Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. The reality of the increased environmental challenges facing humanity requires a serious rethink of the current systems of production and consumption. The transition to a new development paradigm requires a policy that is based on and guided by science and scientific data, and change in investment patterns. It requires government, science and business to work in a collaborative manner. In this context, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Science-Policy-Business Forum’s efforts in this direction are welcome. Clean, greener and more efficient solutions are already available for many of the environmental and developmental challenges. These solutions are scalable and effective only when supported by timely policy interventions, regulatory and governance framework, and have access to finance. The policy is crucial to ensure that funding and investment shifts from those ventures that push the planet to the tipping point to green investments and more sustainable markets, resulting in a healthier planet. This is obvious. The Earth is under stress: 60% of the ecosystems have been depleted; consumption of natural resources is expected to rise by as much as six-fold in 2050, and the world’s population will have increased to about 8.5 billion by 2030. Concerted action by governments and businesses based and driven by scientific data is essential, on a coordinated, global basis.