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. …
The United Nations has lowered global economic growth forecast for the coming two years even as it warned of a new global recession due to the US fiscal cliff situation and EU debt crisis. It also said inflationary pressures and large fiscal deficit will limit the scope for policy stimulus …
India is likely to be the second largest consumer of coal, surpassing the United States, in the next five years, says a report. “China and India would lead the growth in coal consumption over the next five years...while India will become the largest seaborne coal importer and second—largest consumer, surpassing …
The spatial organization of functional vegetation types in river basins is a major determinant of their runoff production, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The optimization of different objective functions has been suggested to control the adaptive behavior of plants and ecosystems, often without a compelling justification. Maximum entropy production (MEP), rooted …
The quiet collapse of the most basic principle of UN climate negotiations in Doha - that all decisions should be taken only with complete consensus of 194 countries party to the convention -- has troubled India and other developing countries. Decisions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change can …
US researchers may just have unravelled dynamics behind the torrential rain and flash floods in the high desert valley of Leh in the Himalayas in 2010. It might now be possible to look out for flash flood warnings, says Kristen Rasmussen, a University of Washington graduate student in atmospheric sciences. …
Leaked Report Says Meltdown 90-100% Likely Of all the warnings about dramatic effects of climate change, a leaked draft UN report is the most vigorous in arguing that fears of an ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer months can become a reality if global temperature rises by more than 2 degrees …
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a proposal to reduce power plant pollution by 26 percent by 2020 and 34 percent by 2025. The plan's key component is that the EPA, partnering with states, would set new carbon pollution standards under the Clean Air Act. The benefits of the …
A group of U.S. lawmakers said on Wednesday that they plan to push ahead in the new year to change the tax code so renewable energy projects could qualify for beneficial tax structures commonly used by pipelines and other energy-related companies. Democratic and Republican sponsors of proposed legislation said they …
Drought continued to expand through many key farming states within the central United States in the past week, as scattered rainfall failed to replenish parched soils, according to a report issued Thursday by state and federal climatology experts. Drought conditions were most pervasive in the Plains states, including in top …
During a public event at the United Nations climate change conference in Doha, India's veteran environmentalist Sunita Narain told a senior negotiator from India, "The Indian government should take a principled stand and walk out of the Doha climate talks if equity is not made a part of the deal." …
It might be hard to visualize or believe in today’s messy, gridlocked, turmoil-ridden subcontinent, but the US intelligence community in a new report released on Monday says that by 2030, a surging India, along with decelerating China, will straddle global commerce and dominate the world economy amid the gradual decline …
The two-week long UN climate talks came to a close in Doha on Saturday with delegates of 194 countries endorsing another set of greenhouse gas emission cuts between 2013 and 2020. Despite a near total absence of increased effort from industrialised countries to reduce emissions and paucity of funds to …
For a millennium, the majestic, lily-white polar bear has lorded over the frozen wastes of the Arctic. But if two Russian experts are to be believed, the enigmatic "monarch of the ice" could be extinct in 25 years due to global warming and human incursions into their traditional habitat. "If …
Democracy now speak with two representatives of civil society who have attended the U.N. climate talks for the past decade. "We strongly believe that we need a high level of ambition, we need urgent action, and we need action based on equitable sharing of the atmospheric space," says Sunita Narain, …
The ongoing UN negotiations on climate change are all set to stretch beyond the scheduled deadline of Friday, thanks to the developed world, which has refused to deliver on finance, equity, adaptation and even extending the Kyoto Protocol’s shelf life beyond 2013—a pledged that was made last year. And the …
India’s civil nuclear liability rules and their impact on nuclear capacity addition will dominate the meetings with the visiting US delegation and the representatives of Department of Atomic Energy, Atomic Energy Commission, Nuclear Power Corporation and Larsen & Toubro (L&T;). Meetings between the US India Business Council (USIBC) and the …
India is fighting an increasingly difficult battle to prevent the principle of equity from being junked from the platform of negotiations at the crucial climate change talks here, as certain powerful blocs seek to erase the baggage of history from the story of global warming. The principle of equity in …
While the U.S. and other developed countries refused to be drawn into compensation of loss and damage, non-governmental organisations are clear that with the adaptation fund not attracting enough funds, this was one issue that needed urgent attention. Harjeet Singh of ActionAid International said that developed countries like the U.S. …
