Sustainability Outlook Headlines

U.N. panel to review CER request from 5th HFC plant

A United Nations panel will review a carbon offset request from a fifth greenhouse gas destroying plant, the UN said on Friday, a sign that all similar projects approved under a Kyoto Protocol carbon finance scheme will be scrutinized.

The UN's climate arm said on its website it would review a request for offsets, called Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), from the Zhejiang Juhua project in China, which makes money by destroying a potent greenhouse gas called HFC-23.

The project was approved under Kyoto's $2.7 billion Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which helps fund... Read more..

Meet of BRIC nations to discuss legal issues in climate change

In the run-up to the Cancun climate summit later this year, leading decisions makers from the BRIC block --Brazil, India, Russia and China-- will come together at a two-day meet starting here tomorrow to discuss legal issues surrounding climate change. 

The colloquium on "Climate Change Law and Governance in South Asia", which aims to inspire legal discussion within and between the BRICs countries, is being jointly organised by the Environment Ministry of Government of India and the Geneva-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Environment Minister... Read more..

New Computer Model Advances Climate Change Research

Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The Community Earth System Model (CESM) will be one of the primary climate models used for the next assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The CESM is the latest in a series of NCAR-based global models developed over the last 30 years. The models are jointly supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation, which is NCAR's sponsor.

Scientists and engineers at... Read more..

India Cabinet Likely To Approve Amended Nuclear Bill Thursday

India's federal cabinet is likely to approve an amended nuclear bill when it meets Thursday evening, after a panel of lawmakers proposed tripling the accident liability cap, a person familiar with the development said.

"This cabinet clearance is needed because the law will incorporate the recommendations of the panel," the person told Dow Jones Newswires.

Cabinet approval will raise the chances of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill passing through Parliament.

A 31-member parliamentary panel said that nuclear equipment suppliers should pay compensation... Read more..

Pachauri asks Mexico to be realistic: Cancun climate summit

With hopes of a consensus eluding the Cancun climate meet, IPCC chairman R K Pachauri has urged host Mexico to be realistic and work hard in pushing rich nations to put climate funds on the table. 

"There will be least expectations (of a consensus) this time (at Cancun). I doubt if you will get anything close to a global agreement. It is not possible particularly considering the situation in some countries," Pachauri said, apparently referring to delay of passage of US climate law. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has already acknowledged that the December meeting might not... Read more..

Plastic Waste Management Centre to be set up in New Delhi

A Plastic Waste Management Centre will be set up in the capital after the one already functioning in Guwahati since August 2009.

This information was given by Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers Srikant Jena to the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry today, who also hinted at levying a 0.5 per cent charge on the price of manufactured or imported polymers for setting up waste management units in the country.

Addressing the Committee meeting, Mr Jena said a plastic Waste Reprocessing Fund (on the pattern of Education Cess) would be created by... Read more..

Mumbai choking on road dust: Study

A recent report on air pollution and its sources in mega cities — prepared by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and sponsored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) — reveals just how deep the rot actually is. Construction activity, including paved and unpaved roaddust is responsible for as much as 38% of the emission load of particulate matter (PM) in Mumbai. Power plants are the second biggest culprits accounting for 20.99% of air pollution, followed by landfill open burning at 10.84%. In the vehicular category, heavy duty diesel (HDDV) vehicles... Read more..

Canada provides aid for research project on water security in Nepal, India and Bangladesh

International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada has provided assistance of 800,000 Canadian dollars for the implementation of a research project on water security in the four locations of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.

The project is being executed by Nepal Engineering College, South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Organising a press conference in the capital on Monday, the project executors said that the main aim of the research project is to understand the implications of... Read more..

Govt fixes ethanol price for fuel blending at Rs 27/litre

The Government has raised the prices of ethanol for blending with petrol at Rs 27 per litre from the existing Rs 21.50 per litre.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the hike in prices of ethanol to Rs 27 per litre from the existing price of Rs 21.50 per litre for five per cent mandatory blending with fuel,” a source said.

A Group of Ministers (GoM) has recently reaffirmed Rs 27 per litre price for ethanol to be paid by the oil marketing companies to the sugar companies.

The chemical industry and oil marketing companies had demanded a much lower... Read more..

Voluntary energy efficiency rating for laptops, STBs on anvil

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is understood to be planning to bring in more electronic items, including laptops and set top boxes (STBs), under a voluntary star labelling scheme by this financial year. 

Under the scheme, manufacturers voluntarily disclose energy consumption of their products or how energy efficient their products are by giving different star ratings. 

"We are planning to launch voluntary schemes for laptops, computers, inverters and set top boxes by 2010-11," an BEE official, who asked not to be identified, said. 

Besides, the bureau is... Read more..

India, Mexico to discuss climate change

Ahead of the global climate change summit in Cancun, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa touches down here on a three-day visit on Sunday that will explore views on evolving a strategy for negotiations at the Nov 29-Dec 10 UN meet on combating global warming.

Espinosa will hold talks with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on issues relating to climate change, intensification of economic ties and the UN reforms. She will also meet Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Indian officials involved in climate change negotiations.

The two sides are expected to discuss the... Read more..

Giant Greenland iceberg a climate 'warning sign'

A giant iceberg that snapped away from Greenland last week is a signal that global warming is causing the island's continent-sized ice cap to melt faster than expected, scientists say.

The 250-square-kilometre (100-square-mile) chunk, four times the size of Manhattan, broke away from the Petermann ice shelf on Greenland's northwestern tip.

The breakoff -- the largest in the Arctic in half a century -- points to Greenland's worrying potential to stoke sea levels in the coming decades and centuries, climate experts say.

"It is a warning sign that we are seeing... Read more..