Biodiversity Conservation

India’s fourth national report to the Convention on Biological Diversity

This latest report focuses on the threats to biodiversity, status of implementation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan and progress achieved towards meeting the 2010 biodiversity target.

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Wetland Management

Report on Lakshadweep wetlands/coral reefs

This is a report on the review and assessment of the Lakshadweep Coral reef wetland ecosystem at Agati and Kavaratii Islands included under National wetland conservation and management programme of the MoEF.

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Disaster Management

National disaster management guidelines: management of landslides and snow avalanches

This document details the guidelines aimed at institutionalising the landslide hazard mitigation efforts, to make society aware of the various aspects of landslide hazard in the country and to prepare the society to take suitable action to reduce both risks and costs associated with this hazard. Includes regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks with defined time schedules for all activities.

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Climate Change

Responding to climate change in South Asia: Draft

This draft report by World Bank addresses the climate challenge faced by South Asia and calls for integrated climate friendly approaches in country development policies, taking into account country risks, needs, demands & institutional structures.

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Agriculture

Biotech crops in India: the dawn of a new era

This publication aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date status of the field trials and commercialization of biotech crops in India in 2008. It also includes the most authoritative coverage and statistics of Bt cotton, including hectarage of Bt cotton hybrids planted in India, numbers of farmers growing hybrids and approval of different events and hybrids in India from 2002 to 2008.

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Climate Change

Roadmap to Copenhagen speech

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of UK, delivered a speech on the Roadmap to Copenhagen manifesto on the challenge of climate change and development in London on Friday 26th June 2009.

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Natural Disasters

Annual disaster statistical review 2008: the numbers and trends

This publication reports on the human and economic losses caused by natural disasters in 2008 with figures based on the EM-DAT database with comparisons to previous years. It asserts that although fewer disasters occurred in 2008, events had a larger impact than usual on human settlements. In 2008 once again, large numbers of persons were affected by a few natural disasters.

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Water Resources

Court order on the illegal boring of groundwater in Khurpatal lake

Construction of a new housing project adjacent to the Khurpa tal by the Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO) has caused afresh hue and cry among the villagers in the surrounding area when Dr. Ajay S. Rawat, Professor of History in Kumaon University filed a PIL against the illegal boring of groundwater in the area this January.

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Water Resources

PIL on the illegal boring of groundwater in Khurpatal lake

Construction of a new housing project adjacent to the Khurpa tal by the Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO) has caused afresh hue and cry among the villagers in the surrounding area when Dr. Ajay S. Rawat, Professor of History in Kumaon University filed a PIL against the illegal boring of groundwater in the area this January.

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Wildlife

Bhindawas wildlife sanctuary as eco-sensitive zone: draft notification for objections or suggestions

Whereas, the Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary (about 80 kilometers from West of Delhi) attracts around 35,000 variety of migratory birds belonging to over 250 species during winter and water problem at Bharatpur National Park of Rajasthan, this Sanctuary provides an alternate wintering site to the migratory water fowls which has enhanced its importance; And Whereas, it is necessary to conserve and pro

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Agriculture

GM crops: global socio-economic and environmental impacts 1996-2007

This study presents the findings of research into the global socio-economic and environmental impact of biotech crops in the twelve years since they were first commercially planted on a significant area. It focuses on the farm level economic effects, the production effects, the environmental impact resulting from changes in the use of insecticides and herbicides, and the

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Energy

Alternative fuels for transportation: a sustainability assessment of technologies within an International Energy Agency scenario

Transport sector is an essential driver of economic development and growth, and at the same time, one of the biggest contributors to climate change, responsible for almost a quarter of the global carbon dioxide emissions. The sector is 95 percent dependent on fossil fuels.

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Climate Change

Convenient solutions to an inconvenient truth: ecosystem-based approaches to climate change

Current efforts to address climate change focus mainly on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly through cleaner energy strategies, and on attempting to reduce vulnerability of communities at risk by improving infrastructure to meet new energy and water needs. This report attempts to set out a compelling argument for including ecosystem?based approaches to

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Agents Of Change

All-India report on evaluation of NREGA: a survey of twenty districts

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA) guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to any rural household whose adult members are willing to participate in unskilled manual work The Act is an important step towards realization of the right to work and aims at arresting out-migration of rural households in search of employment simultaneously enhancing people’s li

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Environment

Emerging risk: impacts of key environmental trends in emerging Asia

This report is the first in a series establishing the link between issues like climate change, air pollution, water supply, and natural resource depletion and traditional financial analysis on corporate value and financial strength for companies in six key Asian economies – India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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Climate Change

Megacities and climate change: sustainable urban living in a changing world

This publication explores how megacities and rapidly growing cities are responding to the urban development challenges presented by climate change. It provides examples and case studies of successful initiatives highlighting the leadership required to tackle this global problem.

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Natural Disasters

Crisis management plan: drought

The crisis management plan outlined in this document is part of overall spectrum of drought management plan but is restricted to the management interventions required during the time of Crisis.

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Climate Change

Facilitating an international agreement on climate change: adaptation to climate change

A joint initiative of the United Nations Foundation and the Club of Madrid, Global Leadership for Climate Action (GLCA) consists of former heads of state and government, as well as leaders in business, government, and civil society from more than 20 countries. In 2007, GLCA published Framework for a Post-2012 Agreement on Climate Change, which called for four negotiating

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Biodiversity

Measuring biodiversity: an axiomatic evaluation of measures based on genetic data

Biodiversity measurement is necessary to evaluate conservation alternatives and understand how to maximize biodiversity returns on conservation budgets. In the economics literature, most studies focus on species level diversity. Existing measures based on species' pairwise genetic differences do not perform optimally.

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Climate Change

The economics of climate change mitigation: how to build the necessary global action in a cost-effective manner

This paper examines the cost of a range of national, regional and global mitigation policies and the corresponding incentives for countries to participate in ambitious international mitigation actions.

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Environment

Undisclosed risk: corporate environmental and social reporting in emerging Asia

Undisclosed Risk focuses on corporate transparency on environmental risks, and lays the groundwork for understanding environmental disclosure and reporting issues in emerging markets through an investor lens.

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Natural Disasters

Crisis management plan: drought

The crisis management plan outlined in this document is part of overall spectrum of drought management plan but is restricted to the management interventions required during the time of Crisis.

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Economy

Determinants of structural changes of food exports from Developing Countries

Over the past three decades, there has been a rapid expansion of processed food exports in developing countries, replacing traditional agriculture exports such as coffee and tea. However, this development and its policy implications have received little attention in the literature.

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Climate Change

Planning to deliver: making the Rio Conventions more effective on the ground - climate change, biodiversity, desertification

Sustainable development depends on intact ecosystems and their services. This is why environmental protection in the context of sustainable development is a key concern in development cooperation.

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Climate Change

Trade and climate change

This report aims to improve understanding about the linkages between trade and climate change. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. The report begins with a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge on climate change and on the options available for responding to the challenge of climate change.

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Economy

Investing in sustainable infrastructure: improving lives in Asia and the Pacific

Impressive economic gains in Asia and the Pacific have been accompanied by a decline in the region's natural capital and unprecedented levels of air and water pollution. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people in the region are still not enjoying the benefits of recent economic expansion.

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Climate Change

Towards a global climate agreement

In December 2009 representatives from 192 nations will meet in Copenhagen to complete negotiations on a global climate agreement. This paper summarizes why action in Copenhagen is urgently required, what needs to be accomplished in the negotiations, and how an effective climate regime might be designed.

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Climate Change

Emission reductions under Cap-and-Trade proposals in the 111th Congress

This analysis provides an assessment of reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to total U.S. emissions that could be achieved by cap-and-trade proposals currently submitted in the 111th Congress. This assessment is an update to a previous analysis released on May 19, 2009 and includes an assessment of the substitute to H.R.

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Water Resources

Adaptive water resource management in the South Indian Lower Bhavani project command area

This paper draws on the development and use of water resources in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP), with the LBP reservoir and the 84,000 hectare (ha) LBP command area. The project diverts water from the Bhavani River, a tributary of the Cauvery River, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

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