Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
More than 70 per cent of Tanzania’s population lives in rural areas, which depend largely on groundwater for drinking. The country, however, lacks safely managed potable water. The best available drinking water - i.e. uncontaminated and available at the nearest point - is from the basic water services. The groundwater …
Air quality tracker initiative was started in winter of 2020 by the Urban Data Analytics Lab of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to understand the nature of air pollution in the cities and various regions of India and how it has been impacted by the extraordinary pandemic year of …
That buildings should be well-ventilated is no rocket science.However, the current pandemic and revelation that SARS-CoV-2 can remain airborne for a considerable length of time has given this ancient awareness an urgent appeal. Keeping in view the preventive measures in national and international codes and guidelines (like Eco Samhita and …
This report has been prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) as part of its knowledge support for the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) to develop water sensitive cities in the Ganga basin. This report showcases the potential of run-off infiltration in stormwater harvesting systems in parks …
As the majority in Indian cities use public transport, especially buses, the public-transport-centric e-mobility programme is greatly relevant to India’s decarbonization goal. Electric buses are a unique opportunity to decarbonize a sizeable share of daily commute in cities as well as reduce toxic exposure. While the current incentive programmes for …
A global shift is underway from petro-economy to electroeconomy. Electric vehicles play a big role in this change. This report by CSE assesses the action that has been taken so far, both in India and globally, to promote the use of electric vehicles. Based on what has been done, CSE …
In view of the challenges and risks that the pandemic has exposed, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has carried out an on-ground investigation of selected mass housing schemes and redevelopment schemes to assess locational disadvantages and gaps in services and infrastructure. This investigation covers a diverse set of …
The waste collection and material recycling activities in developing countries, including India, are majorly performed by the informal waste sector. Reportedly, 30–60 percent of all paper and cardboard, 50–80 percent of all plastic and nearly 100 percent of all glass bottles manufactured in India are recycled with the interventions of …
Plastics have become an omnipresent part of the everyday life of billions of people. Properties like low cost, low weight, durability, and barrier tendency have gradually raised the demand for plastic materials and it is bound to increase further in the coming years. However, the very same properties make plastic …
Indian city authorities have traditionally practised centralized management of municipal solid waste (MSW) to institute circularity for maximum resource recovery. Nearly half of our waste is organic and thus biodegradable. If not segregated and appropriately managed, this organic waste can contaminate air, water, and soil. Because of improperly segregated and …
Should we buy an electric car? New technologies often tend to get mired in a web of misinformation and myths due to an information deficit environment. In this publication, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) answers questions about the electric car that is used for personal mobility, in the hope …
The enduring image of a city is a busy population always on the move. Yet, as this assessment by the Centre for Science and Environment shows, mobility in Indian cities is severely hampered by a wide range of constraints: inadequate public transport and lack of access to it, less-than-ideal last-mile …
Around 70 per cent of Tanzania’s population lives in rural areas. Hence, sanitation challenges in the country are mainly driven by the state of sanitation in its rural areas. Only 24 per cent of rural Tanzania has access to basic sanitation facilities. The lack of safe sanitation has led to …
This report reveals the current status of compliance of India's coal-power fleet with respect to implementation of 2015 water norms. It highlights how the water-guzzling coal-power industry is ignoring water regulations with high non-compliance observed in the sector even after six years since the norms were introduced. The report also …
The idea of a green campus movement is deceptively simple. Creating a green educational campus not only makes a tangible environmental difference, it also educates those who are directly involved—the staff and students on the campus—as well as others by creating living examples that can be replicated. This preliminary assessment …
India is not only on track to meet its Nationally Determined Commitment (to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030) but may even exceed the commitment and achieve a reduction of 39–40 per cent if the current rate of …
Greenhouse gas emissions from transport in India, though not significant in comparison to G20 countries, are growing at an extremely high rate. The sector needs an integrated plan for electrification and modal shift to effectively manage GHG emissions.
In 2020, the fifth year since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the 191 countries that ratified the Agreement were required to submit their second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This factsheet analyses the status of the commitments for 2030, made by seven entities—China, US, the European Union (EU-27), India, Russia, …
India implemented an automated pollution monitoring system in the last decade in order to improve compliance and enforcement of pollution norms in industries. This move triggered most industries to install continuous emission monitoring systems. Using the coal-based thermal power sector as an example, this study examines the health of these …
The report presents key take-aways from the deliberations held at the Africa-Asia Virtual Workshop on Containing the Silent Pandemic, organized by the Centre for Science and Environment in March 2021. It provides the perspective of countries of the Global South, and is expected to inform and shape-up the governance as …
