News and Articles

India State of Forest Report 2021: Key takeaways
India’s forest and tree cover rose by 2,261 sq km in the last 2 years but there was a loss of natural dense forests Posted on 17 Jan, 2022 06:29 PM

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) released the biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 on January 13, 2021. “The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country,” said Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for MoEF&CC sharing the report findings.

ISFR 2021 tracked the forest cover in tiger reserves for the first time. Kanha tiger reserve (Image: Aditya Thaokar, Wikimedia Commons)
Systems at breaking point
State of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture: The synthesis report 2021 Posted on 13 Jan, 2022 10:14 PM

The past decade has seen the advent of several important global policy frameworks including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action, the New Urban Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action

Sustainable agricultural practices lead to water saving, soil conservation, sustainable land management, conservation of natural resources, ecosystem and climate change benefits. (Image: Maheshwara, Pixahive)
Water management in the times of Gonds of Central India
The water structures constructed during the Gond period continue to survive the test of time and provide evidence of the water wisdom of our ancestors. Posted on 13 Jan, 2022 03:07 PM

The Gonds, ruled Central India for nearly 350 years since the mid-fourteenth century,. The principal states of the Gonds were Garha-Mandla, Devgarh, Kherla and Chanda. The Garha-Mandla dynasty is best known in history.

Kundeshwar lake, Kundam in Jabalpur (Image Source: K G Vyas)
Data - as a driver of change
Data can act as a powerful tool to tackle climate change through catalysing climate innovation and influencing decisionmaking. Posted on 09 Jan, 2022 10:33 PM

We are experiencing a dual paradigm shift -- on the one hand climate shocks are increasing in frequency, intensity and impact. At the same time, a data revolution is unfolding and more information is being generated now than ever before, offering unprecedented opportunities to catalyse climate innovation and influence decision-making.

Data as apowerful tool to tackle climate change (Image Source: José Manuel Suárez, Wikimedia Commons)
Book review: Water conflicts and resistance
Issues and challenges in South Asia, a region where water sharing is more than a mere physical allocation of water Posted on 09 Jan, 2022 10:22 AM

This book starts by stressing that existing freshwater resources are expected to meet only 60 per cent of the global water demand by 2030 (p. 1), making the prospects of conflict both real and global concern.

Water conflicts pose a challenge to India's river water governance (Image: sarangib, Pixabay)
Agricultural distress in peri urban Gurugram
Urbanisation and climate change are not only destroying sustainable agricultural practices in the peri urban village of Budhera near Gurugram, but also eating up the social fabric of the village. Posted on 09 Jan, 2022 05:14 AM

Peri-urban spaces exist in an exploitative relationship with the urban, and this inequity is further exacerbated by the effects of climate change argue Pratik Mishra and Sumit Vij in their study from the chapter titled 'Changing agriculture and climate variability in peri-urban Gurugram, India' in the book '

Aerial view of the Najafgarh drain. (Image: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
Soil arsenic above 14 mg/kg can cause rice to be unsafe for consumption
First meta-analysis utilizing published data from Asian paddy fields on arsenic in rice grain, soil, and irrigation water to determine the relationship between them and to derive a limit of soil arsenic using machine learning algorithms Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 09:18 PM

Arsenic exposure, mainly through contaminated groundwater used for drinking, has widely been associated with detrimental health effects (

Soil contributes more than irrigation to rice-grain arsenic concentration (Image: Arjun Reddy, Pixabay)
From 58 percent in 2004, groundwater extraction rises to 63 percent in 2017: CAG
News this fortnight Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 03:34 PM

Groundwater extraction increased from 58 percent in 2004 to 63 percent in 2017: CAG

Country's groundwater scenario is in a grim state (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Process of obtaining green nod simplified to allow ease of doing business: Govt
Policy matters this fortnight Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 01:04 PM

Environment Ministry reports reduction in environmental clearance time from 150 to 90 days

Ease of doing business at the cost of environment (Source: IWP Flickr Photos) Photo for representation only.
India’s fossil fuel production plans not in sync with Paris agreement limits
Rapid reduction in fossil fuel production needed to meet climate targets Posted on 04 Jan, 2022 09:25 PM

The 2021 Production Gap Report conveys the large discrepancy between countries' planned fossil fuel production and the global production levels necessary to limit warmin

In 2020, India opened up its coal mining sector to private and foreign investment (Image: TripodStories-AB, Wikimedia Commons)
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