Asia Bangladesh Mithun Roy Chowdhury, President, Save Nature & Wildlife (SNW),
Bangladesh, insisted that the people of Bangladesh raise their voice against
Tipaimukh Dam, being constructed by the
Government of India. He said the Tipaimukh Dam project will be another "death trap for Bangladesh like the
Farakka Barrage," which would lead to an
environmental disaster for 50 million people in the
Meghna River basin. He said that this project will start
desertification in Bangladesh. Bangladesh was ranked the most polluted country in the world due to defective automobiles, particularly diesel-powered vehicles, and hazardous gases from industry. The air is a hazard to Bangladesh's human health, ecology, and economic progress.
China China's environmental movement is becoming stronger, with the establishment of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are advocating policy changes and placing environmental causes on the national agenda. These activists have the tendency to spontaneously join with local citizens, specialists, as well as other actors to work on specific environmental concerns. Grassroots mobilization and protests have also become more common, frequently focusing on localized concerns such as pollution, forest depletion, or biodiversity conservation. Such campaigns may not necessarily attract extensive national media coverage, but collectively they promote environmental awareness and promote sustainability in China. Environmental protests in China are increasingly expanding their scope of concerns, calling for broader participation "in the name of the public." The Chinese have realized the ability of riots and protests to have success and had led to an increase in disputes in China by 30% since 2005 to more than 50,000 events. Protests cover topics such as environmental issues,
land loss, income, and political issues. They have also grown in size from about 10 people or fewer in the mid-1990s to 52 people per incident in 2004. China has more relaxed environmental laws than other countries in Asia, so many polluting factories have relocated to China, causing
pollution in China.
Water pollution,
water scarcity,
soil pollution,
soil degradation, and
desertification are issues currently in discussion in China. The
groundwater table of the
North China Plain is dropping by 1.5 m (5 ft) per year. This groundwater table occurs in the region of China that produces 40% of the country's grain.
The Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims works to confront legal issues associated with environmental justice by hearing court cases that expose the narratives of victims of environmental pollution. As China continues domestic economic reforms and integration into global markets, there emerge new linkages between China's domestic
environmental degradation and global ecological crisis. Comparing the experience of China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan reveals that the impact of environmental activism is heavily modified by domestic political context, particularly the level of integration of mass-based protests and policy advocacy NGOs. Hinted by the history of neighboring Japan and South Korea, the possible convergence of NGOs and anti-pollution protests will have significant implications for Chinese environmental politics in the coming years.
India Environmental and public health is an ongoing struggle within India. The first seed of an environmental movement in India was the foundation in 1964 of
Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, a labour cooperative started by
Chandi Prasad Bhatt. It was inaugurated by
Sucheta Kriplani and founded on land donated by Shyma Devi. This initiative was eventually followed up with the
Chipko movement starting in 1974. The most severe single event underpinning the movement was the
Bhopal gas leakage on 3 December 1984. 40 tons of
methyl isocyanate was released, immediately killing 2,259 people and ultimately affecting 700,000 citizens. India has a national campaign against
Coca-Cola and
Pepsi Cola plants due to their practices of drawing groundwater and contaminating fields with sludge. The movement is characterized by local struggles against intensive
aquaculture farms. The most influential part of the environmental movement in India is the anti-dam movement. Dam creation has been thought of as a way for India to catch up with the West by connecting to the
power grid with giant dams, coal or oil-powered plants, or nuclear plants. Jhola Aandolan a mass
movement is conducting as fighting against
polyethylene carry bags uses and promoting cloth/jute/paper carry bags to protect the environment and
nature. Activists in the Indian environmental movement consider global warming, sea levels rising, and glaciers retreating decreasing the amount of water flowing into streams to be the biggest challenges for them to face in the early 21st century. Based in Aurangabad Maharashtra, it seeks the participation of children, youth, researchers, spiritual, and political leaders to organise awareness programmes and conferences. Child activists against
air pollution in India and
greenhouse gas emissions by India include
Licypriya Kangujam. From the mid to late 2010s a coalition of urban and Indigenous communities came together to protect
Aarey, a forest located in the suburbs of
Mumbai. Farming and indigenous communities have also opposed pollution and clearing caused by mining in states such as
Goa,
Odisha, and
Chhattisgarh.
Middle East Environmental activism in the
Arab world, including
Middle East and North Africa (MENA), mobilizes around issues such as
industrial pollution, and insistence that the government provides
irrigation. The
League of Arab States has one specialized sub-committee, of 12 standing specialized subcommittees in the Foreign Affairs Ministerial Committees, which deals with Environmental Issues. Countries in the League of Arab States have demonstrated an interest in environmental issues, on paper some environmental activists have doubts about the level of commitment to environmental issues; being a part of the world community may have obliged these countries to portray concern for the environment. The initial level of environmental awareness may be the creation of a ministry of the environment. The year of establishment of a ministry is also indicative of the level of engagement. Saudi Arabia was the first to establish environmental law in 1992 followed by Egypt in 1994. Somalia is the only country without environmental law. In 2010 the Environmental Performance Index listed Algeria as the top Arab country at 42 of 163; Morocco was at 52 and Syria at 56. The
Environmental Performance Index measures the ability of a country to actively manage and protect its environment and the health of its citizens. A weighted index is created by giving 50% weight for environmental health objective (health) and 50% for ecosystem vitality (ecosystem); values range from 0–100. No Arab countries were in the top quartile, and 7 countries were in the lowest quartile.
South Korea and Taiwan South Korea and Taiwan experienced similar growth in industrialization from 1965 to 1990 with few environmental controls. South Korea's
Han River and
Nakdong River were so polluted by unchecked dumping of industrial waste that they were close to being classified as biologically dead. Taiwan's formula for balanced growth was to prevent industrial concentration and encourage manufacturers to set up in the countryside. This led to 20% of the farmland being polluted by industrial waste and 30% of the rice grown on the island was contaminated with heavy metals. Both countries had spontaneous environmental movements drawing participants from different classes. Their demands were linked with issues of employment, occupational health, and agricultural crisis. They were also quite militant; the people learned that protesting can bring results. The polluting factories were forced to make immediate improvements to the conditions or pay compensation to victims. Some were even forced to shut down or move locations. The people were able to force the government to come out with new restrictive rules on toxins, industrial waste, and air pollution. All of these new regulations caused the migration of those polluting industries from Taiwan and South Korea to China and other countries in Southeast Asia with more relaxed environmental laws.
Conservation movements in India and Burma during Colonial times The modern conservation movement was manifested in the forests of
India, with the practical application of scientific conservation principles. The
conservation ethic that began to evolve included three core principles: human activity damaged the
environment, there was a
civic duty to maintain the environment for future generations, and scientific, empirically based methods should be applied to ensure this duty was carried out.
James Ranald Martin was prominent in promoting this ideology, publishing many
medico-topographical reports that demonstrated the scale of damage wrought through large-scale deforestation and desiccation, and lobbying extensively for the
institutionalization of forest conservation activities in
British India through the establishment of
Forest Departments. The
Madras Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by
Alexander Gibson, a professional
botanist who systematically adopted a forest conservation programme based on scientific principles. This was the first case of state management of forests in the world. Eventually, the government under
Governor-General Lord Dalhousie introduced the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation programme in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to
other colonies, as well as the
United States. In 1860, the Department banned the use of
shifting cultivation.
Hugh Cleghorn's 1861 manual,
The forests and gardens of South India, became the definitive work on the subject and was widely used by forest assistants in the subcontinent.
Dietrich Brandis joined the British service in 1856 as superintendent of the teak forests of Pegu division in eastern
Burma. During that time Burma's
teak forests were controlled by militant
Karen tribals. He introduced the "taungya" system, in which Karen villagers provided labour for clearing, planting, and weeding teak plantations. Also, he formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. Brandis as well as founded the Imperial Forestry School at Dehradun.
Africa South Africa In 2022, a court in South Africa has confirmed the constitutional right of the country's citizens to an environment that is not harmful to their health, which includes the right to clean air. The case is referred to "Deadly Air" case. The area includes one of South Africa's largest cities, Ekurhuleni, and a large portion of the Mpumalanga province.
Americas Latin America After the
International Environmental Conference in Stockholm in 1972 Latin American officials returned with a high hope of growth and protection of the fairly untouched natural resources. Governments spent millions of dollars, and created departments and pollution standards. However, the outcomes have not always been what officials had initially hoped. Activists blame this on growing urban populations and industrial growth. Many Latin American countries have had a large inflow of immigrants that are living in substandard housing. Enforcement of the pollution standards is lax and penalties are minimal; in Venezuela, the largest penalty for violating an environmental law is 50,000
bolivar fine ($3,400) and three days in jail. In the 1970s or 1980s, many Latin American countries were transitioning from military dictatorships to democratic governments.
Brazil In 1992, Brazil came under scrutiny with the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has a history of little environmental awareness. It has the highest
biodiversity in the world and also the highest amount of
habitat destruction. One-third of the world's forests lie in Brazil. It is home to the largest river,
The Amazon, and the largest rainforest, the
Amazon rainforest. People have raised funds to create state parks and increase the consciousness of people who have destroyed forests and polluted waterways. From 1973 to the 1990s, and then in the 2000s, indigenous communities and rubber tappers also carried out blockades that protected much rainforest. From the late 2000s onwards, community resistance saw the formerly pro-mining southeastern state of Minas Gerais cancel a number of projects that threatened to destroy forests. In northern Brazil’s Pará state the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers Movement) and others campaigned and took part in occupations and blockades against the environmentally harmful Carajás iron ore mine.
United States '' by
Henry David Thoreau The movement in the
United States began in the late 19th century, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as
John Muir and
Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions. Thoreau was interested in peoples' relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the 1854 book
Walden, which argues that people should become intimately close with nature. Muir came to believe in nature's inherent right, especially after spending time hiking in
Yosemite Valley and studying both the ecology and geology. He successfully lobbied congress to form
Yosemite National Park and went on to set up the
Sierra Club in 1892. The conservationist principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature became the bedrock of modern environmentalism. Beginning in the conservation movement at the beginning of the 20th century, the contemporary environmental movement's roots can be traced back to
Rachel Carson's 1962 book
Silent Spring,
Murray Bookchin's 1962 book
Our Synthetic Environment, and
Paul R. Ehrlich's 1968
The Population Bomb. American environmentalists have campaigned against
nuclear weapons and
nuclear power in the 1960s and 1970s,
acid rain in the 1980s,
ozone depletion and
deforestation in the 1990s, and most recently
climate change and
global warming. Individuals such as
Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci and
Dorothy Richardson have attempted to change attitudes towards individual species of animal experiencing
habitat loss and
over-exploitation. The United States passed many pieces of environmental legislation in the 1970s, such as the
Clean Water Act, the
Clean Air Act, the
Endangered Species Act, and the
National Environmental Policy Act. These remain as the foundations for current environmental standards. In the 1990s, the
anti-environmental 'Wise Use' movement emerged in the United States.
Europe The
EU's environmental policy was formally founded by a
European Council declaration and the first five-year environment programme was adopted. The
polluter pays principle was well established in
environmental economics before it was included in the
Single European Act. Following the
1973 oil crisis the
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) passed groundbreaking laws on
energy efficiency.
Germany During the 1930s the Nazis had elements that were supportive of animal rights, zoos and wildlife, and took several measures to ensure their protection. In 1933 the government created a stringent animal-protection law and in 1934, (The Reich Hunting Law) was enacted which limited hunting.
Several Nazis were environmentalists (notably
Rudolf Hess), and species protection and
animal welfare were significant issues in the regime.
Spain During the
Spanish Revolution in 1936, anarchist-controlled territories undertook several environmental reforms, which were possibly the largest in the world at the time.
Daniel Guerin notes that
anarchist territories would diversify crops, extend
irrigation, initiate
reforestation, start tree nurseries and help to establish
naturist communities. Once there was a link discovered between air pollution and tuberculosis, the
CNT shut down several metal factories.
United Kingdom The late 19th century saw the formation of the first wildlife conservation societies. The zoologist
Alfred Newton published a series of investigations into the ''Desirability of establishing a 'Close-time' for the preservation of indigenous animals'' between 1872 and 1903. His advocacy for legislation to protect animals from hunting during the mating season led to the formation of the Plumage League (later the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) in 1889. The society acted as a
protest group campaigning against the use of
great crested grebe and
kittiwake skins and feathers in
fur clothing. The Society campaigned for greater protection for the indigenous birds of the
island. The Society attracted growing support from the suburban middle-classes, and influenced the passage of the
Sea Birds Preservation Act in 1869 as the first nature protection law in the world. It also attracted support from many other influential figures, such as the
ornithologist Professor
Alfred Newton. By 1900, public support for the organisation had grown, and it had over 25,000 members. The
garden city movement incorporated many environmental concerns into its
urban planning manifesto; the
Socialist League and
The Clarion movement also began to advocate measures of
nature conservation. , an influential thinker who articulated the Romantic ideal of environmental protection and conservation For most of the century from 1850 to 1950, the primary environmental cause was the mitigation of air pollution. The
Coal Smoke Abatement Society was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs. It was founded by artist Sir
William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were earlier pieces of legislation, the
Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. Systematic and general efforts on behalf of the environment only began in the late 19th century; it grew out of the amenity movement in Britain in the 1870s, which was a reaction to
industrialization, the growth of cities, and worsening air and
water pollution. Starting with the formation of the
Commons Preservation Society in 1865, the movement championed rural preservation against the encroachments of industrialisation.
Robert Hunter, solicitor for the society, worked with
Hardwicke Rawnsley,
Octavia Hill, and
John Ruskin to lead a successful campaign to prevent the construction of railways to carry slate from the quarries, which would have ruined the unspoilt valleys of
Newlands and
Ennerdale. This success led to the formation of the Lake District Defence Society (later to become The Friends of the Lake District). In 1893 Hill, Hunter and Rawnsley agreed to set up a national body to coordinate environmental conservation efforts across the country; the "
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty" was formally inaugurated in 1894. The organisation obtained secure footing through the 1907 National Trust Bill, which gave the trust the status of a statutory corporation, and the bill was passed in August 1907. Early interest in the environment was a feature of the
Romantic movement in the early 19th century. The poet
William Wordsworth had travelled extensively in England's
Lake District and wrote that it is a "sort of national property in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy". An early "Back-to-Nature" movement, which anticipated the romantic ideal of modern environmentalism, was advocated by intellectuals such as
John Ruskin,
William Morris,
George Bernard Shaw and
Edward Carpenter, who were all against
consumerism,
pollution and other activities that were harmful to the natural world. The movement was a reaction to the urban conditions of the industrial towns, where sanitation was awful, pollution levels intolerable and housing terribly cramped. Idealists championed the rural life as a mythical
utopia and advocated a return to it. John Ruskin argued that people should return to a "small piece of English ground, beautiful, peaceful, and fruitful. We will have no steam engines upon it ... we will have plenty of flowers and vegetables ... we will have some music and poetry; the children will learn to dance to it and sing it." Ruskin moved out of London and together with his friends started to think about the
post-industrial society. The predictions Ruskin made for the post-
coal utopia coincided with
forecasting published by the economist
William Stanley Jevons. Practical ventures in the establishment of small cooperative farms were even attempted and old rural traditions, without the "taint of manufacture or the canker of artificiality", were enthusiastically revived, including the
Morris dance and the
maypole. The Coal Smoke Abatement Society (now
Environmental Protection UK) was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs. It was founded by artist Sir
William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were earlier pieces of legislation, the
Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. It also provided for sanctions against factories that emitted large amounts of black smoke. This law's provisions were extended in 1926 with the Smoke Abatement Act to include other emissions, such as soot, ash, and gritty particles, and to empower local authorities to impose their own regulations. It was only under the impetus of the
Great Smog of 1952 in London, which almost brought the city to a standstill and may have caused upward of 6,000 deaths, that the
Clean Air Act 1956 was passed and airborne pollution in the city was first tackled. Financial incentives were offered to householders to replace open coal fires with alternatives (such as installing gas fires) or those who preferred, to burn coke instead (a byproduct of town gas production) which produces minimal smoke. 'Smoke control areas' were introduced in some towns and cities where only smokeless fuels could be burnt and power stations were relocated away from cities. The act formed an important impetus to modern environmentalism and caused a rethinking of the dangers of environmental degradation to people's quality of life.
Oceania Australia New Zealand ==See also==