International Conference on Confronting Environmental challenge
CSE organized an International conference on coal based power and environmental challenge it brings. Representatives from emerging economies including China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa shared their views on the
Governance matters
It is time we focused on strengthening the capacity of regulatory agencies It is time we recognised that the current ways of fixing the environment are not working. Rivers are more contaminated; air is more polluted and cities are filling up with garbage we cannot handle. The question is: where are we going wrong? What do we need to do?
Time for new environmentalism
2014 has brought India’s environmental movement to a crossroad. On the one hand, there is a greater acceptance of our concerns, but on the other hand, there is also growing resistance against the required action. More importantly, every indicator shows that things on the ground are getting worse. Our rivers are more polluted, more garbage is piling up in our cities, air is increasingly toxic and hazardous waste is just dumped, not managed. Worse, people who should have been in the front line of protection are turning against the environment.
Beyond Rio+20
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 to the conference, Bush had visited a local shopping centre, urging people to buy more so that the increased consumption could rescue his country from financial crisis. Protesters were angered by his statement that “the American lifestyle is not negotiable”.
From protests to where in 2012?
2011’s person of the year, according to Time magazine, is “the protester”. Clearly, this is the image that has captured the world—from dissent against the lack of democracy and repression in large parts of West Asia to anger against economic policies in vast and disparate parts of the world. People, all over, are saying enough is enough. But what will happen to these voices in the coming years? Will the movements of protesters be enough to change the way the world runs its business? Do these movements even know what they want?
Online Environmental Management
To make things easier for the industries the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has come up with a facility for online submission of environmental statement. The industries can now fill the Form V concerning environmental compliance online on the MPCB’s website. The filed data can be filtered by MPCB as per Region, Industry Type, Sub Industry Type, Industry Category and Sub Industry Category.
Vedanta and lessons in conservation
The Forest Rights Act of 2006—also known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act—came after considerable and bitter opposition from conservation groups.