December 2025
In short: India's wildlife, climate and conservation news this month — distilled for SI/Constable Prelims.
Current Affairs — India › Environment · 12 min read · Free to read · English & Telugu
Bilingual study notes for the Andhra Pradesh Police SI & Constable exams (SLPRB AP) by AP Police Hub, a product of Anvil Academy.
December 2025's environment round-up beyond this month's Science digest — India's Dynamic Groundwater Resources Assessment 2025, Gujarat's return as a 'Tiger State' via the Ratanmahal Sanctuary, a 30,000-animal wildlife-trafficking bust under Operation Thunder 2025, the ITPGRFA's stalled Lima talks on the world's crop genetic diversity, and India's solar-energy push.
December 2025 — At a Glance
Beyond the Great Indian Bustard verdict, new Ramsar sites and CITES COP20 outcomes already covered in this month's Science digest, December 2025 carried a genuinely separate stream of environment news. The Central Ground Water Board's annual assessment confirmed India remains the world's most groundwater-stressed major economy, even as extraction edged higher. Gujarat regained 'Tiger State' status after 33 years when a tiger was confirmed at the Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuary, while a global INTERPOL-led operation seized 30,000 live animals from illegal wildlife trade. Internationally, the ITPGRFA's Lima talks on sharing the genetic diversity behind 80% of the world's plant-based diet ended without full agreement, and back home a Parliamentary Committee pushed for faster fixes to India's solar-energy rollout even as Chandigarh topped the country's energy-efficiency rankings.
1. Groundwater — India's Most-Used, Most-Stressed Resource
The 2025 assessment
- What — The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs jointly published the National Compilation on Dynamic Groundwater Resources of India 2025, assessing groundwater exploitation across 6,762 assessment units (blocks/mandals/talukas).
- Key numbers — Total annual recharge: up marginally to 448.52 BCM from 446.9 BCM (2024). Annual extractable resources: up to 407.75 BCM. Annual extraction (2025): up to 247.22 BCM. Stage of Extraction (SoE) — how much groundwater is used relative to how much is naturally recharged — up marginally to 60.63%.
Current scenario & issues
- India's scale of use — India is the world's largest consumer of groundwater, at ~25% of total global extraction (~230 cubic km/year); groundwater sustains ~64% of irrigation, 85% of rural drinking water and ~50% of urban water needs; ~87% of extracted groundwater goes to agriculture.
- Contaminants & overexploitation — Specific contaminants of concern: Nitrate (Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra), Fluoride (Haryana, Karnataka), Arsenic (Ganga-Brahmaputra floodplains) and Uranium (Rajasthan, Punjab). Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi extract groundwater at over 100% of the recharge rate.
Way forward
- Institutional & legal reform — Creating a National Water Commission by merging CWC and CGWB (Mihir Shah Committee); separating groundwater rights from land ownership to empower local bodies and formalise access for marginalised communities.
- Sustainable practice — Water-efficient agriculture (crop diversification, precision farming, zero tillage); rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge, scaling traditional systems like Rajasthan's Johad; community empowerment through programmes like Telangana's Mission Kakatiya (tank restoration, minor-irrigation revival).
2. Wildlife & Species Conservation
Ratanmahal Sanctuary — Gujarat regains 'Tiger State' status
- What — Gujarat regained its status as a 'Tiger State' after 33 years, following confirmation of a tiger's presence in the Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuary. Gujarat has now become the only Indian state hosting lion, tiger and leopard simultaneously.
- About the sanctuary — Located in Dahod district, central Gujarat, along the Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh border; declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1982; harbours the maximum sloth-bear population in the state, alongside leopard, nilgai and four-horned antelope; its forests form the catchment of the Panama River.
Operation Thunder 2025
- What — ~30,000 live animals were seized under Operation Thunder 2025 — coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO), with support from the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife and Forestry Crime (ICCWC) — to intercept and seize illegally traded wildlife and forestry commodities across the global supply chain and dismantle the criminal networks behind them.
3. Global Environmental Governance, Reports & Energy
ITPGRFA — Lima talks on the world's crop genetic diversity
- What — The 11th session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) concluded in Lima, Peru; talks on enhancing the Multilateral System (MLS) for access-and-benefit-sharing failed. The MLS governs genetic resources from 35 major food crops and 29 forages — together ~80% of the world's plant-based diet.
- Outcome & India's stand — A compromise adopted the revised Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), but deferred payment rates, Annex I expansion and Digital Sequence Information rules to GB12. India sought to safeguard sovereign rights and fair benefit-sharing, opposing the draft as opaque.
Reports, awards & India's solar push — compact roundup
December 2025 — environmental governance & energy glossary| Item | Key fact |
|---|
| State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) 2025 | Published biennially by the FAO — a periodic global stocktake of land and water resources underpinning food security. |
| Global Environment Outlook (GEO) | Published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) — its flagship periodic assessment of the state of the global environment. |
| National Energy Conservation Award (NECA) 2025 | Chandigarh ranked 1st; awarded annually by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, based on the State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) — developed with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), covering buildings, industry, transport and municipal sectors. |
| Solar Energy in India | Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy recommended fixes for regional imbalance, land acquisition, transmission Right-of-Way compensation and storage R&D; present capacity ~129 GW (2025), target 292 GW by 2030; ~24 lakh households adopted rooftop solar under PM Surya Ghar by December 2025. |