Begging for more than small change

Small changes to the way we live our lives are not enough to tackle the environmental challenges facing the planet, argues Tom Crompton. In this week's Green Room, he says the stark reality is that the only option is to cut the unsustainable consumption of the Earth's finite resources.
Almost daily, it seems, scientists' prognoses about the state of our planet grow evermore dire.
Take climate change, for example. Just last week, a new study suggested that sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, with catastrophic impacts for low-lying countries.

This is more than three times as high as the most pessimistic projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Yet some climatologists are suggesting that even this is a huge under-estimate of the likely extent of sea level rise. In the face of mounting evidence of profound environmental challenges, the insistence that we can tackle these by embracing a few simple and painless changes - switching to low-energy light bulbs or buying a hybrid car - feels increasingly unrealistic. More >>>

A Sensible Path on Iran

Current U.S. policy toward the regime in Tehran will almost certainly result in an Iran with nuclear weapons.

The seemingly clever combination of the use of "sticks" and "carrots," including the frequent official hints of an American military option "remaining on the table," simply intensifies Iran's desire to have its own nuclear arsenal. Alas, such a heavy-handed "sticks" and "carrots" policy may work with donkeys but not with serious countries. The United States would have a better chance of success if the White House abandoned its threats of military action and its calls for regime change. More >>>

Food Security Requires New Approach to Water

UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (IPS) - The ongoing food crisis, characterized by growing shortages and rising prices of staple commodities, has far reaching implications for the world’s scarce water resources, says a new study released here.

“More food is likely to come at a cost of more water use in agriculture,” according to the report titled “Saving Water: From Field to Fork“.

The emerging challenges facing the food sector include growing water scarcity; unacceptably high levels of under-nourishment; the proliferation of people who are overweight or obese; and of food that is lost or wasted in society.
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Is The world About To Be Running On Empty?

23 May, 2008 - In France, fishermen are blockading oil refineries. In Britain, lorry drivers are planning a day of action. In the US, the car maker Ford is to cut production of gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles and airlines are jacking up ticket prices.

Global concerns about fuel prices are reaching fever pitch and the world's leading energy monitor has issued a disturbing downward revision of the oil industry's ability to keep pace with soaring demand.

Yesterday's warning from the International Energy Agency sent the price of a barrel of oil to a new record for the 13th day in a row. The latest high – $135 for a barrel of light sweet crude – was reached in New York barely five months after the price hit $100. More >>>

Six Billion Consumers and Rising

May 19, 2008 - "The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over parking spaces." So writes Suketu Mehta in his recent portrait of Mumbai, a city pushing the limits of overpopulation, struggling with sewage overflows, and clawing for limited electricity, water, and gas supplies.

The wars Mehta predicts in fact are well under way. Easily missed in the clamor over the spiking prices of oil, natural gas, coal, iron, aluminum, copper, and a long list of other commodities (WSJ)—not to mention shortages of wheat, rice, flour, and other basic foodstuffs—is that population pressures weigh on the availability of all these goods. More >>>

Pakistan offers ‘grand reconciliation’: Qureshi, Mukherjee make little progress

ISLAMABAD, May 21: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan is ready for ‘grand reconciliation’ with India and the next round of peace talks will begin in mid-July in New Delhi.

“Our government is ready for grand reconciliation for the resolution of longstanding issues that need to be resolved peacefully through dialogue and in a manner that is dignified and commensurate with the self-respect of the involved parties,” Mr Qureshi said at a joint press conference with Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee after the political review of the fourth round of ‘composite dialogue’ on Wednesday.

Although the foreign minister did not unveil the specifics of the grand reconciliation offer, it was a clear indication that Pakistan was ready to show flexibility on some thorny issues that had been straining their relations and impeding progress in talks taking place since 2004, if India reciprocated.

Mr Qureshi said Pakistan was open to innovative ideas that could facilitate the dialogue and create a more enabling environment. “We don’t have a shut mind.”

Mr Mukherjee said India was equally determined to resolve all core issues and overcome hurdles in improving its ties with Pakistan. “I’m going back with a sense of satisfaction,” he said. More >>>

Bush in Saudi Arabia for Nuclear Deal

President Bush and King Abdullah inspected a military honor guard in Riyadh before private talks at the king's horse farm outside the capital.

They will discuss a deal to help the kingdom develop civilian nuclear power for medical and industrial uses as well as generating electricity. The agreement provides access to safe, reliable fuel sources for nuclear reactors and demonstrates what the Bush Administration calls Saudi leadership as a non-proliferation model for the region.

The agreement expands cooperation to better safeguard the kingdom's vast oil reserves and its pipeline distribution system, as well as borders. More >>>

India-UAE relations to focus on energy security: Pranab Mukherjee

May 13th, 2008 - Dubai, May 13 (ANI): Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that energy security and infrastructure are the main foundations on which the relations between India and UAE will forward.

Addressing a gathering at Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), Abu Dhabi on ‘India’s foreign policy-new challenges for 21st century’, he said country needs 500 billion dollars in resources to meet specific targets in infrastructure development set out in 11th five-year plan.
“UAE’s energy resources and investible funds and India’s ability to develop UAE’s service sector and knowledge based economy make both natural partners,” he added.
He said that the food security for Gulf and energy security for India are the opportunities for both sides, which can be leveraged, to mutual advantage. More >>>

Going ballistic: India looks to join elite missile club

13 May 2008, - NEW DELHI: By 2010-2011, India hopes to gatecrash into a very exclusive club of countries, which have both ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) and SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) as well as BMD (ballistic missile defence) capabilities.

Only the US and Russia strictly qualify for this club as of now, if all the three capabilities — ICBM, SLBM and BMD — are taken together, with countries like China not too far behind.

Top defence scientists, on the sidelines of the annual DRDO awards on Monday, told TOI they were quite confident India would have ICBMs and SLBMs, even though their strike ranges would be much lesser than American, Russian or Chinese missiles, as also a functional BMD system soon after the turn of this decade.

DRDO, of course, often promises much more than it delivers. But this time, it's ready to walk its talk, emboldened by the successful test of the 3,500-km range Agni-III missile last week.

Take ICBMs first. "We have already started the design work for Agni-V, with a range of over 5,000-km. It basically involves development of a third composite stage for the two-stage Agni-III," said Agni programme director Avinash Chander. More >>>

Climate change key to future food crisis

11 May, 2008 - Is this a price blip? No. A food shortage? Not that either. Farmers across the world produced a record 2.3 billion tonnes of grain in 2007, up 4% on the previous year.

Since 1961, the world’s cereal output has tripled, while the population has doubled. Stocks are at their lowest level in 30 years, it’s true, but the bottomline is that there is enough food produced in the world to feed the population.

Yet the price of wheat has gone up by 130% over the last year. Rice has doubled in price in Asia in the first three months of 2008 alone. For most of 2007 the spiralling cost of cooking oil, fruit and vegetables, as well as of dairy and meat, led to a fall in the consumption of these items. More >>>

DRDO developing hypersonic missile

CHENNAI, India: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a hypersonic missile that could double up as a long-range cruise missile.

Besides, it could be used for launching satellites at low cost, according to V.K. Saraswat, Chief Controller, R and D (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO.

“This is a niche technology being pursued by the DRDO today,” he said.

Missiles that fly at Mach 3 to 4 (three to four times the speed of sound) belong to high supersonic class. In the case of a hypersonic missile, it can fly at more than Mach 5. More >>>

Biofuels answer to climate change: UN, EU

6 May 2008 - ATHENS (AFP) — Biofuels must be developed more selectively to prevent competition with food-related crops, but they are still an answer to climate change, United Nations and European Union officials said on Tuesday.

"There is a concern that perhaps some of the investment and engagement in some of the biofuel production...in some cases did not go in the right direction," said Christophe Bouvier, European regional director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
"But I think it's a question of making sure that the correct biofuels are being promoted...we have to be vigilant," he said on the sidelines of a three-day conference on climate and energy security in Athens.

There are cases of crops such as corn where "productivity is very low" in terms of the energy consumed to produce fuel, Bouvier said.
But there are also crops such as sugar cane which "could be part of the solution" if grown "in the right places and with a sustainable production system," he said. More >>>

Iran rejects nuclear inspections unless Israel allows them

GENEVA (AP) May 5th 2008 — An Iranian envoy said Monday his government will not submit to extensive nuclear inspections while Israel stays outside the global treaty to curb the spread of atomic weapons.

"The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told a meeting of the 190 countries that have signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Nuclear safeguards are far from universal, he said, adding that more than 30 countries are still without a comprehensive safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure full cooperation with that U.N. body.

"Israel, with huge nuclear weapons activities, has not concluded" such an agreement or submitted its facilities to the IAEA's safeguards, Soltanieh said. More >>>

Plan to help Himalayan communities tackle global warming

New Delhi (PTI): As communities living in the Himalayan mountain regions are likely to be worst affected by global warming, the government is mooting a plan to enhance the adaptation and resilience of the locals in meeting the threats.

Environment Ministry along with the National Institute of Disaster Management and a Kathmandu-based NGO, Icimod, have come together to build capacity of the community to tackle threats arising out of climate change.

"[The] Himalayas will be the first casualty of the rising emissions causing climate change. In fact, changes are being already felt. Hence it is necessary that the local people in the region are equipped enough to tackle the threat," said Anil K Gupta from National Institute of Disaster Management, an autonomous body under the Home Ministry. More >>>

Asian bank in food crisis warning

Lower food production and rising demand are being blamed

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned that the crisis of rising food prices could reverse gains made in reducing poverty across the continent.
Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda warned at its annual meeting in Madrid that "the cheap food era may be over". Donor countries have pledged more than $11bn (£5.5bn) to a fund to ease the hardship of Asia's poorest people.
Meanwhile the African Development Bank has pledged an extra $1bn for its loans portfolio to tackle the food crisis.
UN shortfall
The BBC's Alan Johnston says that food prices are the key issue on the minds of the thousands of government officials and business figures who have gathered in Madrid.
ADB president Mr Kuroda said it was critically important to provide financing for development projects in rural Asian areas. More >>>

Climate change threat to rule of law: Bar association

May 1 2008 - NEW DELHI: Climate change is a threat to the rule of law, and the Bar Association of India (BAI) may take on the government over the issue, its general secretary Lalit Bhasin said here Thursday.

On the eve of a two-day national conference on Climate Change and the Role of Law being organised here by BAI, Bhasin said: "The rule of law is being threatened by the catastrophic changes" being caused by global warming.

"As the sea level rises (due to global warming), there will be mass exodus from the coastal regions. That will affect peace and security on a global basis."

The conference, to be attended by at least 220 bar association representatives from around the country, would essentially be a "brainstorming session on the implications of climate change, not only to India but to the globe as a whole, because climate change has no boundaries". More >>>