12th Standard Geography — Sustainable Development Online Test

About Sustainable Development

Medium ~55 min study

Sustainable Development is the seventh unit of the Tamil Nadu State Board Class 12 (Plus Two) Geography book. It begins with the strain that a growing population puts on natural resources and introduces the four pillars of sustainability: cultural vitality, economic health, environmental responsibility and social equity.

The lesson follows the United Nations story from Stockholm in 1972 through the Brundtland Report Our Common Future, the Rio and Johannesburg Earth Summits and Rio+20, and then walks through all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Later sections cover climate change, watershed management, rain water harvesting, the eight steps of EIA and the Baripada case study.

This page gathers the ten one mark questions of the book exercise with answers checked against the lesson, plus twenty additional questions with short explanations.

What you'll learn

• Define sustainable development and name the four pillars of sustainability.
• Trace the main conferences and reports in the history of sustainable development.
• Identify the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their focus areas.
• Explain the causes and effects of climate change and the measures to mitigate it.
• Describe watershed management and the techniques of rain water harvesting.
• List the eight steps of Environmental Impact Assessment and its history in India.

Before you start

• Natural resources and their conservation from Unit 3.
• Basic ideas of weather, climate and the greenhouse effect.
• The idea of rivers, drainage basins and ground water.

Sustainable Development explained

What this unit covers

Concept and goals

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature introduced the term sustainable development in 1980: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Brundtland Report of 1987 named the environment, the economy and society, later called the triple bottom line.

Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda with 17 goals and 169 targets, in force from 1 January 2016. The goals run from ending poverty and hunger to climate action, life on land and partnerships.

Climate change

Burning fossil fuels, transport and deforestation are warming the Earth. Effects include rising temperatures, longer frost-free seasons, droughts, heat waves and sea level rise. Mitigation cuts greenhouse gases; adaptation lowers the risks.

Watershed management and rain water harvesting

A watershed drains to a common channel. India has run watershed programmes such as DPAP, DDP, NWDPRA and IWDP since the early 1970s. Rain water is either stored on the surface or used to recharge ground water.

Environmental Impact Assessment

EIA runs through screening, scoping, impact analysis, mitigation, reporting, review, decision-making and post monitoring. In India it began in 1978 and is now mandatory for 30 categories of projects.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Dating the term sustainable development to the Brundtland Report. The IUCN introduced it in 1980; the report came in 1987.
• Calling Rio+20 the first conference on sustainable development. The lesson calls it the third.
• Mixing up mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation reduces greenhouse gases; adaptation lowers the risks of the consequences.
• Taking scoping as the first EIA stage. Screening comes first; scoping identifies key impacts and the time limit.
• Listing recharge pits as a traditional structure. Surface storage uses tanks, ponds, check dams and weirs; recharge is the newer concept.

Test yourself on these with the practice test, then check the worked reasoning in the solved MCQs.

Frequently asked questions

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature introduced the term in 1980.

Who headed the Brundtland Commission and what did its report say?

The World Commission on Environment and Development was headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, then Prime Minister of Norway. Its 1987 report Our Common Future stressed global equity for future generations and named the environment, the economy and society, later called the triple bottom line.

How many Sustainable Development Goals are there?

There are 17 goals with 169 targets in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by 193 Member States at the UN General Assembly in September 2015. They came into effect on 1 January 2016 and are to be achieved by 2030.

What did countries agree to in the Paris Agreement?

At COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015, countries agreed to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.

What are the two main responses to climate change?

Mitigation addresses the root causes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climate change. The lesson says both are needed.

What are the two techniques of rain water harvesting?

Rain water can be stored on the surface for future use, a traditional technique using underground tanks, ponds, check dams and weirs, or used to recharge ground water through recharge pits, wells and trenches.

When was EIA introduced in India?

EIA was introduced in India in 1978 for river valley projects. On 27 January 1994 the Ministry of Environment and Forests made Environmental Clearance mandatory under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, and a new notification followed in September 2006.