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 …
In one example of an innovative approach, satellite monitoring is being used to enforce compliance with bilateral agreements covering the use of driftnets in the Pacific Ocean between the United States and Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Once the United States detects a possible violator, coast guard officials are allowed …
THIS magazine is not the product of a desire to capture a share of the information market. It is the product of a need that we feel within us, of a desire to fill a critical information gap. In the years ahead, India will have to seize every possible opportunity …
The main purpose of this book is to bring to the reader an idea of the nature of the struggles being waged to individuals and voluntary groups across the world, and especially in India, to protect the environment.
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 …
The key issue is not defining equity but determining whether climate change is a sustainable development or an environmental challenge A workshop on ‘Equitable access to Sustainable Development’ is to be held in Bonn in May as part of the negotiating process for a new arrangement on global climate change. …
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 …
Background The difference between countries is whether international cooperation is to be based around the “green economy” or around the “green economy in the context of sustainable development and eradication of poverty”. The former implies that all countries can move towards more sustainable pathways without compromising growth, while the latter …
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 …
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 …
The underlying issue is not trade rules but the global climate regime The concerted opposition to the EU push towards forcing foreign airlines landing in Europe to become a part of its emissions trading scheme has led to an unexpected development, whose implications extend to setting the global climate agenda. …
The new climate regime will lead to commitments only for developing countries, because the United States, which did not ratify the legally binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, continues to insist on a framework with nationally determined emissions reductions monitored at the global level. The unresolved issue is multilateral agreement, …
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 …
For growing economies the stress has to be on patterns of natural resource use and not on the status of natural resources; that is, dealing with the causes rather than the symptoms of the problem of climate change. The time has come for rapidly growing Asia to distinguish between the …
Redistribution has been kept out of the agenda of the United Nations, and a new global agenda, goals and rules to share responsibility and prosperity can lead to a new world Mukul Sanwal[1] There is an ongoing debate within the United Nations whether a sustainable development and a security lens …
With relations between countries now being shaped by geo-economics rather than geo-politics, an emerging issue is to what extent the United States, China and India, all populous countries and top tier economies, see their national interest in giving a new meaning to words like “responsibility”, “development” and “growth” by shifting …
The first meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board of the UN Secretary-General is scheduled on 30 and 31 January 2014 at the invitation of the German Federal Foreign Office. The creation of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide advice to the UN Secretary-General and the Executive Heads of UN …
The Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) for the 21st century will not achieve their overall objective if the agreement is only for ‘promoting’ ‘sustainable consumption and production’. The Zero-draft Goal 12 stress is also on production patterns - chemical, hazardous, food and other waste; business practices and public procurement; dissemination of …
A framework for updating the Climate Treaty MukulSanwal [1] On September 23 the world’s leaders will meet in New York to shape the contours of a new global agreement to address climate change. India will face acute pressure to take on commitments to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and needs …
