State Of Environment Report, 2021:
The State of Environment Report, 2021 was released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
- CSE is a public interest research and advocacy organization based in New Delhi. It researches into, lobbies for, and communicates the urgency of development that is both sustainable and equitable.
Findings:
Pandemic Generation:
- India is all set to usher in a ‘pandemic generation’, with 375 million children (from newborns to 14-year-olds) likely to suffer long-lasting impacts, ranging from being underweight, stunting (low height-for-age) and increased child mortality, to losses in education and work productivity.
Increased School Dropouts:
- Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, over 500 million children were forced out of school globally and India accounted for more than half of them.
The rise in Extreme Poverty:
- Covid-19 has made the world’s poor poorer. Over 115 million additional people might get pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic and most of them live in South Asia.
Pollution Levels Worsened:
- India’s air, water, and land have become more polluted between 2009 and 2018.
- Of 88 major industrial clusters in the country, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, 35 showed overall environmental degradation, 33 pointed to worsening air quality, 45 had more polluted water and in 17, land pollution became worse.
- Tarapur in Maharashtra emerged as the most polluted cluster.
Regarding Sustainable Development Rankings:
- India ranked 117 among 192 nations in terms of sustainable development and was now behind all South Asian nations except Pakistan.
- Best Performing States: Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
- Worst Performers: Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Uttar Pradesh.
