Tag: ecology

Grassroots activists who fought corruption & corporate power share environmental prize

Seven winners of environmental prize include Amazonian river campaigner and Tunisian who fought against organised waste trafficking Nina Lakhani Grassroots activists who helped jail corrupt officials and obtain personhood rights for a sacred Amazonian river are among this year’s winners of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize. The community campaigns led by the seven 2025… Read More Grassroots activists who fought corruption & corporate power share environmental prize

Dilip

The Idea of Development: A Conversation in Chandigarh

Whether in electoral rhetoric or in the most high profile Supreme Court cases or in public policy, the word on everyone’s lips is Development. Punjab’s labour laws have been proposed to be reformed for– Development. Schools are being set up and strengthened for– Development. Building regulations are being changed so that rural areas and urban… Read More The Idea of Development: A Conversation in Chandigarh

Dilip

Mainstream, January 4, 2025

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Jan 4, 2025 Manmohan Singh: A gentleman politician India was lucky to have | M.R. Narayan Swamy Dr. Manmohan Singh – The Architect of Viksit Bharat | Atul Sarma Rare people of integrity and compassion | Humra Quraishi A Tragic Coincidence | J P Gadkari 2024 and its lessons for India | P. S. Jayaramu… Read More Mainstream, January 4, 2025

Dilip

Fury as US argues against climate obligations at top UN court

The current UN climate change regime “embodies the clearest, most specific, and the most current expression of states’ consent to be bound by international law in respect of climate change”, Margaret Taylor, legal adviser at the state department, told the ICJ judges on Wednesday. “Any other legal obligations relating to climate change mitigation identified by… Read More Fury as US argues against climate obligations at top UN court

Dilip

A sacred forest dies in Gurugram as Bandhwari landfill’s toxic waste breaches Aravalli sanctuary

Despite Swachh Bharat Mission’s giant promises, 1,600 tonnes of unsegregated waste continues to poison groundwater in villages near Mangarbani forest. Deepanshu Mohan and Shubhangi Derhgawen The air around the Bandhwari landfill in Gurugram is thick with the stench of decay. “We earn our living here, but at what cost to our health?” asks Joginder, a… Read More A sacred forest dies in Gurugram as Bandhwari landfill’s toxic waste breaches Aravalli sanctuary

Dilip

Carbon emissions of richest 1% increase hunger, poverty and deaths, says Oxfam

Consumption of world’s wealthiest people also making it increasingly difficult to limit global heating to 1.5C The high carbon emissions of the world’s richest 1% are worsening hunger, poverty and excess deaths, a report has found. Owing to luxury yachts, private jets and investments in polluting industries, the consumption of the world’s wealthiest people is also making… Read More Carbon emissions of richest 1% increase hunger, poverty and deaths, says Oxfam

Dilip

How the invasive water hyacinth is helping build livelihoods – with an ecological bonus

Shweta Thakur Nanda Moromi Hazowary of Kamrup district in Assam had clear aspirations – a stable life and a desire to give her son a better education. It is not a stroke of luck, but an invasive weed – water hyacinth – that is turning her hopes into reality. The 32-year-old’s family was dependent on… Read More How the invasive water hyacinth is helping build livelihoods – with an ecological bonus

Dilip

Crude capitalism: How oil greases the wheels of the world market

New book exposes the power of oil – from colonialism, to post-Soviet Russia, to the current climate crisis Adam Hanieh Nearly four decades ago, a large team of scientists from around the world launched a major global research programme called the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Their goal was to study the connection between human activities and… Read More Crude capitalism: How oil greases the wheels of the world market

Dilip

Certainty

Even if our brains are not up to the task of appreciating all the connections that relate to quality of air, water, nutrients, soils, etc., these things are still vitally important. In other words, we would be tragically foolish to imagine living without insects, plankton, microbes, fish, birds, etc., and the uncountable and unknowable interrelationships between… Read More Certainty

Dilip