Opinion
The buses and bicycles option
24 Aug 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Newspaper Today
There has been a great deal of debate on air quality in Delhi, measures taken to bring about an improvement, and their effectiveness. There is a popular perception that CNG, which has been introduced in the city in recent months, has made a substantial difference to air quality in the city. In actual fact this is not borne out by data on air quality provided both by the CPCB from its seven monitoring stations and TERI from its eleven stations. Undoubtedly, there has been a significant improvement in air quality at CPCB's monitoring station located at the ITO crossing, but it would be very difficult to ascribe any improvements that have taken place to the impact of transport-related emissions in general and CNG-related emissions in particular.
Engineered genes: roll over Darwin
20 Aug 2001 |
Dr M S Lakshmikumaran
| The Daily Pioneer
I feel that this whole debate over GM or no GM is a lot in the air. There are no logical reasons to oppose GMOs or their introduction into India. First, the technological aspect: There is absolutely no reason to suppose that GM crops, when introduced on Indian soil, will result in uncontrollable cross-pollination with other indigenous species or with the same plants' non-GM variety. The second argument, that India's food security will be lost to corporates is equally unfounded. Farmers are free to save, reuse, distribute or otherwise channelise their seeds and farm produce.
Trade facilitation and WTO
19 Aug 2001 |
Mr S Sundar
| The Economic Times
The forthcoming Doha Ministerial Conference has put the debate on WM issues in sharper focus. There has, however, been little discussion on the proposal to have a multilateral agreement on trade facilitation in WTO.
Access to information: vital to improve environmental quality
17 Aug 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire 7(16)
In recent weeks there has been considerable discussion on the state of air pollution in the city of Delhi. CPCB (The Central Pollution Control Board) which uses the monitoring station located at the ITO crossing as an indicator of air quality in the city as a whole has put forward the claim that air quality, based on the measurements carried out at this location, has improved substantially. As opposed to this TERI has collated data available from 7 stations at which air quality is monitored by the CPCB and 11 stations, which TERI manages independently, to come up with a very different conclusion.
Information the cleanest option of all: how information technology can improve public transport
16 Aug 2001 |
| TERI Newswire 7(5)
As experts in transport, fuels, and air quality continue their fight over the choice of a clean fuel for Delhi's public transport, cheered by the press and television, the fate of Delhi's commuting millions - who make about 6.5 millions trips a day - hangs in balance: will I make it to work in time on 1 October? Will my child reach school safely? How do I take my ailing father to the hospital in an overcrowded bus? Such questions are uppermost in the minds of the masses. Perhaps, things would have turned out different had the experts been regular users of public transport themselves.
Talking about the weather
12 Aug 2001 |
Mr C Dasgupta
| The Telegraph
How important is global warming? Last month, it figured prominently in President George W. Bush's talks with European leaders as well as in the group-of-eight ministerial meeting in Genoa. The Bonn meeting on climate change was the subject of headlines in the international press.
Corporates and Civil Society
11 Aug 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Newspaper Today
Some major developments have taken place in the past two weeks that seem to signify a more effective voice for civil society in matters dealing with the environment and social responsibility of organizations that are the flag bearers of globalisation. Perhaps, the most important of these developments is the agreement that was reached in Bonn at the extended 6th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). What was agreed on after intense negotiations and compromises by many is certainly weaker than the original Kyoto Protocol, but the fact that there is agreement at last provides a basis for further global action to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are contributing to global warming and climate change.
Reneging on the Kyoto Protocol
05 Aug 2001 |
Mr Saurabh Gupta
| The Hindu Business Line
The presence of certain trace gases in the atmosphere enables it to act like a greenhouse. An increase in the concentration of these greenhouse gases (GHGs) causes an enhanced greenhouse effect and a warming of the earth, leading to a change in climate. Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are the largest source of GHGs. These are most difficult to reduce as energy is an essential input in all economic activities.
Prioritization: need of the hour
02 Aug 2001 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| TERI Newswire VII(15)
Independence Day this year was celebrated at TERI with the usual solemnity and festivities of various kinds. This is one day in the year when TERI staff and their families, including children, get together not only to salute the national flag but to celebrate an event that most Indians appear to have forgotten the significance of. This is also one occasion when the country needs to count its assets and achievements, and lift the vision of this society towards horizons, which beckon India to keep its second tryst with destiny. Pandit Nehru, the country's first Prime Minister, rightly invoked the image of the country's tryst with destiny when independence was granted, but a much bigger expectation now lies in attaining economic freedom from the problems that have afflicted Indian society and particularly the poor for so long. The intolerance of current trends has found protest and expression at the international level, but it would be naive to believe that we at the national level would remain insulated to the anger that widespread poverty is likely to foster in the years ahead.
Global warming: A hoax?
01 Aug 2001 |
| The Economic Times
Global warming is a big hoax: so thought the President of the United States of America. Unfortunately, he is wrong. He assembled resource experts on the subject and asked them to explode the global warming myth.