Centre for Science & Environment , Delhi : An E-Bulletin from CSE on November 30, 2006
CSE’s Fortnightly News Bulletin [November 30, 2006]
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An e-bulletin from CSE, India, to our network of friends and
professionals interested in environmental issues. Scroll to the bottom
of this page for information on how to unsubscribe.
INSIDE:
– Training: Understanding and deciphering EIA: from screening to
decision-making
– Short-term course: Urban rainwater harvesting
– Editorial: Climate: the market’s Achilles heel
– Cover story: Flawed conservation policies lead to decline in gharial
population
– Podcast: Hear what’s new in Down To Earth
– News: Activists, exporters protest Bt rice trials in India
– News: Orissa refinery project breaking law to build, expand
– News: Mumbai may lose its open spaces
– Features: Mulkanoor: guiding light of India’s cooperative movement
– Science: Some species adapt to climate change, others face extinction
– Gobar Times: 10 ecological phrases you must know
– Jobs: Copy editors needed for Down To Earth
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Training: Understanding and deciphering EIA: from screening to
decision-making
New Delhi, January 8-13, 2006
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This hands-on training programme aims at demystifying Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) for NGOs. It also seeks to develop the capacity
of state-level regulators to screen and scope the EIA process, evaluate
reports and conduct public consultations.
The course will expose participants to:
– Technical and new legal aspects of EIA
– Environmental and social impacts of various types of developmental
projects
– Hands-on exercises in screening, scoping, data analysis and developing
environment management plans
– Tools and thumb rules to evaluate various environmental and social
impact parameters
– Techniques to engage in public consultation
Last date for registration: December 15, 2006
Register online >>
http://www.cseindia.org/misc/eia_form.htm
For more information contact:
Sujit Kumar Singh
<sujit@cseindia.org>
Note:
– Course is open only to civil society members and state-level regulators
– Due discount will be given to grassroots NGOs
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Short-term course: Urban rainwater harvesting
New Delhi
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CSE is accepting applications for its short-term training programme on
urban rainwater harvesting (RWH) to be held on the following dates:
– December 26-29, 2006
– February 12-15, 2007
– March 19-22, 2007
The programme will discuss the following:
– Urban water scenario in India with detailed case studies
– Groundwater status, demand side management and supply
– Planning: hydrogeological, geomorphological and metrological conditions
– Design and components: rainfall, terrain, water table, soil conditions
– Maintenance, monitoring and impact assessment
– Policies on RWH: legal and fiscal initiatives
– Primer on urban wastewater management
– Field visit to active project sites, workshops on RWH design
Register online >>
http://www.cseindia.org/misc/rwhcourse_Dec2006.htm
For more information, contact:
Salahuddin Saiphy <salah@cseindia.org>
Note:
– NGOs, researchers, RWAs, engineers, architects, urban planners,
industry consultants, and concerned citizens are invited to apply
– As this is a popular course, we advise you to register at the earliest
– A certificate of participation will be awarded at the end of the programme
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Editorial: Climate: the market’s Achilles heel
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By Sunita Narain
Last fortnight I wrote about making space for emissions. Let’s discuss
how this can be done. Let’s discuss this with governments meeting,
possibly for the millionth time, to discuss the global agreement to
combat climate change. Let’s discuss this when we know with some greater
certainty that global warming is beginning to adversely change our
world. And we know that in spite of all the years of intense
negotiations, governments have done too little to avert the reality of
climate change. Let’s discuss this during a fortnight when a study
commissioned by the British government has concluded that evidence not
only shows that climate change will be disastrous for countries,
particularly the poor, but also that it would cost the world much less
if it invested today in mitigating emissions.
The UK report authored by economist Nicholas Stern is important for this
reason. It is an economist’s warning in a world run by them. I say this
because for far too long these smart people have argued that climate
change is too uncertain and, therefore, there is no reason to take
high-cost action today. It is better to wait and see, if necessary
adapt. It has also been assumed that in this scenario, as climate change
happens in the far future, technological innovation and transition will
also happen. The market will happily provide answers. But most of all,
this breed has lulled us into complacency. There will be no costs to the
transition towards an economy which is able to delink economic growth
with the growth of its emissions, they have said.
It is time we stopped fooling ourselves. The fact is that warming of the
global atmosphere is possibly the biggest and most difficult economic
and political issue the world has ever needed to confront. I say this
because, firstly, emissions of carbon dioxide are directly linked to
economic growth. Therefore, growth as we know is on the line. We will
have to reinvent what we do and how we do it. There will be costs, but
as Stern says, the cost will be a fraction of what we will need to spend
in the future.
Secondly, the issue is about sharing that growth between nations and
between people. The fact is that global economic wealth is highly
skewed. Put in climate terms, this means that global emissions are also
highly skewed. The question now is whether the world will share the
right to emit (or pollute) or will it freeze inequities. The question is
if the rich world, which has accumulated a huge ‘natural debt’
overdrawing on its share of the global commons, will repay it so that
the poorer world can grow, using the same ecological space?
Thirdly, climate change is about international cooperation. The fact is
that climate change teaches us more than anything else that the world is
one; if the rich world pumped in excessive quantities of carbon dioxide
yesterday, the emerging rich world will do so today. It also tells us
the only way to build controls will be to ensure there is fairness and
equity, so that this biggest cooperative enterprise is possible. Think
of climate change as the fallout of the feverish embracing of the market.
What must we do to contain it? We must accept the world needs to go
beyond the weak commitments of Kyoto Protocol to even stabilise carbon
dioxide emissions at 550 parts per million. This level is considered by
many to be extremely dangerous because it accepts doubling of
pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. By most
assessments, this stabilising will require cuts between 30-50 per cent
of the current emissions soon. All this means we need to take hard
action, fast.
The way forward would be to re-negotiate the world’s agreement on
combating climate change. But this time the agreement must be political.
It must reflect the desperate urgency of the world. It must be fair and
meaningful. In other words, it must not take the world another 15 years
to cut emissions and get something as weak and pusillanimous as the
current Kyoto Protocol.
The fact is that the world has changed in more than more ways. There is
clear understanding that the rich and the emerging rich world needs to
make the transition to a low carbon economy. There is also much better
understanding that the route ahead is made up for technologies that we
have in hand currently. It is not about inventing new things, but using
much more efficiently and effectively the technologies of the present.
Therefore, answers will lie in increasing efficiencies in both the
generation of energy and in the use of energy in manufacturing other
products. It will also lie in the change in how we do things from
transportation policies in our cities to everything else. The fact is
that we need to know how to change.
It is also clear that the emerging rich world, China, India and others,
is showing itself to be more efficient per unit of output within their
limited means than the industrial world was. The fact is they would want
to improve if they were compensated for it. The question then is why can
we not move ahead?
The answer lies in the way we have framed the questions. It has been
lost in the obduracy of the us government, which has never accepted the
need to build a fair and cooperative agreement to combat climate change.
The us, still the world’s single largest contributor to climate change
and whose emissions continue to grow, says it will not join an agreement
which does not involve India and China. The result has been a weak and
compromised agreement called Kyoto, which allows renegade polluters-the
us and Australia to opt out.
This must change. Ultimately, climate change is the true globaliser. It
forces our world to come together not just to make short-term profits
for some, but long-term economic and ecological benefits for all. Let us
continue to discuss how this can be done.
– Sunita Narain
To comment, write to >>
editor@downtoearth.org.in
Read the editorial online >>
www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=2
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Cover story: Flawed conservation policies lead to decline in gharial
population
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Which predator species is severely threatened in India? The tiger, you
would say. But it is the gharial (a crocodile species), which finds
itself in the critically endangered list. Conservation measures to save
the gharial have failed: at present, there are just about 200 adults in
the wild. The numbers have dwindled because, firstly, their habitats
were turned into protected areas, where everyone, including local
communities dependent on gharials for their livelihood, were barred.
This affected the ecological balance of the areas. Secondly, gharials
had a hard time in their strictly riverine habitats, especially during
floods when a lot of them were flushed down to shallow stretches where
they could not survive. Moreover, the fluctuation in water level led to
migration of fish — an important prey of the gharial.
Read online >>
www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=1
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Podcast: Hear what’s new in Down To Earth
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Want to hear the latest from Down To Earth every fortnight? Get our new
audio podcast for a briefing on what’s in the issue by follow the link
below. You can hit play to listen online (latest web browsers required),
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http://feeds.feedburner.com/DownToEarthIndia
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http://www.softease.com/podcasting/podcastingguide.htm
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More in Down To Earth magazine
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News: Activists, exporters protest Bt rice trials in India
In a new twist to the genetically modified (GM) crops debate in India,
rice exporters are opposing Bt rice trials and have thrown their weight
behind anti-GM activists. Exporters fear losing the lucrative European
market, where consumer movements are part of the anti-GM struggle.
Anti-GM activists are also charged up: they are using the Right to
Information Act to retrieve government records that were earlier beyond
reach.
Read complete article >>
www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=3
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News: Orissa refinery project breaking law to build, expand
The setting up of Utkal Alumina International Limited’s (UAIL’s)
refinery in Rayagada, Orissa, is a classic case of getting work done
through deception and repression. UAIL bought land from villagers at
nominal rates and guaranteed employment to them — a promise that was
never kept. Protesting villagers now face repression from both the state
and the company. The illegal ways continued: UAIL applied for an
environmental clearance for expansion even though the plant is yet to
start operations. Will a big enterprise be absolved of all misdemeanours
yet again?
Read online >>
www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=4
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News: Mumbai may lose its open spaces
Urban planners and activists in Mumbai are demanding the scrapping of a
policy, which if implemented, will mean that the city’s reserved open
spaces will be handed over to private organisations/corporate bodies for
development and maintenance. Private players will get construction
rights to over 25 per cent of the space leased to them. The remaining
will be used for “disciplined” public use with “restricted hours” of entry.
Read online >>
www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=5
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Features: Mulkanoor: guiding light of India’s cooperative movement
India’s cooperative movement is in a dismal state. However, Mulkanoor
Cooperative Rural Bank and Marketing Society Ltd in Karimnagar district,
Andhra Pradesh, is an exception. With a turnover of more that Rs 55
crore, Mulkanoor is the site of an extraordinary rural cooperative
credit society. It facilitates one of the most extraordinary paddy seeds
operations in India, gives foundation seeds to select farmers and has
two seed-processing plants.
Read online (subscription required) >>
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20061130&filename=news&se
c_id=50&sid=25
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Science: Some species adapt to climate change, others face extinction
Recent studies have shown that climate change has a significant impact
on various species, especially birds. While some show behavioural
changes, some undergo genetic changes over a period of time, and others
face extinction. Some species even partially adapt themselves to the change.
Read online (subscription required) >>
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20061130&filename=news&se
c_id=50&sid=42
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Environment for beginners: Gobar Times
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10 ecological phrases you must know
So you have heard of terms like “Urban renewal”, “Eco-feminism” and
“Biomass economy”. But do you know that they describe the ecological
problems faced by us and the challenges that lie ahead? Gobar Times digs
into 10 such key ecological phrases, which all those aspiring to be
responsible global citizens must understand.
http://www.gobartimes.org/20061130/gt_covfeature.htm
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Jobs: Copy editors needed for Down To Earth
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Down to Earth, our fortnightly news magazine on science and environment,
requires resourceful individuals with excellent communication and
rewriting skills, a basic understanding or willingness to deal with
scientific issues, efficiency at the craft of copy editing and five
years of experience working in a similar capacity in the publishing
industry. Working under high pressure and meeting challenging deadlines
will be the norm.
To apply, send your resume to jgupta@cseindia.org
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