Concept:

Environmental policy:

• It is a kind of measure or unit that is taken by a different kind of organization like government and private regarding a different kind of effect of human activities on the environment.
• This is majorly created for the prevention of human-made effects on the ecosystem.
• Different kinds of environmental policies are ecosystem management, waste management, natural resources protection, and biodiversity conservation.

Explanation:

Extended Producer Responsibility:

• This policy's concept was first introduced by the Swedish Ministry of Environment in 1990.
• Today's world is facing an increasing amount of waste and its effect on the environment.
• Different governments around the world are trying to control this problem with the post-consumer phase by environmental policy.
• The correct answer is Extended Producer Responsibility.
• EPR refers to an environmental policy that sees producers responsible for the safe disposal of their products.
• It is the responsibility, that the waste generated during the production processes should be taken care of in a proper way, from an environmental and resource-saving point of view.
• Before the manufacturing of a product is commenced it should be known how the waste, which is a result of the production process, should be treated, as well as how the product should be taken care of when discarded.
• The ultimate goal of EPR is sustainable development through environmentally responsible product development and product recovery.
• Its main objective is to divert and reduce waste.
• Here producers of a product take full responsibility for their products' whole lifecycle including recycling, reuse, final disposal, and packaging.

Thus, extended producer responsibility is an environmental policy under which producers are given a significant responsibility - financial and/or physical - for the treatment or disposal of products that are no longer useful to the consumer.

Concept:

Cost-benefit analysis:

• To appraise and evaluate projects the technique of cost-benefit analysis is used.
• There are some basic ideas present in CBA.
  • ​First, we have to identify the cost and benefits of a project.
  • Then, in comparable units, we have to measure them.
  • After that, we have to compare the benefit and the cost of a project.

Explanation:

The disadvantage of cost-benefit analysis:

• Inadequate information can impair the accuracy of this analysis.
• The results may be misleading if the costs and benefits are not clearly specified and their monetary amounts are not computed appropriately.
• Another drawback of doing a cost-benefit analysis is the chance that the evaluative mechanism would result in a budget proposal.
• Not all costs and benefits can easily be assigned monetary values.

Thus, not all costs and benefits can easily be assigned monetary values is a disadvantage of cost-benefit analysis.

Additional InformationAdvantages of cost-benefits analysis:

• It aids in the simplification of complex business choices.
• It provides an objective point of view for comparing alternatives.
• This removes any biases associated with the alternatives.
• Participation and decision-making are encouraged during brainstorming sessions.
• It aids in making sound decisions and selecting the most lucrative option.

Concept:

Externalities:

• It refers to the benefits (or harms) a firm or an individual causes to another for which they are not paid.
• Externalities do not have any market in which they can be bought and sold.
• Externalities are two types negative and positive.
• Positive externality increases the utility of the third parties at no cost to them during the production or consumption of a good or service. 
• It may lead to better public health initiatives and better education, vaccinating the entire community or individual, or its choice can provide large health and welfare benefits.
• Negative externality causes a negative impact mainly on unrelated third parties which can arise during the production or consumption of a good or service. 

Explanation:

Negative Production Externality:

• Air pollution by vehicles, burning of fossil fuels etc., causing damage to agricultural crops, health hazards and also to buildings.
• Water pollution by sewage and industrial effluents damaging aquatic flora and fauna, contaminating rivers and streams.
• Greenhouse effect leading to global changes like an increase in temperature by about 0.6°C, which in future may lead to a risk of flooding of low lying areas.
• Noise pollution disrupting mental and psychological health.
• Depletion in fish stock due to overfishing causing a negative impact on common property resources.

Examples of Negative Consumption Externality:

• Higher congestion cost and breathing risk problems like asthma, and bronchitis.
• People are unable to sleep due to loud music, loudspeakers etc.
• Declining health and vitality by smoke or alcohol abuse. 
• Consumption by one consumer may cause the price to rise, making it unavailable for other consumers.
• Increased risk of accidents due to many vehicles. 

Thus, noise pollution during a constructional activity is an example of a negative production externality.

Additional Information

Examples of Positive production Externalities

• A beekeeper in an orchard enables pollination and fertilisation of orchard shrubs and trees. The value generated by pollination is more than for honey.
• The development of an airport will benefit trade and business due to increased accessibility.
• Industrial companies provide health and medical benefits to their employees saving their lives and their families lives.

Examples of Positive Consumption Externalities: 

• A good attractive house increases the market value of that area.
• Vaccination for a communicable disease reduces the chances of the spread of disease and infections in the community.
• Shifting to electrical vehicles will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases which are generated by the burning of fossil fuels. 

• Global Hectare is the unit of measurement of "Ecological Footprint".
• Ecological Footprint is the quantity of nature it took to support People or an economy.
• The Global Hectare is represented as gha.
• India has an Ecological Footprint of 1.12 global hectares.
• The Idea of Ecological Footprint was given by William Rees in 1992.

Concept:

Natural capital:

• Natural capital is the global stock of natural assets, which includes geology, soil, air, water, and all living things.
• Humans obtain a vast range of services, commonly referred to as ecosystem services, from this natural capital, that makes human life sustainable.
• It can encompass entire ecosystems like fisheries, cropland, grassland and forests, as well as other hidden and underappreciated services like soil regeneration, nitrogen fixation, nutrient recycling, pollination, and the general hydrological cycle.
• Natural capital (water, clean air) is typically self-generating, but it must be managed in a sustainable manner to avoid depletion.

Explanation:

Cropland:

• Cropland refers to land that is used for the production of crops, both temporary and permanent.
• It may include portions that are kept fallow or utilised as temporary pasture on a regular basis.
• Land used for livestock grazing is called permanent meadows and pastures.
• They include both managed and natural pastures, as well as a variety of rangeland land cover types such as grassland and wooded savannahs.
• Cropland is the natural capital that allows food to be produced.

Thus, the natural capital that provides food production is cropland.

Additional InformationGrasslands: 

• The vegetation of grassland is characterised by an almost constant cover of grasses.
• Grasslands thrive in conditions that encourage the growth of this plant cover but not of taller species, such as trees and bushes.
• Grasslands are one of the most widely distributed vegetation forms on the planet.
• They do not provide for food production. 

Forests:

• A forest is an area of terrain where trees predominate.
• It excludes land that is primarily used for agriculture or urban development.
• It contains 80 per cent of the planet's plant biomass.
• They do not provide for food production. 

Wetland:

• Wetlands are regions where the soil is covered with water or where water is present near the ground all year.
• It provides a habitat for both terrestrial and aquatic animals.
• Climate, soil, vegetation, hydrology, chemistry, and human disturbance all influence them.
• There are two sorts of water in the wetland either brackish or saltwater and freshwater.
• They do not provide for food production. 

Concept:

Capital:

• According to economic theory, capital goods or capital, are "those durable manufactured goods that are then utilised as productive inputs for further production" of products and services.
• It is an important part of the production sector.
• Capital allows us for increasing work productivity through improved equipment, a good standard of living etc.
• Examples of capital are human capital, financial capital, manufactured capital, social capital etc.

Explanation:

Thus, the correct match is (a) - (iii), (b) - (i), (c) -(iv), (d) - (ii).

Explanation:

South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE):

• The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) is a regional network.
• SANDEE was founded in November 1999 and is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
• Previously, SANDEE was based in Nepal at the IUCN-World Conservation Union.
• Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are among the South Asian countries where SANDEE works.
• It addresses South Asia's environmental concerns using economic methods and analyses.
• It is predicated on the idea, that solutions to both economic development and environmental issues are inextricably intertwined.
• As a result, SANDEE brings together scholars and institutes from across South Asia who is interested in the interconnections between development, poverty, and the environment.
• Its principal purpose is to help South Asians' development.
• It handles local and global environmental issues.

Thus, SANDEE stands for South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.

Concept:

Environmental-economic accounting:

• Natural resource accounting consists of two words i.e. natural resource and accounting.
• Natural resources consist of deposits of oil, minerals, gases, timber, and wood, and their stocks and flow in a given region.
• Accounting of Natural Resources is the process of keeping a record of stocks, and flows of resources and subsequently informing government, corporates and consumers to help in decision making so as to understand the use or consumption of natural resources and land and sustainable development.

Explanation:

G-20 or Group of twenty:

• It is an intergovernmental forum.
• It is a forum of countries that intend to promote global economic stability and sustainable growth.
• The main purpose of the G-20 is to bring together important industrialized and developing economies to discuss the global economy.
• This organization is composed of the world's largest economies.
• It declared itself as a primary venue for an international economic and financial corporation in the 2009 SUMMIT.
• It was the first organization that adopts environmental-economic accounting.
• This forum brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries:
  • Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, The Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, The United Kingdom, and The United States of America.
• The European Union is also a member of the G-20 and is represented by the President of the European Council and by the head of the European Central Bank.

Thus, G20  was the first organization to adopt environmental-economic accounting.

Additional InformationSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):

• It is an association of eight countries in South Asia — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
• SAARC provides a platform for the peoples of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding.
• It aims to accelerate the process of economic and social development in member countries.

G5:

• Group of 5 is composed of 5 nations that take a role in the rapidly evolving international order.
• It promotes dialogue and understanding between developing and developer countries to find a solution to global challenges.
• It was founded in 2005.
• The member of G5 is Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.

G7:

• It is a group made of 7 advanced economic countries that include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United State.
• The main objective of the G7 is to promote future prosperity by championing free and fair trade.

The correct answer is option 3 i.e Not to use.

• Conservation is the care and protection of resources so that they can persist for future generations.
• It includes maintaining the diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling.
• The concept of conservation of resources includes:
  • Careful Use.
  • Rational Use.
  • Preservation from Destruction.
• Conservation is similar to the preservation, but while both relate to the protection of nature, they strive to accomplish this task in different ways.
• Conservation seeks the sustainable use of nature by humans, for activities such as hunting, logging, or mining, while preservation means protecting nature from human use.

The correct answer is Gross National Product.

Key Points

• GNP - Gross National Product. 
• It is the total value of all the final products and services in a given period in terms of production by a country's residents.
• It is calculated by taking the sum of personal consumption expenditures, domestic investment, expenditure by government, net exports, and any income earned by residents from overseas investments, and deducting the income earned within the domestic economy by foreign residents.
• GDP is Gross Domestic Product. It is the national output produced in a country.
• GNP = GDP + net property income from abroad