India's forest cover has declined by 367 sq km between 2007 and 2009. While the figure may not seem alarming, it runs counter to the impression that afforestation and conservation programmes are yielding results. The largest dip in forest cover was in the northeast which lost 550 sq km. This loss was very partially made up elsewhere, even as there was an overall negative growth in green cover. There was better...

Research should find ‘frugal' solutions to food, energy problems Expressing concern that the expenditure on research and development in India has been “too low and stagnant,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called upon industry to increase its contribution and stressed the need for enhanced public-private partnership (PPP) in science and technology. “It is in some way ironic that GE [General Electric] and Motorola have created world-class technology hubs in India, while...

-EPW   A paradigm shift on global strategy, but will it make a difference to climate change or only pass the buck? The United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Durban ended dramatically with a last minute agreement of sorts, which only talks about more talks to arrive at some kind of legally binding instrument that will impose emission curbs on all countries from 2020. The agreement is simply not enough in...

-The Economic Times   The Durban meet on climate change seems to work out fine for India. The conference has decided on a roadmap to curb emissions of greenhouse-causing gases by both developing and advanced economies; the actual accord is to be firmed up by 2015 and take effect in 2020. The rich, industrialised economies now need to walk the talk and take concrete action to significantly curb their carbon emissions. And...

-The Indian Express   After days of discussion and disagreement at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, in a final spurt of energy, the conference of parties managed to make some tangible progress. The Durban meet was about laying the bedrock principles for future negotiations, rather than detailed plans of who will cut emissions and by how much. The 190 nations at the meet agreed to “develop a new...