Environment and Natural Resources — Global Commons, Climate and Resource Politics

Environmental problems became part of world politics when it was clear that no country could solve them alone: polluted air and warming seas do not stop at borders. Yet who should do how much is fiercely disputed, above all between the developed North and the developing South. This chapter follows how the environment entered global politics, the idea of the global commons, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, India’s stand, and the politics of resources — oil, water — and of indigenous peoples. Most questions are a conference and its year, a principle and its meaning, or a country’s position, so the timeline and the North–South table carry the chapter.

How the Environment Entered Global Politics

Through the 1960s concern grew about the loss of cultivable land, the depletion of water and fisheries, the destruction of forests and the decline of biodiversity. In 1972 the Club of Rome, a global think tank, published "Limits to Growth", warning that the world’s resources would be depleted at the rate population was growing. The same year the UN held a conference on the human environment in Stockholm, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was set up. In 1987 the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, warned that traditional patterns of growth were not sustainable and argued for sustainable development — development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

The turning point was the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, known as the Earth Summit. It produced conventions on climate change and biodiversity, principles on forestry, and a list of development practices called Agenda 21. It also made the North–South divide plain: the countries of the North were mainly concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, while those of the South wanted the link between economic development and environmental management addressed, since their priority was development.

Environment in world politics — the dates to know
  1. 1959
    Antarctic Treaty
  2. 1972
    Club of Rome’s "Limits to Growth"; UNEP set up
  3. 1987
    Brundtland Report, Our Common Future; Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer
  4. 1992
    Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro; UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
  5. 1997
    Kyoto Protocol agreed in Japan
  6. 2002
    India ratifies the Kyoto Protocol (August)
  7. 2015
    Paris Agreement on climate change

Global Commons and Differentiated Responsibilities

Commons are resources owned by no one but shared by a community — a village pond or grazing ground. Global commons are areas outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state and so need international governance: the Earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space. Cooperation on them has produced landmark agreements — the Antarctic Treaty (1959), the Montreal Protocol (1987) on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the Antarctic Environmental Protocol (1991) — but it is hard, because scientific knowledge is uncertain and the costs of action fall unequally.

The North–South argument over responsibility
Developed countries (North)Developing countries (South)
Everyone should share equally in protecting the environmentMost environmental degradation was caused by the industrial development of the developed countries
Focus on ozone depletion and global warmingDeveloped countries should take more responsibility now; developing countries need room to develop

The Rio Declaration accepted the South’s point in the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: all states share responsibility for the environment, but the developed countries, because of the pressure their societies have placed on it and the technology and money they command, bear a greater share. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) said the same in its own words. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) set targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions; India and China were exempted from those requirements as developing countries.

⚠️ Kyoto bound the industrialised countries, not India
India ratified the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002, but as a developing country it had no binding emission-cut target under it. Options that say "India was required to cut emissions under Kyoto" mix up signing a treaty with being bound by its targets.

India’s Stand, Resource Politics and Indigenous Peoples

India’s position, stated at successive negotiations, is that the major responsibility for curbing emissions lies with the developed countries, which have emitted most over a long period, and that India’s per capita emissions are low. At the same time India has acted at home — the book mentions a National Auto-fuel Policy for cleaner fuels, the Energy Conservation Act (2001), the Electricity Act (2003) encouraging renewable energy, and the import of natural gas and promotion of clean coal technologies — and it later joined the Paris Agreement (2015), under which every country sets its own contribution.

Resource geopolitics is the struggle over who gets what natural resources, when and how. Western powers sought secure supplies of timber, then of minerals and, above all, oil; the region around the Persian Gulf holds a large share of the world’s known oil reserves, which has made it central to world politics. Water is another source of conflict: states sharing rivers dispute their use, and the book notes that "water wars" — violent conflict over freshwater — are a concern for the future. Indigenous peoples — descendants of people who lived in a country before others arrived and subdued them — have pressed for their rights to land and resources and their way of life; the World Council of Indigenous Peoples was formed in 1975, and in India the book connects the issue to people displaced by large development projects such as dams and mines.

Key takeaways

  • Club of Rome’s "Limits to Growth" and UNEP in 1972; the Brundtland Report (1987) defined sustainable development.
  • The Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992: conventions on climate change and biodiversity, forestry principles, Agenda 21.
  • Global commons: the atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space; Antarctic Treaty 1959, Montreal Protocol 1987.
  • Common but differentiated responsibilities: all share responsibility, the developed countries a greater share.
  • Kyoto Protocol 1997 set targets for industrialised countries; India and China were exempt; India ratified in August 2002.
  • India’s position: historical responsibility lies with the developed countries and India’s per capita emissions are low; domestic steps include the Energy Conservation Act 2001 and Electricity Act 2003.
  • Resource geopolitics centres on oil and water; indigenous peoples press for land, resources and identity (World Council of Indigenous Peoples, 1975).

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

  1. The Earth Summit of 1992, which produced Agenda 21, was held in:

    1. Stockholm
    2. Kyoto
    3. Paris
    4. Rio de Janeiro
    Show answer

    Answer: D — Rio de Janeiro

    The UN Conference on Environment and Development — the Earth Summit — met in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Stockholm hosted the earlier 1972 conference on the human environment, and Kyoto and Paris are the cities of the later climate agreements of 1997 and 2015.

  2. Which of the following is NOT usually counted among the global commons?

    1. Antarctica
    2. Outer space
    3. A country’s territorial forests
    4. The Earth’s atmosphere
    Show answer

    Answer: C — A country’s territorial forests

    Global commons lie outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state. A country’s own forests, however important to the world’s climate, are within its territory and under its law, so they are not global commons. Antarctica, outer space, the atmosphere and the ocean floor are the standard four.

  3. The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" means that:

    1. Only developing countries must protect the environment
    2. All states share responsibility, but developed countries bear a greater share
    3. Every country must cut emissions by the same percentage
    4. Responsibility lies only with the UN and its agencies
    Show answer

    Answer: B — All states share responsibility, but developed countries bear a greater share

    The principle, accepted in the Rio Declaration, says responsibility is common to all but differentiated by history and capacity, so the developed countries carry more. Equal percentage cuts for everyone is exactly the "equal sharing" view of the North that the principle rejects.

  4. Arrange the following in chronological order:
    A. Kyoto Protocol
    B. Publication of "Limits to Growth" by the Club of Rome
    C. Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro
    D. Brundtland Report, Our Common Future

    1. B, C, D, A
    2. D, B, C, A
    3. B, D, A, C
    4. B, D, C, A
    Show answer

    Answer: D — B, D, C, A

    "Limits to Growth" is 1972, the Brundtland Report 1987, the Earth Summit 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol 1997. Placing Rio before Brundtland is the usual slip — the idea of sustainable development came first, and Rio built on it.

  5. Consider the following statements:
    1. India ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002.
    2. Under the Kyoto Protocol, India was bound by a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. Only 1
    2. Only 2
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Only 1

    India ratified the protocol in August 2002, so statement 1 is right. Statement 2 is wrong: Kyoto set binding targets only for industrialised countries, and India and China were exempt as developing countries. Choosing "both" confuses joining a treaty with being bound by its targets.

  6. The Brundtland Report of 1987 is best known for popularising the idea of:

    1. Sustainable development
    2. Zero economic growth for all countries
    3. The global commons
    4. Resource geopolitics
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Sustainable development

    Our Common Future argued for sustainable development — meeting present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs. The warning that growth would exhaust resources came earlier, from the Club of Rome in 1972, and neither report called for zero growth for every country.

  7. Assertion (A): Developing countries argued at Rio that the developed countries should bear a greater share of the burden of environmental protection.
    Reason (R): Much of the existing environmental degradation was caused by the industrial development of the developed countries.

    1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
    2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
    3. A is true, but R is false
    4. A is false, but R is true
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

    The South’s case at Rio rested precisely on historical responsibility: the developed countries’ industrialisation had caused most of the damage, so they should do more now. R is the reason behind A, which is why the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities followed.

  8. Which agreement of 1987 dealt with substances that deplete the ozone layer?

    1. The Kyoto Protocol
    2. The Antarctic Treaty
    3. The Montreal Protocol
    4. Agenda 21
    Show answer

    Answer: C — The Montreal Protocol

    The Montreal Protocol of 1987 controls the substances that deplete the ozone layer and is often cited as a successful case of cooperation on the global commons. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) concerns greenhouse gases, a different problem that is easily confused with ozone depletion.