Major Components of Green Urbanization and Their Relative Importance

Aspirations for being urban in character are considered as a significant phenomenon of socio-economic development in developing countries. Urbanization, in economic sense only, means intensive economic activities by a large number of people in a relatively small plot of land, where secondary and tertiary sectors play a dominant role and where certain amenities are bound to be available for general citizens, though it doesn't seem complete without addressing the issue of nature. Though urbanization of an area is tried to be measured by some academicians through applying the method of indexing with available indicators and their data-driven weights, environmental issues are not incorporated there for any kind of factor analysis to identify their individual relative importance. This chapter intervenes at this juncture and focuses on construction of an urbanization index for some selected “town area units” belonging to some selected districts of West Bengal and run a factor analysis of it on some identified environmental factors. It observes negative relationship between QVSE and IGU, positive association between IGU and PR, and positive relation between IWDS and IGU.

State-Level Status of Renewable Energy Development in India

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are essentially inexhaustible like sunlight, wind, hydropower, and various forms of biomass. India has a huge renewable energy potential, and the availability of renewable energy sources is widely dispersed. The key objectives of the chapter are to assess the state development of renewable energy in India. It is seen that the average percentage users of solar power in India has increased from 0.27% in 2001 to 0.44% in 2011. ANOVA results indicate there is significant difference among the states of India in renewable energy development in comparison to their potential capacities, and there is enough scope for the development of renewable energy like solar energy in India.

An Empirical Study on Unique Sustainability Nexus

In order to understand the role of sustainability in the era of development, the broader purpose of the chapter is to examine the quantitative linkages between HDI and environmental performance for the selected developed and developing nations from 2002 to 2017. To test if the degree of economic expansion and standard of living has a systematic relationship with the level of environmental deterioration (existence of Kuznets curve hypotheses) in a country, the study employs fixed effects panel modeling on the selected country set. Several other macroeconomic and capital flow variables are considered in the extended empirical model development in order to supplement the holistic review of the situation. In addition, the study finds its novelty by considering relevant governance indicators in order to map the umbrella view. The findings of the panel analysis discover HDI to be positively associated with EPI, depicting higher human capital accumulation leading to lower environmental damage and better environmental performance. Additionally, the results confirm the deviation from EKC hypotheses in the context of developing nations while the same is established in case of developed nations.

Trade and Environment Nexus

One major concern that has emerged in the post-globalization period is climate change. Given that pollution and environmental degradation is a public bad, the adverse change in the climate of one region will have ubiquitous effect and therefore will hamper the process of sustainable development across the globe. There are substantial links between international trade and environmental issues – one being that of the perverted comparative advantage which evolves mainly out of the neglect of environmental damage caused by productive activities. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to build a theoretical framework related to intra-industry trade with production differentiation based on the environmental quality of the goods and price to address how liberalization of trade happens to affect the environment of the trading nations. The study shows a steep decline in the environmental quality of the good that was relatively cleaner under autarky while a meagre improvement in the environmental quality of the relatively dirtier good. Hence, it is revealed hereby how trade alters the nature of international inequality in the environmental quality of the productive activities.

Urbanization and Ownership of Polluting Vehicles

Most Indian cities are experiencing rapid urbanization, and a majority of the country's population is expected to live in cities within a span of the next two decades. The rapid development in urban India has also resulted in a tremendous increase in the number of motor vehicles, and in some cities, this has doubled in the last decade. This is the main source of air pollution and poor ambient air quality impacting millions of dwellers. This chapter presents a review of the vehicular population in urban Indian cities with its pattern and determinants. The transport system is shared by two parts such as public transport as well as private transport system. To reduce the vehicular pollution, we have to emphasize on public transport system rather than private transport. In an underdeveloped country, it is very tough to use public transport. Due to lack of government fund, new technology, proper checking, etc., private cars, buses, and tracks are increased rapidly. We use these randomly for transport purposes. This causes pollution.

Economic Growth and Environmental Impacts of Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Market Economies

The chapter investigates the role of FDI on growth, the role of FDI on environmental quality, and the role of environmental quality on FDI in 23 emerging market economies over the period of 1993-2014 by panel VAR analysis. It observes that FDI contributes to economic growth and environmental degradation in emerging market economies. In addition, environmental degradation attracts FDI inflows into host emerging market economies. The results support pollution haven hypothesis and contradict pollution halo hypothesis.

Ecological Vision of Mahatma Gandhi in Contemporary World

Environmental degradation and concern for environmental protection and maintaining ecological balance in the last few decades has become the subject of serious political contention and public outcry. Human activity in the name of development has adversely affected the global biodiversity in an unprecedented manner. Eco-development demands structural and moral transformation of the current social, political, and value system. It presupposes a participatory political structure that allows maximum devolution of power to the local communities. And such a coordination and cooperation between development discourse and survival of nature can be found in the works and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi.

Political Economy of the Green Innovations in the Construction Industry

Green innovations are important in enhancing sustainability performance of the industries and of their outputs. They can influence the carbon emissions, energy efficiency of the industries affecting global green trade, and energy policies. Construction industry is one of the main industries contributing to the global economy and sustainable development. It has, however, bigger environmental footprint than majority of the other industries. Green innovations can contribute to the reduction in the environmental footprint of the construction industry. For this reason, green innovation in the construction industry needs to be supported by the effective policies. This chapter aims to introduce and investigate the political economy of the green innovations in the construction industry. This chapter emphasizes that the effectiveness of the green innovations in the construction industry can be fostered by effective political economy and strategies.

Green Growth and Energy Use in India

The objective of the chapter is to analyze the trend and pattern of energy use, energy challenges of India, and the sustainability through green growth strategy. The study is based on secondary data collected from energy outlook, integrated energy policy, world development indicators, and RBI database. Energy security and sustainable development are critical issues to ensure India's economic growth and its human development. Transport sector energy demand witnesses a noticeable increase, growing by almost three times, from 125 Mtoe in 2012 to about 360 Mtoe in 2018. India has a vast supply of renewable energy resources, and it has one of the largest programs in the world for deploying renewable energy products and systems. The share of oil has in particular fallen from 36% to 33%, while that of natural gas has increased from 23% to 24%, and that of renewable energy (including nuclear and large hydro) has gone up from 12.5% to 14% in the period 2005-15. There is urgent need to have proper integrated energy policy in India with emphasis more on renewable sources of energy.

Emission Permit Trading

After the Kyoto Protocol, the new concept of carbon trading emerged. The carbon emission can be controlled by cap and tax system. Cap and trade is the permit that determines the maximum amounts of carbon emission. Carbon tax is imposed on amount of carbon emission. Other instruments of carbon emission are border adjustment and cash payment. Carbon permit is determined by market mechanism through demand and supply. Generally, there are two types of markets: regulated and voluntary. The chapter analyzes mechanisms and discusses the mitigating policies like Kyoto Protocol and tries to examine all aspects related to carbon leakage. The developed countries import carbon-intensive goods. Underdeveloped countries produce and export carbon-intensive goods. In this study, the authors show the prospect of carbon trading and various effects of carbon emission reduction policies on a theoretical framework.