Not so long ago, the prospect of a global sugar shortage gave food manufacturers a panic attack. Poor weather conditions hitting crops in the world's two biggest sugar-producing nations, Brazil and India, sent the price of the sweet stuff soaring on international markets. In August last year, US firms such as Kraft Food, General Mills and chocolate-maker Hershey were so worried that they wrote a joint letter to the country's...

ISRO will launch a dedicated satellite to track such emissions in 2012 “Our expertise on climate change should start influencing global discourse” India has released its first Greenhouse Gas emissions inventory since 1994 — showing a 30 per cent fall in the emissions intensity of the GDP from that date till 2007 — even as it announced several measures to improve the domestic study of climate change. From ISRO satellites to monitor India's...

India's annual Greenhouse Gas emissions increased by nearly 60% between 1994 and 2007, a government study says. The government says that emissions grew from 1.2bn tonnes in 1994 to 1.9bn tonnes in 2007, confirming India as one of the world's biggest emitters. India argues its per capita emissions are far lower than that of most industrialised nations. The jump is attributed to the growth of industries such as cement production, electricity...

With the mountains of hazardous waste from electronic products growing exponentially in developing countries, sometimes by as much as 500 per cent, the United Nations today called for new recycling technologies and regulations to safeguard both public health and the environment. So-called e-waste from products such as old computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, digital photo and music devices, refrigerators, toys and televisions, are set to rise sharply in tandem with...

The drowning Sundarbans, receding Gangotri, excessive and untimely rain in Maharashtra and unprecedented droughts in Madhya Pradesh. Seen in isolation, these events may seem like random coincidences. Put it all together and the story that emerges is of an impending catastrophe. As mankind raced towards industrial and consumption driven development goals, the concept of sustainability got lost somewhere along the way. While we, the common people, might think that climate change...