What traumatic event does Zitkala-Sa describe at the school?

The forcible cutting of her long hair

Why was the cutting of her hair so humiliating to Zitkala-Sa?

Among her people, shingled hair was worn by cowards and mourners

Why have environmental issues become part of world politics?

Because environmental degradation crosses borders and cannot be addressed by any single government, raising political questions of who causes it, who pays and who must act.

What were the outcomes of the Rio Earth Summit?

It produced conventions on climate change, biodiversity and forestry, recommended Agenda 21, and popularised the idea of sustainable development.

What is meant by the global commons?

Areas located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any state — the atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space — requiring common governance by the international community.

What does 'common but differentiated responsibilities' mean?

That while all states must protect the environment, developed countries bear greater responsibility because their industrialisation caused most of the historical degradation.

Why were India and China exempted from the Kyoto Protocol?

Because their historical and per-capita greenhouse-gas emissions were low, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities placed the main burden on developed countries.

What is India's stand on environmental issues?

India stresses historical responsibility of developed nations, opposes binding cuts on developing countries, and participates through laws on energy efficiency, clean fuels and renewable energy.

Describe the diversity of environmental movements.

They include forest movements of the South, struggles against the minerals industry and multinational companies, and anti-dam, pro-river movements like the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

What is resource geopolitics?

The politics of who gets what natural resources, when and how — historically dominated by trade, war and power, with oil and water as the most strategically important resources.

Who are indigenous people and what is their main concern?

They are descendants of a land's original inhabitants who keep their own customs; their main concern is the loss of land, which is their economic and cultural survival base.

Why is water becoming a source of conflict?

Increasing scarcity and disputes over shared rivers — over pollution, irrigation and dam-building by upstream states — make water a potential cause of conflict in the 21st century.

Environment and Natural Resources

Class 12 Political Science · Contemporary World Politics · Chapter 6

163 members in the CBSE community

View all

CBSE Class 12 · Political Science

End of Bipolarity: asked in all 4 papers

Marks booster + cheatsheet: most-asked concepts in 2 lines each
6-marker in 3 of 4 papers: Security
4-marker in all 4 papers: Environment
6-marker in 3 of 4 papers: centres of power
2 papers asked UN cartoons
7 chapters: dates, treaties, leaders

Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read

₹159See the full kit

CBSE Class 12 · Political Science

40 theory marks, split chapter by chapter

Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each
8 marks: Chapter 8, 1989 to 2019
6 marks each: Chapters 1, 4 and 7
State-formation and war timelines
Party tables and election results
Map clues the board uses

Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read

₹159See the full kit

View all 46 amazing Marks Booster kits →

Summary

This chapter shows why environmental and resource issues have become central to world politics. Problems like shrinking cultivable land, water scarcity, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, the ozone hole and coastal pollution cross national borders and cannot be solved by any one government. Environmental awareness grew politically from the 1960s, with the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth (1972), the Brundtland Report (1987) and especially the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which produced conventions on climate change and biodiversity and the idea of 'sustainable development'. A key divide is between the developed global North and developing global South; the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities', accepted at Rio, holds that developed countries, who caused most degradation, must bear more responsibility, which is why India and China were exempted from the Kyoto Protocol. The chapter discusses the protection of global commons (Antarctica, the atmosphere, ocean floor, outer space), common property resources like India's sacred groves, India's stand on environmental issues, diverse environmental movements (forest, anti-dam such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan, and mineral-industry struggles), resource geopolitics centred on oil and water, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Key terms

Earth Summit

The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro that brought environmental issues to the centre of global politics.

Sustainable development

Development that combines economic growth with ecological responsibility so as not to harm future generations.

Common but differentiated responsibilities

The principle that all states share responsibility for the environment but developed nations bear more, having caused more degradation.

Global commons

Areas outside any state's jurisdiction, such as Antarctica, the atmosphere, the ocean floor and outer space.

Kyoto Protocol

The 1997 international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.

Common property resources

Resources owned and managed jointly by a community, such as India's sacred groves.

Extra questions & answers

Try one from this chapter

The 1992 Earth Summit was held at:

Flashcards & interactive practice