It will be 20 per cent of its total land mass At present only 9.5 per cent area is under forest JAIPUR: The desert State of Rajasthan proposes to settle for a modest target of achieving 20 per cent of its total land mass under Forests against the 33 per cent envisaged in the National Forest Policy. The figure may appear to be a major climb down but experts here are of...

Seeking to set at rest reports of differences with two key negotiators of the Indian team over the country offering unilateral concessions without obtaining any reciprocity and attempts to water down the Prime Minister’s per capita approach, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday that he held “discussions with them, and they continued to be [a] valued part of the negotiating team to guide us...

Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency. Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security. The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation. Now the facts have started to speak: 11 of the past 14 years...

G-77 and China present BASIC draft at Copenhagen, saying it should be the basis of negotiations  India has said it will be "flexible" at the climate meet without compromising its national interests "Developed nations shoulder greater responsibility for carbon cuts" The draft proposal prepared by the host nation Denmark for the climate change summit starting on Monday removes the distinction between the developed and the developing countries and will be disastrous for...

Even as attention is focused on the upcoming talks at Copenhagen, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) notes a “dangerous side of negotiation” that has been taking place along the main talks. These negotiations have concerned a scheme called ‘REDD,’ which could result in a massive land grab across India’s forest and Adivasi belts, one that would make the current conflicts over land acquisition look minor, a CSD statement...