A little "war" between the North and South
The public debate between Dutch environment minister Hans Alders and Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, covering a whole …
Sustainable development is an oxymoron
WOLFGANG Sachs, born in 1946 in Munich, studied theology, sociology and history and taught at the University of Berlin for several years. At the …
Recession makes north renege on aid
Against a background of worldwide recession, the Rio conference came and went with many promises of aid by the Northern countries. But by the end …
Takeover threat
State of the world 2002 (us $15.95), vital signs 2002 (us $14.95); eco-economy: building an economy for the earth, 2001 (us $14.95) .
How to make the Commission for Sustainable Development work
It was only half a year ago, but events since the Johannesburg earth summit already make it seem like a distant event. The world has just seen an …
Umbilical Discord
An estimated 8,000 babies are born with neural defects every year in Rajasthan. Most of them die within a few months of birth. They are lucky. …
What it takes to clean a river
It is the tale of two European rivers. The Rhine and the Danube. No river system in the world has a density of industrial agglomerations …
'Biodiversity authority needs autonomy'
Balakrishna Pisupati was the first biodiversity expert to head India's National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and had more than six months to go …
Beyond The Billion
If post-Independence leaders of India had ensured full literacy, a solution would have been in sight for a lot of problems. Population, for one. …
Enter -The green rating project
Indian industry is huge. But most environmentalists believe it has done little to reduce pollution, which will only rise as the economy grows. …
Power the people
For the country where only 15 per cent of its population have access to electricity, Nepal has come a long way. It took 84 years to achieve power …
Singapore: Breathing Easy
It's all about taming traffic: keeping a tab on the number of vehicles on the road, and promoting public transport. Singapore, one of the …
Future compromised
The Earth Summit was a historical opportunity to set the world on the correct development trajectory. Negotiators from 191 countries came …
The vanishing lakes
There is more water than land in north Bihar. The rivers that ramble down from the Himalaya feed numerous depressions scattered all over the …
Deconstructing science
Nature uses lean sources to get work done. The environmental crises we face today are a result of ignoring this simple paradigm for two centuries.…
Newest Biggest Deal
In Kyoto, in 1997, nations of the world agreed the Clean Development Mechanism (cdm) was a competent way to combat climate change. The process …
Is the joyride over ?
There was fear in the 1960s. Would India continue to wait for food imports to feed itself? The scientific community came up with an answer that …
Science for ecology
Down To Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment announce the winner of the 2001 Green Scientist Award. In the exercise to rate the …
From the dirtiest to the cleanest: Mexico City’s journey
Mexico City is today recognised as one of the cleanest cities in the world, and the credit for this goes to Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon who recently …
Saga of two villages
Sukhomajri was a dirt-poor village in Haryana. It started pulling itself out of its hole in the late 1970s, making a dizzying ascent to …
How green is your building?
The building's green credentials have been recognised internationally, most notably by the us Green Business Council (usgbc). The Washington-…
A Renewable Crisis
The last time there was a major push for renewable energy alternatives to polluting fossil fuels was in the aftermath of 1970s oil shock. And then,…
'Building and retaining capacity is the toughest challenge'
Balakrishna Pisupati is in the hot seat as chairperson of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), where he has to deal with regulatory and …
WSSD: dialogue of the deaf
The needs of many were once again compromised to accommodate the demands of a powerful few. Given the alarming tilt towards self-interest and …
There’s hope, if we wake up to today’s evolutionary potential
Everyone needs to be fired up with a rage aligned with the feminine principle of care rather than the masculine principle of control