The road from Stockholm to Rio

It was the Stockholm conference, held exactly 20 years ago, which put environmental issues on the global agenda for the first time. But the …

20 years to…where?

Consuming to sustain?

At UNCED, the North tried using the facile argument that their larger consumption actually provided trade and jobs for the poorer South. But …

Three brackets to Johannesburg

An inconclusive Bali PrepCom meet only takes confusion and procrastination to Rio +10

CSD must become a forum for debate

New Zealand's minister for the environment Simon Upton is the chairperson of the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (…

Blending green concerns into market economy

GERMAN environment minister Klaus Topfer has come under fire for his tough green laws such as the one against packaging. Environmental ministries,…

Focus shifts to N-plant revamp

Environmental issues took a backseat at the recent G-7 meet where the main concern was the business of revamping Soviet-built nuclear power plants

Panel to smooth North-South squabbles on GEF

A special committee is being set up to solve clashes between the industrialised and developing countries over national and international gains in …

Aid cuts will defeat objectives of Agenda 21

WITH HUGE reductions in aid already under way and further cuts to follow soon, transfer of resources remains the most contentious issue in …

Mining industry makes all-out bid to send right signals before WSSD

Going slow

Taking stock of biodiversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity, 20 years on, is still struggling to stem the precipitous decline in biodiversity. After missing the 2010 …

Convention on biological diversity

Green funds dry up for developing countries

With the US halving its contribution to the Global Environment Facility, the oldest green fund sees first budget cut in 27 years, hurting the …

Biodiversity governance: Access and benefit sharing and its implications on agricultural resources

A special instrument for access to crop genetic resources, access and benefit sharing (ABS) system, is fraught with challenges  

Biodiversity governance: The agreements and laws that help enforce it

Major legally binding conventions to protect nature were adopted at the Rio Summit where several countries came together amid rapidly …

Biodiversity governance: A mix of knowledge and forest management for benefit sharing

People’s biodiversity register a roadmap for forest management plans; it documents knowledge of status, history, ongoing changes and …