In recent years, there has been a growing focus on electric cars as a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. Governments around the world are offering incentives to encourage consumers to switch to electric cars, and the media is filled with stories about new electric car models and charging infrastructure.
Animal agriculture, the practice of raising animals for the purpose of producing food, fibre, and other products, includes the production of meat, dairy products, eggs, leather, and wool, among other things. Animal agriculture can take many forms, including factory farming, free-range farming, and small-scale family farming.
Cold weather has been costing vulnerable and marginalized lives in developing economies. A total of 19,126 people lost their lives due to cold waves between 1995 and 2020, with 1149 of those deaths occurring in 2015 alone, the year with the highest number of cold wave-related fatalities, according to the NCRB.
The majority of people in the plains would yearn to see snow, but the homeless are faced with the harsh reality of cold. In India's capital city, the same scene can be seen every year: a winter cold wave is blamed for the deaths of dozens of homeless people, and the icy conditions force tens of thousands more to live on the streets.
Are we robbing the wildlife again of the earth? First, we snatched their home and now we are taking their right to life. We talk about green earth and about saving it, but our lack of unity has only led to destruction. We are trying, but the disasters are putting the lives of wildlife faster than we are. Will the wildlife be able to adapt to the changes or fall victim to them?
In November, two back-to-back international summits gave a thumbs up to mangroves- highlighting the vital role that mangrove forests will play in reducing carbon as the world fights to stave off an impending climate crisis.
Eventually, COP27 talks went into two days of extended negotiations after the annual summit was over. The outcome was not less than historic as nearly 200 countries at Sharm-el-Sheikh agreed to set up the 'loss and damage' fund. Interestingly it was not even part of the original agenda, yet it was approved.
If the gamble to translocate the cheetah succeeds, India could become a global conservation success story. But if it does not succeed, India will have to face monumental criticism for its daring experiment.
On November 2, 2021, world leaders signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and committed to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. They also committed to delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation. They pledged $19 billion of public and private funds to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030”.
Most recently, the debate surrounding ‘development vs. ecology’ came to light in 2018 when while commenting upon the Kerala floods, which were the worst of its kind in several decades, Madhav Gadgil – the chairman of the Gadgil Committee on the Western Ghats – said that the Kerala floods are very much man-made. He further added that the scale of the disaster could have been much smaller, had the authorities followed environmental laws. It is in this context that we’re reminded of “Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) or the Gadgil Committee,” and “Kasturirangan Committee,” which were constituted to study the ecology of the Western Ghats region, and were entrusted with the duty of striking a balance between the developmental activities, and protection of the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.