Introduction

Earth had its first billion people by 1804. It took us all of human history until 1804 to reach this number. The next billion only took 123 years. And the next, only 33 years. And so on. Currently, we're adding a billion new people to the planet every 12-13 years!

That tells us a lot about how stressed the planet is today. Until recently, the planet had enough food to sustain the human population as our numbers used to grow very slowly. The food available on the planet came from the energy that Earth received from the sun every year. This energy allowed plants to grow, which then became food for animals. And both plants and animals were consumed by humans.

This process started with the first humans on the planet and continued until the start of the Industrial Revolution.

What happened next was a huge change for humans. We discovered fossil fuels - previously hidden sources of energy - that allowed us to grow food more quickly and in much larger quantities. We were able to bypass the earlier, slower process of relying only on the sun's energy to feed ourselves. That's when we started to see our numbers start to grow more rapidly.

This rapid growth in population meant that, for a while, we were able to sustain our rapid population growth with the use of fossil fuels. However, we're now at an important transition point. With fossil fuel supplies expected to last less than a 100 years or so, we need to rethink our reliance on fossil fuels as the primary source of our energy consumption.

Definition

The United Nations' Committee on World Food Security defines food security to mean that 'all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.'

With our numbers expected to hit 10 billion by 2050, humanity is at great risk of losing out on food and water security. Already, almost 828 million people go hungry every year as per the The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report compiled in 2022 by the United Nations. According to this report, there has been an increase of about 46 million people (going hungry) since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. These are extremely worrying numbers.

Another worrying aspect is that, while the global population will hit nearly 10 billion people by 2050, humanity's use of fresh potable water for its consumption (used for agriculture, industry, and other household purposes) has increased by nearly six times. To feed this rapidly growing population, our agricultural output will have to double but, at the same time, the amount of potable water and arable land available to us remains roughly the same.

This only goes to show that, even at our current population levels, Earth's carrying capacity isn't enough to provide for all of us. And our numbers are going up by a billion or so people approximately each decade.

Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of species that a given area can sustain indefinitely. According to some sources, Earth reached its carrying capacity in 1970, which was over 50 years ago. Our population has gone up significantly since then.

However, estimating the carrying capacity for humans is not easy. Various factors play into this making the process quite uncertain. There's a growing movement of people who are opting to cycle, walk, or carpool to work. However, some of these people choosing these environmentally healthier options, may be working in energy intensive industries, indirectly minimising the positive impacts of not using a car. Some who practise vegetarianism may travel across the country or the world regularly, increasing their overall footprint. Since human choices aren't uniform, estimating an accurate number can be challenging.

Examples

There are other factors too, like the current (as of 2023) war between Russia and Ukraine, that could affect the amount of resources available. For example, their combined wheat production makes up nearly 25% of global wheat production. And the war has brought this down significantly.

However, the fact remains that the planet's resources are not infinite. It is then a question of how much longer Earth can support our growing populations. Already, we consume more than we should. This process is called Overshoot.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date each year when humanity's resource consumption overshoots the resources that nature can regenerate that year. In 1970, it was on December 30th. In the year 2000, it moved back to early October. And in 2023, Earth Overshoot Day was due on July 27th.

The numbers don't lie - we have been consuming more and more resources each year and are using up each year's supply in just a few months.

What does this mean? It means that, to sustain our current population, we would need the resources that 1.75 Earths can provide. Just 1 Earth isn't enough. And by 2050, if we continue with the same consumption levels, we will need 3 Earths!

To be fair, new policies and regulations around the use of fossil fuels and the invention of more fuel-efficient buildings and vehicles could help reduce some of our consumption over the next few decades. Other changes we're making as a civilization such as relying on nuclear power, redesigning cities to make them more pedestrian-friendly, and the consistent increase in the use of solar and wind power will mean that our existing reserves of fossil fuels are likely to last a little longer than the most extreme current projections.

This doesn't mean we can continue with business as usual. It took between 400-500 million years for Earth to produce these fossil fuels. But it took us only 200 years to use up a large portion of these fossil fuels. And with our adding a billion new people to the planet every 12-13 years, the rate at which we use up these fuels will only accelerate.

Given that our existing fossil fuel reserves are declining rapidly and our population is growing far too quickly for Earth's carrying capacity to catch up, food and water insecurity are going to be extremely serious issues for humanity in the near future.

Some governments are already thinking ahead on this front but it's debatable whether their solutions will benefit the entire global population or just their citizens. For example, researchers at a Swedish University have claimed that almost 126 of the 195 countries recognized by the UN have bought land in other countries (according to their 2012 report) to meet their domestic demand for food. However, just three larger nations have bought the most land in other countries - China, the U.K. and the U.S. Critics claim this is a different kind of colonialism which takes advantage of other nations for their own purposes.

Since these kinds of solutions aren't systemic in nature, it's very likely they won't help solve the issue of food and water insecurity. Instead, countries will need to solve the issue at the root - by working on their SDG commitments, minimising their contribution towards climate change, reducing water and soil pollution, reducing soil erosion and loss of topsoil, and building better infrastructure to reduce food and water wastage.

Key Ideas to Focus On

Keeping the global population at a healthy level is also key to solving this issue. A greater number of people to be fed would inevitably require more food to be grown and more water to be consumed.

As citizens, we can play an important role in reducing our own wastage, to begin with. We can also dialogue with our political representatives to ensure our tax money is utilised in implementing systemic solutions that work for all, and not those that benefit only some stakeholders.

Food and Water is a disproportionately important issue because it affects so many other areas of human life and living. Without adequate food and water, the quality of our daily lives will be hugely affected thereby impacting our health, our work, our relationships with other stressed communities, etc. It could also lead to local and global conflicts over access to scarce resources.

In terms of priority, urgency, and overall impact, working on this issue could lead to a whole host of positive impacts that would align with some of our SDG commitments as well. As we can see, multiple approaches are available to us that could help reduce global food and water insecurity. What's important is to make sure that any approach we adopt as a country, comes from a systems perspective and not an individual one.

Definition of the topic in simple terms from a reputed site like NASA

The term "climate refugee" was first coined to describe the increasing large-scale migration and cross-border mass movements of people that were partly caused by such weather-related disasters1. In April, 2021, data 2 was released to show that the number of people displaced by climate-change related and natural disasters had risen to 21.5 million. They also pointed out that "in addition to sudden disasters, climate change is a complex cause of food and water shortages, as well as difficulties in accessing natural resources." According to this data, approximately 90% of these refugees are the most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to the effects of climate change. According to their data, 16.9 million Afghans -- nearly half of the country's population - lacked enough food in the first quarter of 2021, including at least 5.5 million facing emergency levels of food deprivation.3

Couple of examples from the subcontinent preferably and from other countries if not available locally

Coastal communities are under threat, as rising sea levels would threaten their homes. Bangladesh and the Sundarbans are examples of a region that would be under threat. Within India itself, more than 36 lakh people have been forced to move because of cyclones, floods and storms within the country. For example, in West Bengal and Odisha, farmers have been forced to move inland because their land has turned salty and infertile. Fisherfolk have been forced to move to other areas of the country because of regular cyclones and storms that make it unsafe for their jobs. Cyclone Amphan, in 2020, killed 128 people and destroyed the homes of millions of people across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - several of whom sought refuge in India as "climate refugees".5 Climate change has also caused erratic weather patterns -- more cyclones, more storms, etc, as well as an increasing frequency of natural disasters in the Bay of Bengal. There are more floods and more hurricanes around the world globally.

In Bangladesh, for instance, more than 870,000 Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Myanmar are now exposed to increasingly frequent and intense cyclones and flooding.5

There has been extensive research done to suggest that global pandemics like Covid are transmitted faster due to reduced environmental resilience. Faster deforestation, warmer climates and reduced biodiversity have all led to reduced ecological resilience, and that, in turn, creates conditions for more dangerous diseases (like Covid-19) to spread faster. These diseases can cause lots of deaths which also affect poorer populations much more than wealthier populations. In the face of Covid-19 and the nationwide lockdown in India, thousands of migrant workers in India were forced to flee the cities where they were working, and move back to their hometowns and villages - out of fear of contracting the virus, out of concern for their families and also due to the fact that they had no employment opportunities during the lockdown. This was an example of how reduced environmental resilience and man-made climate change indirectly led to a mass migration of marginalised people.6

What 2-2 key ideas should the facilitator focus on while communicating the topic with their local communities?

People who are affected in this way by climate change are often the most vulnerable, and the least capable to adapt to radical changes and cope with the loss of their homes and their livelihoods. For people with more money, they can use this to ease the stress of being displaced and cope with the burden of these situations. For the population who do not have these means and struggle to feed themselves, they are most significantly affected, as their wellbeing and their survival is tied to their livelihoods in these spaces. For instance, Cyclone Amphan, in 2020, displaced millions of fishers who relied on fishing in the Bay of Bengal as their primary source of occupation. These people were left without any options other than moving

How does it connect systemically with the other topics on which we are working?

Climate refugees are people who have been put in very difficult situations due to damage that humans have caused to the environment and the ecosystems. The reduced ecological resilience creates conditions for peoples' lives to be harmed more easily by natural disasters and environmental changes like sea level rises, that are caused by man-made climate change. Reduced ecosystem services in the face of global warming and widespread burning of fossil fuels leads to devastating effects on the environment, which in turn affect human populations and drastically changes how they can use the environment and tap into the various services provided to us by the natural world around us. These changes are sometimes in the form of natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, storms, hurricanes and cyclones and have ruined millions of peoples' lives. While not all of these natural disasters are caused by climate change, there has been an increase in the frequency of these events, and this increase has been proved to be caused by climate change.

Examples of success stories from around the world of people/organisations that have brought about some positive changes in this space

While there are few signs that climate change will reduce and that the situation for climate refugees will improve in the next few years, one success is that these people are being given more recognition and there is more awareness around the plight of climate refugees around the world. Until recently, people displaced by climate-change induced changes were not granted any of the safety nets that would otherwise be granted to international refugees. For instance, a family fleeing to India from Myanmar due to war would be granted certain protections in India. However, a person relocating to India from Bangladesh due to a cyclone would not be granted the same protections, as they do not legally qualify as a refugee.

However, there has been more and more awareness around the threat to human life by man-made climate change, and this has lead to more and more pressure in international politics for these people to be granted the same safety nets that would be granted to refugees of war or religious persecution. In 2016, for instance, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) made a landmark ruling7 stating that just like in a war or persecution, forcibly returning a person to a place where there is threat to life due to climate change was considered a violation of human rights. Various countries around the world, like France, have begun drafting laws for climate refugees, understanding the need for these laws as people might look to move to European countries to escape the impacts of climate change.8

That being said, there is a lot more work to be done, as several other countries, like India and other South Asian countries have not recognised, or have refused to act on the increasing danger to human life at the hands of climate change. These are the countries where these effects will be most strongly felt, and it is important that laws to protect human life in this regard are drafted and implemented.

An activity that the readers can try individually or as a group that will help them gather firsthand data and understand the concept/ topic well in their own context

Imagine that you are a refugee who has come to India from Nepal because your village was affected by flooding, and your house got washed away. You travel to India, towards the border, because someone in your village has a cousin who works in Delhi, and he got an Indian passport very easily after the authorities in India understood that he would find a better job and could live a better life in India. However, once you get to the Nepal-India border, you are stopped by the Indian armed forces. How do you explain to them what you are entering the country for?

Definition of the topic in simple terms from a reputed site like NASA

Environmental health is a topic that has become more and more important in recent years. The health of our environments is central to the health of life on earth. Clean air, stable climate, adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, safe use of chemicals and protection from radiation are all important to maintaining the health of the environment.1

Imagine that you and a friend are living in two different houses. There are some big differences in the condition of the two houses. While your friend's house is very comfortable and the walls are solid, your house is in a bad condition, with cracks in the wall, and several leaks in the roof. Now, because of the state of your house, you are finding it difficult to focus during the day, and are not getting enough sleep to function effectively. Your friend, on the other hand, is sleeping very comfortably because his house is in a good condition. The houses, in this example, can be compared to the environment and the world around us. If we are living along the coast and the sea is not clean, that means that the fish are less healthy, which makes it unhealthy for us to eat those fish as well.

From a climate change perspective, the rapidly changing climate conditions are posing a serious threat to human health.2 More pollutants and greenhouse gases in the air are causing a drop in the air quality, which can lead to a variety of health issues amongst humans, including lung cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and obesity, among several other health problems.3

Couple of examples from the subcontinent preferably and from other countries if not available locally

One prominent and very relevant example of how environmental health can impact the health of life in those regions is the case of New Delhi, India. Studies conducted by the World Bank Development Research Group found that air pollution levels in New Delhi were much higher than the acceptable and safe standards. People living in Delhi who were exposed to this pollution were much more vulnerable to respiratory conditions like dry cough,wheeze, breathlessness, chest discomfort, and in more serious cases, asthma. The unprecedented levels of pollution in Delhi are caused by a variety of factors, including vehicular and industrial pollution, stubble burning by farmers in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana to clear their fields of crop residue, as well as the bursting of firecrackers in Delhi around the months of October and November for the Diwali festivities. The combination of all of these factors has led to unprecedented levels of air pollution, which are 20 times above the safe limit in certain periods of the year4.

Another example in this case is the increase in the pollution of the seas and oceans by plastic. Plastic is a crucial building block of all our lives. Look around you and you will be able to spot at least a few things that are made from plastic. What you might not be able to see, however, are tiny plastic particles called microplastics, that could be, and probably are, in our bodies at this very moment. Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that are officially defined as plastics less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter -- smaller in diameter than the standard pearl used in jewelry5. Around 2014, scientists started finding microplastics in the bodies of fish that were being caught by fishers, which caused people to worry about the safety of fish as seafood. In the years since then, however, there have only been more and more incidents of fish and other marine wildlife being seen with tiny pieces of plastic in their stomach. In 2022, scientists found these microplastics in the stomachs and bodies of living humans. The effects of these plastics in our bodies, are still difficult to understand. Plastics are made from a complex combination of chemicals, including additives that give them strength and flexibility. Both plastics and chemical additives can be toxic, which means that they could potentially have a serious impact on our bodies. In wildlife, for instance, plastics have been known to interfere with animals' reproductive systems and stress the liver. Studies have shown that these microplastics can make their way into the blood and move around the body through the flow of blood, of both animals as well as humans. The chemicals used in the production of these plastics have been known to cause lung irritation, dizziness, headaches, asthma, and cancer in humans, and it is safe to assume that the plastics themselves could cause the same symptoms and diseases.6

What 1-2 key ideas should the facilitator focus on while communicating the topic with their local communities?

It is important for them to understand the correlations between the health of the environment and the health of life on earth. The more we harm the environment by burning fossil fuels and harming the world around us, the more difficult we are making it for future life on earth to survive in a healthy and supportive world. This topic is one of the most crucial in understanding the linkages between us and the world that we live in, as the health of one affects the health of the other as the two are very interlinked.

How does it connect systemically with the other topics on which we are working?

By causing damage to the world around us at such a massive scale, we are reducing the resilience of the environment and affecting the natural world's capacity to survive the various human impacts. This reduced resilience affects the capacity of the environment to protect both itself and life on Earth. The continuous burning of fossil fuels and the excessive release of greenhouse gases is damaging the quality of the air that we breathe. Industrial pollution and the release of garbage and wastewater into natural water bodies like ponds, lakes, rivers, seas and oceans has reduced the quality of the water around us. According to studies, around 4 crore litres of wastewater enter India's water bodies on a daily basis8, which is reducing the quality of the water that we eventually rely on for our day-to-day uses. This is also reducing the value and quality of the ecosystem services that the natural world is providing to us, making it more difficult for humans and more generally, all life to live on this planet. One of the most important services that the environment provides for humans is to provide us with food. Through climate change and environmental degradation, we have created conditions in which the world can no longer provide us with the most basic of necessities - leading to acute food and water insecurity in several parts of the world - which are often the poorest and most marginalised regions in the world.

Examples of success stories from around the world of people/organisations that have brought about some positive changes in this space

While there are several effects that the degradation of the environment can have on our health, there are still positives that can be taken away from this. The first is that there is much more recognition of the fact that the environment and our health are intrinsically linked. Activists, journalists and concerned citizens have been able to use this in campaigns against large developmental projects like dam and highway constructions, as they have been able to point out that while these projects could be economically successful, they are actually harmful to human society. For instance, in Arunachal Pradesh, the Etalin Hydropower Project has come under massive scrutiny for not only the threat that it poses to the local environment, but also for the damage that it could cause to all the communities that live in the region.9 The project is a dam that would spread over two rivers in Arunachal Pradesh - the Dri and the Tangon rivers.10 There have been widespread protests amongst the local communities, who reject the idea of constructing a dam in that region, as it would destroy their environment in its current form, while also harming their lives quite directly. The two rivers eventually feed into the Brahmaputra, which provides water to several other states in the Northeast of India, as well as other countries in the region. In Bangladesh, for instance, there has been concern, as the damming of the river upstream will reduce the flow of water into their borders, which would affect the health of those communities quite directly.11 Given the effects that this project and others like this can have on the health and the survival of human communities, governments have been forced to put these plans on hold, and take these factors into account. These fights, however, are ongoing and will continue into the future until governments and other figures and bodies of authority understand the importance of preserving and protecting the world around us and how that could feed back into protecting human societies itself.

An activity that the readers can try individually or as a group that will help them gather firsthand data and understand the concept/ topic well in their own context

Think about something in your life that is dependent on the natural world. For instance, think about the food that you ate for breakfast, or the water that you drink. Think about how that has contributed to not only your physical, but also your mental wellbeing. Now, imagine that the water you drank tasted really bad, or that the food that you ate had a lot of plastic in it. Would you still feel as satisfied, or as healthy after having consumed that? At the most basic level, our health is dependent on what is provided to us by the environment

Resources

• Environmental health (who.int)
• Climate change and health (who.int)
• Air Pollution and Your Health (nih.gov)
• Delhi air pollution: The real cause and solutions we need - India Today
• Microplastics (nationalgeographic.org)
• Microplastics are in our bodies. How much do they harm us? (nationalgeographic.com)
• How We Can Keep Plastics Out of Our Ocean | National Geographic - YouTube
• Water pollution is killing millions of Indians. Here's how technology and reliable data can change that | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
• Explainer | The Controversy Surrounding Dibang Dam, India's Largest Hydropower Project (thewire.in)
• Why the Etalin Hydroelectric Power Project Is Flawed - The Wire Science
• Disquiet Over India's Dam Across the Dibang - The Diplomat

Definition of the topic in simple terms from a reputed site like NASA

Ecosystem services are defined as1 the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being, and have an impact on our survival and quality of life. () For instance, several plants and animals along the food chain are central to the food cycle and the production of food for humans. Microorganisms like bacteria and algae help with enriching the soil, worms play a role in maintaining soil fertility, dead organic matter also contributes to plant and animal growth. These are all examples of services that are provided to us by the world around us, but are not measured in direct economic terms. There was a need to highlight how nature contributes to our lives, and ecosystem services attempt to provide a solution to that gap.

At its core, ecosystem services are a way to quantify the value of nature to draw attention to environmental damage and the impacts of climate change. As man-made climate change increases and causes biodiversity loss and widespread environmental degradation, these ecosystem services will become less and less valuable, as the capability of the environments to support life on Earth reduce.

The four types of ecosystem services and their functions are as follows:

• Provisioning (sourcing): The provision of resources from the environment, such as food, water and other resources like wood, oil, medicines, etc.
• Regulating (managing): Less tangible, benefits from the environment - climate regulation, flood control, pollination, water purification, the greenhouse effect etc.
• Cultural: These are non-material benefits that humans can gain from ecosystems - things like spiritual engagement, recreation, religion, intellectual development and aesthetics. Some of these are much harder to quantify and add a value to, but others like tourism are ebay to add a value to.
• Supporting services (background functions): These include functions of the ecosystem that supports life and survival - the food chain, the water cycle, generally giving us space to live in and a world to breathe and function in. 3

Couple of examples from the subcontinent preferably and from other countries if not available locally

Examples of ecosystem services of each type are as follows:

• Provisioning services: Agriculture and resource gathering from the land and water - things like woodcutting, etc. are all ways that nature adds value to our immediate lives.
• Grain, wood, water, vegetables, etc. are all things that are provided to us by the world around us, and that is a fundamental service of nature to our lives.
• Regulating services: Natural functions like climate regulation, as studied in the greenhouse gases module are essential to the survival of life on Earth. Imagine if you're out in the cold and you need a blanket to keep yourself warm. The atmosphere and the climate around us keeps the planet warm enough for people to inhabit and thrive. That is a regulating service that is provided to us by the world around us.
• Cultural services: Nature-based tourism (Goa, Himalayas, etc.) are all examples of cultural ecosystem services. Agriculture is also a major source of cultural ecosystem services, as the land is of extreme cultural importance to communities.
• Imagine seeing a beautiful photo of a sunset, like the one below. You can appreciate it, and maybe wish that you were there to see that. Maybe you have been lucky enough to see something as wonderful as this. The fact that you enjoyed seeing this photo means that it has added value to your life. That value is defined as cultural ecosystem services - and while it is difficult to measure, it is extremely important to understand that it has added value to our life.
  
• Supporting services: Imagine that you wake up one morning, and have no water to drink and no air to breathe. These are all things that we take for granted, that are provided to us by the world around us. We don't question them, but they are the basic building blocks of life as we know it. If there were no natural environment to support life, we would not exist, as we would have no food or water to support life as we know it.

What 1-2 key ideas should the facilitator focus on while communicating the topic with their local communities?

• The point of ecosystem services and their design is to highlight that the degradation of our environments is not simply an environmental issue - but also one of socio-cultural and economic importance.
• Ecosystem services are important to us in every part of our lives. While they are sometimes used to measure the economic importance of the environment, it is also important to remember that these services are all linked to the health of the world around us, in various ways.
• Human activities like fossil fuel consumption and widespread development are responsible for reducing the effects of more than one ecosystem service. For instance, fossil fuel consumption would reduce the capability of our environments across all the services:
  • It would reduce the amount of fossil fuels in the environment, reducing the ability to provide provisional services
  • Damages the atmosphere and the quality of the air that surrounds us, reducing the environment's capability to regulate the climate
  • The reduction in air quality and the physical degradation of our environments reduces the environment's cultural value. Rising sea levels will reduce the value of coastal tourism over a longer period of time
• The ability for the environment to support basic functions and processes around the world will reduce, making it that much less sustainable for life to survive on the planet.

How does it connect systemically with the other topics on which we are working?

Ecosystem services are intrinsically linked to aspects of climate change. Understanding these services and their importance to our life also highlights the linkages between different seemingly unrelated parts of our lives. The increased burning of fossil fuels and the consequent global warming changes the nature of the world that we live in. If it gets hotter, it is more difficult for humans, plants and animals to survive in the world and perform their functions. If each of these fail to perform these functions, then the resilience of the ecosystem is weakened and the world becomes even less supportive for us. The increased heating of the planet also results in the rise of sea levels, which means that the lifestyles of people living along the coast are threatened, reducing the value of these supporting services of the environment. There are several ways that global warming and climate change will damage the world that we live in, and some of these are difficult for us to predict as well.

That being said, the study of ecosystem services has helped society to understand the value that the environment provides, in a language that people can understand. For instance, studies have shown that rice farms in Odisha 3 provide provisioning services in form of food and by-products such as straw, supporting services in form of soil formation, water flow and nutrient cycling, and regulating services (pest control and soil enrichment) which ranged from ?90,533 to ?1,23,441 per hectare per year. This adds significant value to our lives, and can inform decision-makers and encourage them to protect these spaces. For instance, if an MP/MLA in Odisha decided that he wanted to construct a factory on this land and dispace the rice farmers, these figures can be quoted to argue that the value of this land is more than just what the farmers earn as their income, and that the land is important in various other ways that are not immediately visible, but equally important.

Examples of success stories from around the world of people/organisations that have brought about some positive changes in this space

• India Water Foundation, based in Meghalaya, India, is working in an area that is threatened by unsustainable agricultural practices, widespread deforestation and non-scientific mining has affected the soil, biodiversity and water quality, and has heightened environmental degradation. In the face of these challenges, IWF has adopted an environmental-based approach that harnesses biodiversity and ecosystem services to increase resilience and reduce the vulnerability of human communities and natural systems to climate change. This approach has helped them:
  • Addresses crucial links between climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable resource management
  • Understand and highlight clear linkages between water and human development and impacts on people's lives and livelihood
  • Deliver environmental benefits towards holistic ecosystem services 5
• Several countries - such as Costa Rica - have established Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) plans, that promote forest conservation and reduce land degradation, and also slow down the rate of climate change and global warming. In Costa Rica, for instance, landowners receive direct payments for the environmental services that their lands produce when adopting sustainable land-use and forest-management techniques. These payments encourage people to adopt more eco-friendly and less environmentally damaging techniques, and they also spread awareness about ecosystem services, as well the potential of these systems. 6

An activity that the readers can try individually or as a group that will help them gather firsthand data and understand the concept/ topic well in their own context

Ask them for different ways they rely on nature and the world around them, and in the group, ask them which category of ecosystem services they think these services fall under.

Resources

• What are Ecosystem Services? | Earth.Org
• What are ecosystem services? - YouTube
• Provisioning services | Ecosystem Services & Biodiversity (ESB) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org)
• CASAtechnicalreport_final.pdf (nrsc.gov.in)
• Ecosystem-based approach: The case of Meghalaya| India Water Portal
• Payments for Environmental Services Program | Costa Rica | UNFCCC

Definition

We have a big challenge ahead of us: to reduce the gases that cause global warming and make the Earth's temperature rise. To do this, we need to completely change how we make, use, and move energy. Right now, the energy sector is responsible for about three-quarters of these gases. But if we can change the way we get our energy, we can help stop climate change from getting worse.

Every society needs energy to do basic things like light their homes, cook food, stay comfortable, get around, and communicate. And if we want our society to grow and develop in a way that's good for the planet, we need to make sure that everyone has access to energy that doesn't harm the environment and is affordable.

Most of the energy we use today comes from things like coal, oil, and gas. These resources are not renewable, which means they take millions of years to form and we can't easily replace them. When we burn these fossil fuels to make energy, they release harmful gases like carbon dioxide, which is bad for the environment. But if we switch to using energy from sources like the wind and the sun, we can reduce the amount of these gases and help the planet.

Alternative energy

Energy derived from nontraditional sources (e.g., solar, hydroelectric, wind).

Renewable energy (RE)

Renewable energy is energy created from sources that can be replenished in a short period of time. The seven renewable sources used most often are: biomass (such as wood and biogas), geothermal (heat from within the earth), wind, solar, hydro, ocean action, and nuclear energy.

Using renewable energy is much better for the environment than burning fossil fuels. Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is really important for dealing with the climate crisis. Renewable energy sources, like wind and solar power, can replace the "dirty" fossil fuels we use for electricity. This is good because they release less carbon and other kinds of pollution into the air.

Renewable energy has many benefits. It can help us fight climate change, create jobs, make sure everyone has access to energy, keep our energy supply secure, and protect our environment and health. Plus, it's getting cheaper in most places, so it's becoming a more affordable option.

However, not all types of energy that are called "renewable" are good for the environment. Some, like biomass and big hydroelectric dams, have downsides. They can harm wildlife, contribute to climate change, and cause other problems that we need to consider carefully.

Sources of renewable energy

Solar Energy

Solar energy is a really abundant source of energy that can be used even when it's cloudy outside. The amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth is much more than the energy we use.

Solar technology can do many things. It can give us heat, coolness, natural light, electricity, and even fuels for different things. There are two main ways we can turn sunlight into electricity. One way is by using special cells or panels called photovoltaic (PV) cells. The other way is by using mirrors to concentrate sunlight in one place.

Even though not all countries have the same amount of solar energy, every country can use solar energy in a big way. The cost of making solar panels has gone down a lot in the past ten years, so they are now affordable and often the cheapest way to make electricity. Solar panels can last for about 30 years, and they come in different materials.

We can capture solar energy in two ways: actively and passively. Active solar energy uses special technology like PV cells and mirrors to capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. We use this electricity to power things like lights, heaters, computers, and TVs.

Passive solar energy doesn't need any special equipment. It uses the natural changes in sunlight throughout the day. For example, people can build houses with windows facing the sun's path, getting more heat. This saves energy needed for heating. Passive solar technology also includes things like green roofs, cool roofs, and radiant barriers. Green roofs have plants that clean the environment. Cool roofs are white and reflect sunlight. Radiant barriers reflect the sun's heat. These roofs help reduce the energy needed to cool a building.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Using solar energy in our energy systems has both benefits and challenges. Solar technologies have benefits for society and the environment. They don't cause a lot of harm to the environment. In the past 30 years, the cost of solar technologies has gone down a lot. Even though they might be expensive at first, solar panels can last for about 20 years.

However, there are reasons why we can't rely only on solar power in a community. It can be costly to install solar panels or build buildings that use passive solar technology. Also, it's hard to know exactly how much sunlight we'll get. Clouds can block the sun, and at night, there's no sunlight at all. Different parts of the world get different amounts of sunlight depending on where they are, the time of year, and the time of day.

Activity: build a solar over https://climatekids.nasa.gov/smores/

Wind Energy

People have been using the wind's power for a really long time. Even thousands of years ago, ancient Egyptians used wind to move boats, and people in the Middle East and China used windmills to grind grain and pump water since a long time ago.

Nowadays, we use wind turbines to capture the wind's energy. These turbines are like modern windmills. They have a tall tower with blades at the top that turn when the wind blows. When the blades turn, they make a generator create electricity.

Wind energy works by using big wind turbines on land or in water to capture the energy from moving air. These groups of turbines are called wind farms and can be found in places like farmland, narrow mountain passes, or even in the ocean where the winds are strong and steady. Wind farms make electricity for nearby homes, schools, and buildings. Over the years, technology has improved to make more electricity with taller turbines and bigger blades. Wind turbines in the ocean are called "offshore wind farms" and have a lot of potential.

While the wind speed varies in different places, there is a lot of potential for wind energy worldwide. In fact, there is more potential for wind energy than the electricity we currently produce globally. Most regions around the world have the potential to use wind energy on a large scale.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Wind energy is a good way to make electricity. In places where the wind blows consistently, it can give us cheap and dependable power. The best part is that it's clean because wind turbines don't burn fuel or release pollution into the air.

But there are some problems with wind energy. The wind doesn't always blow at the same speed. It can change during the day, the year, and depending on where you are. That's why we can't rely on wind power alone to provide all the electricity we need. Wind turbines can also be dangerous for bats and birds. Sometimes, they can't tell how fast the blades are moving and end up crashing into them.

Activity: Wind Turbine Working Model https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeVTCe8HLi0

Geothermal Energy

Deep inside the Earth, the core is extremely hot. Most of this heat stays underground and slowly moves toward the surface. There are natural reservoirs called hydrothermal reservoirs that are hot and easy to reach. Some reservoirs need help to be hot enough, called enhanced geothermal systems.

We can get this heat from underground in different ways. Geothermal energy uses wells or geothermal heat pumps. Heat pumps are like pipes that warm water with underground heat, which is then used for heating buildings.

When the hot fluids reach the surface, we can use them to generate electricity. We have been using this technology for over 100 years, and it is reliable. Another way to use geothermal energy is with steam. In some places, steam naturally rises from underground and can be directed to a power plant. In drier areas, we can inject water underground to create steam. When the steam comes up, it turns a generator and makes electricity.

Advantages and Disadvantages

An advantage of geothermal energy is that it is clean. It does not require any fuel nor does it emit any harmful pollutants into the air.

However,it is only available in certain parts of the world. In areas of the world where there is only dry heat underground, large quantities of freshwater are used to make steam, which may affect local freshwater availability.

Furthermore, hydroelectric dams face the risk of bursting or breaking due to factors like heavy rainfall, structural issues, and even melting glaciers, leading to the release of a large amount of water and potential flooding downstream.

Example: In 2013, there were big floods in Uttarakhand that caused a lot of deaths. Some experts said the floods happened because people built too many dams and other things in that area. They said it's important to be careful and not harm nature, especially in fragile places like the Himalayas.

Biomass Energy

Biomass is a term for materials that come from plants or tiny organisms that were recently alive. Plants get energy from the sun through a process called photosynthesis. Even after plants die, they still hold onto that energy. Biomass can also include things like wood, charcoal, dung, and other manures. These materials can be dried and pressed into blocks called "briquettes." These briquettes are really dry, so they don't soak up water. People can store them and burn them to create heat or make electricity. Some crops grown on farms are also used to make liquid fuels. In rural areas, biomass is often used by people with lower incomes in developing countries for cooking, lighting, and heating their homes.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One great thing about biomass is that we can save it for later and use it when we need it. But there are some problems with growing crops for biofuels. It takes up a lot of land and we need to use pesticides, which can make the air and water dirty. Biomass energy can also run out if we use up the crops faster than we can grow them again.

Another thing to consider is that burning biomass and biofuels doesn't create as much pollution as burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, or gas. However, it can still harm the environment. When we have big areas of land for growing biomass crops, it can lead to deforestation and changes in how we use the land.

Hydroelectric Energy Hydroelectric energy comes from the power of moving water. It happens when water moves downhill from rivers or reservoirs. Some hydroelectric power plants use the natural flow of the river, while others use big dams to control the water. The dams make a lake called a reservoir. The water is then let out through tunnels in the dam, and as it moves, it spins big turbines and makes electricity.

Advantages and Disadvantages Using hydroelectric energy is easy and not too expensive. It can be found in rivers all around the world, so many people can use it. Building dams to get this energy is possible in many places. It's a reliable source of energy because engineers can control the water flow through the dam, unlike solar or wind power that depends on the weather. Dams can also provide other benefits like drinking water, irrigation, flood control, and navigation.

Hydropower plants don't last a very long time, usually about 20 to 30 years. Dirt and mud can build up behind the dam and slow down the water flow. Building dams can harm the environment. The reservoirs created by dams can cover up the natural homes of rivers and even whole towns. This can make many people have to leave their homes. Some people like smaller hydroelectric projects better because they are more friendly to the environment and work well for faraway communities.

Nuclear fission

Nuclear energy comes from the center of tiny particles called atoms. These atoms are like building blocks for everything in the world. Inside the atom, there's a strong force that holds everything together.

To make electricity, we can use the energy stored in atoms by breaking them apart, the way you break a big biscuit. This breaking apart process is called nuclear fission. We use special machines called nuclear reactors to control this process.

In nuclear reactors, we use a special fuel called uranium-235. When we break apart the uranium atoms, they release small particles and a lot of energy. These particles make more uranium atoms break apart, and this keeps happening in a chain reaction. This chain reaction creates heat. We use this heat to make water in the reactor really hot, just like when you boil water at home. The hot water becomes steam. The steam then spins big fans called turbines. These spinning turbines are connected to generators that make electricity.

Advantages and disadvantages

Nuclear fission electricity has lots of advantages. It can provide a big amount of energy from a small amount of fuel, which helps power many homes and buildings. It doesn't make the air dirty like burning coal does, so it helps keep our environment clean. Nuclear power plants can also give us a steady supply of electricity because they can work for a long time without needing to refuel often.

However, there are also some disadvantages to nuclear fission electricity. Uclear enegry is not exactly "renewable", as the fuel used - uranium - will eventually run out, so we need to find other sources of energy for the future.

It also creates waste that stays dangerous for a long time, so we need to figure out how to store it safely. Accidents at nuclear power plants can be very serious and release harmful radiation, so we have to be very careful and make sure safety is a top priority.

Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi were big accidents at nuclear power plants. In Chernobyl, there was a big explosion in Ukraine in 1986, and it released a lot of harmful radiation into the air. In Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, there was an earthquake and a tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown, which also released radiation. These accidents were very dangerous and had a big impact on the environment and people's health, for many years after the event.

Energy from ocean action

Scientists and engineers are finding ways to use the energy from the ocean. They're exploring three exciting types of renewable energy: tidal energy, wave energy, and algal fuel. Ocean energy comes from using the power of moving water, like waves or tides, to make electricity or heat. It's still being developed, but the ocean has a lot of energy that could meet our needs.

Tidal energy uses the strong tides in the ocean to make electricity. It works by using the moving tides to spin a turbine. Some tidal energy systems also use small dams to collect water at high tide and then slowly release it to turn turbines when the tide goes down. Wave energy captures the energy from waves in the ocean, lakes, or rivers. Some projects use dams and turbines, just like tidal energy. Others have floating devices that move with the waves and turn turbines to generate electricity. Algal fuel is a special type of energy made from seaweed. It uses the chemicals in seaweed to create a clean and renewable fuel. The great thing about algal fuel is that it doesn't need a lot of land like other biofuels do.

These ocean energy technologies are still being developed, but they have a lot of potential. They can provide us with a lot of energy that we need. By using the power of the ocean, we can find new ways to create electricity and fuel that are good for the environment.

The adoption of renewable energy technologies holds the key to mitigating climate change, ensuring energy access for all, and preserving our environment for future generations. However, a comprehensive and balanced approach is required, considering the strengths and weaknesses of each energy source, to create a sustainable and resilient energy system.

Activity guide: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30927.pdf