Deteriorating environmental ecosystems are a cause of concern and the level of climate change has been threatening in nature. Apart from putting the life of living things, including humans, at risk, climate change has been causing a severe dent in the socio-economic landscape.
Today, environmental degradation is happening at a faster rate. Unprecedented disruption in natural seasonal patterns stamps this fact that climate change is taking a toll on our socio-economic landscape. In other words, weather events continue to escalate, leaving millions of lives struggling to survive extreme heat, devastating floods, and destructive storms across global geographies.
To address the grave problem of a fast deteriorating environment, it is imperative to understand the basics of environmental management as well as environmental governance.
Environmental management is the practical, science-based process of planning, monitoring, regulating and improving processes. It shows how natural resources are used so that development happens without degrading ecosystems, public health, or future livelihoods.
Environmental governance is the institutional, legal and policy framework through which environmental management is guided, regulated and made accountable. It deals with laws, policies and standards. Notably, coordination across departments; decision-making, transparency and accountability; stakeholder participation (communities, industry, government) and integration of environment into development planning also falls under the domain of environmental governance.
Precisely, environmental management is what we do on the ground; environmental governance is how and who decides, regulates and ensures accountability.
As far as addressing the problems is concerned, it’s the responsibility of every stakeholder in the system, whether, government, organisations or individuals to contribute in their own ways to protect the environment. Here it’s the awareness about the environmental challenges which forms the basis of any mitigation plan to protect and promote healthy environmental practices.
In this issue of SHAECH Magazine, we have focussed on the role of educational institutions in addressing the environmental challenges. Generally speaking, the schools are well positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of Earth by instilling environmental awareness and sustainability practices in their students. Serving as a foundation for knowledge and responsibility, the schools can ensure that students understand the importance of protecting the environment and develop eco habits.
Sajjad Bazaz