Cancun has restored the sanctity of multilateral negotiations under the UN climate convention. People had lost faith in it by the end of the Copenhagen meet last year. But what is the cost of the Cancun success? The new deal erases the difference between developed and developing nations. Developed countries no more have to commit legally […]

The Ministry of Environment and Forests today notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. These Rules, which for the first time lay down legally enforceable provisions for the conservation and management of Wetlands, have been drafted to ensure better conservation and management and to prevent further degradation of existing wetlands in India.

The government’s offer at the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Cancun – to submit India to international measurement, review and verification – makes for a welcome change after Japan’s decision last week not to extend the Kyoto Protocol. The only international treaty obliging rich countries to cut their emissions, Kyoto is not perfect. But it was a start […]

Karnataka’s irrigation department has fast-tracked construction work to divert water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha. The canal project is under dispute but the state’s water resources department is adamant that it is crucial to meet the drinking water needs of the twin towns, Hubli and Dharwad, that aim to be the first in […]