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. …
An Act to provide for the protection of [Wild animals, birds and plants] and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto. This Act may be called the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Since the tiger is at the apex of the biological pyramid, its preservation is possible only if the whole biome or its habitat is conserved and maintained at an ecological stage, advantageous to the tiger. The project, therefore, provides for setting up of eight reserves in different tiger habitats of …
It is popular in periods of Hindu religious fasting like Navratri. It is also commonly found on the shelves of health food stores. But for the tribals in the Sahyadri hills in Maharashtra, buckwheat is a way of life. Unlike in the hilly regions of northern India where kuttu, as …
Every year, during monsoon, it is the same story for roads across India. Potholes, potholes and more potholes. It requires a small intervention to not only help reduce costs incurred in repairing a damaged stretch but also increase groundwater levels. Yet, the government has failed to do so. The potential …
Solar mission is too important to let doubtful dealings hijack it. In public perception the renewable energy sector is a do-good sector that promises environment-friendly and affordable energy. It is for this reason that this sector gets overwhelming support from all sections of society. Civil society organisations, including the Centre …
Preparations for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development have begun, but the first round of preparatory meetings did not address important issues such as sustainable resource use, production and consumption. The Rio+20 United Nations (UN) conference on sustainable development, to take place in Rio de Janeiro in June, …
Is climate change a sustainable development or an environmental challenge? The statement by the Minister for Environment and Forests that the European Union’s aviation tax will be a “deal breaker” is welcome because it reflects one of the policy goals of developing countries, and should elicit widespread support. As far …
As all countries take actions to reduce emissions the unresolved question is to what extent fairness will be the basis for international cooperation International cooperation for a global approach to climate change continues to tweak a failing system arrived at in 1992 rather than seeking a new framework and developing …
The climate negotiations have finally begun to focus on the criteria for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases to be agreed by 2015, and new pitfalls have emerged. The continuing negotiations over the past twenty years had a limited agenda. Developing countries were interested in finance and technology for capacity …
Balancing national strategic interests and global concerns requires new rules for collective action The upcoming sequel to the 1992 Earth Summit, once again to be held in Brazil, will provide fresh opportunities to draft a common global agenda to safeguard the well-being of humanity -- and the planet. But serious …
It was June of 1992. The location was Rio de Janeiro. The occasion was the world conference on environment and development. A large number of people had come out on the streets. They were protesting the arrival of George Bush senior, the then president of the US. Just before coming …
The significance of Rio + 20 does not lie in any document but in the new direction provided to global governance, whose focus should be on patterns of natural resource use, and not just on natural capital, to ensure human well being. The sequel to the 1992 Earth Summit, once …
World leaders attending Rio+20 did nothing to tackle the interlinked crises of economy and ecology, says Sunita Narain after attending the second Earth Summit at Rio. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, came to an end last week. The conference declaration, titled “The Future We Want”, is …
The theme of the Rio + 20 Conference was "Green economy in the context of sustainable development and eradication of poverty" and it has not been possible to the find common ground in the serious differences over what constitute economic growth and human wellbeing – ‘the future we want’. Humans …
Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India’s population without power. Three major grids – northern, north-eastern and eastern – have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays. …
When the green rating results of steel sector were released recently by CSE, industry was quick to pass the buck on poor quality of Indian raw materials and other obscure and ‘uncontrollable’ technical factors. But are they the only reasons leading to poor performance? Surely not. As the two-year survey …
The task for global governance in dealing with climate change is to focus on the interconnectedness between carbon dioxide emissions, standards of living and global ecological limits. The interdependence between countries makes the global commons, or carbon sinks, a shared economic resource as well as an unprecedented global environmental crisis, …
Extreme caution needs to be taken while mulling of linking different carbon markets Ever since the green shoots of carbon markets sprung up in countries outside the European Union (EU), economists all over the world are sharpening their modelling and forecasting tools to once again create a new chaos – …
What you measure determines policy Another round of the annual climate meetings is going to take place and the most ambitious outcome will be limited negotiations on some elements, because there is as yet no shared vision of the problem and what to do about it. The negotiations at Doha …
Very different global rules are needed for human wellbeing Averting climate change does not need emission reduction pledges, timetables and a common legal framework. Climate governance cannot be considered only in terms of environmental damage because it is now a part of the economic debate around the competition for scarce …
