Next year, in June, world leaders will get together in the joyful city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to mark 20 years of UNCED—the Earth Summit (see Down to Earth, May 15, 1992). Unbelievably, it will be 40 years since the Stockholm conference, when the question of the environment first …
Environmental policymaking has been equated with the art of making the right decisions based on an insufficient understanding of the underlying problems. Given the tremendous complexities of the earth system, effective global environmental governance must rely on scientific information on both the kind of problem at stake and the options …
The debate on the advantages and disadvantages of upgrading the United Nations Environment Programme to a 'world environment organisation' (WEO) has gained momentum in both academe and politics. This article contends that a WEO would further the interests especially of developing countries, because it would provide them, first, a high- …
Next week, government negotiators will gather in Bangkok, Thailand, for the latest round of international climate change talks. Once again the focus will be on mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet for many poor communities in poor countries, mitigation is not the most pressing issue. Climate change …
Carbon neutrality has never been more highly prized. Half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from the guts of sheep and cows; Norway spews ever more gases from its North Sea oil platforms; Iceland has soaring emissions thanks to its aluminium smelters. But all have promised to cut their …
This handbook seeks to provide a comprehensive and cohesive perspective on the major International Environmental Agreements to which India is a party, along with India’s position and role in implementing these conventions at the national level. This handbook is also an attempt to provide grounding to the uninitiated in the …
