Opinion
Lessons in transport management
25 Aug 2009 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| Financial Chronicle
We need a new culture of energy conservation, prime minister Manmohan Singh said in his Independence Day speech this year. He said this in recognition of India\'s dwindling natural resource base as also in the context of the challenge of climate change that the world is facing.
Almost exactly a week later, the chief minister of Delhi is reported to have told the deputy chairman of the planning commission that the eastern and western peripheral highways need to be completed at the earliest to avoid the threat of Delhi\'s traffic system collapsing due to the rapidly increasing vehicular population in the capital — which co-uld happen in a short span of two years!
Far-sighted policymaking and investment decisions can ensure energy security
24 Aug 2009 |
| The Financial Express
Energy insecurity is a matter of grave concern for all. More so for India. The country is already on a shaky wicket importing 75% of its oil consumption with 75% of these imports from just one region—West Asia. What is even more worrisome is that our rapidly rising import of coal are fraught with uncertainties, as mentioned above.
Government versus governance
11 Aug 2009 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| Financial Chronicle
Listening to the same grudges being voiced on a routine basis po-ssibly makes us immune to the malaise around us. The challenge of poor governance is one such silent virus that has invaded us and is threatening the lives of millions of people in India. Examples of the occurrence of this virus abound but, as in the case of number of deaths, get reduced to mere statistics.
Comme Ci, Comme Ca (Anatomy of a decade)
09 Aug 2009 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Financial Express
In actual fact the decade of the 1950s did not set a very good platform for protecting the environment. It is, of course, true the environmental problems associated with industrialisation and rapid growth of several sectors had not appeared on the scene in that period, but political and other compulsions at the time led to large-scale deforestation for instance, the cost of which we are still paying. Besides, our dependence on the former Soviet Union for heavy industry resulted in some technologies that were largely energy intensive and polluting in nature.
Degrees of conviction
04 Aug 2009 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Indian Express
Attention on the subject of climate change appears to wax and wane in this country, having reached a peak in 2007 when the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out providing strong evidence of human influence on the earth’s climate. The report also detailed the serious impacts of climate change that would occur worldwide if no action was taken to deal with this challenge. Recently, however, the media has focused on India’s position in the global negotiations towards an international agreement expected in Copenhagen in December 2009. As is generally the case with issues involving long-term implications, several mis-impressions and myths have been aired by some in positions of responsibility. While discussing issues related to climate change and India’s stand in international negotiations, it is important to recall some of the scientific findings of the AR4.
Light our way out: Green patch
03 Aug 2009 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Hindustan Times
The realisation is now dawning across the globe that development which the world has pursued in the past is not sustainable. This derives from the growing evidence of damage to various ecosystems, but also most glaringly from mounting evidence of climate change. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly brought out the influence of human activities on the earth\'s climate and its impacts, resulting from the cumulative emissions of greenhouse gases, the most dominant of which is carbon-dioxide. The rate of these emissions has grown in recent decades with an increase of 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004. Consequently, the world’s climate is changing far more rapidly than in previous periods.
Wanted: A global climate leader
28 Jul 2009 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| Financial Chronicle
Offence is the best defence is a common adage that is being skillfully deployed by the world’s so-called developed countries. After having ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which clearly states that “the developed country parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereofâ€, that necessary additional financial resources would be provided to the developing countries for any initiatives that they might undertake and that there is a need to follow the “precautionary†and “common but differentiated responsibilities†principles, the developed nations are running for cover on various pretexts.
The cost of tackling climate change
20 Jul 2009 |
Ms Nitu Goel
| Financial Chronicle
In international climate negotiations, developed countries have increasingly argued that large developing countries must take binding emission reduction targets to ensure their participation in the international regime. Recently India and China have been targeted the most to share these reductions.
Don\'t miss the bus
15 Jul 2009 |
Ms Chhavi Dhingra
| The Times of India
If there\'s one amenity all cities require for better air quality, reduced congestion and noise as well as quicker, safer travel opportunities for all, good and efficient public transport systems would be it. Unfortunately, our cities are centred on the personal vehicle, causing environmental and social damage. Public transport, on its part, has been inadequate. In terms of receiving the government\'s financial support and priority or general popular acceptance, it has failed miserably. Cities like London, Singapore, Brisbane and Bogota are trying to ensure people abandon personal vehicles and use public transport, at least on weekdays. But we seem to have taken the opposite path, towards the personal two-wheeler or car. No wonder urban transport has become a serious threat to the environment.
Living in a powerless India
14 Jul 2009 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| Financial Chronicle
Energy shortages in India have increased from about 7 per cent in 2003-04 to nearly 12 per cent in 2008-09, after nearly Rs 200,000 crore have been allotted to the power sector in annual plans covered in this period.
This situation prevails despite the major reform programmes that were announced in the early 1990s, the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act 1998 and the Electricity Act in 2003. In the time period between 1998-2003, on an average, the utility sector added approximately 4,000 mw of electricity capacity per annum, and in the period between 2003 to 2009, it added between 6,000-7,000 mw a year.