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 …
EVEN THOUGH tough environmen- Indian delegation that took part in tal negotiations are still ahead in the the earlier discussions have been post-Rio Summit phase, many on the replaced. This could easily put India. at a disadvantage in forthcoming Ozone, Biodiversity and Climate Change convention and at meetings of the …
As a representative of an NGO from the North that looks into issues of the South, how do you react to conflicts between the South's priorities in sustainable development and those of the North? It's a curious situation for an activist to realise the despondency of the situation. It's not …
WHICH wildlife sanctuary in India is the world's only floating sanctuary? And, did you know the giant clam lays one billion eggs at a time? These are some of the fascinating facts on natural life put together in multiple-choice, question-answer format in Deep Narayan Pandey's two books. One wonders why …
THE WOMEN'S Feature Service (WFS) is a news service that deals not just with equal rights for women, but with "development from a progressive, women's, or gender, perspective." It has transcended the Leftist tendency to see women as a force to be incorporated and led and instead stressed women's innovation, …
HARMONISING the management of environmental and trade interests is like blending east and west -- the twain shall never meet. Not, at least, in the foreseeable future. Yet, this is the central pursuit of the authors of this elegant publication, a compendium of papers read at an international symposium. Each …
WHAT HAPPENS when the environment ministry violates environmental rules? The home ministry admonishes it. Or so it would seem from the predicament environment minister Kamal Nath finds himself in -- he has been asked by home minister S B Chavan to explain why his ministry issued quotas far in excess …
THE DREAM of environmentalists to mpnitor the world's natural resources was boosted with the establishment of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), which will analyse the progress of agreements reached at the Earth Summit. CSD was meant to increase the accountability of governments concerning environmental policy. Some developing countries …
THE UNCED conference at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and its immediate aftermath disappointed everyone involved in sustainable development. During the March 1992 PrepCom for UNCED, US$125 billion was tabled as the net annual flow of new and additional financial support to developing countries to spark a $600-billion annual effort …
SUSTAINABLE development is a growing concern for many grassroots organisations, such as the Mukti Sangharsh Movement (MSM) in Sangli district in western Maharashtra. Over the last decade, MSM has involved peasants and labourers in developing scientific alternatives as part of its anti-drought movement, and more recently, in the Bali Raja …
RESTRUCTURING the United Nations -- a subject actively debated internationally for several years now -- may soon become reality. Though the precise nature of changes in the UN system remains nebulous, the broad contours are quite evident. Various arms of the organisation have already undergone transformation. The secretary-general"s office, evolved …
"THE CLIMATE negotiations have just begun. And it is important that developing countries pay heed to them. What was signed in Rio was simply a framework convention. It just says that all nations should protect the world"s atmosphere. What actions we need to take, which will greatly affect how we …
THE PROPOSED establishment of the Commission for Sustainable Development (SDC), hailed as "one of the quiet victories" of the Rio conference, is becoming a source of North-South contention that is expected to peak at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Among the issues to be …
POPULATION growth in developing countries is a horse that is flogged at every international forum. It is a threat to sustainability, because if consumption levels of developed countries are coupled with it, global resource requirements would become exceedingly large. Unhappily, the point that is underplayed is that consumption levels of …
JUST a couple of weeks after UNCED, participants from Europe, USA and Japan gathered in Geneva, at the newly-created International Academy of the Environment, to attend a seminar entitled "Beyond the Limits: The Limits to Growth, Sustainable Development and Environment Policy after UNCED". The high point of the seminar was …
DURING the first 20 years of evolving environmental policy, the name of the game was pollution control. However, this remained very much a game of the North because the South's game was development. The Brundtland Commission came up with an elegant compromise: sustainable development. And, it has proved a challenge …
THE EARTH summiteers who assembled at Rio in June this year have gone back to their respective countries. The hard preparatory work, the almost endless discussions to reach a consensus and the excitement of an earth summit are all over. One talks of a lull before a storm; but there …
LOW GROWTH rates, high unemployment and an ever-increasing cut in development expenditure are some of the woes ailing Pakistan as a result of toeing the IMF line. And, all of this, says Akmal Hussain, a member of the Prime Minister's Consultative Committee on Economic Policy during the Benazir era, "is …
