Reform of support for fossil fuels is often identified as a priority for a country’s fiscal consolidation efforts and for climate action to align financial flows with low-carbon pathways. Its implementation, however, remains elusive for many countries as they face seemingly irreconcilable policy agendas of economic growth and sustainability coupled …
According to IEA's factsheet, Renewables in global energy supply, the wind energy sector has grown at more than 52 per cent per annum since 1971, and solar power by 32 per cent per annum. Renewables in 2000 accounted for 13.8 per cent of the world's total primary energy supply (electricity, …
function india_table() { var popurl="html/20040531_india.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=450,height=380,scrollbars=yes") } Starting before industrialised Germany and the UK, India has perhaps promoted renewables the longest though a dedicated establishment. The country's Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) is one of its kind in the world. India has the fifth-largest installed wind capacity in the …
At Renewables 2004, "an international action plan will be on the agenda, including actions and commitments by governments, international organisations and stakeholders," says the conference announcement document. "The conference outcome will include arrangements for a follow-up and a mechanism to share information on progress in implementing the international action plan." …
Our world did change in 2003. The US war on Iraq made sure that the rules of 'engagement' were changed, perhaps for a long time to come. The change I see most visible is that the world has become overtly aggressive and rude. And it is not just the US. …
function openfact(){ var popurl="image/20031130/60.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=700,height=430,scrollbars=yes") } Click here to see graphs • Key economies outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1 (oecd), now account for 17 per cent of global research and development (r&d;) expenditure • In 2001, China spent us $60 billion (bn) on r&d;, placing it …
the recently concluded World Food Summit at Rome was a sorry affair. The aim was to review the progress made since the food summit in 1996 when the world had jointly resolved to halve the number of malnourished to 400 million by 2015. But the report card is shameful. The …
With urban and industrial development accelerating at a fast pace, waste disposal is becoming a major problem. Inordinate focus on household waste has often disguised the much larger volume generated by activities like manufacturing of goods. Industrialisation and level of affluence influence both the composition and quantity of waste. Research …
If only 16 per cent of the world's population behaved in a more responsible manner, many environmental problems would have been resolved. Consider this. In 1997, the 29 industrialised member-nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( oecd ) contributed 53.2 per cent of the total carbon dioxide …
industrialised countries and some developing countries who stood to benefit from trade in recyclable hazardous wastes, attempted to sabotage the Basel Convention and remove restrictions from this trade at the fourth Conference of Parties (cop-iv) which was held in Kuching, Malaysia. But the move failed to materialise in the face …
The Basel Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal came into being in May 1992. Initially, it had been ratified by just 20 countries. India ratified the convention the same year, but has yet to ratify the Basel Ban. Movement of hazardous wastes had become …
From the way the Indian delegation went about its business at COP-IV, it was apparent that they had come to Kuching with a mandate to protect India's economic interests. What was missing, however, was a perspective as far as the environment was concerned. For one, India wanted to discuss the …
The fourth Conference of Parties(COP-IV) to the Basel Convention saw a new NGO representation. The Basel Action Network (BAN) took keen interest in the proceedings. Greenpeace International, dominant in the earlier three COPs, was there too, in full strength. Consisting of
While the fourth Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention managed to keep the threat of amendments to Annex VII at bay, it showed a weak point in the convention which may be attacked again by vested interests. Annex VII had been created at the third Conference of Parties in …
a list of hazardous wastes that had been compiled in a bid to prevent their export to third world countries is likely to be revised and drawn up afresh. Nearly 100 countries would revise the list at a meeting held in Malaysia. The exercise will be a follow-up to the …
AFTFR health care and the agricultural sector, environment is a major growth area for the application of biotechnology. A recent report published by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) titled "Biotechnology for a Clean Environment" indicates that biotechnology is likely to play a key role in cleaning up …
THERE are a variety of ways in which the North could support development in and by the South. I sometimes refer to them as the "AT&T-; mechanisms": aid, trade and technology transfer. All of these have been on the Northern agenda for decades now. The United Nations Conference on Environment …
MANY industrialized countries regard their developing counterparts as dumpyards - destined receivers of hazardous by products and waste generated by their hi-tech lifestyle and consumerism. This technically simple-minded and morally irresponsible point of view has led them to resist any attempt to strengthen the Basel Convention, which provides for a …
Western aid to developing countries has fallen to a 20-year low according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd). In its annual report, the oecd warns that stagnant budgets could trigger a "vicious circle" of inadequate aid for development. There might be a drain on resources for the …
THE GLOBAL Environment Facility (GEF) meeting in Beijing recently marked the beginning of the first year after Rio. And it set the tone for the green world order of tomorrow -- a world in which Southern governments are conciliatory but persistent with their demand for more green funds; in which …
For growing economies the stress has to be on patterns of natural resource use and not on the status of natural resources; that is, dealing with the causes rather than the symptoms of the problem of climate change. The time has come for rapidly growing Asia to distinguish between the …
