The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the public health and societal implications of climate change in South East Asia, and create a framework for planning national and regional responses.
“Don’t teach us what is sanitation and hygiene.” This quote from Maqbul, a middle-aged male resident in Modher Bosti, a slum in Dhaka city, summed up the frustration of many people living in urban poverty to ongoing sanitation and hygiene programmes. In the light of their experiences, such programmes provide …
Global food prices nearly doubled during 2004-08 and have remained relatively high since then. In South Asia, food price inflation varied significantly among countries.
Asian Development Outlook 2011, forecasts developing Asia to expand solidly over the next two years, even as inflation, geopolitical uncertainties and the need to develop new sources of growth present looming challenges to policy makers. In a special chapter titled "South-South Links", the ADB says that strengthening economic links between …
A comprehensive priority framework to support and provide strategic direction to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, its technical services and agencies for the implementation of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management (DRM) priorities in agriculture and allied sectors.
The Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) provides general environmental and social policies, guidelines, codes of practice and procedures to be integrated into the implementation of the World Bank-supported APL on Strengthening Cross-Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia. The purpose of this document is to outline a Framework for …
Smog digest is a news service on vehicular pollution based on news clippings selected from leading Indian newspapers and newsmagazine. It also highlights the key developments from South Asian countries. The months witnessed lots of action and developments on the vehicular pollution front in India.
Understanding crop water productivity over large river basins has significant implications for sustainable basin development planning. This report presents a new approach for analysis of water productivity (WP) of rice and wheat in the Indus and the Ganges river basins, South Asia, based on the integration of readily available remote …
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its annual "Statement on the Status of the Global Climate," highlighting that global surface temperatures reached record values and that 2010 represented the closure of the warmest decade on record. The Statement describes global temperature in 2010, major large-scale influences on the global …
Read this special report published in Down To Earth on Nirma, the detergent company that gave false information to obtain clearance for its cement plant in coastal Saurashtra. Detergent company Nirma gave false information to obtain clearance for its cement plant in coastal Saurashtra. Environment ministry to inspect site and …
As the notion of climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels gains more and more prominence in the eyes of the public and policymakers, the push toward the increasing role of renewable energy sources is seen as one of the key solutions to the problem.
Women are a social group vulnerable to food insecurity despite being primary actors in the food chain. The problem of food insecurity among women is especially rampant in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Vulnerability to food insecurity has a definite effect on the health of women and children, …
Stakeholder Forum together with the Commonwealth Secretariat have produced a new book as part of of the sdg2012 programme entitled: "A Pocket Guide to Sustainable Development Governance". The guide was initiated by Stakeholder Forum and the Commonwealth Secretariat in response to the perceived ‘knowledge gap’ on the history and dynamics …
In many developing countries, agriculture is the cornerstone of their economy, the basis of economic growth and the main source of livelihood. But agriculture in the developing world is often cited as being one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change. In Africa, for example, the majority of available …
Safe and clean drinking-water is an essential element of health security and underpins sustainable socio-economic development. Global climate change, a growing global population, water requirements to support food security and rapid urbanization all contribute to increased water scarcity and compound the challenge of providing safe drinking-water. In many parts of …
During the 1970s, major policy debates on the role of mechanisation in agricultural and rural development in south Asia took place; by the early 1990s, such debates had largely faded. Yet today, countries such as Bangladesh possess some of the most productive, mechanised and labour-intensive agricultural industries in south Asia. …
