Environment & Ecology
Climate, biodiversity, pollution control and environmental legislation
UN Adopts Its First Declaration on Sea-Level Rise: Island Nations Keep Statehood and Sea Zones
The UN General Assembly adopted its first-ever declaration on sea-level rise on 24 September 2026. It was adopted by acclamation (general agreement, without...
COP31 in Antalya: Why Hosts Türkiye and Australia Face Pressure on Fossil Fuel Language
COP31, the 31st UN climate conference, will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. The two countries leading it, Türkiye and Australia...
India Builds a Carbon Market at Home as the EU's Carbon Border Tax Bites
The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a charge on the carbon pollution released while making certain imported goods, entered its...
Indian Railways Runs Its First LNG-Diesel Dual-Fuel Train
Indian Railways flagged off the country's first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and diesel dual-fuel train from Sabarmati in Gujarat, running on the Sabarmati...
GOBARdhan and the Rural Economy: How Compressed Biogas Can Turn Farm Waste into Income
A recent analysis looked at how the new GOBARdhan National Circular Bioenergy Scheme could change India's rural economy. The Union Cabinet approved the...
Karnataka Rejects the Seventh Western Ghats ESA Draft: What the State Wants and Why It Matters
On September 22, 2026, both Houses of the Karnataka Legislature unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area...
Western Ghats ESA: Residents and Environmental Groups Start Awareness Drive on the Kasturirangan Report
After the Karnataka Legislature's resolution of September 22, 2026 asked the Centre to limit the Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) to notified...
Vedanta Seeks to Revive Niyamgiri Bauxite Mining: The Gram Sabha Precedent and Tribal Rights Explained
The Vedanta Group has asked the Odisha government to reopen the Niyamgiri Hills for bauxite mining. This comes nearly 13 years after the project was shelved...
Karnataka Rejects the Western Ghats ESA Draft: Why the Kasturirangan Report Still Matters
On 22 September 2026, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the Kasturirangan Report on the Western Ghats 'in its...
India Reserves Third-Party Rights in Russia's WTO Case Against the EU's Carbon Border Tax (CBAM)
On 25 September 2026, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) set up a panel (a group of trade judges) to examine Russia's...
WTO Sets Up a Panel on Russia's Challenge to the EU Carbon Border Tax (CBAM): Why India Joined as a Third Party
The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) set up a panel (a group of trade judges) on 25 September 2026 in Geneva. The panel...
Kerala Submits Revised Western Ghats ESA Recommendations to the Centre
The Kerala government has formally submitted its recommendations to the Union government on the extent of the proposed Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive...
Nepal Proposes Trilateral Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism with India and China
In a maiden address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Nepal's Prime Minister proposed establishing a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism...
India Targets 400-500 Hydrogen-Powered Buses by 2030
The Mission Director of the National Green Hydrogen Mission stated that India expects 400-500 hydrogen-powered buses to be running by 2030. An initial phase...
Western Ghats ESA: Livelihoods versus Conservation on Kerala's Forest Fringes
Villages along Kerala's forest fringes are again in ferment over the proposed Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification, which would...
India's Green Hydrogen Push Could Draw ₹10 Lakh Crore Investment by 2030
The National Green Hydrogen Mission's director stated that India's green hydrogen push could attract ₹8-10 lakh crore in investment by 2030, covering...
SEBI Recognises Blue Bonds: Financing India's Blue Economy
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has formally recognised blue bonds as a category of sustainable finance instrument. Blue bonds are debt...
'Super El Nino' and India's Rising Heat-Death Burden: The Science Behind the Projection
A climate-economics research group projected that a strengthening El Nino event could cause approximately 15,800 additional heat-related deaths in India...
Arunachal Cabinet Clears Panel to Oversee Siang Mega-Dam Survey
The Arunachal Pradesh State Cabinet approved the constitution of an Empowered High-Level Committee to guide and coordinate the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR)...
IEA Report: Cost-Effective Electrification Could Lift Global Electricity Share to 35% by 2035
A new International Energy Agency (IEA) Special Report finds that cost-effective deployment of currently available technologies could raise electricity's...