Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fiscal Incentives For Green Growth: A Mixed-Methods Study Of The State Of Agroforestry And Tree Cover In India, Spriha Pandey

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

Agroforestry is a crucial strategy for diversifying farmer livelihoods and achieving India's climate goals, but its adoption has been hindered by institutional and fiscal obstacles. This mixed-methods study investigates the impact of national government schemes on tree cover increase and expert perceptions of incentives and barriers to agroforestry adoption. Our analysis of national schemes from 2013-2017 reveals that effective fiscal mechanisms and policy cohesion are critical drivers of agroforestry growth. Specifically, we find that increased funding for the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is associated with significant increases in tree cover area while funding for the Horticultural Scheme (NHM) is …

Participatory Wetland Governance In Ramsar – Assessing Level Of Participation In India, Seema Ravandale

Masters Theses

Due to the alarming rate of global wetland depletion, the Ramsar Convention, an international wetland conservation and management treaty, was signed in 1971. As of today, 172 countries are signatories. The intricate connection of local communities, their indigenous knowledge and hence their participation in the wetland governance has been recently recognized by Ramsar to protect the community's right over wetlands and to establish the joint stewardship of government and communities on these vital resources. Ramsar Convention provides a broader framework for participatory wetland governance; however, there needs to be more clarity on how various countries understand, perceive, and adopt community …

Grains Of Gold - Excavating The Perils Of Sand Mining, Oleena Chaudhuri

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

The human population and the global economy have been growing rapidly, increasing resource consumption. This paper evaluates the extent to which sand mining has an impact on the environment. Through a case study and regulatory analysis of India, this paper has attempted to underscore the consequences of excessive sand excavation while highlighting the case of the Indian “sand mafia”. This secondary research evaluation finds that mining of sand resources is a common practice that leads to the destruction of the environment which adversely affects commercial and non-commercial living resources. While studies do point out that economic activities requiring sand as …

Animal Sentience In Indian Culture: Colonial And Post-Colonial Changes, Nanditha Krishna

Animal Sentience

The Indian tradition has respected animal sentience and non-injury toward all life. It is repeated consistently in Sanskrit literature and the later literature of the Jains and the Buddhists. Change came with the advent of Islamic rule followed by the British, who built slaughterhouses. The hunting of wildlife increased and several wild predator species were wiped out. The result was the series of legislations for animals which were initially proposed by the SPCAs and later by NGOs. In 1976, the Constitution of India was amended to make the protection of wildlife and compassion for living creatures a fundamental duty. However, …

The Heirloom As Evidence: Investigating The Colonial Trace Preserved Within My Family’S Sandalwood Box, Olivia Meehan

Pitzer Senior Theses

This paper accompanies my senior art exhibition Picturing the Colonial Trace. Pulling from a wide range of interdisciplinary scholars, I theorize the practice of critical white auto-ethnography through visual interrogations of family heirlooms. The heirloom as evidence holds within its form a colonial trace. I investigate this trace through my creative practice, revealing the environmental, economic, and interpersonal histories of the British colonization of the Indian subcontinent. My art disrupts my family’s narrative of a benevolent British Empire and redirects attention to the silences of my family archive. This thesis proposes a potential model for white scholars of Environmental …

Towers Of Trash: Dissecting India’S Solid Waste Management Crisis, Maya L. Reddy

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the complex issue of poor solid waste management in the nation of India. The infamous Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi serves as a focal point of this paper as it provides drastic examples of the consequences of solid waste management systems that do not operate effectively. Drawing on information from various scholarly sources, Chapter 1 discusses the issue of solid waste mismanagement in India and its surrounding quantitative and qualitative data. Chapter 2 highlights the socioeconomic, cultural, and religious aspects of consumption, growth, and waste, specifically in relation to prevailing sociological attitudes on material wealth and luxury. …

India’S Nuclear Energy Conundrum: An Assessment Of The Country’S Energy Futures, Sneha Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis will assess the practicality of implementing nuclear energy into India’s power system by considering different security risks, political factors, and COVID-19 complications. Access to energy is essential to modern survival because it contributes to the safety, success, and overall well-being of individuals; allowing for a better acquisition of food, education, and industry necessities. A big concern for India has been the inability to give energy access to millions of citizens that live in no proximity to a power grid, and this has shown to correlate with a lower quality of life. Another concern for India is the search …

Climate Change Perceptions, Data, And Adaptation In The Garhwal Himalayas Of India, Rutherford V. Platt, Monica V. Ogra, Natalie A. Kisak, Upma Manral, Ruchi Badola

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Himalayan communities that depend on rain-fed agriculture are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. In this study, we compare local perceptions of climate change from a household survey (n = 251) to climate data obtained from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS 2.1) and MODIS Terra Snow Cover data product datasets. The study is situated in and around the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located within the Garhwal Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. We found that a large majority of respondents perceive that rainfall is increasing and that snowfall is decreasing, while a smaller majority perceives an …

The Politicization Of Water: Transboundary Water-Conflict In The Indian Subcontinent, Ananya Gupta

Honors Papers

The Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain range and the Tibetan Plateau birth ten of Asia’s most prominent rivers providing irrigation, energy, and drinking water to over two billion people across several countries today. Therefore, transboundary water sharing is a constant source of conflict for several South Asian countries that rely on rivers to support their primarily agrarian economies.

In recent years, climate change has drastically increased global temperatures. As a result, the Indian subcontinent has been plagued with extreme riverine flood and drought events.

Climate change-related events like riverine floods and drought, exacerbate the politicization of conflict between nations that share natural …

A Comparative Assessment Of Climate Change Related Knowledge And Perception Of Coastal And Tribal Community, Kirti K Kalinga, Navaneeta Rath

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Climate change is a global problem with local ramifications. It supposed to impact all nations and states across borders. But the way it is perceived by different stakeholders varies. Perception towards climate change matters because it will shape the way knowledge is framed and risk is calculated. It is also important to examine the knowledge of those people who are affected the most due to climate change. The present paper tries to understand the perception of farmers on climate change. As agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, it becomes pertinent here to explore are the farmers aware …

Assessment Of Watersheds For Sustainable Agriculture In Karnataka, India, Nicholas Adam Charles

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modernization of traditional small-scale irrigation tanks in India is becoming increasingly popular. This is due to high costs of the alternative, of developing and constructing large-scale projects in rural areas. Examination of management strategies, resource allocation, and collective action has become paramount for promoting food security and livelihoods in water-stressed areas of Southeast Asia. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques are valuable to assessing the management of these irrigation systems, specifically small water storage reservoirs that capture runoff from the monsoon known as irrigation tanks. The primary goal of this study is to develop a stakeholder-informed approach to …

Searching For A Brighter Tomorrow: An Internship Working Toward The Alleviation Of Energy Poverty Through Solar Power And Search-Engine Crowdfunding, Meaghan Mcelroy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Auroville Consulting is an environmental consulting firm, founded in 2010, that works to create an environmentally-friendly and socially responsible world. One of Auroville Consulting’s projects, the Solar Village Initiative, works to address the effects of energy poverty by installing on-grid solar panels and solar generation systems in rural villages throughout rural Tamil Nadu., with the Solar Village Search Engine as a crowdfunding tool for the project. By performing dayto- day tasks pertaining to communications, journalism, social media, and promotions for the Solar Village Search Engine at Auroville Consulting; participating in in-office discussion; and living and working in Auroville, I was …

The Environmental Effects Of Economic Growth Of China And India Its Impact On Brazil, Russia, India, China, And South Africa (Brics), Shonjira Chaiwat

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone discusses the environmental effects of economic growth, focusing on China and India and its relations with the BRICS pact. China and India have an impacted increasing population within their borders. With the increase of population and struggles for economic growth, these countries are creating a detrimental environment. In this capstone, I review the theory of ecological civilization as well as the Kuznet Curve Hypothesis. Although within the past few decades the BRICS have used unsustainable practices, they have signed the Paris Climate Agreement in order to combat climate change, which means they will use more sustainable methods for …

Is There A Path For Green Growth? Evidence From India, Thuc Anh Thi Trinh

Gettysburg Economic Review

This paper uses historical temperature fluctuations in India to identify its effects on economic growth rates. Using a climate-adjusted form of the Solow growth model, I find that one degree Celsius increase in temperature decreases GDP per capita growth by 0.71%. This finding informs debates over the role of climate on economic development and suggests the possibility of a green path for economic growth, a policy agenda that is both sustainable and pro-growth.

Ethnographic Investigations Of Commercial Aquaculture As A Rural Development Technique In Tamil Nadu, India, Brittany L. Kiessling

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1960s, international aid organizations and governments have invested millions of dollars in promoting aquaculture as a way to stimulate local economies and improve food security. India is one such country, incorporating aquaculture research and extension programs as part of their development plans as early as 1971. India’s aquaculture promotion efforts gained momentum in 2004, following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The government sees aquaculture as a post-disaster development tool and a method to increase community resilience in rural areas of India.

Aquaculture currently constitutes nearly half of global seafood production today. Due to this importance, and the …

The Ethical Issues Of Dumping Electronic Waste In India, Krista E. Dawson

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

Electronic waste, also referred to as “e-waste,” is all waste made from electronic products such as computers, mobile phones, digital music players, refrigerators, washing machines, and TV’s (Pinto, 2008). There is e-waste produced in the manufacturing process as well as the final disposal of the product. Although developed countries consume most electronics, it is increasingly common for countries that are still developing to possess electronic goods (Larrdis, 2011). Use of technology and connection to worldwide networking is a huge step for the progress of these countries, but having gained a “part” of the developed world without the associated infrastructure to …

Transnational Policy Networks In Global Water Governance In India, Vandana Asthana Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This paper argues that in the processes of global water governance, transnational policy networks play a significant role in defining spaces of engagement that privilege certain voices and versions. These networks produce narratives that not only convey storylines of sustainable water practices but also often have embedded within them the advocacy of a particular policy instrument that they intend to promote. What appears as knowledge is often structured towards the goal at which it is directed. Using application of private sector participation in water as an example from India, the paper explores how these power/knowledge regimes are established and supported …

The Emergence Of The Brics – Implications For Global Governance, Sotiris Petropoulos Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

The global financial crisis of 2008, with its detrimental effects on the global economy, was the starting point of a transformation of the global governance landscape. This fluid political and economic global environment seems to be leading to the enhancement of the position of regional powers, especially within the developing world. Hence, the importance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and, to some extent, South Africa, within the global governance structure has increased. This rise of importance is derived from the enhancement of the economic capabilities of these powers and the fact that economic interdependence has rendered the world more sensitive …

Iberian Globalization And The Rise Of Catholic Theology Of Religions In The Xvi Century, Enrico Beltramini Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This article provides a synthetic view of the historical and theological components that explain how Catholicism came to understand the great religious systems in Asia as doctrinally inferior during the sixteenth century in response to the discovery/invasion of the “New Worlds” by Iberian Europeans.2 A strong emphasis on the universal salvific will of God led Catholic theologians to elaborate a doctrine that ultimately altered Catholicism’s understanding of non-Christian religions. 3 The article suggests that the predominant Catholic view of non-Christian religions has been shaped by a specific theological vision that was raised in sixteenth century Southern Europe. In order to …

Examining The Relationship Between Particulate Matter, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Oxides, Sulfur Dioxide And Hypertension In Urban Areas In India: A Review, Hiren Kolli

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

While blood pressure may be decreasing around the world, it has been on the rise in India (Kounteya, 2012). According to the World Health Organization, the average blood pressure went down by 2.7mm Hg among women globally, while increasing by 2.4mm Hg in India. In men, blood pressure decreased by 2.3mm Hg globally in the past three decades but increased by 2.2mm Hg in India (Kounteya, 2012). Almost three-quarters of people with hypertension live in developing countries with limited health resources where there is very low awareness of hypertension, and India is one of these countries. Hypertension is the leading …

An Hsi Fact Sheet: The Impact Of Animal Agriculture On The Environment And Climate Change In India: A Focus On Methane, Humane Society International

HSI FACT SHEETS

Animal agriculture inefficiently consumes natural resources, contributes to deforestation, and produces immense quantities of animal waste, threatening water and air quality and contributing to climate change. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimated in 2006 that animal agriculture was responsible for 18% of global, anthropogenic, or human-induced, greenhouse gas emissions and was ―by far the single largest anthropogenic user of land. Climate change poses significant challenges to India‘s agricultural sector, which is already facing increased competition for land and water.

Human–Wildlife Conflict And Gender In Protected Area Borderlands: A Case Study Of Costs, Perceptions, And Vulnerabilities From Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal), India, Monica V. Ogra

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is a growing problem for communities located at the borders of protected areas. Such conflicts commonly take place as crop-raiding events and as attack by wild animals, among other forms. This paper uses a feminist political ecology approach to examine these two problems in an agricultural village located at the border of Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal), India. Specifically, it investigates the following three questions: What are the “visible” and “hidden” costs of such conflict with wildlife? To what extent are these costs differentially borne by men and women? How do villagers perceive any such …