-Down to Earth India not happy with the effort to link infrastructure development and related activities with forest conservation in the Glasgow Declaration’s final text India, one of the 10 most forest-rich countries of the world, chose to stay away November 2, 2021, as more than 100 world leaders committed to saving the world’s Forests at the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in...

-The Hindu COP26 must focus sharply on reducing emissions till 2030, rather than on net zero 2050, which is too distant a goal The stage is set for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, starting October 31. Major preparatory conferences and bilateral meetings have been held to persuade countries to raise their emission reduction commitments from the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. Some...

-Newsclick.in The move, paving the way for rampant hydrocarbon exploitation in and around some of the densest Forests, will potentially benefit corporate bigwigs in the oil and natural gas sector. New Delhi: A wildlife conservation body under the Narendra Modi government has exempted oil and natural gas extraction from the definition of ‘mining’ activity, paving the way for rampant hydrocarbon exploitation in and around some of the densest Forests of India which...

-Hindustan Times The Union environment ministry has come out with a consultation paper on amending the Forest Conservation Act 1980 to bring significant changes to forest governance in India including facilitating private plantations for harvesting and exploration or extraction of oil and natural gas deep beneath forest land by drilling holes from outside the forest areas. Here are the highlights of the environment ministry’s proposal: Forests on private land Until December 1996, provisions of...

-Hindustan Times The Forest Survey of India defines forest cover thus: “All lands, more than 1 ha in area with a tree canopy density of 10% irrespective of ownership and legal status. The National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), approved by the Union Cabinet last week, will increase the area under oil palm cultivation by an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare (ha) by 2025-26, bringing a total area of...