Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India no to binding climate agreement

Rejecting demands that India’s voluntary actions on climate be brought under an international legal framework, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said the first necessary step towards negotiating a global climate agreement must be to extend the Kyoto Protocol for a period beyond 2012 when it is currently slated to expire.

At an informal ministerial meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, last week, Natarajan said negotiating the legal framework for an agreement whose contents were not yet finalised was akin to “putting the horse before the cart”.

Natarajan, attending her... Read more..

Where 'cursory approval' led to high rejection rate of Indian projects

 The National Clean Development Mechanism Authority (NCDMA), which is responsible for “evaluation and approval” of Indian projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to earn credits in the global carbon market, simply believes the promoter's assurance that the project meets certain key criteria, according to an American consulate cable released by Wikileaks.

This kind of “cursory” approval leads to a high rate of rejections of Indian projects at the international level, it says.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs... Read more..

Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation launch "Unnati"

 Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation announced the launch of Project 'Unnati', - a unique partnership with farmers to demonstrate and enable adoption of Ultra-High Density Plantation (UHDP) practice for mangoes. The Project will encourage sustainable, modern agricultural practices and help double mango yields, thereby increasing the income of farmers. UHDP is a farming practice that leads to mango orchards attaining their full potential in 3-4 years and also allows nearly 600 trees to be planted in an acre instead of the conventional method of planting 40 trees in an acre.

Mr. Atul... Read more..

ICFRE to take up forest restoration with UK Forestry commission

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun has associated with United Kingdom Forestry Commission (UKFC) to take up Forest Landscape Restoration approach for forest conservation.

A bipartite agreement was signed in this regard between Government of India and UK Forestry Commission at Edinburgh(UK) earlier this month, DG ICFRE VK Bahuguna today informed mediapersons adding that the ICFRE would now integrate the practical approaches of Forest Landscape Restoration(FLR) to regain ecological integrity and enhance human well-being in forested and degraded... Read more..

Committee designing UN-backed green climate fund reports good progress

 The transitional committee tasked with designing a new fund to mobilize resources to help developing countries mitigate the impact of global warming under the United Nations climate change convention today reported “solid progress” after a three-day meeting in Geneva.

The Green Climate Fund is one of several significant decisions that countries reached at the meeting of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancún, Mexico, last year.

“The Transitional Committee of the Fund is now fully on track to conclude the design of the Fund for the... Read more..

Now, a futuristic fuel efficient lightweight car

  MUTE is here. It's an agile, sporty two-seater, eco-friendly electric vehicle capable of hitting a peak speed of 120 kmph.

Its lithium-ion battery is designed to guarantee a range of at least 100 km, which can be extended by a reserve zinc-air battery when required.

MUTE's stable frame, made of aluminum and carbon fibre reinforced plastic chasis, reduces the curb weight, including batteries, to a mere 500 kg.

'Low weight is essential for an electric vehicle,' says the Germany-based Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) vehicle engineer Markus Lienkamp, according to... Read more..

This city is sewage sick

The millennia old city, known for its religious and tourism importance world over, has been plagued with unsanitary and unhygienic surroundings that not only pose a threat to health but also tarnish its image.

However, the city is being covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Formulation of city sanitation plan to meet the vision of National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP) is also in process. Almost all areas of the city wear a pathetic look with waterlogged roads and heaps of municipal solid waste. Recently the third meeting of city task force was... Read more..

Allahabad Bank, Tata BP in pact

 Allahabad Bank will provide loans to farmers and rural artisans to install solar off-grid manufactured by Tata BP Solar India Ltd. The bank today entered into an agreement with Tata BP Solar for the implementation of ‘capital subsidy cum refinance scheme for installation of solar off-grid (photo voltaic and thermal) and decentralisation applications' under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission announced by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, according to a statement.

The various categories of borrowers such as farmers, agricultural labourers, rural artisans,... Read more..

Shaping consumers’ behaviour key to responsible recycling in India

 Only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices lying around at home that they no longer want, according to a published global consumer survey by Nokia Oyj.

Three of every four people said that they don’t even think about recycling their devices and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so.

Infrastructure gaps: India lags behind in recycling cell phones due to the absence of collection schemes and a full-scale recycling unit in the country. Photo by Andrew Sacks/Getty Images/AFP.

Despite this, very few old... Read more..

Tata BP Solar to expand in domestic market

Tata BP Solar is turning its attention to the domestic market, encouraged by India’s solar mission and because of slowing exports.

The Bangalore-based company earned about 70% of its revenue of Rs. 1,000 crore in 2010-11 by way of exports of solar photovoltaic panels, which convert light to electricity.

“This year (2011-12), we expect 50% of our business to come from setting up grid connected projects in India, through the JNNSM or the state solar schemes,” said chief executive K. Subramanya.

JNNSM, or the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, is India’s ambitious... Read more..

Manipur drafting action plan on climate change

Somio Dutta, national coordinator of Delhi based NGO Bharat Jana Vigyan Jatha disclosing this to reporters on the sideline of a two-day consultation workshop here said recently, “Assam’s action plan draft was made after having three consultations at the university level”.

Appreciating Manipur Government’s move to organise public hearing prior to the drafting of the State action plan on climate change, Dutta, who is also the convenor of climate group of beyond Copenhagen coalition expressed the need to recognise the climate change impact studies very seriously.

So far eight... Read more..

Climate fund seeks to turn pledges into reality

 TALKS on how to secure the $30bn pledged to the Green Climate Fund by next year, in support of developing countries’ climate-change mitigation actions, and to rise to $100bn a year by 2020, continue today and tomorrow.

The talks, which began on Saturday, are focusing on how to secure the $30bn "fast start" funds pledged to be in by the end of next year, and also on how to build up the $100bn annual fund.

Clarity on the how and when of gathering the funds was "the bottom line" for Durban’s year-end United Nations (UN) climate-change talks making real progress on implementing... Read more..