The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
Global warming is caused by the use of fossil fuels, common examples being burning coal in power stations, running automobiles, etc. What would you then call an instrument that ends up subsidising this same energy economy, making it cheaper, and therefore, even more attractive. And what if the instrument, like …
Employment through ecological innovation: The guidelines of this programme involves sustainability, social justice, democracy, citizen rights and equal rights for women. In the centre is a package of measures to combat mass unemployment by creating new jobs through ecological innovation over the next four years. A policy of reduced working …
judging by the rapid rate of decline in the tiger population, India will no longer hold the distinction of being home to the largest number of tigers in the world. To make matters worse, the top authority does not show even the slightest concern. In yet another effort to "save …
the fund-starved Himachal Pradesh government has decided to lift the 16-year ban on felling of green trees. This move is expected to bring in additional revenue to the tune of Rs 40 crore for the government. The decision was taken at December's cabinet meeting but there was no mention of …
In a bid to appease the environmental groups, US vice-president recently announced that president Bill Clinton would sign an executive order, necessitating environmental assessments to be part of all new trade agreements. Gore stressed on the need to end subsidies and eliminate trade barriers that prevent the US from exporting …
The total lack of interest and foresight that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is showing while dealing with the country's growing pollution is downright appalling, to say the least. An excellent indicator of this came recently when the government reconstituted the council on trade and industry to set up eight …
Sound And Fury Every cause found a supporter at Seattle. Trade was never this politicised It was a victory for every rebel with a cause who had flocked to the us city of Seattle. The World Trade Organization's ( wto ) third ministerial trade talks, held between November 30 and …
The shrimp and turtle case brought up by the US against some developing nations highlights the tremendous influence civil society can wield to monitor environmental governance in other countries. It all started in 1989 when the US Congress passed a law to prohibit the import of shrimp harvested in ways …
It was yet another trade fight and just another instance of the US bulldozing its way to achieve its own purpose. But this time the fight ensued across the border with its neighbour, Canada. Utilising the conflict resolution norms stated in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the US …
Some of the chaos outside seemed to permeate into the Convention Center. It was just another day before attention shifted from the protests outside to the proceedings of the meet, and differences between political groups within the wto began to emerge. There were three main groupings: the us, the European …
The issue that surfaced first at the protest meetings outside the Seattle Convention Center and was touted by many as being the reason for the collapse of the talks was transparency within the World Trade Organization (WTO). The seriousness of the issue became apparent when even delegates at the Seattle …
Anyone familiar with the seemingly endless trade wars between the US and the European Union (EU) would not be surprised about their 1998 battle over the beef trade. It started in the 1980s, when the EU first placed a domestic ban on the use of hormones in cattle breeding. The …
If there is any lesson that the Indian government needs to learn from Seattle it is that it must learn to work with its own civil society. While all our politicians and press commentators may remain focussed on economic issues like 'market access' and 'market control', it is ultimately the …
as the east coast of India was battered by the worst cyclone in years, and Cambodia and Vietnam faced the worst flooding in decades, governments from across the world were at a meeting in Bonn, carefully negotiating ways to wriggle out of commitments to control climate change. The two-way street …
George W Bush(Republican, governor of Texas ) Efforts to improve our environment must be based on sound science, not social fads. Scientific data shows average temperatures have increased slightly during this century, but both the causes and the impact of this slight warming are uncertain. Changes in the earth's atmosphere …
on the eve of the World Trade Organisation's (wto) meet in Seattle, Western environmentalists geared up to make their voices heard. They are urging the participating countries to go ahead with only those regulations that are environment-friendly. Western environmentalists believe that wto regulations do not conform to green standards and …
