11
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_2
Chapter 2
Contemporary Environmental
Issues – The Indian Perspective
Pradip K. Sikdar and Soumyajit Basu
2.1 Introduction
Environment plays a pivotal role in the life of every human being in terms of physical, mental and social well-being. Environment provides all the basic necessities of
life, like water, food and air, and it also gives the resources required for economic
growth. In other word, economy of developing countries is linked with the environmental conditions and opportunities it provides. The environment around us is
degrading. El-Haggar (2007) defined environmental degradation as ‘the exhaustion
of the world’s natural resources: land, air, water, soil, etc.’. The main causes of environmental degradation are environmental pollution, climate change, urbanization,
rapid population growth, economic development and transportation, etc.
Environmental degradation is a global issue and different international agencies
like Earth System Governance Project (ESGP), Fridays for Future (FFF) also known
as School Strike for Climate, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI),
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
European Environment Agency (EEA), Partnerships in Environmental Management
for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), etc., have come together along with organizations in different countries to resolve this serious issue.
India is also facing serious problems due to environmental degradation caused by
different factors. As a developing country with second highest population in the
world, environmental degradation is seriously affecting the economic growth of the
country along with deterioration of the health condition of its population. According
to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India is vulnerable to disaster like earthquake, flooding, drought, sea level rise because of its geographical
P. K. Sikdar (*) · S. Basu
Department of Environment Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business
Management, Kolkata, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_2
Chapter 2
Contemporary Environmental
Issues – The Indian Perspective
Pradip K. Sikdar and Soumyajit Basu
2.1 Introduction
Environment plays a pivotal role in the life of every human being in terms of physical, mental and social well-being. Environment provides all the basic necessities of
life, like water, food and air, and it also gives the resources required for economic
growth. In other word, economy of developing countries is linked with the environmental conditions and opportunities it provides. The environment around us is
degrading. El-Haggar (2007) defined environmental degradation as ‘the exhaustion
of the world’s natural resources: land, air, water, soil, etc.’. The main causes of environmental degradation are environmental pollution, climate change, urbanization,
rapid population growth, economic development and transportation, etc.
Environmental degradation is a global issue and different international agencies
like Earth System Governance Project (ESGP), Fridays for Future (FFF) also known
as School Strike for Climate, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI),
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
European Environment Agency (EEA), Partnerships in Environmental Management
for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), etc., have come together along with organizations in different countries to resolve this serious issue.
India is also facing serious problems due to environmental degradation caused by
different factors. As a developing country with second highest population in the
world, environmental degradation is seriously affecting the economic growth of the
country along with deterioration of the health condition of its population. According
to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India is vulnerable to disaster like earthquake, flooding, drought, sea level rise because of its geographical
P. K. Sikdar (*) · S. Basu
Department of Environment Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business
Management, Kolkata, India