there is no control on pollutions emissions and there is 0%
reduction in pollution. As we move towards the right along the horizontal axis, pollution is
reduced through the application of environmental controls. Industrial emissions are entirely
eliminated at100%.
The diagram indicates that as pollution is reduced the marginal benefit from an additional
percentile reduction in air pollution declines. This is intuitively appealing when the air is very
dirty we benefit greatly from a given reduction in pollution, whereas when the air is a lot
cleaner, we might not even notice an incremental reduction in pollution.
As we reduce pollution the marginal cost of an additional percentile decline in air pollution
increases. If industries are forced to reduce pollution they will first employ whatever method is
easiest and cheapest. However, once they can take advantage of the least expensive technologies,
they will then have to move on to more costly method. Thus the marginal cost of pollution
control should be increases as we place increasing demand on industries to reduce emissions.

Deforestation

Forests play a useful role in preserving the ecological and environmental balance and in
maintaining the biodiversity and ecosystem. Forest provides a livelihood and cultural integrity
for tribal community and habitat for plants and animals.
Deforestation is a process of removal of forest resources due to natural or manmade activities
(i.e.) destruction of forests. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make
the land available for other uses.

Causes of Deforestation
• Population Explosion: Population explosion poses a grave threat to the environment. Vast
areas of forest land are cleared of trees to reclaim land for human settlements (factories,
agriculture, housing, roads, railway tracks etc.) growth of population increases the demand for
forest products like timber, firewood, paper and other valuable products of industrial importance,
all necessitating felling of trees.
• Massive destruction of forests occurs for various development projects like hydroelectric
projects, big dams, road construction, mining etc.
*Mining operations: It reduces forest areas. Ex: Mica, coal, Manganese and lime stone.
*Raw materials for industries: Wood is an important raw material for various purposes. Ex:
Making boxes, furniture and paper etc.
• Fuel requirement: Wood is the important fuel for rural and tribal population
*Shifting cultivation: Replacement of natural forest ecosystem for mono specific tree
plantation. Ex: Teak

* Forest fires: Forest fire destructs thousands of acres of forest.

*Over grazing: Over grazing by cattle reduces the cultivation land

Consequences of Deforestation (or) Impacts of Deforestation

Cutting down trees does a lot of harm to the environment. This has several impacts on the
existing ecosystem. There are different birds, animals, and microorganism that use those
particular trees for shelter, and cutting them down would mean that they’d have to move to find
new places. Leaves from these trees contribute to formation of soil insects to hibernate. There is
also the important which various living organism is. Deforestation threatens to put a stop used
by role that trees play in attracting rain, cleaning air and acting as a source of food for to all these
and upset the balance of nature not to mention that it reduce the variety of trees that exist within
a forest. The following points show the impact of deforestation.

1. Economic loss
2 Loss of biodiversity. Forests are complex ecosystem that affects almost every species
3. Destructs the habitats of various species. 70% world’s plants and species live in forest are
losing their habitat to deforestation.

4. Reduction in stream flow

5. Increases the rate of global warming
6. Disruption of weather patterns and global climate. Deforestation is considered to be one of the
major contributing factors to global climate change.

7. Degradation of soil and acceleration of the rate of soil erosion

8. Induces and accelerates mass movement/land slides
9. Increase flood frequency, magnitude/severity
General Conservation Strategies

Forest is one of the most valuable resources and thus needs to be conserved. To conserve forest,
following steps should be taken;

• Conservation of forest is a national problem, thus it should be tackled with perfect

coordination between concerned government departments:

▪ People should be made aware of importance of forest and involved in forest conservation
activities
▪ Use of wood for fuel should be discouraged
▪ Education and awareness programmes must be conducted
▪ Forest, pests can be controlled by spraying pesticides using aeroplanes

▪ Grasslands should be regenerated.

▪ Forest fire must be controlled by modern techniques

▪ The cutting of trees in the forests for timber should be stopped

▪ Over grazing by cattle must be controlled

▪ Forest conservation Act should be strictly implemented to check deforestation

▪ Awards should be instituted for the deserving.

 Environment protection of UNO

Environmental protection has become an increasingly important focus of activities for the United
Nations over the last quarter century. More than 200 international environmental conventions
now exist, and bodies such as the UN Environment Programme, the Commission on Sustainable
Development, and the Global Environment Facility are playing increasingly important roles in
international environmental management. But despite the proliferation of treaties and
institutions, the health of the global environment continues to deteriorate. As encouraging as the
growing involvement of many different United Nations bodies in environmental matters is, the
price of success has been a measure of duplication and inefficiency. The UN’s environmental
machinery will need to be both rationalized and strengthened if it is to become capable of
reversing global ecological decline.

UN activity in the field of environment has been driven by major conferences and reports. They
are the following :

1. Ramsar Convention 1971 on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl

Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also
known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the
Convention was signed in 1971.

2. Paris Protocol

The Protocol, which came into force in 1986, established a procedure for amending the
Convention. Almost all Contracting Parties have now accepted the Paris Protocol

1. Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer

When the Vienna Convention was adopted in 1985, it became an important legal basis for taking
international action to protect the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer. It stands for research and
information exchange on the effects of human activities on the ozone layer and to adopt
measures against activities likely to have adverse effects on the ozone layer.

2. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

 The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing
out the production of a number of substances to be responsible for ozone depletion. All of these
ozone depleting substances contain either chlorine or bromine . The treaty was opened for
signature in 1987 and entered into force in 1989.

3. Brundtland Report : Report of the World Commission on Environment and

development . The concept of 'sustainable development' was crystallized and popularized in the
1987 on the report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development
- the Brundtland Commission
4. Rio Declaration1992: The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, often
shortened to Rio Declaration, was a short document produced at the 1992 United Nations
"Conference on Environment and Development" (UNCED), informally known as the Earth
Summit. The Rio Declaration consisted of 27 principles intended to guide countries in
future sustainable development. It was signed by over 170 countries. t includes formulations of
the precautionary principle (principle 15) and of the polluter pays principle (principle 16).
Nations have the right to exploit their own resources, but without causing environmental damage
beyond their borders. The polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution. Agenda 21 is a
non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a
product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The United Nations Commission on
Sustainable Development (CSD) was established by the UN General Assembly in December
1992 to ensure the effective follow-up of United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit.
5. Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding
emission reduction target .The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement made under the UNFCCC.
Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five
other greenhouse gases, or engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of
these gases. Kyoto Protocol is designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of
climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of technologies that can help
increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Kyoto Protocol is seen as an important
first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions,
and can provide the architecture for the future international agreement on climate change.

6. Rotterdam Convention 1998 : The objectives of the Rotterdam Convention are, to

promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of
certain hazardous chemicals .and to protect human health and the environment from potential
harm

7. Stockholm Convention 2001: Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty,

signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and
use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).The Stockholm Convention is an international legally
binding agreement on persistent organic pollutants.It aims to eliminate unintentionally produced
POPs , and manage and dispose of POPs wastes in an environmentally sound manner. Stockholm
Convention approves recommendation for ban on endosulfan . The Fifth Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention was held from 25 to 29 April 2011 at the
Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG) in Geneva, Switzerland

8. Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development 2002 : The World Summit

on Sustainable Development, WSSD or Earth Summit 2002 took place in Johannesburg, South
Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable
development by the United Nations. WSSD gathered a number of leaders from business and non-
governmental organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was
therefore also informally nicknamed "Rio+10".)
9. RIO + 20 : The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also
known as Rio 2012, Rio+20) or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference
on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals of
the global community

United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 was held in Paris, France, from 30
November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the
Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1997 Protocol. The
conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate
change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 parties
attending it.

Environmental Policies and Legislations in India

Environmental Policy

Policy refers to a set of principles or plans agreed upon by a government or an organization to

be carried out in a particular situation. Environmental policy is defined as “any action
deliberately taken to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate
harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and to ensure that man-made changes to the
environment do not have harmful effects on human or the environment”.

Environmental policy usually covers air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem
management, biodiversity protection, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife and
endangered species. Proper policies and legislations at the national and the international levels
can reduce the venomous pollution and help protect biodiversity and natural resources.

Environmental Legislation

Environmental legislation is a set of laws and regulations which aim at protecting the
environment from harmful actions.

Legislation may take many forms, including regulation of emissions that may lead to
environmental pollution, taxation of environment- and health-damaging activities, and
establishing the legal framework for trading schemes, for example, carbon emissions. Other
actions may rely on voluntary agreements. Among major current legislative frameworks are
those relating to environmental permitting, and those mandating environment and health impact
assessments.

In the Constitution of India, it is clearly stated that it is the duty of the state to ‘protect and
improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’. It imposes a
duty on every citizen ‘to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers, and wildlife’.

There are a number of environmental acts enacted in India. Some of the important legislations
in this respect are −

• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

• Environmental Protection Act, 1986

• Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste Rules, 1989

• The National Environmental Tribunal Act, 1995

• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

These Environmental legislations in India may be grouped into the following:

1. General

2. Forest and wildlife

3. Water

4. Air

1.General

1986 - The Environment (Protection) Act authorizes the central government to protect and
improve environmental quality, control and reduce pollution from all sources, and prohibit or
restrict the setting and /or operation of any industrial facility on environmental grounds.
1989 - The objective of Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules is to control the
generation, collection, treatment, import, storage, and handling of hazardous waste.

1998 - The Biomedical waste (Management and Handling) Rules is a legal binding on the health
care institutions to streamline the process of proper handling of hospital waste such as
segregation, disposal, collection, and treatment.

2000 - The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 apply to every
municipal authority responsible for the collection, segregation, storage, transportation,
processing, and disposal of municipal solid wastes.

2002 - The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) (Amendment) Rules lay down such terms
and conditions as are necessary to reduce noise pollution, permit use of loud speakers or public
address systems during night hours (between 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight) on or during any
cultural or religious festive occasion.

2. Forest and wildlife

1927 - The Indian Forest Act and Amendment, 1984, is one of the many surviving colonial
statutes. It was enacted to ‘consolidate the law related to forest, the transit of forest produce, and
the duty leviable on timber and other forest produce’.

1972 - The Wildlife Protection Act, Rules 1973 and Amendment 1991 provides for the
protection of birds and animals and for all matters that are connected to it whether it be their
habitat or the waterhole or the forests that sustain them.

1980 - The Forest (Conservation) Act and Rules, 1981, provides for the protection of and the
conservation of the forests.

2002 - The Biological Diversity Act is an act to provide for the conservation of biological
diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising
out of the use of biological resources and knowledge associated with it.

3. Water
1974 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act establishes an institutional
structure for preventing and abating water pollution. It establishes standards for water quality and
effluent. Polluting industries must seek permission to discharge waste into effluent bodies. The
CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) was constituted under this act.

1977 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act provides for the levy and
collection of cess or fees on water consuming industries and local authorities.

1978 - The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rules contains the standard
definitions and indicate the kind of and location of meters that every consumer of water is
required to affix.

1991 - The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification puts regulations on various activities,
including construction, are regulated. It gives some protection to the backwaters and estuaries.

4. Air

1982 - The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules defines the procedures of the
meetings of the Boards and the powers entrusted to them.

1982 - The Atomic Energy Act deals with the radioactive waste.

1987 - The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act empowers the central
and state pollution control boards to meet with grave emergencies of air pollution.

1988 - The Motor Vehicles Act states that all hazardous waste is to be properly packaged,
labelled, and transported.

Environmental Protection Act, 1986

Environmental Protection Act, 1986, was a statutory response that came into effect a year after
the tragic Bhopal Gas Tragedy and is considered an umbrella legislation as it addresses many
loopholes in the existing environmental laws. It was enacted as per the spirit of the Stockholm
Conference held in June 1972 to take suitable measures for the protection and reinvigoration of
environment and related matters.
 The Environment (Protection) Act is applicable to whole of India including Jammu &
Kashmir. It came into force on November 19, 1986. EPA 1986 was enacted largely to
implement the decisions made at the UN Conference on Human Environment held at Stockholm
in June, 1972.

It was to co-ordinate the activities of the various regulatory agencies under the existing laws. It
also seeks collection and dissemination of information on environmental pollution.

A lot have been done to protect and improve the environment world over. However much
remains to be done for building a sustainable society. New mechanisms are being put in place to
expedite the process of protecting and improving the environment. For example, new
institutions — the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the State
Environment Management Authorities (SEMA) — in India have been proposed as full-time
technical organizations with the capacity to process all environmental clearance applications in
a time-bound manner.

Stockholm Conference
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, by name Stockholm Conference, the
first United Nations (UN) conference that focused on international environmental issues. The conference,
held in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 5 to 16, 1972, reflected a growing interest in conservation issues
worldwide and laid the foundation for global environmental governance. The final declaration of the
Stockholm Conference was an environmental manifesto that was a forceful statement of the finite nature of
Earth’s resources and the necessity for humanity to safeguard them. The Stockholm Conference also led to
the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in December 1972 to coordinate global
efforts to promote sustainability and safeguard the natural environment.
The roots of the Stockholm Conference lie in a 1968 proposal from Sweden that the UN hold an international
conference to examine environmental problems and identify those that required international cooperation to
solve. The 1972 conference was attended by delegations from 114 governments. (It was boycotted by Soviet-
bloc countries because of the exclusion of the German Democratic Republic [East Germany], which did not
hold a UN seat at the time.) Documents created during the conference influenced international environmental
law; one notable example was the final declaration, which elucidated 26 principles concerning
the environment. The conference also produced the “Framework for Environmental Action,” an action plan
containing 109 specific recommendations related to human settlements, natural-resource management,
pollution, educational and social aspects of the environment, development, and international organizations.
The final declaration was a statement of human rights as well as an acknowledgment of the need for
environmental protection. The first principle began “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and
adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being.” The
need to preserve the environment was not placed in opposition to economic development.
Several other topics were also treated by the final declaration. These topics included:

• the necessity of conservation, including the preservation of wildlife habitat (principle 4),

• the avoidance of polluting the seas (principle 7),

• the wide use of nonrenewable resources (principle 5),

• the importance of developing coordinated planning (principles 13–17),

• the importance of environmental education (principle 19),

• the facilitation of scientific research and the free flow of information (principle 20),

• the development of international law regarding environmental pollution and damage (principle 22),
• and the elimination and destruction of nuclear weapons (principle 26).

Helsinki Convention

While the precursor 1974 Helsinki Convention was concerned primarily with issues of technical pollution
control and the pollution of the Baltic Sea as such, the 1992 "New Helsinki Convention" is concerned with
the entire marine environment of the Baltic Sea area. Its purpose is to prevent and eliminate pollution in
order to promote the ecological restoration of the Baltic Sea area and the preservation of its ecological
balance. Its geographical scope covers not only the entire Baltic Sea including the seafloor and coastal zones,
but also its drainage area.

On 22 March 1974 the seven States of the Baltic region - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, USSR, Poland,
German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany - signed the Convention on the
Protection of the Marine Environment (HELCOM) at its Secretariat in Helsinki, Finland. In the preamble of
HELCOM, the parties recognize their responsibility "to protect and enhance the values of the marine
environment of the Baltic Sea area for the benefit of their peoples," and that this "cannot effectively be
accomplished by national efforts only but that close regional cooperation and other appropriate international
measures aiming to fulfill these tasks are urgently needed."

As early as the 1950s, environmental scientists in the Baltic region became aware of
environmental degradation resulting from large-scale industrial development and chemical runoffs from
agriculture. This awareness led to the 1974 signing by Baltic countries of the Helsinki Convention on
the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, an agreement that was put into
effect in 1980, revised in 1992, and reimplemented in 2000.

The Helsinki Convention was the first regional treaty to cover land-based pollution sources and, in particular,
to combat marine pollution from oil in the entire drainage basin, which is 4.3 times as large as the area of the
Baltic Sea itself. Certainly the inspiration to initiate conventions for similar-sized semi-closed marine areas
like the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, and others, was drawn from the success of the
intergovernmental action in protecting the Baltic Sea. This success was partly due to the well-developed
organizational structure of Baltic marine science.

Operations:

To attain the joint conservation goals, the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) was created. This body meets
annually. Recommendations on environmental and conservation issues which are to be implemented by the
parties are an important instrument of HELCOM. The commission is supported by working groups on the
various aspects of the convention, such as HELCOM-HABITAT, which deals with nature conservation and
biological diversity. Further activities include monitoring programmes and status reports. Important
outcomes of conservation activities include the development of a system of Baltic Sea Protected Areas
(BSPAs) and the production of a first red list of endangered habitat types of the Baltic Sea.

Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol) is an
international agreement made in 1987. It was designed to stop the production and import of ozone
depleting substances and reduce their concentration in the atmosphere to help protect the earth's ozone
layer.
 The Montreal Protocol sits under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (the
Vienna Convention). The Vienna Convention was adopted in 1985 following international discussion
of scientific discoveries in the 1970s and 1980s highlighting the adverse effect of human activity on
ozone levels in the stratosphere and the discovery of the ‘ozone hole’. Its objectives are to promote
cooperation on the adverse effects of human activities on the ozone layer

16th September is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. It celebrates the
anniversary of the day the Montreal Protocol came into effect.

The Montreal Protocol is widely considered as the most successful environment protection agreement.
It sets out a mandatory timetable for the phase out of ozone depleting substances. This timetable has
been reviewed regularly, with phase out dates accelerated in accordance with scientific understanding
and technological advances

The Montreal Protocol sets binding progressive phase out obligations for developed and developing
countries for all the major ozone depleting substances, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons
and less damaging transitional chemicals such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The Montreal
Protocol targets 96 ozone depleting chemicals in thousands of applications across more than 240
industrial sectors. In 2016 the Montreal Protocol also became responsible for setting binding
progressive phase down obligations for the 18 main hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

The Montreal Protocol has been further strengthened through six Amendments, which have brought
forward phase out schedules and added new substances to the list of substances controlled under the
Montreal Protocol. The Amendments are:

• London 1990
• Copenhagen 1992
• Vienna 1995
• Montreal 1997
• Beijing 1999
• Kigali 2016
In addition to helping to protect and restore the ozone layer, the Montreal Protocol has also produced
other significant environmental benefits. Most notably, the phase out of ozone depleting substances,
which are often also high global warming gases, has benefitted the global climate by reducing the
amount of greenhouse gas going into the atmosphere.

It has successfully reduced the global production, consumption, and emissions of ozone-depleting substances
(ODSs). ODSs are also greenhouse gases that contribute to the radiative forcing of climate change.

The Montreal Protocol is an international environmental agreement with universal ratification to

protect the earth’s ozone layer by eliminating use of ozone depleting substances (ODS), which would
otherwise allow increased UV radiation to reach the earth, resulting in higher incidence of skin
cancers and eye cataracts, more-compromised immune systems, and negative effects on watersheds,
agricultural lands and forests. Since its adoption in 1987 and as of end-2014, it has successfully
eliminated over 98 percent of controlled ODS, helping reverse the damage to the ozone layer.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that aimed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and
the presence of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The Kyoto Protocol is an international
agreement that called for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The
Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, when greenhouse gases were rapidly threatening our climate,
life on the earth, and the planet, itself.

Kyoto Protocol is designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It
facilitates the development and deployment of technologies that can help increase resilience to the impacts of
climate change. The Kyoto Protocol is seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission
reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and can provide the architecture for the future
international agreement on climate change.

The targets for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol cover emissions of the six main
greenhouse gases ,namely: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O),
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

Rio Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth
Summit, the Rio Summit, the Rio Conference, and the Earth Summit, was a major United Nations conference
held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 3 to 14 June in 1992. The focus of this conference was the state of the
global environment and the relationship between economics, science and the environment in a political
context. The conference concluded with the Earth Summit, at which leaders of 105 nations gathered to
demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), byname Earth Summit,
conference held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June 3–14, 1992), to reconcile worldwide economic
development with protection of the environment. The Earth Summit was the largest gathering of world
leaders as of 1992, with 117 heads of state and representatives of 178 nations in all attending. By means of
treaties and other documents signed at the conference, most of the world’s nations nominally committed
themselves to the pursuit of economic development in ways that would protect the Earth’s environment and
nonrenewable resources.

The main documents agreed upon at the Earth Summit are as follows. The Convention on Biological
Diversity is a binding treaty requiring nations to take inventories of their plants and wild animals and protect
their endangered species. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or
Global Warming Convention, is a binding treaty that requires nations to reduce their emission of carbon
dioxide, methane, and other “greenhouse” gases thought to be responsible for global warming; the treaty
stopped short of setting binding targets for emission reductions, however. Such targets were eventually
established in an amendment to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol (1997), which was superceded by the Paris
Agreement on climate change (2015). The Declaration on Environment and Development, or Rio
Declaration, laid down 27 broad, nonbinding principles for environmentally sound development. Agenda
21 outlined global strategies for cleaning up the environment and encouraging environmentally sound
development. The Statement of Principles on Forests, aimed at preserving the world’s rapidly
vanishing tropical rainforests, is a nonbinding statement recommending that nations monitor and assess the
impact of development on their forest resources and take steps to limit the damage done to them.

The Earth Summit was hampered by disputes between the wealthy industrialized nations of the North (i.e.,
western Europe and North America) and the poorer developing countries of the South (i.e., Africa, Latin
America, the Middle East, and parts of Asia). In general, the countries of the South were reluctant to hamper
their economic growth with the environmental restrictions urged upon them by the North unless they
received increased Northern financial aid, which they claimed would help make environmentally sound
growth possible.
The earth summit resulted in the following documents:

The Rio Declaration consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the
world. These principles define the rights of people to development, and their responsibilities to safeguard the
common environment. The Rio Declaration states that the only way to have long term economic progress is
to link it with environmental protection. This will only happen if nations establish a new and equitable global
partnership involving governments, their people and key sectors of societies. They must build international
agreements that protect the integrity of the global environmental and the developmental system.

Agenda 21 : It is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the United Nations with regard to
sustainable development. It is a 300-page document divided into 40 chapters that have been grouped into 4
sections:

Section I: Social and Economic Dimensions is directed toward combating poverty, especially in developing
countries, changing consumption patterns, promoting health, achieving a more sustainable population, and
sustainable settlement in decision making. Section II: Conservation and Management of Resources for
Development Includes atmospheric protection, combating deforestation, protecting fragile environments,
conservation of biodiversity, control of pollution and the management of biotechnology, and radioactive
wastes.

Section III: Strengthening the Role of Major Groups includes the roles of children and youth, women, NGOs,
local authorities, business and industry, and workers; and strengthening the role of indigenous peoples, their
communities, and farmers.

Section IV: Means of Implementation: implementation includes science, technology transfer, education,
international institutions and financial mechanisms.

Forest Principles : The informal name given to the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of
Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, The Montreal Conservation and Sustainable
Development of All Types of Forests Process, also known as the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators
for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests, was Forestry issues
and started in 1994 as a result of the Forest Principles Forests opportunities should be examined in a
holistic and balanced manner. are essential to economic development and the maintenance of all forms of
life

Paris Convention or Paris Agreement on Climate Change

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) or COP 21 was held in Paris from
November 30 to December 12, 2015, It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of Parties
(COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The
Conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on reduction of climate change,
the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 nations attending it.
The Paris Agreement took into account INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions)
the submitted by different nations. It is the second major agreement on climate change after
Kyoto Protocol. While Kyoto Protocol covers the period upto 2020, the Paris Agreement will
cover the period after 2020.

The main recommendations of the agreement are as follows:

I) The global warming target has been kept at well below 2°C with an endeavour to limit it to
1.5°C to the pre-industrial level by the end of 2100.

ii) In 2018, Parties will take stock of their collective efforts against the effort needed to limit
temperature rise. But the first stock take 'under the agreement will be only in 2023 and thereafter
every five years. The countries falling back on their promises (on INDCs) will be 'named and
shamed'.

iii) The differentiation of responsibilities in fighting climate change between developed and
developing countries has been maintained across all pillars of action mentioned in the draft
mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building and transparency

iv)The developed countries will provide $100 billion a year towards climate finance (money to
be given by rich countries to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation efforts) from
2020 and scale it up later.
 v) The agreement targets zero emissions by the end of this century

vi) Developed countries to take economy wise absolute emissions reduction and developing
countries should enhance their mitigation efforts

vii) While Kyoto Protocol was silent on seeking compensation for loss because of extreme
weather events, Paris Agreement agrees to the concept of 'loss and damage through which
vulnerable nations could seek financial assistance from rich nations to cover damage through
instruments like insurance.

Unlike earlier agreements, Paris agreement addressed the concerns of the developing world led
by India and China by acknowledging climate justice and taking into account of differentiated
responsibilities of countries. However many critics have pointed out that there is no target set for
developed countries to take more aggressive cuts to reduce their emissions and there is no
reference to the historical responsibility of these countries.

Population Growth and Environment

One of the factors responsible for environment degradation is population growth or population density. Its
effects are felt on the natural environment in many ways such as land-cover change, agricultural land
degradation, water resource management, coastal management, energy and climate change and many more.
The main effects of population growth on environment are as follows:
1. Generation of Waste and Pollution: Due to his destructive activities, man has dumped more and more
waste in environment. As the man-made waste is not transformed, it causes degradation and the capacity of
environment to absorb more waste is reduced. Further, waste leads to air and water pollution.
The relationship between population dynamics and water resources is complex. At the aggregate level,
population growth does reduce per capita water availability. The Global International Waters Assessment
listed population growth-as one of the root causes of the "global water crisis."
More than 80% of global energy consumption is derived from fossil fuels, and rapid population growth
increased this dependence fossil energy that is responsible for the release of the greenhouse gases and
airborne pollutants.
2. Threat to Biodiversity: Growth of population led man to extract more and more minerals from the earth.
Animals have been hunted and plants have disappeared. There has been loss of biodiversity. These have led
to ecological imbalance.
3. Strain on Forests: Man has established new housing colonies. National highways and hydropower
projects have been built and forests have been wiped out. Forests have been cleared all over the world for
extending agriculture and obtaining firewood, industrial wood, timber and construction materials.
Government investments in roads, subsidies to the agricultural sector, or land tenure policy can directly
influence deforestation rates.
4. Urbanization: Rapid growth of population has led to urbanization which has adversely affected
environment. Due to population pressure, natural resources in the cities are depleted at a fast rate. Moreover,
urban population does not have proper sanitation facilities and pure drinking water. As a result, the health
of the people is adversely affected. Urbanization reduces pressure on the rural environment, but it brings
with it environmental damages to urban areas through industrial growth, emissions and wastes.
5. Land Degradation: Population growth increased the pressure on land and in order to support the
growing demand for food and raw materials, intensive farming methods have been used. This intensive
farming and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides have led to over-exploitation of land and water
resources. These have led to land degradation in the form of soil erosion, water logging and salinization
6. Transport Development: Environmental degradation is also due to transport development in the
different parts of the world. The automobiles release huge quantities of poisonous gases such as carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons. The developments of ports and harbours have led to oil spills
from ships adversely affecting fisheries, coral reefs, mangroves and landscapes.
7. Climatic Change: Climatic changes are irregular due to green house gases. Population growth increased
the agricultural and industrial activities around the world and growth of emission of greenhouse gases too.
Urban people are still being exposed to unaccepted levels of toxic pollutants. Further, forests are still being
degraded by acid deposition generated by industries, and greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the
atmosphere.
8. Coastal and Marine Environment: Population growth can lead to many other coastal and marine
environmental disturbances. For instance, tropical mangroves are being converted to fish and shrimp
aquaculture farms, which undermines coastal protection and decreases natural habitat that many fish species
use for reproduction. Expanding coastal cities undermine natural protection from storms and hurricanes as
well as increase pollution.

Population impacts on the environment primarily through the use of natural resources and production of
wastes and is associated with environmental stresses like loss of biodiversity, and water pollution and
increased pressure on land. Population and rates of growth are key elements in environmental damage. At
any level of development, increased population increases the energy use, resource consumption and
environmental stress. Population growth and consumption are fundamental drivers of man environmental
impacts. The projected population indicates that India will be most populous country in the world and China
will be second in 2050. If the population continues to multiply, the impact on environment could be
devastating

Market Failure

The concept of market failure is central to environmental Economics. An ecological or

environmental market failure exists when human activity in a market economy is exhausting
critical non-renewable resources, disrupting fragile ecosystems services, or overloading
biospheric waste absorption capacities. Market failure is a situation in which the allocation of
goods and services by a free market is not efficient, often leading to a social welfare loss. Market
failures are often associated with provision of public goods, externalities, information
asymmetries and non-competitive markets.
A public good is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous in that individuals cannot
be excluded from use or could be enjoyed without paying for it, and where use by one individual
does not reduce availability to others or the goods can be effectively consumed simultaneously
by more than one person.

Environment, Externality and Public Good: An externality exists when a person makes a
choice that affects other people in a way that is not accounted for in the market price.
Alternatively, a person or firms negatively or positively affect the utility or production of
another entity without that entity's permission or compensation. An externality can be positive
or negative, but is usually associated with negative externalities in environment economics.
Some negative externalities are public bads in the sense that they satisfy the condition of non-
excludability and non-rivalry.

Examples include

• Driving a car produces noise and pollution which might affect other people.
• The emission of carbon dioxide by a firm adds to the atmospheric stock of greenhouse
gases and thereby contributes to global warming/ climate change.
• Discharging pollution into a river or lake can have a negative impact on swimming,
fishing etc.

In the above example Greenhouse gases, leading to climate change are non rival and non
excludable. Nobody can easily be checked from the global climate. Other examples of negative
externality involve various degrees of non rivalry and no exclusion.

The Tragedy of Commons

The Tragedy of Commons describes how people often take advantage of resources that are freely
available to them. Often, they don't consider the fact that if everyone over-uses the resource, this
will lead to negative effects for everyone, including themselves. The tragedy of the commons is
an economic problem that results in overconsumption, under investment, and ultimately
depletion of a common-property resource. For a tragedy of the commons to occur, a resource
must be scarce, rivalrous in consumption, and non-excludable

Prof. Garret Hardin, an evolutionary biologist, wrote "The Tragedy of the Commons," which was
published in the journal Science in 1968. Hardin's main concern was overpopulation. He used the
example of commonly-used grazing land. According to Hardin, the land could provide adequate
food to all as long as the number of herders grazing cattle on it was kept in check. If the numbers
were to increase as a result of each herdsmen introducing more cattle, the land would no longer
be sufficient to support the population. Each person sharing the land, acting in self-interest,
would continue to exploit the resources of the commons, despite the fact that if all people do so,
the land will be damaged and unable to support them. No one had any incentive to control entry
and prevent overgrazing because his individual action does not reduce the overall effect. Thus,
whenever a resource is open for all, ie. common property, it will be over exploited by competing
groups leading to the tragedy of destroying the resource. As Hardin put it, freedom in a
commons brings ruin to all,"

The tragedy of the commons has implications for the use of resources and sustainability.
Depletion of non-renewable resources is an example of the tragedy of the commons in action.
Non- renewable resources, such as water, are often used as if the supply were limitless,

Solutions to the tragedy of the commons include the imposition of property rights, government
regulation, or the development of a collective action arrangement.