Hit by a car while cycling, environmental activist Sunita Narain on Monday said cyclists in Indian cities are being edged out systematically to make way for cars.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted some 20 per cent of the global flows but even if it opens, damages to production facilities in the region will take time to repair, points out Sunita Narain.
The advisory body had not met for the past three years.
Clean air needs action all year round; and that it will work only if we act jointly and at scale, asserts Sunita Narain.
"There has never been a United Nations climate conference, be it the one in Bali or Poznan, that has been as disastrously organised as this one in Denmark," fumed Sunita Narain, the director of an Indian NGO, the Centre for Science and Environment.
"Nargis is a sign of things to come. Last year, Bangladesh was devastated by the tropical cyclone Sidr," said Narain. "The victims of these cyclones are climate change victims and their plight should remind the rich world that it is doing too little to contain its greenhouse gas emissions," Sunita Narain, director, Centre for Science and Environment, said.
Although each vehicle has become cleaner, air quality remains poor because of the drastic increase in the number of vehicles
The issue of labelling pesticide content on soft drink bottles is pending in the Supreme Court.
A new advertising code for the outdoor media in Delhi is on the cards. The advertising code, to be out by the end of the month, is being drafted by a two-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India.
When Bureau of Energy Efficiency certifies that an AC is star-rated, it does this based on the manufacturer's self or third party efficiency report, points out Sunita Narain.
Growing and harvesting trees for productive and economic uses are once again dead in the water, says Sunita Narain.
Each disaster has the same message: Learn to respect the mountains before you build tunnels, roads, and houses, notes Sunita Narain.
Whether we flew aircraft or mastered plastic surgery is immaterial for modern India, what matters is if ancient Indians understood the science and art of settlement planning, architecture and governance of natural resources. This is the history we need to learn, says Sunita Narain
A number of cities, including Chennai, are water-scarce.
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term of up to five years or with fine up to Rs one crore or with both.
Even as the Uttarakhand floods are being referred to as man-made disasters, experts say such disasters are waiting to happen at places like Ooty and Munnar.
India will require new technical solutions and approaches to solve environmental problems.
Chinese companies have 'designed' the sugar syrup which is used to adulterate honey so that it can pass Indian laboratory tests, reveals Sunita Narain.
'And for the developing lungs of our children, this should not be tolerated. Not at all,' says Sunita Narain.
Indian farmers practise an agro-silvo-pastoral system and that livestock is a crucial part of their economy. Taking away the meat would demonetise their assets. It would kill their income, says Sunita Narain.
To justify that farmers must burn if they are not paid cash incentive is doing injustice to them and to the lungs of the children of the country, notes Sunita Narain.
The new mining policy must be rock solid
'Governments have neither any idea of the source of the infection, nor a grip on the disease.' 'Headline management will not work, not in this case,' observes Sunita Narain.
'It is clear that nature is not in a mood to give us leeway to be lazy, inefficient or just do business as usual.' 'It is telling us that we have no time to get things wrong. We need to take drastic actions - now
Another catastrophe awaits us - living in a more inequitable, insecure, and intolerant world.
We need to clarify the rules for legal slaughterhouses and make sure that these can be enforced.
The tragedy is not the inevitable drought or the inevitable flood. It is our inevitable lack of ability to push and get done what needs to be done, says Sunita Narain.
Donald Trump denied it. Hillary Clinton avoided saying it. But the Climate Change crisis is frighteningly real, says Sunita Narain.
The Supreme Court has directed a series of actions to clean the Taj, including bringing in compressed natural gas (CNG) to replace dirty coal.
We need to know that the sources of pollution and the action to be taken are known. But what is needed is to act. Plain and simple. So, focus, on each source and each action; who has to do what and by when
The problem is to integrate the technology with a system of household level segregation so that waste does not end up in landfills, but is processed and reused.
New ventures are emerging to take the stigma out of this garbage sorting business.
What are the most worrisome aspects of climate change for India? Can they be solved?
City governments must work out the treatment system for faecal sludge.
Brand ambassadors and their lackeys are busy opposing the idea of being held accountable, even though they are ready to take all the money, says Sunita Narain.
The fact is that BS-IV vehicles, particularly diesel trucks, are much less polluting than BS-III ones, says Sunita Narain.
As people get rich, they end up losing the health advantage of food availability.
