Policy Wise

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has warned that climate change can lead to decrease in food production in India,
Climate change is likely to trigger a “risk of hunger” in India by affecting cereal production by as much as 18% because of floods and droughts, a UN agency has warned.Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said India [...]

In an op-ed in the Indian Express, the chairman of Shell India, Vikram Mehta argues,
Will the fact that growth (or rather the limitations on growth) is the peg on which India is hanging its objections at the international level sidetrack it from taking appropriate domestic measures to weaken the link between economic growth and atmospheric [...]

Despite some disagreements among scientists, there is little doubt that climate change is an ongoing process and represents a monumental challenge. With rapid development of India and China–the latter has recently replaced United States as the world’s biggest carbon emitter, the situation can only get worse.
In an op-ed in the Hindustan times, Praful Bidwai argues [...]

Professor Brahma Chellaney has an interesting op-ed on the strategic effects of water shortage in Asia.
Yet Asia is a water-deficient continent. Although home to more than half of the human population, Asia has less fresh water – 3,920 cubic meters per person – than any continent other than the Antarctica.
The looming struggle over water resources [...]

I have wondered previously, in the context of global warming, about how energy efficiency and carbon cutting measures might be of economic benefit. This Economist article talks about an interesting study undertaken by Vattenfall, a Swedish power utility, to quantify the economic costs of various emission control measures. (via)

The measures below the horizontal [...]

A new UN report claims that the war in Darfur is due to climate change,
The UNEP investigation into links between climate and conflict in Sudan predicts that the impact of climate change on stability is likely to go far beyond its borders. It found there could be a drop of up to 70% in crop [...]

According to Netherlands environmental agency, China’s Carbon Dioxide emissions now exceed that of America,

China has overtaken the United States as the world’s biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released today show.
The surprising announcement will increase anxiety about China’s growing role in driving man-made global warming and will pile pressure onto world [...]

In an interesting development, Multi Commodities Exchange is lanuching a carbon futures exchange in India.
MCX provides a marketplace for futures contracts in commodities such as bullion, pulses and steel.
“We have had several rounds of talks with CCX and some sort of contract is already ready. We are now waiting for a clearance from the Forward [...]

With the increasing political instability in the Arab world and the galloping oil prices, there has been increasing emphasis on biofuels to meet the growing energy needs of the world. Even the Bush administration., a key supporter of Big Oil wants to move towards an era of bio fuels and energy Independence.
However, a new U.N [...]

Shahidul Mullah has not even heard of global warming. He has no electricity or telephone or any of other modern comforts being blamed for global warming. But he lives in coastal Bangladesh, and he and others like him would bear brunt of global warming.
Thanks to climate change, however, Shahidul’s life is being derailed. Serious [...]