Sustainability Outlook Headlines

British-Liberia 'Forest-Saving' Scheme Exposes Perils of Carbon Credit Plans

A British company's proposal to rent out one-fifth of Liberia's forests for carbon offsetting could have bankrupted the impoverished West African state, according to a former government adviser. The claim came as the Liberian government yesterday announced an interim statement on its inquiry into alleged "improprieties" surrounding the $2.2bn deal.

City of London police are assisting the Liberian authorities with the investigation launched by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf into the deal. Police last month arrested Mike Foster, a 53-year-old British businessman from Widnes, Cheshire... Read more..

Rashtrapati Bhawan, now a certified 'green' building

The President's Estate today became the first urban habitat in the country to be ISO certified following introduction of solar power and waste management system among other energy-efficiency measures under the project 'Roshini'.

"The ISO 14001:2004 certification means the standards set by the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) for Environmental Management Systems are now in place in the 340 acre President's Estate," a statement released by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The certificate was  handed over to Christy Fernandes, Secretary to the President by R K Sharma,... Read more..

Water wars: India, China & the Great Thirst

Countries might wage wars over oil but the most valuable resource in the world is water. It’s the new oil, the colourless gold that’s at a premium because it is becoming scarce.

Today’s nightmare is that tomorrow the glass will be empty because water supplies are fast evaporating on account of population pressures, urbanization and now, climate change. No country is likely to be left untouched, but the great thirst will be felt the most in the region that has the world’s two most populous countries — India and China.

A new study says the situation will be the bleakest in the... Read more..

CCP plans Rs 20 crore projects under JNNURM

The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has planned works worth almost Rs 20 crore for projects including parks and gardens, urban renewal and heritage conservation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

It maybe recalled that a sub committee constituted by the government had approved of the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) in November 2009, and they were sent to the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) where they are currently awaiting approval.

The projects approved by the... Read more..

India may implement carbon-trading system

India may soon have a carbon trading system, with the Government pondering over a market-based instrument to keep industrial emissions under check.

As a first step towards this, the Environment Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, has asked the State pollution control boards to automate their emission monitoring process, by following the Tamil Nadu model.

“Real-time emission monitoring is the starting point for a market-based system,” Mr Ramesh told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop on ‘Innovative Instruments for Environmental Regulation.'

Action plan

The broad... Read more..

Ministers of BASIC countries to meet in Brazil ahead of COP16 meeting

Ministers of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) countries will meet next week in Brazil to discuss international climate change efforts and point out areas where there is a scope for progress, in the run-up to the United Nations COP16 climate change meeting in December.

Over the two-day meetings scheduled for July 25-26 in Rio de Janeiro, representatives will discuss topics central to international climate negotiations, including financing for adaptation and mitigation actions, the United Nations programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD... Read more..

Project to improve canals commissioned

A project to improve major canals in the city, as part of flood mitigation measures, has been commissioned recently, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, S. Ramasundaram, said here on Thursday.

He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Flood risk mapping of Chennai city and its suburbs using Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping technology' organised at the Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University.

Of the nearly Rs.1,448 crore sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission to improve the micro and macro drainages, the Chennai Corporation has begun work to... Read more..

UN urges investment policy to foster low-carbon growth

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urged developing country governments to harness investments by multinational companies to ensure that economic growth does not drive up carbon emissions.

Multinationals can help cut emissions by improving production processes in their operations and along their value chains and by making and marketing cleaner goods and services, UNCTAD said in its annual World Investment Report on Thursday.

Flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) into key low-carbon business areas such as renewables, recycling and low-carbon technology... Read more..

Pollution board asks ports to handle chemicals properly

The near-fatal gas leak in the Bombay Port Trust (BPT) is an eye-opener to various cargo handlers importing hazardous chemicals, the country's top pollution watchdog said today, asking them to prepare an emergency plan to prevent such situations.

In fact, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had as early as April asked various cargo handlers including BPT to be particular in handling toxics like chlorine and ammonia which have high chances of leakages.

"As a central body we had suggested all the ports including the BPT to take precautionary measures so that they don't... Read more..

Emission reduction targets to hit India, China worse than EU

India and China will be hit harder by emission reduction targets than the European Union (EU) or Japan, but it’s other developing countries that should be compensated for their greenhouse commitments, says a new Germanreport on the economic and environmental effects of the recently signed Copenhagen Accord on climate change.

“The larger reductions (of gross domestic product, or GDP) occur for China and India, because their industrial sectors are more energy and CO2-intensive than most other regions, so increases in the cost of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions leads to larger... Read more..

Search is on for greenest city in Asia

Which is the greenest city in Asia? A study being conducted by Siemens in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit will provide the answer. Over the coming months approximately 20 leading Asian business capitals will be compared in terms of their environmental sustainability. The cities will be assessed in eight environmental categories, including energy supply and CO2 emissions, transport, water, sanitation, and green governance. The Asian Green City Index is the first known attempt to analyze and compare the environmental performance of Asian cities and their efforts to improve... Read more..

India doesn't expect any climate treaty in Mexico: Ramesh

As it joins BASIC members for another round of two-day consultations this weekend, India today said it does not expect any treaty in Mexico in December as rich nations are yet to fulfil their promise of doling out fund and technology to poor countries. 

"I don't expect any agreement at Cancun this December as the developed nations have so far failed to keep their promise of fund release made last year at Copenhagen to the developing countries for meeting climate actions.

"If they continue to adopt same strategy, I can say that the fate of any treaty will remain uncertain even... Read more..