Designers of everything from mobile phones to electric car batteries should make their products far easier to recycle to offset soaring demand for metals, two United Nations reports recommended on

INDORE: Despite government incentives, concept of green buildings has failed to catch fancy of real estate developers in Madhya Pradesh. This is much in contrast to booming real estate markets like Gurgaon (Haryana), Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad where 'green' is the in-thing.

Not a single building in the state is rated 'green building,' which uses less water, optimizes energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to conventional buildings. There are 352 green-rated buildings in the country, approved by Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The climate may be heating up less in response to greenhouse-gas emissions than was once thought. But that does not mean the problem is going away.

Environmental factors contribute to 30% of Africa's disease burden and hinder the continent's development

Power Use Contributes 56.38% Of Total Release, Per Capita Emission Bit Lower Than National Average

Pune: The first-ever carbon footprint report for Pune has revealed that the city emitted over 46 lakh metric tonnes of the gas in 2010-2011. The per capita carbon release in the city is around 1.46 metric tonnes, which is slightly lower than the national average of around 1.5 metric tonnes. However, the per capita emission is way below that of several western countries — for instance, the per capita release in the US is around 17.3 metric tonnes.

Rapid cropland expansion is the main cause of biodiversity loss in tropical countries, a study by UNEP's (the UN Environment Programme) World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Cambridge Conser

Coal-powered India, along with other countries, has successfully dodged its obligations to swiftly overhaul and regulate mercury emissions in the final draft of a United Nations treaty signed in Geneva earlier this month.

Instead of using greenest techniques at major mercury-emitting facilities, the countries have four other flexible options. India has 105 free-flowing, coal-fed power plants and production plants that emit mercury.

Man-made chemicals in everyday products are likely to be at least the partial cause of a global surge in birth deformities, hormonal cancers and psychiatric diseases, a U.N.-sponsored research team