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AnalysisHow big business gets away with environmental violations A Supreme Court committee has found that Vedanta falsified information to obtain environmental clearances and began construction on its aluminium refinery in Orissa without the necessary clearances under the Forest Conservation Act. Why doesn't the law apply equally to the rich and powerful, asks Nityanand Jayaraman More... National Environment Appellate Authority: Puppet of the MoEF?The National Environment Appellate Authority was set up as an independent body to address cases in which environmental clearances granted by the ministry of environment are challenged by civil society. But is the authority really independent of the ministry? More... Katrina or Cassandra?Last year, weather-related losses crossed $100 billion for the first time, and 30 million ecological refugees were displaced by drought, flood or other environment-related causes. Whether it's New Orleans or Mumbai, the lessons are virtually identical, as climate change intensifies across the globe More... What lies beneath: The politics of climate change negotiationsCan a market-based solution work to combat climate change? Should emission rights be allocated by GDP or per-capita? More... When it rains, it pours: Why we should be concerned about climate changeThe increasing occurrence of extreme weather conditions, such as the recent deluge in Mumbai, points to a dangerous threat - climate change. This is the first of a series of articles on human-induced climate change More... Secret pact on climate changeThe United States recently unveiled the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, a regional pact that seeks the support of the world's most populous countries to bypass the Kyoto Protocol, take a "business-as-usual" approach and solve the global warming crisis through technology rather than global law More... The Economist vs the Green MantraMarket forces could prove the environment's best friend -- if only greens could learn to love them, says The Economist in a recent cover story. Rubbish, says Darryl D’Monte. Economics and ecology have always been uneasy bedfellows More... Indian solutions for Indian wasteIndia generates mind-boggling quantities of waste: 320 million tonnes of agricultural waste and 4.4 million tonnes of hazardous waste every year. But Indian garbage, which consists of around 85% organic matter, is not suited to the burn technologies that we are importing from the West to manage our solid waste. What are the alternatives? More... 'Dirty' gold: The unseen yellow perilThe gold industry consumes a tenth of the world's energy, spews out 30-50% of the globe's toxic emissions and imperils 40% of the frontier forests A single gold ring generates a staggering 20 tonnes of waste More... Economics vs ecology: Progress within limitsA recent meeting in Tuscany, Italy, explored the stormy relationship between economics and ecology and questioned the concept of growth without limits More... Selling out to developmentWhile attempting to simplify the environmental clearance process, the ministry of environment is watering down the few norms that question the long-term environmental, social and economic viability of development projects More... Understanding and experiencing ecologyIn the coming decades the survival of humanity will depend on our ability to understand the basic principles of ecology and to live accordingly, writes Fritjof Capra. Teaching this ecological knowledge, which is also ancient wisdom, will be the most important role of education in the 21st century More... Pitting communities against conservationThe inclusion of two new categories of protected areas in the Wildlife Protection Act, in 2002, raised hopes that more areas would be drawn into the protected areas network, with the full participation of local communities. But concerns are being raised that the new categories could actually undermine community initiatives, creating serious conflicts on the ground More... Resettlement and rehabilitation: Moving from an inadequate policy to a bad one'The new National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Projected Affected Families is a regression from the earlier draft. While the earlier one believed in 'total rehabilitation', the new policy does not even give a timeframe for rehabilitation! Conservative estimates put the number of families displaced by development projects at over 20 million up to 1991 More... Why Mumbai is chokingEvery progressive city has shown that improving public transport is the best way to clean up the air. Mumbai, on the other hand, is geared towards providing 55 flyovers, sea links and coastal highways to the 9% of the population that uses private vehicles. Surely these are examples of topsy-turvy priorities, says Darryl D'Monte More... Consumption on a global scale: The gap widensThis year's 'State of the World' report from Worldwatch places India as the country with the third largest consumer class, behind only the US and China.Yes, that's 122 million individuals with purchasing power. But they form only 12% of the total population. The rest can only gape at the tremendous disparities More... Environment: will the new government be any more responsible?What does the new government need to do to tackle environmental degradation head-on? Ashish Kothari an environmental manifesto More... Business interests supercede environmental interestsThe government pays only lip service to the concept of sustainable economic development. But serious doubts are being raised about the independence and freedom of the new National Board for Wildlife More... |
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