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. …
"For a long time now, we have been calculating the number of people below and above the poverty line. And, these numbers have become a hot political issue. But the important thing is to eradicate hunger. This can be done by identifying the critical areas of poverty and helping the …
FARMERS and agencies in many parts of the country are experimenting with organic farming-using natural products such as manure - because it is ecofriendly and because such farm products are gaining in popularity. But there is a dearth of literature on organic farming. The Centre for Science and Environment, involved …
With the demise of Sunil K Roy, often described as "a soldier, diplomat, administrator and environmentalist, all in one", environment has lost one of its best friends. Starting his career in the army and later, the foreign service, Roy was appointed director general of tourism by former prime minister Indira …
ANY ATTEMPT at promoting awareness of the interdependence of humans and the environment is a welcome step. This is especially true of the need to tell children about the harm that has been done to the once-good earth by generations of Homo sapiens -- the only species that is mentally …
THE EXECUTIVE committee of the Ozone Fund -- an international fund instituted to replace ozone-depleting substances (ODS) -- has rejected India's request for a $2 billion grant to replace these substances by 2010. Northern donor countries felt India's plan lacked detailed information and also projected a ten-fold increase in ODS …
Developed countries are insisting on greening GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) to minimise environmental degradation that could be caused by unshackled international trade in the post-Uruguay Round era. But this may result in barriers to trade with developing countries and also bring about a new range of protectionist …
THE FUNDAMENTAL theme of organic farming or natural farming is its ecological approach: It makes maximum possible use of organic wastes, originating from the farm, to keep up soil fertility. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which has 360 member organisations in more than 65 countries, unites their …
THE BIOLOGICAL Diversity Convention meeting, which was held in Geneva from October 11 to 15 and attended by representatives of 130 countries, failed to establish ground rules for its implementation because most countries gave priority to their own interests. Consequently, the governments have asked for two more meetings to be …
INDIA'S conservation laws have become the scourge of local communities in and around national parks and sanctuaries. The restrictions governing these protected areas curtail the indigenous peoples' access to natural resources to the extent their very survival becomes threatened. On the other hand, several cases have come to light of …
THE EIGHTH session of the negotiating committee for a convention on climate change, held in August in Geneva, failed to agree on "joint implementation" by industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Joint implementation essentially means that industrialised countries can sponsor cheap efforts in the Third World to reduce greenhouse …
JOINT implementation was the main point of discussion at the recent meeting of the intergovernmental committee on climate change in Geneva. The idea of joint implementation has been promoted primarily by industrialised countries seeking ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Unable to face the politically difficult choice of reducing …
ONE OF Bangladesh"s leading environmental NGOs, the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), has taken the lead in rectifying a major lacuna in the Rio agenda. Dealing with poverty should have been the first item on the global agenda in Rio, but issues such as global warming and biodiversity, supported …
Moderator: I understand your centre was against the forest convention, which was presented in Brazil. For me it's amazing, because as an NGO, how can you possibly go against the convention? Sunita Narain: Through this convention we will actually end up destroying forests. We strongly believe that the forest convention …
WHEN THE UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights meets in Geneva in August, we may see another forward step by the growing movement for international acceptance for the concept of environmental rights. The meeting will review a three-year study on the links between human rights and the environment by the sub-commission's …
MOST OF the 300 million indigenous people in the world live in highly vulnerable ecosystems and have often been deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedom, resulting in dispossession of their land and resources. Because they are such a high risk group, they are also the most in need …
Brazil: All persons are entitled to an ecologically balanced environment. China: The state is to protect and improve the living environment and the ecological environment, and prevent and combat pollution and other hazards. Guyana: In the interests of the present and future generations, the state is to take all appropriate …
1992 has been a watershed year. Trends that were visible over the last few years came to a head, both globally and locally. At the global level, the events that preceded the Rio summit and took place at the meet were fascinating proofs that micro movements at the community, state, …
ALL OVER the country, there are tensions around national parks and sanctuaries. People living in and around these forests see them as the last remaining sources of biomass and depend on them heavily to meet their fuel and fodder needs. Grazing and other regulations imposed by wildlife managers have cut …
In 1981, there were 181.03 million illiterate females in India. By 1991, this figure reached 197.34 million -- an increase of about 16.31 million in just one decade. And, this occurred though the literacy rate for Indian females aged seven and above increased during the same decade from 29.75 per …
Basing methodology on global justice N S Jodha THE ESSENCE of the conclusions of the World Resource Institute is aptly reflected in the Gujarati proverb, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is ours." Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain question this conclusion. In the first place, they find …
