Environment

The “encounter-killing” of over 20 persons by a state-level task force for allegedly smuggling red sanders from the Seshachalam forests near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh stayed in the media limelight in early April for being a case of extra-judicial killings. There was enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that the incident was indeed an “execution,” but in the din that followed, the issue of red sanders itself flickered away from the media glare. The forest was decidedly missed for the trees...

It's more than six months away, but the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 or CMP11, which will be held from November 30 to December 11 this year, remains in the news. But, it's all about businesses and governments, and murky deals in the background. It's rather ironic that with climate change itself remaining in the news for one reason or the other, the role / contribution of the individual in the entire process remains underplayed – the individual is left out in the cold. The role...

The more it becomes obvious that the state of the environment is a cause for concern, the more one hears of buzzwords in business circles. One of these that has been gaining currency over the last few years is “natural capital” – one that safely assumes that nature is capital. To say that the concept has been getting wider acceptance of late does not mean that the concept itself is new. The broader concept is that of ecosystem services (ESS, in parlance of environmental economics), one that...

Whenever one hears of 'sustainable food', the mind invariably conjures images of heavily-priced, smartly-packaged organic stuff at swanky departmental stores. Or maybe, ritzy stand-alone stores that sell such items. In many ways this image trivialises matters since sustainable food is more than just that. One cannot have an idea about sustainable food without having a world vision. The world’s agricultural system is today facing a tricky balancing act that it must anyhow enact. By 2050, this...

The talk about sustainability has been on for a while. And the responsibility, to a considerable extent, of moving towards a sustainable world lies with businesses. But are corporations ready for the cleansing act? Are they willing to change themselves so that the world too changes in the bargain? On the face of it, apparently many industry leaders are rising to the sustainability challenge. At least, they assert so. Corporate leaders now are definitely more persuaded of the value of...

India's latest mega-monstrous fad is that of building 100 smart cities. Building cities is not a sinister idea in itself, given the country's rate of urbanisation. The Indian urban population in 1901 was merely 11.4 per cent. This increased to 28.53 per cent in 2001, and is 31.16 per cent now (PDF). According to the UN's State of the World Population 2007, this percentage will increase to 40 per cent in 15 years. There is, of course, a need for more urban spaces; but the 'smart cities'...

Some two weeks back, Costa Rica created a flutter in environmental and energy circles. The country was reported to have been running completely on renewable energy for 75 days, and had created some sort of a record. Relying mainly on hydropower, Costa Rica was said to have not used fossil fuels to generate electricity since the beginning of 2015. The credit for this went to hydropower (with roughly 70 per cent of the power generated) and, thankfully, a season of heavy rains. The nation of barely...

We live in times when paying lip-service is a preferred pastime and indulging in gimmickry is a manic obsession. It's little wonder, then, that Earth Hour was celebrated with much fanfare and uproar across the world on Saturday last. The event has become an annual ritual wherein you can unabashedly wash all environmental sins you might have committed in the preceding 364 days. It's become a glitzy happening that every event manager wants to encash, a tool that every unsustainable industry wants...

The word "sustainability" sounds unnecessarily big, so much so that it comes across as a strategic initiative that needs to be incorporated into the scheme of things for a big company. Nothing could be further from the truth. One does not need to adopt a sustainable path only if one is big; and it does not mean that a small business does not have the right to follow a sustainable approach. Everyone can and everyone needs to be sustainable. Yet, it is not enough to be sustainable in one's one way...

It is a normal human tendency to circumvent rules – especially if the prescribed process is tedious, or if one is needed to perform it perforce (by compulsively following laws and regulations). And when you can do this circumventing, and appear fashionable at the same time, it is a folly that one can easily fall prey to. With “green” fast becoming the new “black,” this tendency to appear trendy takes the form of “ greenwashing.” Here’s a case in point, that’s stylish enough, from the fashion...