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 reality of participation has often differed from the rhetoric. In fact, much development, which is participatory in nature, has remained top-down in practice. This may be so because even though participation has been promoted, there has been no change in personal attitudes and more so in the bureaucratic set …
EVERYBODY wants growth and development. Yet, there is a serious cost attached to it. The point is what kind of growth is both desirable and sustainable. Resources of all types constitute our capital for growth. But, for growth to be made meaningful and enduring, the capital base has to be …
How can there be sustainable development when so many people are dependent on forests for their livelihood? Sustainable development generates revenue. One must understand that there is no trade-off between sustainability and development in the long-term perspective. When sustainability is achieved, there will be a transitional period when you have …
AFTER Rachel Carson's passionate polemic Silent Spring was published in 1962, environmentalism in the West assumed urgency and a sense of purpose. The pervasive popularity of this particular philosophy has transformed Western society through legislation, popular pressure, and individual initiatives. Although transparent and virtually inflexible procedures for safeguarding the environment …
following the Arab oil embargo in 1973, when queues for petrol lengthened at petrol pumps all over usa and Europe, the Wall Street Journal carried a front-page feature on a South American community that had "solved" the energy crisis by devising equipments powered by renewable energy sources. The report was …
SIX years of research and policy experiments, and first hand observation by the World Bank has revealed that many industries in poor and developing countries are running cleaner than a decade ago. A World Bank report titled Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets and Governments states this trend is …
THE world's earliest civilisations began on the banks of rivers. With time, this became an accepted phenomenon as water was essential to sustain human habitat. Unfortunately, water has been overused and abused across the world irrespective of the economic status of the region. Take, for instance, Europe. Around 60 per …
" this is a vital book. It will have far-reaching influence on Indian and global thinking. I am privileged in receiving it. I congratulate the Centre for Science and Environment (cse) and its director Anil Agarwal for bringing out this book and for sensitising the Indian government and the public …
When Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha said he would be presenting a harsh budget, very few thought it would be harsh on the environment. Today apart from the fiscal deficit, the biggest crisis facing India is the crisis on the environmental front. This budget has even shed the pretense of …
This is news that can be termed both good and bad. Environment educators aren't exactly overjoyed. They all face a peculiar problem. Whenever they go to a school to talk about environmental education the principal immediately summons the biology teacher. It is simple. Schools, the ministry of education, academics all …
"THE first most important thing in life is people. The second most important thing is people and the third most important thing is also people," - this aptly sums up the focus of this reader-friendly book which highlights the unique relationship between humans and nature. The chapters - including "Concepts …
If only 16 per cent of the world's population behaved in a more responsible manner, many environmental problems would have been resolved. Consider this. In 1997, the 29 industrialised member-nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( oecd ) contributed 53.2 per cent of the total carbon dioxide …
a paradigm shift from nari (National Agricultural Research Institutes) to nas (National Associated Societies), the integration of various disciplines of scientific research and availability of scientific information to end-users through Information Technology was imperative for development. This was what participants felt at the International Conference on 'Managing Natural Resources for …
Beijing's efforts to shift to cleaner energy and halt the massive pollution from fossil fuels received a boost with the approval of two multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (lng) projects. The state council had also approved the construction of a gas receiving terminal, two gas power plants and a pipeline …
A task force to assist developing countries integrate environment, trade and development policies has been set up with the assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme (unep) and the un Conference on Trade and Development (unctad). The task force will use the technical expertise of the two agencies and their …
In 1993, the Nepal government decided to hand over certain forest areas to rural communities. Six years later, 8,559 such communities are managing 621,942 hectares of forest land in the country. They are bent on accomplishing what the government has not been able to do
Forest-Users' Group (FUG): It comprises households using or dependent on forest resources. They are identified by the district forest officer (DFO) after a house-to-house survey to check their dependence on the forest. Once the users' group is identified, it charts its own constitution (a five-year plan) for the management and …
Man Bahadur Chettri of Sarang Kot is aware of the gradual plunder of the forests and the evolution of cfm in his country. "For the rulers of Nepal, forests were an infinite source of revenue,' he says. The strategy varied from ruler to ruler. But there was only one agenda: …
"Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Act, no part of any national forest, which is suitable for being handed over to a users' group in the form of a community forest shall be given away in the form on a leasehold forest,' reads Nepal's Forest Act, 1993. It defines a …
