Editor's review of 2020

 The year 2020 was a difficult one, with the COVID-19 casting its shadow over everything else. MORE ...

Environmental issues behind the farmers' protests

 There are strong environmental issues such as climate change behind the ongoing farmers' protests. MORE ...

Onam links to the environment and economics

 Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala, has strong linkages to the environment and the economy of this coastal state. MORE ... 

Is the Indian monsoon turning into a string of extreme weather events

The regularity of the monsoon is getting lost in the recent years, and what we seem to have is a string of extreme weather events. MORE ...

Kerala was flooded in 20118 and 2019.

Did the budget miss the bus for building climate resilience for agriculture?

In the second innings of the NDA Government, the first budget missed the opportunity for building climate resilience for Indian agriculture. MORE ... 

Impact of weather shocks on agriculture. Courtesy: Economic Survey 2017-18.

How will environment fare as India prepares for elections?

Many of the issues that communities in villages, towns, cities and forest hamlets raise during the election period are environmental in their root. Some are about lack of access to the natural resources around them, about pollution, or vulnerability to extreme weather events. It is only during the election period that these communities can tag their issues on to the larger political process, and hope to highlight them to catch attention. MORE ... 

Will environmental issues drive the narrative in 2019 national elections?

The agrarian crisis due to environment issues and policy paralysis was one of the issues that surfaced during the state elections in November-December 2018. Could environmental issues will drive the narrative in the 2019 national elections? MORE ...

[Interview] Kerala agriculture minister: Organic and natural farming will give farmers self reliance and climate resilience

In mid-August 2018 there was a massive flood in Kerala. Two years ago, the state went through a drought. In an interview to Mongabay-India, Kerala Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said that the state will move to organic and natural farming to strengthen farmers' self reliance and climate resilience. MORE ... 

A farmer returns home from his fields. 

Is the Supreme Court judgment on Kaveri environmentally sustainable?

The Supreme Court reallocated water from the Kaveri delta to Bengaluru city, in its February 16 order. Is that order environmentally sustainable? MORE ...

Telangana: Stone or diamond?

A couple of years before Uttarakhand was created, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, a leader of the Chipko movement, was asked by journalists in Chennai what he thought of the idea of a separate State for the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh. He said he supported the idea of the hill communities having a greater political say over their natural resources.

It was a natural statement for the elderly Gandhian who, ... MORE ...

How predictable can you get?

Imagine a situation in which the countries in South Asia continue their economic growth drawing excessively on natural resources.

Then, around 2030, a series of extreme weather events caused by climate change — drought, glacial melt and floods — pushes the region off the tipping point, leading to civil unrest, political instability and weakening of institutions. ... MORE ...

Towards climate-smart agriculture

It is possible to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and yet ensure that farmers are better off. ... MORE ...