Cancun has restored the sanctity of multilateral negotiations under the UN climate convention. People had lost faith in it by the end of the Copenhagen meet last year. But what is the cost of the Cancun success? The new deal erases the difference between developed and developing nations. Developed countries no more have to commit legally to cut emissions.
Kerala government has been pressing the Centre to impose a country-wide ban on endosulfan. But its own track reocrd hasn't been impressive. The ban on endosulfan in Kerala has proved ineffective and the pesticide is being smuggled in the state. A recent survey shows more children are falling victim, Down To Earth reports.
The Posco steel plant and port planned in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district have run into fresh trouble. An expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests deferred its decision on clearing the port project, saying the South Korean steel giant did not furnish sufficient details.
It asks Cabinet to remove restrictions on mining areas. Choosing economic growth over protection of rich forests, the ministry of coal has written to the Cabinet secretary against demarcation of coal-bearing mines as
The ambitious solar mission is set to start on shaky ground. Bidding for the first phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission has put a question mark on the ambitious target set to augment the country
The death of a tiger last month, two and a half years after it was brought to Sariska, proves the National Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan is not safe for the big cat. The death also brought to light little action has been taken on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force, set up in 2005 to look at tiger conservation in the country.
Recent research on leopard behaviour shows capturing the problem animals and releasing them elsewhere only shifts the locale of the people-animal conflict. At first glance Akole taluka in Ahmednagar district seems like any other taluka in western Maharashtra’s sugarcane belt.
This report in Down To Earth calls for unbiased research on Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme to be launched in April 2011, as part of India’s National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). Suggests that the policy design has few distortions and calls for alternative ideas to be explored.
