PM IAS OCT 03 CURRENT EVENTS

Melting of Arctic Ice

In Context

• Recently, a team of researchers has flagged the changing chemistry of the western region of the Arctic Ocean.

More about the research

• Research observations:
  • The research discovered that the acidity levels in Arctic seas are increasing three to four times faster than ocean waters elsewhere.
    • Seawater is normally alkaline, with a pH value of around 8.1.
  • The team also identified a strong correlation between the accelerated rate of melting ice and the rate of ocean acidification.
  • Reasons:
    • Scientists Point to sea-ice melt as the key mechanism to explain this rapid pH decrease, because it changes surface water in three primary ways:
      • The water under the sea ice, which had a deficit of carbon dioxide, now is exposed to the atmospheric carbon dioxide and can take it up freely.
      • The seawater mixed with meltwater is light and can’t mix easily into deeper waters, which means the carbon dioxide is concentrated at the surface.
      • The meltwater dilutes the carbonate ion concentration in the seawater, weakening its ability to neutralise the carbon dioxide into bicarbonate and rapidly decreasing ocean pH.
• Data timeline:
  • It is the first analysis of Arctic acidification that includes data from 1994 to 2020.
• Predictions:
  • Scientists have predicted that by 2050, Arctic sea ice in this region will no longer survive the increasingly warm summers.
  • Consequences:
    • The ocean’s chemistry will grow more acidic, creating life-threatening problems for the diverse population of sea creatures, plants and other living things that depend on a healthy ocean. 
      • Crabs, for example, live in a crusty shell built from the calcium carbonate prevalent in ocean water. 
      • Polar bears rely on healthy fish populations for food, fish and sea birds rely on plankton and plants, and seafood is a key element of many humans’ diets.

Arctic Region 

• Location:
  • It is commonly understood to refer to the region above the Arctic Circle, north of latitude 66° 34′ N, which includes the Arctic Ocean with the North Pole at its centre. 
• Arctic Council:
  • Eight Arctic States-Canada, Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and USA form the Arctic Council. 
• Resources and inhabitants:
  • The Arctic is home to almost four million inhabitants, of which approximately one tenth are considered as indigenous people. 
  • The Arctic Ocean and its surrounding landmass has been a topic of immense interest and a high-priority area of research among the global scientific fraternity as well as of importance to policy makers. 
  • The Arctic influences atmospheric, oceanographic and biogeochemical cycles of the earth’s ecosystem.
  • Mineral Resources: 
    • The Arctic region has rich deposits of coal, gypsum and diamonds and also substantial reserves of zinc, lead, placer gold and quartz. 
    • Greenland alone possesses about a quarter of the world’s rare earth reserves. 
  • Hydrocarbons: 
    • The Arctic also contains a wealth of hydrocarbon resources. India is the third-largest energy-consuming country in the world. 
    • The Arctic can therefore potentially address India’s energy security needs.

Arctic warming

• The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world. 
• Global warming, caused by greenhouse gas, is responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice. 
• Arctic amplification:
  • The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, occurs when the sea ice, which is white, thins or disappears, allowing dark ocean or land surfaces to absorb more heat from the sun and release that energy back into the atmosphere.

Consequences of Arctic warming (on India)

• Rising Sea Level: 
  • The Greenland ice sheet holds the second largest amount of ice, after Antarctica, and therefore it is crucial for maintaining the sea level. 
  • According to the World Meteorological Organization’s report, ‘State of Global Climate in 2021’, sea level along the Indian coast is rising faster than the global average rate. 
  • One of the primary reasons for this rise is the melting of sea ice in the polar regions, especially the Arctic. 
• Global warming: 
  • The permafrost in the Arctic is thawing and in turn releasing carbon and methane which are among the major greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. 
• Biodiversity: 
  • The warming of the Arctic Ocean and the seas in the region, the acidification of water, changes in the salinity levels, are impacting biodiversity, including the marine species and the dependent species. 
• Connectivity: 
  • The Arctic’s ice meltdown and its geographical location will ensure the shortest sea distance between America, Europe and North East Asia. 
  • This will likely transform the global maritime commerce, presently conducted through the traditional East–West route through the Malacca Strait and Suez Canal.
• Monsoons: 
  • The link between the impact of the changing Arctic and monsoons in India is growing in importance due to the extreme weather events the country faces, and the heavy reliance on rainfall for water and food security.
• Geopolitics: 
  • The melting Arctic ice is also raising the geopolitical temperatures. 
  • In 2018, China’s White Paper on Arctic policy called itself a ‘Near-Arctic State’. 
    • The opening of the shipping routes and possibilities of increased resource extraction is leading to the big three—US, China and Russia—and NATO, jockeying for position and influence in the region.

India’s Arctic PolicyIn March 2022, Government of India released India’s Arctic Policy titled “India’s Arctic Policy: Building a Partnership for Sustainable Development”.The six pillars of the Policy are as follows:Implementing India’s Arctic policy will involve multiple stakeholders, including academia, the research community, business, and industry.

Way Ahead

• The problem is that we do not completely understand the factors that control how rapidly the ice flows and thus enters the ocean.
• One way to approach the problem of not understanding the process is to study how sea level changed in the past. 
  • Earth  is nearly as warm now as it was during the last interglacial period, about 125,000 years ago. 
• We must act urgently to reduce and mitigate the impact of human-made climate change on the glaciers.

India-UK Business Relations: Issues & opportunities

In News

• U.K. India Business Council (UKIBC) has recently recommended the Indian government on reducing its red tapism.

More about the recommendations

• Legal and regulatory processes:
  • Legal and regulatory impediments in India continue to be a source of “frustration” for investors looking to set up or expand operations in India. 
  • Land acquisition and “regular delays” in Customs clearances remain problematic, the U.K. India Business Council (UKIBC) has conveyed to the Government of India.
  • Duplication of regulation:
    • Duplication of regulation wherein two sets of regulations are administered by two different arms of Government on the same issue was cited as a key issue.
    • Such duplication leads to delays and costs, and are most common in areas on the Constitution’s concurrent list of legislations, such as labour, environment, food and personal care. 
    • The organisation added that there are several grey areas in compliance like tax or telecommunications.

Red tapism Red tape refers to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations. Things often described as “red tape” include Filling out paperwork, obtaining licenses, Having multiple people or committees approve a decision and Various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower, more difficult, or both.

• Reforms:
• Reforms to make greenfield and brownfield acquisition and development simpler would help businesses to open more stores, factories, and other facilities, thus enabling them to expand faster and provide gainful employment.

• Priority sector lending norms:
  • The Council has urged India to take a “broader view” of priority sector lending norms for foreign banks operating in India.
    • In certain cases, foreign banks are better able to serve and fully participate towards cross-border financing, trade finance and sustainable financing according to UKIBC.
• IP issues:
  • UKIBC also sought equitable tax treatment, while flagging rising instances of counterfeit product sales through e-commerce platforms as a deterrent for intellectual property (IP) owners.
    • UKIBC also noted that lack of enforcement of IP rights is problematic and can stifle innovation.
• Corporate tax parity:
  • The lower corporate tax rates, including a 15% levy for new manufacturing units incentivises investments. 
  • The UKIBC has said there is still a “significant disparity” between the effective corporate tax rates for foreign firms using a “branch model”, taxed at 43.68%, compared to domestic peers who are taxed at 25.17%.
    • This serves as a major disincentive for international businesses using this model, such as banks.
• India-UK FTA:
  • With India and the U.K. working to seal a free trade agreement (FTA) soon, the Council has said making it easier to do business is as important as the trade pact to bolster trade and investment flows.

UK India Business Council (UKIBC)The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) is a membership-based, non-profit organisation founded in 2007 to foster trade and business relations between the United Kingdom and India. The organisation works with businesses in both countries, as well as the UK and Indian governments, to promote and increase bilateral trade. The UK India Business Council supports UK businesses with the insights, networks, policy advocacy, services, and facilities needed to succeed in India.Through a wide variety of events and member-only Sector Policy Groups, they enable businesspeople – to meet each other, to identify potential partners, suppliers and customers, and to learn from top business leaders and commentators, including those on the Advisory Council.UKIBC is a sister organisation to the UK-ASEAN Business Council.

Opportunities & potential of India-UK business relations

• Regional balance: 
  • Britain is tilting to the Indo-Pacific, where India is a natural ally. 
  • India, which is looking at a neighbourhood that has been transformed by the rise of China, needs as wide a coalition as possible to restore a semblance of regional balance.
• Trade, Investment & Jobs: 
  • India-UK trade was worth £23 billion in 2019, and both countries want to double the figure by 2030. 
  • Almost half a million jobs are supported across India and the UK through investments in each other’s economies.
• Market for British goods: 
  • A free trade deal of the UK with India – the world’s largest democracy, fifth biggest economy, a nation of 1.4 billion people will create a huge market for British goods like whisky, cars and services.
• Benefits for Businesses: 
  • A trade deal with India will break down barriers and make it easier for British businesses to secure more investments, higher wages and lower prices in Britain.
• Skilled Labour Access: 
  • India will be looking for concessions on Indian skilled labour accessing UK markets.
• Defence Strengths: 
  • Britain could also contribute to the strengthening of India’s domestic defence industrial base. 
  • The two sides could also expand India’s regional reach through sharing of logistical facilities.

Way Ahead

• In essence, the recommendations are about reducing bureaucracy, simplifying legal and regulatory complexities and taxation, developing world class IP and infrastructure environments, and enshrining investor protection.
• It is essential for both countries to become proactive and prompt in finalizing the bilateral agreement to rejuvenate the existing bilateral trade between India and the UK. 

5G Services Rollout in India

Context

• The Prime Minister of India has recently launched 5G services in India on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of India Mobile Congress 2022.

About

• Evolution: 5G is the 5th generation mobile network or wireless technology. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks.
• Network:  5G enables a new kind of network designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.
• Objectives: 5G will deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. 
  • Higher performance and improved efficiency to empower new user experiences and connect new industries.

Benefits of the 5G launch in India

• Affordability: Telecom industry players like Reliance Industries Limited, Bharti Enterprises and Aditya Birla Group committed to a speedy roll-out of “affordable” 5G services in India.
• Superior experience: Indian mobile phone users will experience ultra-high Internet speeds via 5G wireless technology and bring a new digital era in the country.
• Socio-economic transformation: 5G technology will bring transformation in crucial areas including agriculture, health, education, Transport, logistics, smart cities, Industry 4.0 and financial inclusion etc.
• Global position: 5G technology will bolster tech revolution domestically and propel India’s position as an economic and tech powerhouse globally.
• Newer opportunities: will provide new opportunities for start-ups to come up with innovative solutions to solve existing challenges, create jobs and contribute to India’s economic resilience. 
• For example, demonstrations of 5G solutions, chipsets, networking equipment etc. development by Indian telecom start-ups, MSMEs and large manufacturers

• Self-reliance: India was dependent on other countries for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. However, India has set a global standard in telecom technology for the first time with 5G. 
• Tech Developer, not consumer: Henceforth, India will play an active role in the development and implementation of 5G related technology rather than being a mere consumer of technology.
• More Users: As per the recent Ericsson report, 5G technology might contribute to 39 % of mobile subscriptions in India by 2027 i.e. about 500 million estimated subscriptions.
• Foundation/Link Technology: 5G technology will serve as a link to several science & technology driven application useful in daily lives such as-

• Connected Ambulance (Emergency healthcare)
• Community Clinic (Mass healthcare / treatment)
• Remote Ultrasound Robot Demo (remote healthcare)
• Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) for Rural Broadband Connectivity.
• Indigenously developed 5G core for public networks
• High Security Routers
• AI based Cyber Threat Detection Platform
• Smart-Agri Programme using IoTs, HD Cameras and Drones

Issues with 5G Implementation: 

• Technological Adoption: Widespread rollout of 5G across India (especially rural areas) will need strong technological backup and capital adequacy on behalf of Indian telecommunication companies.
• Low Fiberization Footprint: For an efficient 5G coverage, doubling of  Fiber connectivity will be needed for pan-India networks as presently FOC connects only 30% of India’s telecom towers.
• Hardware challenge: Since India has banned some leading foreign telecom original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), deployment of 5G may face hurdles w.r.t. Indian hardware.
• Spectrum pricing: 5G spectrum pricing in India is far costlier than the global average, raising valid concerns over affordability of services by customers eventually.

Role of Digital India Mission in 5G launch

• Affordable Devices: With Atma Nirbhar Bharat the cost of devices were reduced to a large extent. India is now at second position in the world for manufacturing of mobile and is also a large exporter of mobiles. 
• For example, from 2 mobile manufacturing units in 2014, India presently has 200 manufacturing units promoting competition and cost-effectiveness.
• Digital Connectivity:

• Broadband Users: From 6 cr in 2014, India now has 80 crore Broadband users. 
• Optical Fibre Cable(OFC): Now, more than 1,70,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) are connected with OFC from approx 100 GPs earlier in 2014. 
• Internet users in the rural areas of the country are growing at a faster rate than the urban area thereby bridging the digital divide.

• Cost of Data: The cost of data has reduced from Rs. 300 per GB in 2014 to Rs. 10 per GB in 2022. Average Data used per person is 14 GB per month, and reduction in cost of data has brought considerable savings per month for citizens.
•  Idea of  Digital First: There were apprehensions about  adoption of the digital technology by the rural poor, however rural India is fast adopting the digital technologies and internet in their daily lives.

Way Forward

• 5G technology will bring harmony with the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’, Jai Anusandhan and ‘ Sabka Saath,  Sabka Vishwas’.
• It will pave the way for realization of a vision of bringing that technology to the common people which works for the people, works by connecting with the people.
• 5G should be integrated in the policy domains like Digital India mission to ensure transformational potential on the lives of citizens way beyond simple provision of higher internet speeds. E.g. Telemedicine during COVID-19.
• Promotion of digitalisation, indigenous technology (Make in India), industrial revolution 4.0 will certainly pave the way for Techade (technology decade) of India.

Sanitation in India

In News

• The President of India participated in the event organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti to celebrate Swachh Bharat Diwas (October 2, 2022). 

Key Points

• Achieved SDG6: 
  • Through this mission, India has achieved the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal number-6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 11 years before the deadline of 2030.
• Building More Toilets: 
  • Since the launch of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin’ in 2014, more than 11 crore toilets have been constructed and about 60 crore people have changed their habit of open defecation. 
• Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin Phase-II:
  • The Government of India is implementing the second phase of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin’, which aims to make all 6 lakh villages of the country ODF Plus. 
  • Since the beginning of the second phase of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin’, more than 1.16 lakh villages have declared themselves as ODF Plus and the work of solid and liquid waste management has also started in about three lakh villages.
•  Quality Drinking Water:
  • Along with cleanliness, the Government of India is also working on the goal of providing quality drinking water to every household. 
  • The ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ has set the target of providing regular and quality drinking water to every household by the year 2024.
  • At the time of the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission in 2019, only 3.23 crore rural households had tap water supply, which has reached to about 10.27 crore in the past three years.

What is ODF+ and ODF++?ODF+ and ODF++ are aimed towards proper maintenance of toilet facilities and safe collection, conveyance, treatment/disposal of all faecal sludge and sewage. While ODF+ focuses on toilets with water, maintenance and hygiene, ODF++ focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management.

Significance of Sanitation

• Avoids Pandemic: During the Covid pandemic, everyone realised that toilets, the habit of washing hands with soap, and water supply through taps have acted as a shield against the pandemic.
• Declining Diseases: The ODF as well as access to tap water has led to a significant reduction in water-borne diseases in recent years. 
• Healthy India: More concerted efforts can fulfill India’s resolve to build a healthy, clean and self-reliant India. 
• Setting Global Example: India needs to set an example for the world in the field of water management and sanitation.

Challenges

• Sludge Management: There is a time bomb of rural and small town faecal sludge management as tanks and single pits fill up and are difficult to empty.
• Manual Scavenging: Despite a ban on manual scavenging, it continues at various places in the country.
• Modern Technologies: In achieving this goal, India will face huge challenges as providing basic facilities to such a large population will require modern technology and abundant resources. 
• Maintaining ODF status: It is important after a village, block or district is declared ODF. Generally, it so happens that once it is declared, there is no pressure on the district administration to do any activity because the goal has been achieved. Also, many people would tend to return to the old practice of open defecation.
• Inclusion of Public: The massive task is to include people who still lack toilets, overcome partial toilet use, and retrofit toilets which are not yet sustainably safe.
• Usage-related Challenges: Tackling cultural and mind-set issues, providing water in rural areas, addressing the problem of small and dingy toilets, stigma associated with pit-emptying, and making-men use toilets.
• Open Water Bodies: Another problem is the presence of open ponds (water pools) in rural and semi-urban areas along road corridors. The ponds are used by people, livestock for various purposes. The poor quality of water in the ponds gives rise to diseases.

Way Ahead

• Waste Disposal:
  • Proper facilities for disposal of excreta should be created. People begin to use toilets but the faecal material goes untreated which harms the environment.
• Converting Waste: 
  • Defining and implementing solutions to convert waste to achieve a remunerative return will not only create hygienic surroundings for the communities but would allow them to become economically self-sufficient in the medium to long term. 
• Role of Trained Workforce:
  • For behavioural change of the society, a trained workforce is needed that can trigger communities. 
  • This involves taking the community through a participatory process of self-analysis where people are informed about the ill effects of inadequate sanitation.
• Reusing Water: 
  • Recovery of precious grey water through minimal treatment and treatment of sewage will help tackle scarce water resources, encouraging reuse and conserving water bodies.
• Partnerships at Village Level:
  • The corporates could team up with the village communities to convert their waste to wealth by utilising simple and cost-effective technologies that can be managed by them independently in the long run.
  • Building the capacity of the gram panchayats in understanding how to manage the various programmes.
  • Managing household and plastic waste as well as wastewater at a village level.
• Establishing Interlinkages: 
  • The government needs to focus on the thematic interlinkages between WASH and sectors such as health, education, gender, nutrition and livelihoods. 

How can India Reduce its Impact on Global Warming

In News

• Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pointed out that since the industrial revolution, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂).

About

• Alarming Increase in Carbon Dioxide:
  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased by over 40%, from 280 ppm in the 18th century to 414 ppm in 2020, and greenhouse gases level by over these 200 years. 
  • Reason: Due to fuel burning and other ‘greenhouse gases’ such as methane, nitrous oxide, and compounds of sulphur, phosphorous, ozone into the atmosphere, changing the earth’s climate.
• India Specific Observations: 
  • Rise in Greenhouse gases: The industrial revolution started only after India’s Independence 75 years ago which has led to a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases.
  • Need to Reduce Carbon Footprint in Farming Sector: India has a total food-grain production of 275 million tonnes. India is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnuts. It, thus, becomes important that India try and reduce its carbon footprint as much as possible, more in its farming sector. 

Innovative Initiatives in Agriculture to Reduce Global Warming 

• Farmers are using solar panels in their fields, so that they can avoid diesel for groundwater pumps.
• Climate-friendly agriculture offers new income sources and is more sustainable and India’s carbon emissions could drop by 45-62 million tonnes annually. 
• India has about 20-39% vegetarians and 70% of the population eat meat — mainly chicken, mutton and fish. India, with its many rivers, has a vast coastline which is rich in fishes and fishes have high nutritional value and help in reducing carbon footprint. 

India’s Efforts 

• Updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs):
  • India now stands committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030 from its 2005 levels, as per the updated NDC. 
  • The country will also target about 50 percent of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
  • To create an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) by 2030 through additional forest and tree cover.
  • To further a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, ‘LIFE’ ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ as a key to combating climate change” has been added to India’s NDC.
  • The update is also a step towards achieving India’s long term goal of reaching net-zero by 2070.
• Adaptation and Mitigation:
  • The Government has launched many schemes and programs to scale up India’s actions on both adaptation and mitigation. 
  • Appropriate measures are being taken under these schemes and programs across many sectors, including water, agriculture, forest, energy and enterprise, sustainable mobility and housing, waste management, circular economy and resource efficiency, etc. 
  • As a result of the aforesaid measures, India has progressively continued decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. 

• Focus on Renewable Energy:
  • The PM has set the targets and reiterated that the Indian government is committed to increasing the share of renewable energy in India’s total energy share. Initially, the target for renewable energy was set at 175 GW, but now it has been further revised to 450 GW by 2030.
  • It will lead to an overall increase in green jobs such as in renewable energy, clean energy industries- in automotives, manufacturing of low emissions products like Electric Vehicles and super-efficient appliances, and innovative technologies such as green hydrogen, etc. 
• Mobilisation of Resources: 
  • India is earmarking a large part of its developmental resources to the fight against climate change. 
  • This is a stupendous effort as compared to the western countries, which are already at the advanced stages of development. 
• International Solar Alliance (ISA): 
  • ISA is a global alliance being initiated by India as well as headquartered in India. 
  • It is aimed at promoting research to develop more efficient, low-cost solutions to the global energy requirements, by leveraging advanced technology as well as providing incentives and regulation of solar power. 
  • Currently, it has 88 members. 

Challenges

• Reducing India’s Coal Dependency:
  • According to one estimate, 68% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from energy production, which remains largely reliant on coal power plants. 
  • Given coal’s centrality to the country’s power, it will be difficult to completely displace it with renewable energy.
• Climate-insensitive Agriculture Policy:
  • A significant chunk of India’s fiscal resources are directed towards the minimum support price combined with helpful electricity and fertilizer subsidies, encouraging farmers to grow water-intensive crops. 
  • Taken together, India’s agricultural policies aggravate water shortages, encourage crop burning and do little for climate change mitigation.
• Impact on Urban Livelihood:
  • Climate change is already impacting health, livelihood and infrastructure in India’s urban areas.
  • The impact will be felt more by economically and socially marginalized urban residents, who live in informal settlements.
• Balancing Growth and Environment:
  • Ultimately, tackling climate change is a balancing act between the present and the future. 
  • Like governments everywhere, the Indian government will have to strike a balance on inter-generational equity.

Way Ahead

• Shift to green economy: India needs to ensure policies and investments shift from the grey to green economy, giving up fossil fuel and making societies and people more resilient to climate shocks.
• Decarbonise emission-intensive sectors: More efforts are required to reduce emissions in heavy industries like iron and steel, chemicals and cement. An ‘ecosystem-based’ approach, which looks at greening both ‘supply’ and ‘demand’, is the way ahead. 
• Climate-smart agriculture: Considering the rapid population growth and globalization, there is an urgent need to identify and promote sustainable farming practices and tools, using inputs more efficiently and effectively to grow more from less.
• More Carbon Sinks: India’s efforts to reduce emissions must be complemented with creation of more carbon sinks, areas that store carbon, like forests, oceans and wetlands. This is where the role of local communities is vital.
• Role of the indigenous community: Indigenous communities could play a strategic role in mitigating climate change. It is high time to acknowledge their traditional wisdom on climate variability and deep-knowledge of environmental cycles, which could substantially enrich modern scientific knowledge and reinforce the effectiveness of adaptation activities worldwide. 
• Importance of Private Sector: Businesses bring investments, innovation and the ability to transform challenges into opportunities — all essential weapons in our fight against climate change. Companies need to come forward and deliver on their responsibility towards the people and the planet.

Nord Stream Pipeline Leaks

In News

• Recently,the two Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe have been hit by unexplained leaks.
  • There have been four cases of leaks in the pipelines.

Background

• The pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent times as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

Impact of Leaks

• Distruption in the supply of natural gas to the European nations which can lead to a spike in the gas price in the region.
• It will also result in the release of methane gas which will have an impact on the environment.

 About Nord Stream Pipeline

• Nord Stream is the 1,200 km subsea export gas pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea carrying gas from Russia to Europe. 
• Source: Bovanenkovo oil and gas condensate deposit in Western Siberia.
• The Nord Stream twin pipeline system through the Baltic Sea runs from Vyborg, Russia to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
  •  The pipelines were built and are operated by Nord Stream AG.
• The Nord Stream route crosses the Exclusive Economic Zones of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as the territorial waters of Russia, Denmark, and Germany.
  • Nord Stream 1, completed in 2011 (From Vyborg in Leningrad to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany).
  • Nord Stream 2, completed in September 2021 (From Ust-Luga in Leningrad to Lubmin).

Importance of the Pipeline

• Germany is Russia’s biggest European gas consumer, and most of it comes through the Nord Stream Pipeline. 
  • Its share of Russian gas supplies was 55% in 2021, and currently lies at 35%
• Sustainable Gas Supply to Europe: The pipeline provides Europe with a sustainable gas supply.
•  Russia gets more direct access to the European gas market.
• Investment and Employment: It  benefits the national governments and local authorities through investments and employment generated due to it.