The historic development pathway of Europe and the US is clearly not sustainable in developing Asia, with its larger population, constrained by resource limitations, and now facing the global challenges of climate change. So far, however, Asia has not framed an alternative future that simultaneously provides for an escape from poverty, improves standards of living, and responds to the need for a low carbon, climate resilient sustainable development pathway.

Land degradation is a global environment and development issue. Up-to-date, quantitative information is needed to support policy and action for food and water security, economic development, environmental integrity and resource conservation. To meet this need, the Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement (GLADA) uses remote sensing to identify degrading areas and areas where degradation has been arrested or reversed. Within the parent LADA program, this screening will be followed up by field investigations to establish the situation on the ground.

This document deals specifically with essential environmental health standards required for health-care settings in medium- and low-resource countries to: assess prevailing situations and plan the improvements that are required; develop and reach essential safety standards as a first goal; and support the development and application of national policies. It contains guidelines for setting standards of safety conditions to provide adequate health care.

Vedanta Resources plc is a London listed FTSE 100 diversified metals and mining group. Its principal operations are located throughout India, with further operations in Zambia and Australia. Vedanta produces aluminium, copper, zinc and lead and iron ore. It also has interests in commercial energy and is in the process of setting up a 2,400MW independent power plant.

This book reviews recent experiences in participatory monitoring in tropical forest management and summarizes the concepts and lessons learned. It discusses impacts, challenges, and shortcomings of participatory monitoring and presents a matrix of case studies, methods and tools as a quick reference guide. Finally it provides recommendations for future directions in participatory monitoring.

This study analyses the determinants of competitiveness in the Indian auto industry. It is based on a field survey and a quantitative analysis of secondary data. The field survey covers 45 firms all over India, of which 31 are auto-component firms and 14 are Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Access to safe drinking water is crucial for a country's socio-economic development. This paper examines the problems affecting water quality in India's villages and advocates a holistic and people-centred approach of water management.

Impacts of climate change include increasing water scarcity and flood risk, along with decline in water quality. This study explores which ecosystems will be most impacted and analyses how the effects of climate change act as causes of additional emissions, thereby reinforcing global warming in a positive feedback loop. In the study, ecologic contributed an assessment of potential changes in the water regime and their associated impact on land and soil resources. Furthermore, it provided insight into the interaction between deforestation, climate change and water availability.

The World Trade Indicators (WTI) database and ranking tool cover country level indicators of trade performance and policies and institutions that affect trade. This publication summarizes patterns in world trade policy and trade outcomes revealed by the WTI database, focusing mainly on regional and income level variations and providing the context to help evaluate individual country progress. It is hoped that this initiative, by benchmarking country performance in various policy and outcome areas, will enhance the ability of policy makers to design and implement needed trade-related reforms.

This report aims to evaluate CCS in the context of climate stabilization wedges and the challenges and opportunities linked to its wide scale deployment. This report first examines the technologies that comprise CCS, exploring the state of development of each component technology and how mature the technology is, as well as who the early adopters in the market place are.