Environment and Natural Resources, Class 12 Political Science

What Environment and Natural Resources is about

Weightage: Contemporary World Politics: Environment and Natural Resources carries 6 of the 80 theory marks.Source: CBSE Political Science (028) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

Environmental concerns in global politics

NCERT section Environmental Concerns in Global Politics

The problems:

• Land: cultivable area hardly expanding; much farmland losing fertility; grasslands overgrazed, fisheries over-harvested.
• Water: water bodies depleted and polluted, limiting food production. The UNDP Human Development Report 2016 said 663 million people in developing countries lack safe water and 2.4 billion lack sanitation, causing over three million child deaths a year.
• Forests: natural forests, which stabilise climate, moderate water supplies and shelter most land biodiversity, are being cut and people displaced; biodiversity loss continues.
• Ozone: a steady fall in stratospheric ozone (the ozone hole) threatens ecosystems and health.
• Coasts: coastal waters increasingly polluted by land-based activities.

Why these are political: steps to check degradation have political consequences; most problems cannot be solved by one government; and they raise questions of who wields how much power.

Rise of environmental politics:

• From the 1960s, awareness of growth's environmental costs became political.
• Club of Rome published *Limits to Growth* (1972), warning of resource depletion amid rapid population growth.
• UNEP and other agencies held conferences and studies.
• 1987 Brundtland Report, *Our Common Future*: traditional growth patterns are not sustainable, especially given the South's demand for industrial development.
• Earth Summit, the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992: 170 states, thousands of NGOs and many MNCs.

Worked example

Why are environmental issues a part of world politics? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Most environmental problems cannot be fully solved by any single government, and steps to deal with them have political consequences.
2. They raise questions of power: who causes degradation, who pays the price, who must act, and who gets to use how much of the Earth's resources.

Answer: Because they are global, need joint action, and involve questions of power over resources and responsibility.

The Earth Summit and sustainable development

NCERT section Environmental Concerns in Global Politics

North vs South at Rio (1992):

• The global North (rich, developed First World) was concerned with ozone depletion and global warming.
• The global South (poor, developing Third World) wanted to address the link between economic development and environmental management.

Outcomes of the Rio Summit:
1. Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and forestry.
2. Agenda 21: a list of recommended development practices.
3. Consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility: sustainable development.
4. The Rio Declaration accepted common but differentiated responsibilities.

Limits: considerable differences remained; *how* to achieve sustainable development was unclear; critics said Agenda 21 favoured economic growth over ecological conservation.

Worked example

What were the outcomes of the Rio Summit? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. It produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity and forestry.
2. It recommended a list of development practices called Agenda 21.
3. It reached consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility, called sustainable development.
4. The Rio Declaration accepted the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, though differences between North and South remained and critics felt Agenda 21 favoured growth.

Answer: Conventions on climate, biodiversity and forests; Agenda 21; sustainable development; common but differentiated responsibilities.

Global commons

NCERT section The Protection of Global Commons

'Commons' are resources owned by no one but shared by a community (a common room, park or river). Global commons (*res communis humanitatis*) are areas outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any state, requiring common governance by the international community: the Earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space.

Agreements: the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the 1987 Montreal Protocol (on ozone) and the 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol.

Problems in cooperation:

• Hard to reach consensus on vague scientific evidence and time frames; the ozone hole over Antarctica discovered in the mid-1980s showed both the opportunity and the dangers of tackling global problems.
• North-South inequalities shape management, as in outer space: the key issue is technology and industrial development, so benefits are unequal for present and future generations.

Box: Antarctica:

• Over 14 million sq km; 26 per cent of the world's wilderness, 90 per cent of terrestrial ice and 70 per cent of planetary fresh water; plus 36 million sq km of ocean.
• Limited land life but rich marine ecosystem; krill is central to the food chain. Ice cores give information on past greenhouse gases and temperatures.
• Ownership dispute: the UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand claim sovereign rights; most other states treat it as a global commons.
• Since 1959, activities limited to scientific research, fishing and tourism; yet oil spills have caused waste.

Worked example

What are global commons? Why is cooperation over them difficult? (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Global commons are areas outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state that need common governance by the international community.
2. Examples: Earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor and outer space.
3. Cooperation is hard because consensus must be reached on vague scientific evidence and time frames.
4. Management is shaped by North-South inequalities in technology and industrial development, so benefits are unequal (as in outer space).

Answer: Areas beyond any state's control (atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor, outer space); cooperation is hard due to uncertain science and North-South inequality.

Common but differentiated responsibilities

NCERT section Common but Differentiated Responsibilities

The debate:

• North: discuss the environment as it stands now, with everyone equally responsible for conservation.
• South: most degradation is the product of the developed countries' industrial development; those who caused more damage must take more responsibility now. Developing countries are still industrialising and should not face the same restrictions; their special needs must be considered in international environmental law.

Acceptance:

• Rio Declaration (1992): states must cooperate in global partnership to protect the Earth's ecosystem, but because they contributed differently to degradation, they have common but differentiated responsibilities; developed countries acknowledge their responsibility given the pressure their societies put on the environment and the technology and finance they command.
• UNFCCC (1992): parties should protect the climate 'on the basis of equity' and according to common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Parties agreed the largest share of historical and current emissions came from developed countries and that per capita emissions in developing countries are low.

Kyoto Protocol (1997, Kyoto, Japan): an international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons etc., partly responsible for global warming), based on UNFCCC principles. China, India and other developing countries were exempted.

Worked example

What is meant by 'common but differentiated responsibilities'? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. All states share a common responsibility to protect the global environment.
2. But since developed countries caused most historical degradation and have more technology and finance, they bear greater responsibility; developing countries' special needs must be considered (accepted in the Rio Declaration, 1992).

Answer: All states must protect the environment, but developed countries carry a larger share of the responsibility.

Common property resources and sacred groves

NCERT section Common Property Resources

Common property is property held in common by a group. Members have rights and duties regarding the nature, level of use and maintenance of the resource. Through mutual understanding and centuries of practice, many Indian village communities have defined such rights and responsibilities.

Decline: privatisation, agricultural intensification, population growth and ecosystem degradation have reduced common property in size, quality and availability to the poor.

Sacred groves (box):

• Patches of uncut forest dedicated to deities or natural or ancestral spirits; a model of community-based resource management. Along South India's forest belt, village communities traditionally managed them; their management on state-owned forest land fits a common property regime.
• They push communities to harvest resources sustainably and may preserve biodiversity, ecological functions and cultural diversity.
• Size ranges from a few trees to several hundred acres; many temples began from sacred groves; the basis is religious reverence for nature rather than scarcity.
• Threats: expansion and settlement encroach; new national forest policies weaken their identity; problems arise when legal ownership (state) and operational control (community) lie with different entities.

Worked example

Explain common property resources with an example from India. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Common property belongs to a group whose members share rights and duties over the use and maintenance of the resource, defined by mutual understanding and long practice.
2. Example: sacred groves along South India's forest belt, managed by village communities for religious reasons, conserving forests sustainably.

Answer: Group-owned resources managed by shared rules, such as sacred groves managed by villages.

India's stand on environmental issues

NCERT section India's Stand on Environmental Issues

Kyoto and historical responsibility:

• India ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. Developing countries such as India and China did not have to meet its targets, because their emissions during the industrialisation period were not significant.
• Critics say India and China will soon be leading emitters.
• At the G-8 meeting (June 2005) India pointed out that developing countries' per capita emissions are a tiny fraction of the developed world's; so the major responsibility for cutting emissions lies with the developed countries, which accumulated emissions over a long time.
• India relies on historical responsibility in UNFCCC, which treats economic and social development as the first priorities of developing countries.
• India is wary of binding commitments on rapidly industrialising countries (Brazil, China, India), seeing them as against UNFCCC's spirit. India's per capita emissions were predicted to rise from 0.9 tonnes (2000) to 1.6 tonnes (2030), still less than half the world average of 3.8 tonnes in 2000.

India's own efforts:

• National Auto-fuel Policy: cleaner vehicle fuels.
• Energy Conservation Act, 2001: energy efficiency.
• Electricity Act, 2003: encourages renewable energy.
• Importing natural gas, clean coal technologies; a proposed National Mission on Biodiesel (about 11 million hectares).
• Ratified the Paris Climate Agreement on 2 October 2016; one of the largest renewable energy programmes.

Other positions:

• India's 1997 review of Rio found no meaningful progress on transferring finance and clean technology on concessional terms to developing nations; India wants developed countries to provide these.
• SAARC countries should take a common position on global environmental issues so the region's voice carries weight.

Worked example

Explain India's stand on environmental issues. (4 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. India supports common but differentiated responsibilities and historical responsibility: developed countries caused most emissions and should bear the main burden of cutting them.
2. It points out that its per capita emissions are a tiny fraction of developed countries' and opposes binding commitments on rapidly industrialising countries.
3. It contributes through the Auto-fuel Policy, Energy Conservation Act 2001, Electricity Act 2003, renewable energy and ratifying the Paris Agreement (2 October 2016).
4. It demands transfer of finance and clean technology to developing countries and a common SAARC position.

Answer: India stresses historical responsibility and low per capita emissions while acting domestically and seeking finance, technology and a regional voice.

Environmental movements

NCERT section Environmental Movements: One or Many?

Some of the most significant responses come from groups of environmentally conscious volunteers, mostly local. These movements are among the most vibrant and diverse social movements and raise new ideas and long-term visions. Diversity is a key trait.

1. Forest movements of the South (Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Africa, India) face enormous pressure; Third World forest clearing continues at an alarming rate.

• Box: are forests 'wilderness'? Southern forests are peopled; Northern forests are seen as empty wilderness to be protected from humans through parks and reserves (Australia, Scandinavia, North America, New Zealand). The South also has wilderness campaigns (eagles in the Philippines, Bengal tigers in India, against the ivory trade in Africa, forests of Brazil and Indonesia), often renamed biodiversity issues and supported by NGOs like WWF.

2. Movements against the minerals industry: reopened to MNCs through liberalisation; criticised for chemicals, polluting land and water, clearing vegetation and displacing communities. Example: groups in the Philippines campaigned against the Western Mining Corporation, an Australian MNC (opposed at home on anti-nuclear grounds and for indigenous rights).

3. Anti-dam (pro-river) movements: seek sustainable, equitable river management. The first in the North: the early 1980s campaign to save the Franklin River in Australia. Mega-dam building has spurted in the South (Turkey to Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, China). In India, the Narmada Bachao Andolan is among the best known; the shared idea in Indian environmental movements is non-violence.

Worked example

How do forest movements of the South differ from those of the North? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Forests of the South are still inhabited by people, so movements there assume people live in and depend on forests.
2. Northern forests are seen as empty wilderness, so movements there aim to protect nature from humans through parks and reserves.

Answer: Southern movements see forests as peopled; Northern ones see them as wilderness separate from people.

Resource geopolitics and indigenous peoples

NCERT section Resource Geopolitics; The Indigenous Peoples and their Rights

Resource geopolitics is about who gets what, when, where and how.

• Resources gave means and motives for European expansion and fuelled rivalry. Western thinking linked trade, war and power, centred on overseas resources and sea routes; naval timber was a priority from the 17th century; secure oil supply was vital in both World Wars.
• Cold War methods of the North: military forces near extraction sites and sea lanes, stockpiling, propping up friendly governments, supporting MNCs and favourable agreements; concern for Gulf oil and minerals in Southern and Central Africa.
• After the Cold War: concern over supply of radioactive materials, but oil remains the most important resource.
• Oil: the history of petroleum is also of war and struggle, especially in West and Central Asia. The Gulf gives about 30 per cent of world output but holds about 64 per cent of known reserves. Saudi Arabia has a quarter of reserves and is the largest producer; Iraq is second in reserves. Consumers (US, Europe, Japan, increasingly India and China) are far away.
• Water: scarcity may make shared rivers a leading source of 21st-century conflict ('water wars'). Downstream (lower riparian) states object to upstream (upper riparian) pollution, irrigation or dams. Examples: Israel, Syria and Jordan (1950s-60s) over the Jordan and Yarmuk rivers; Turkey, Syria and Iraq over dams on the Euphrates.

Indigenous peoples:

• UN definition: descendants of peoples who lived in a country's present territory when people of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived and overcame them; they live more by their own customs than the country's institutions.
• About 30 crore worldwide (e.g. Cordillera in the Philippines, Mapuche in Chile, Chittagong Hill Tracts tribals, North American natives, Kuna near the Panama Canal, Small Peoples of the Soviet North). They demand admission to the world community as equals and recognition as enduring communities; 'since times immemorial' expresses their continuous occupancy. Loss of land is the biggest threat to their survival.
• India: applied to Scheduled Tribes (nearly 8 per cent of population), mostly cultivators; outside forces entered after British rule; despite constitutional protection in representation, they gained little from development and are the largest group displaced by development projects.
• World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975): first of 11 indigenous NGOs with UN consultative status.

Worked example

Why is West Asia central to the geopolitics of oil? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Gulf region produces about 30 per cent of global oil but holds about 64 per cent of known reserves, so it alone can meet any big rise in demand.
2. Saudi Arabia has a quarter of world reserves and Iraq the second largest, while major consumers are far away, creating struggles for control.

Answer: Because it holds most of the world's oil reserves, which distant consumers depend on.

Environment and Natural Resources in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• The Earth Summit and Sustainable Development
• Common but Differentiated Responsibilities
• Environmental Movements and Resource Geopolitics

Environment and Natural Resources: key facts

Milestones

1972 Limits to Growth (Club of Rome); 1987 Brundtland Report 'Our Common Future'; June 1992 Earth Summit, Rio (170 states)

UNEP promoted conferences and studies.

Rio outcomes

Conventions on climate change, biodiversity, forestry + Agenda 21 + sustainable development + CBDR

Critics: Agenda 21 favoured growth.

North vs South at Rio

North: ozone and global warming; South: development and environmental management

Different agendas.

Global commons

Atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor, outer space (res communis humanitatis)

Outside any state's jurisdiction.

Commons treaties

1959 Antarctic Treaty; 1987 Montreal Protocol; 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol

Ozone hole over Antarctica found mid-1980s.

Antarctica facts

Area	14 million sq km
Share of world wilderness	26%
Share of land ice	90%
Share of fresh water	70%
Claimants	UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia, NZ

Since 1959: research, fishing, tourism only.

Climate agreements

UNFCCC 1992 (equity, CBDR); Kyoto Protocol 1997 (targets for industrialised countries; India, China exempt)

India ratified Kyoto Aug 2002; Paris Agreement 2 Oct 2016.

India's emissions

0.9 t per capita (2000) to 1.6 t (2030) vs world average 3.8 t (2000)

Less than half the world average.

India's laws

National Auto-fuel Policy; Energy Conservation Act 2001; Electricity Act 2003; biodiesel mission

Plus renewable energy, clean coal, natural gas.

Oil

Gulf: 30% production, 64% reserves; Saudi Arabia a quarter of reserves; Iraq second

Oil is the most important strategic resource.

Water conflicts

Israel-Syria-Jordan (Jordan, Yarmuk; 1950s-60s); Turkey-Syria-Iraq (Euphrates dams)

Lower vs upper riparian disputes.

Indigenous peoples

About 30 crore worldwide; India: Scheduled Tribes about 8%; World Council of Indigenous Peoples 1975

Loss of land is the main threat.

How the board asks Environment and Natural Resources

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Environment and Natural Resources

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Global commons

  "AAOO": Atmosphere, Antarctica, Ocean floor, Outer space.

  Use it when: Listing global commons.

• Milestone years

  72-87-92-97: Limits to Growth, Brundtland, Rio, Kyoto.

  Use it when: Chronology MCQs.

• Rio outcomes

  "CBF + A21 + SD": Climate, Biodiversity, Forestry conventions, Agenda 21, Sustainable Development.

  Use it when: 4-mark Rio answer.

• India's laws

  "Fuel, Save, Power": Auto-fuel Policy, Energy Conservation Act 2001, Electricity Act 2003.

  Use it when: India's efforts.

• Oil numbers

  Gulf 30 out, 64 in the ground.

  Use it when: Gulf production vs reserves.

Environment and Natural Resources: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 4-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Environment and Natural Resources

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Confusing global commons with common property

  Both use 'common'.

  ✓Do this: Global commons lie outside any state's jurisdiction; common property belongs to a group within a society.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Saying India rejected the Kyoto Protocol

  Confusion over the exemption.

  ✓Do this: India signed and ratified it in August 2002 but was exempt from its targets.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Writing that all countries agree Antarctica belongs to no one

  Students assume consensus.

  ✓Do this: Seven countries claim sovereign rights; most others see it as global commons.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Giving only India's defence of exemption

  One-sided answers.

  ✓Do this: Also mention India's own measures (laws, renewables, Paris) and demands for technology and finance.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks in 4-mark answers.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up the dates of reports and summits

  Many milestones.

  ✓Do this: 1972 Limits to Growth; 1987 Brundtland; 1992 Rio and UNFCCC; 1997 Kyoto.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

NCERT exercise guide: Environment and Natural Resources

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on Environment and Natural Resources

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Which of the following is NOT a global commons?
   (a) Outer space
   (b) Ocean floor
   (c) Antarctica
   (d) A village sacred grove

   Hint

   Global commons lie outside any state.

   Answer

   (d); a sacred grove is a common property resource of a community.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Arrange in chronological order: (i) Kyoto Protocol (ii) Limits to Growth (iii) Brundtland Report (iv) Earth Summit
   (a) ii, iii, iv, i
   (b) iii, ii, iv, i
   (c) ii, iv, iii, i
   (d) ii, iii, i, iv

   Hint

   1972, 1987, 1992, 1997.

   Answer

   (a).

3. Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): Many anti-dam movements are now described as pro-river movements.
   Reason (R): They aim at more sustainable and equitable management of river systems and valleys.
   Choose (a)-(d).

   Hint

   Positive goal.

   Answer

   (a) Both are true and R explains A.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Which is the best-known anti-dam movement in India?
   (a) Chipko Movement
   (b) Narmada Bachao Andolan
   (c) Silent Valley Movement
   (d) Appiko Movement

   Hint

   Pro-river.

   Answer

   (b).

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   Why did global environmental protection become a priority concern of states from the 1990s? (4 marks)

   Hint

   Degradation, awareness, Rio.

   Answer

   Degradation of land, water, forests, ozone and coasts had become pervasive and dangerous; reports like Limits to Growth (1972) and the Brundtland Report (1987) showed traditional growth was unsustainable; the 1992 Earth Summit with 170 states consolidated environment as a global political issue; and problems like global warming and the ozone hole could not be solved by any single country, requiring international agreements like the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol.

6. Q6 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   What are 'water wars'? Give two examples of conflicts over shared rivers. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Riparian states.

   Answer

   Possible violent conflicts over scarce shared freshwater, e.g. a downstream state objecting to dams or pollution by an upstream state. Examples: Israel, Syria and Jordan over the Jordan and Yarmuk rivers (1950s-60s); Turkey, Syria and Iraq over dams on the Euphrates.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose a rich industrial country tells a poor developing country: 'From now on, both of us must cut emissions by the same percentage.' How would the developing country respond, based on the textbook? (4 marks)

   Hint

   Historical and per capita emissions.

   Answer

   It would invoke common but differentiated responsibilities: developed countries caused most historical and current emissions through industrialisation and must bear more responsibility; per capita emissions of developing countries are a small fraction of developed countries'; developing countries are still industrialising and their first priority is economic and social development (UNFCCC); developed countries command more finance and technology and should transfer them. Equal cuts would be unfair.

8. Q8 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   Why do the forest movements of the South differ from those of the North? (2 marks)

   Hint

   Peopled forests.

   Answer

   Southern forests are still inhabited, so movements there defend people living in forests; in the North forests are seen as wilderness free of people, so the focus is on protecting nature from humans through parks and reserves.

9. Q9 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   Critically examine the role of indigenous peoples' movements in world politics. (6 marks)

   Hint

   Definition, demands, India, international body.

   Answer

   Indigenous peoples (UN definition: descendants of original inhabitants overcome by newcomers) number about 30 crore worldwide, e.g. Cordillera, Mapuche, Chittagong Hill Tracts tribals, North American natives. They demand admission to the world community as equals and recognition as enduring communities, using the phrase 'since times immemorial' for their link to land. Loss of land threatens their survival, so their struggles connect environment, resources and politics. In India, Scheduled Tribes (about 8 per cent) have constitutional protection but gained little from development and are the largest group displaced by projects. Their issues were long neglected; from the 1970s international contacts grew, and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975) gained UN consultative status. Many anti-globalisation movements also champion their rights. Limitation: their voices remain marginal in world politics.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Which body published Limits to Growth and when?Show answer

   The Club of Rome, in 1972.

2. 2.What was the Brundtland Report called?Show answer

   Our Common Future (1987).

3. 3.How many states attended the Earth Summit?Show answer

   170 states, with thousands of NGOs and many MNCs.

4. 4.What is the Latin term for global commons?Show answer

   Res communis humanitatis.

5. 5.What protocol of 1987 dealt with the ozone layer?Show answer

   The Montreal Protocol.

6. 6.When did India ratify the Paris Climate Agreement?Show answer

   On 2 October 2016.

7. 7.Name the Australian river saved by the first anti-dam movement in the North.Show answer

   The Franklin River (early 1980s).

8. 8.What share of global oil reserves does the Gulf hold?Show answer

   About 64 per cent.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you list five kinds of environmental degradation?
• ☐Can you explain why the environment is a political issue?
• ☐Can you state the outcomes of the Rio Summit?
• ☐Can you define global commons and name four?
• ☐Can you explain CBDR and how Kyoto applied it?
• ☐Can you describe sacred groves as common property?
• ☐Can you give India's stand and four of its measures?
• ☐Can you contrast Southern and Northern forest movements?
• ☐Can you explain oil and water geopolitics with examples?
• ☐Can you define indigenous peoples and their main concerns?

Environment and Natural Resources: frequently asked questions