‘Forests can’t survive without communities’
Nepal’s Forest Act of 1993, which allows communities to manage their forests, is admired and emulated by governments and movements across …
'We are using the sea as a dustbin'
The Indian coastline no longer belongs to its traditional custodians—the small fisher people. A jamboree of development—cities, SEZs, …
Changing climes
Climate change is a very slow process, notoriously difficult to understand. Is it happening in India? Residents of some Himalayan towns, where …
Time-out
The 17th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Durban in December 2011. Negotiations were heated and …
Whose budget is it, Mr Jaitley?
Being the first full year budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, there was expectation that the finance minister's announcements …
Future compromised
The Earth Summit was a historical opportunity to set the world on the correct development trajectory. Negotiators from 191 countries came …
Future shock
As the world continues to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the global temperatures could rise by 3°C by mid-century, says a soon-to-…
European Commission's research commissioner on India's coaction with EU
The first India-European Union ministerial-level science conference took place on February 5, 2007, in New Delhi, signalling, for the first time,…
From the dirtiest to the cleanest: Mexico City’s journey
Mexico City is today recognised as one of the cleanest cities in the world, and the credit for this goes to Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon who recently …
Of stoves, kilns and a fine distinction between emissions
In the second week of March, activists, academics, policy-makers and experts in various fields came together in Delhi to throw light on the …
Tribunal on trial
It has been four years since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act was passed by Parliament for effective and expeditious disposal of cases …
A Renewable Crisis
The last time there was a major push for renewable energy alternatives to polluting fossil fuels was in the aftermath of 1970s oil shock. And then,…
WSSD: dialogue of the deaf
The needs of many were once again compromised to accommodate the demands of a powerful few. Given the alarming tilt towards self-interest and …
Dealing with crop stresses and scandals
Subbanna Ayyappan has made history in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (IACR) by becoming the first non-crop scientist to head this …
Flat in 20 days
Global climatic anomalies allied with local weather conditions produced the most freakish hailstorms in central and north India in February and …
Saving rice
Rice is at the heart of a fierce strategy debate as the country prepares to launch the second Green Revolution in the eastern states. …
Science under siege
Agricultural science has ossified in India. Despite a vast network of public research institutions and agriculture universities across the country,…
Towards food security: perspectives from three continents
The Food Insecurity Report 2014, released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) last week, has revealed that one …
Organic Universe
Organic is all the rage. Organic food, cosmetics, clothes and even organic medicines. But mostly it is food. There are speciality stores that …
Desperate for gas
Gas is the cleanest of fossil fuels and also more efficient and cheaper to use. Yet, in India, there has been no policy focus on this fuel, …
Kudankulam meltdown
The spectre of Fukushima continues to haunt the world, forcing governments in most parts of the globe to rethink their plans to tap this …
Let solar shine
Census 2011 throws light on the darkness across India. Of the 246 million households, 67 per cent get electricity from the grid, while 31 per …
Unearthing reality: A DTE-CSE probe into the workings of the Indian voluntary carbon market
1,451. That is the number of projects implemented across India to churn out the new-age essential commodity—carbon credits. Industries and …
Climate change constitutes double-edged sword for Africa: ECA
Climate change could usher in a new model of sustainable development, but, on other hand, it could also decimate African fragile economies
Funds to fight climate change in Africa grossly inadequate
Almost 70 per cent of the funds committed by developed countries to finance climate action in Africa are tied to conditional loans and credit lines