Editorials/Opinions Analysis For UPSC 12 April 2025

Content:

1. Dire efforts
2. The Beijing India Report as milestone and opportunity

Dire efforts

Background :

• Colossal Biosciences is pioneering de-extinction: reviving species long extinct, using genomic technology.
• The effort is led by George Church (Harvard geneticist), with projects like:
  • Reviving the woolly mammoth to combat global warming.
  • Attempting to resurrect the dire wolf, an extinct canid species.

Relevance : GS 3(Science and Technology) , GS 4(Ethics )

Practice Question: Discuss the ethical issues involved in reviving extinct species like the Dire Wolf. Also, shed light on the ethical principles that should be followed in the process. (250 Words)

Dire Wolf (Canis dirus)

•  Era: Pleistocene (~250,000 – 10,000 years ago)
•  Range: North & South America
•  Size: ~60–70 kg; heavier and stockier than gray wolves
•  Diet: Hunted large prey — bison, horses, possibly mammoths
•  Fossils: Most famously from La Brea Tar Pits, California
•  Genetics: Not a gray wolf ancestor; distinct lineage, diverged ~5.7 million years ago
•  Extinction: Likely due to climate change + prey loss

The Scientific Process and Achievements

• Woolly mammoth DNA has been extracted from fossils and compared with modern elephant DNA.
• Through CRISPR-like gene editing, mammoth traits (e.g., thick fur, cold resistance) are being recreated in elephants.
• Aim: produce a mammoth-elephant hybrid embryo, possibly incubated in an elephant’s womb.
• With dire wolves, scientists edited only 20 genes in gray wolves to birth three snow-white wolves — but:
  • The result is genetically still a gray wolf.
  • The project lacks peer-reviewed validation.
• The attempt does showcase technological precision in genome editing, but not successful de-extinction.

Critique of Conservation Claims

• The conservation rationale is weak and unconvincing:
  • Focus on resurrecting extinct species distracts from saving currently endangered species.
  • Billions of dollars are required for such futuristic ventures, with uncertain ecological impact.
  • Immediate biodiversity loss from habitat destruction, pollution, poaching, and climate change needs urgent attention.
• Conservation is about ecosystem restoration, not cosmetic revival of charismatic species.

Ecological and Climate Link

• Pleistocene Park (Siberia) experiment: Reintroducing cold-resistant animals (e.g., bison) to restore grasslands.
• Idea: grazing animals maintain grasslands, which:
  • Reflect more sunlight than shrub forests.
  • Help in slowing permafrost thaw → lowers methane emissions.
• However, grasslands cannot reverse warming; their impact is marginal and long-term.

Ethical and Regulatory Concerns

• Gene editing — especially for non-health purposes — needs global bioethical oversight.
• Reference to He Jiankui’s controversial gene-edited human babies signals a need for caution.
• Colossal’s work, though cutting-edge, must be monitored under strict ethical frameworks.

Conclusion

• De-extinction is more spectacle than solution for conservation.
• It risks diverting funds, policy attention, and public perception from real-world biodiversity crises.
• Conservation requires protecting existing species, habitats, and restoring ecosystems, not recreating evolutionary history in labs.

The Beijing India Report as milestone and opportunity

Context & Background

• Marks 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), a global gender equality agenda.
• India has seen legal progress: Domestic Violence Act, POSH Act, and increased focus on women’s economic empowerment.
• But implementation gaps persist, especially in rural India, creating a divide between legal rights and lived experiences.

Relevance : GS 1(Indian Society) , GS 2(Social Issues)

Practice Question : Discuss the need for integrating gender perspectives into climate policies in India. How can women contribute to climate resilience, particularly in rural and indigenous communities? (150 words)

Gender and Climate: The Missing Link

• Rural women are most vulnerable to climate change impacts due to:
  • Low access to resources, decision-making power, healthcare, education.
  • Concentration in the agrarian economy.

• Climate stressors include:
  • Extreme heat, erratic rains, food insecurity, forced migration, leading to:
    • Rising hysterectomies, infertility, menstrual issues.
    • 33% income loss, especially from non-farm livelihoods.

• Unpaid care work (water, fuel) increases due to resource scarcity — 71% of women’s work hours are unpaid.

Policy Gaps

• Climate finance focuses on infrastructure: green energy, transport, with minimal gender consideration.
• Only 6% of climate policies mention women, and 1% mention the poor (FAO).
• Rise in temperature → rise in gender violence:
  • 1°C ↑ → 8% ↑ in physical violence, 7.3% ↑ in sexual violence (India-specific data).

Women as Agents of Climate Action

• Rural women’s traditional knowledge critical for:
  • Sustainable agriculture, seed conservation, ecosystem protection.
• Women-led collectives have:
  • Shared workloads, boosted productivity, acted as first responders during climate disasters.
• Urban vs Rural priorities:
  • Urban: waste, pollution.
  • Rural/Tribal: Mahua (forest-based economy), Mao (security), Migration (distress-driven).

Key Recommendations

Policy Level

• Integrate robust gender lens in the Beijing+30 Report.
• Design gender-audited climate budgets to avoid greenwashing.
• Ensure gender-responsive NAPCC, SAPCC, and gram sabha-level implementation.
• Promote livelihood diversification, especially non-farm, for rural women.
• Build climate support hubs: disaster relief, health, migration, reproductive rights.

Programmatic Level

• Enable community consultations with women’s voices.
• Promote women’s leadership in climate governance and green energy.
• Develop climate resilience indicators and gather gender-disaggregated data.
• Address human–animal conflict with a gender-sensitive lens.

Private Sector & Innovation

• Green finance must support:
  • Women-led enterprises, green innovation, and climate-tech accessible to women.
• Invest in human capital in climate-vulnerable zones for resilience-building.
• Encourage multi-stakeholder partnerships:
  • Govt + NGOs + private sector + academia + community = inclusive climate action.

Conclusion: A Missed Yet Transformative Opportunity

• The 2024 Beijing India Report lacks gender-climate integration — a major policy gap.
• Bridging this could empower women as key actors in resilience, sustainability, and climate justice.
• It’s a milestone moment to redefine gender equality by rooting it in climate resilience and inclusivity.