Environmentalism

President Murmu, PM Modi call for united efforts to conserve environment

On World Environment Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for deepening efforts towards protecting the planet and overcoming the challenges facing it. He said on X, "This World Environment Day, let's deepen our efforts towards protecting our planet and overcoming the challenges we face. I also compliment all those working at the grassroots to make our environment greener and better." Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on June 5 since 1973, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach, the UN notes.

Environmentalists slam Trump admin's push for oil, gas drilling in Alaska

Top Trump administration officials fresh off touring one of the country's largest oil fields in the Alaska Arctic headlined an energy conference led by the state's Republican governor on Tuesday that environmentalists criticised as promoting new oil and gas drilling and turning away from the climate crisis. Several dozen protesters were outside Governor Mike Dunleavy's annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage, where US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin were featured speakers. The federal officials were continuing a multiday trip aimed at highlighting President Donald Trump's push to expand oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in the state. The trip has included meetings with pro-drilling groups and officials, including some Alaska Native leaders on the petroleum-rich North Slope, and a visit to the Prudhoe Bay oil field near the Arctic Ocean that featured selfies near the ..

World Environment Day 2025: India leads with massive plastic-free campaigns

World Environment Day will be celebrated on June 5, 2025. This year, the day aims to raise global awareness on reducing plastic pollution. Ahead of it, India initiated different campaigns nationwide

Sustainable business practices: Navigating India's ESG, energy transition

Mandatory ESG norms mark a shift towards stakeholder capitalism, reflecting global trends in climate governance and moving beyond shareholder- and state-driven business models

Delhi's EV policy may add 20K jobs, boost ecosystem infra: Manjinder Sirsa

Delhi's electric vehicle (EV) policy 2.0 may generate up to 20,000 jobs and will also set up battery collection centres while establishing a city-wide network of charging and swappable battery stations. Speaking to PTI about the newly proposed policy, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Saturday said the purpose of this policy is to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles to reduce pollution. The focus will be on mass categories such as two-wheelers, buses, three-wheelers and goods carriers with the aim of transitioning them to electric vehicles. GNCTD (Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi) shall target the creation of 20,000 EV jobs during the policy period and may also set up battery collection centres to strengthen the battery recycling ecosystem, according to the policy draft accessed by PTI. "By 2027, the government has targeted that 95 per cent of all new vehicle registrations will be electric, which will significantly reduce emissions in

Not acceptable that children need to wear masks to play outside: SC judge

Supreme Court Judge Justice Vikram Nath on Saturday laid stress on the need to regulate emissions and invest in cleaner technologies to combat pollution, saying it was unacceptable for children to grow up in an environment where they needed masks to play in the open. Justice Nath also said there was a need to explore solutions which struck a balance between economic growth and environmental wellbeing and that government policies must focus on green technologies. He was speaking during the inaugural session of the National Conference on Environment - 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan. President Droupadi Murmu was the chief guest at the event. "The capital city of India regularly experiences high levels of pollution. I believe we can all agree that it is not acceptable for our children to grow up in an environment where they need masks to play outside or worry about respiratory ailments at a young age," Justice Nath said. "This is an urgent call for action, a signal that we must come together to

President Murmu asks people to adopt environmentally conscious lifestyle

President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday asked people to adopt a lifestyle that is conscious and sensitive towards the environment and makes it more vibrant. Inaugurating the two-day National Conference on Environment-2025 at Vigyan Bhawan here, she said environmental protection and promotion will be possible only through continuous activism and participation of all. Citing that tribal communities have lived in harmony with nature for centuries, she said, "We should take inspiration from their lifestyle. Today, when the world is battling the problems of global warming and climate change, their lifestyle becomes even more exemplary." The President said it is people's moral responsibility to provide the legacy of a clean environment to the coming generations. "Elders in every family worry about which school or college their children will study in and what career they will choose. While this worry is justified, we also have to think about what kind of air our children will breathe, what k

Climate anxiety can't force us to compromise basic needs: Bhupender Yadav

India has the right to grow responsibly based on national circumstances and the climate anxiety gripping the world cannot force it to give up its right to ensure food, water and energy for its people, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Saturday. Addressing the National Conference on Environment, organised by the National Green Tribunal, he said rapid economic growth is the best defense against climate change for developing nations. The minister also said India is committed to mitigating climate change and has met its Paris Agreement commitments on green energy nine years ahead of the 2030 target. "India reserves its right to grow responsibly based on our national circumstances... But the climate anxiety which has gripped the world cannot force India to give up its right to ensure food, water, energy... to its 140 crore people. India is confidently striking a balance between challenges and opportunities," he said. Yadav said that under the Paris Agreement, the world

Rs 858 cr pollution control fund unused due to lack of approval: Parl panel

The budgetary allocation of Rs 858 crore for pollution control in 2024-25 remains unutilized due to lack of approval from the Union Environment Ministry for the continuation of the scheme, a parliamentary panel has said in its report. In the report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change said air pollution has assumed "gigantic proportions", affecting not just Delhi but many other cities. "In such a scenario, the committee is shocked to note that amount to the tune of Rs 858 crore allocated for 'Control of Pollution', which is 27.44 per cent of the annual revised allocation of the ministry, remains unutilized since the approval for continuation of Control of Pollution Scheme till 2025-26 is awaited," the 31-member panel headed by BJP Rajya Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita said. "At a time when the ministry is required to address the grave and critical challenge of

Expenses over $50,000 now require DOGE approval, says new EPA guidance

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued new guidance directing that spending items greater than USD 50,000 now require approval from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The guidance, issued this week, escalates the role that the new efficiency group, known as DOGE, plays in EPA operations. Any assistance agreement, contract or interagency agreement transaction (valued at) USD 50,000 or greater must receive approval from an EPA DOGE team member," the EPA guidance says, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. To facilitate the DOGE team review, EPA staff members have been directed to submit a brief, one-page explanation of each funding action each day between 3 and 6 pm Eastern time, the guidance says. Other relevant forms also must be completed. President Donald Trump has tasked DOGE with digging up what he and Musk call waste, fraud and abuse. The Republican president suggested Thursday that Cabinet members and agency leaders would take the lead

Challenge to Centre's approval of GM mustard: SC defers matter to Apr 15

The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred to April 15 the hearing on pleas against the validity of the Centre's 2022 decision granting conditional approval on the environmental release of genetically modified (GM) mustard crop. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the matter after attorney general R Venkataramani sought time to argue the matter. Venkataramani said a series of discussions at the highest level of the government were underway. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted the special bench was directed long ago to hear the matter on Thursday and sought to argue. The top court, however, said it wanted to hear the matter at length without any discontinuity. The matter was then posted for hearing on April 15 and 16. On July 23, 2024, the apex court delivered a split verdict on the validity of the Centre's 2022 decision granting conditional approval for environmental release of GM mustard crop. It, however, ...

SC seeks Uttarakhand govt's reply on 'misuse' of environmental funds

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took exception to the alleged misuse of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds by the Uttarakhand government to purchase iPhones among other items and sought the state chief secretary's response. According to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), CAMPA funds, meant for afforestation, were allegedly used towards inadmissible expenditures, including the purchase of iPhones, laptops, fridges, and renovation of buildings. The CAMPA fund is to be utilised for increasing the green cover. Utilisation of the same for non-admissible activities and not depositing the interest as per the Act with the SCAF (State Compensatory Afforestation Funds) is a matter of serious concern. We, therefore, direct the chief secretary of Uttarakhand to file an affidavit on these aspects, a bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said. The CAG report, which examined the use of CAMPA funds from ...

Zoo breeding programmes face poor management, funding woes, says govt panel

While India's zoos have made "notable" progress in breeding endangered species under conservation programmes that started around a decade ago, a government panel says that persistent gaps in execution, funding and species management hinder their overall success. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA), which is responsible for overseeing and guiding national-level ex situ conservation efforts, constituted a committee in 2023 to review and evaluate the state of conservation breeding programmes in zoos across the country. In 2007, the CZA selected 74 species for breeding in 43 zoos. By 2014, 26 high-priority species were shortlisted and breeding programmes began for 23. According to the report of the committee submitted to the CZA recently, while India's zoos have made "notable progress in housing and breeding several endangered species, the overall effectiveness of conservation breeding programmes is hindered by persistent foundational and operational challenges". "Addressing these issues w

Scrubbing carbon from atmosphere could be the next climate gold rush

The group assembled by Gates, known as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is among the biggest backers of over 800 carbon removal firms that have been started in recent years

About 1.5 mn deaths a year during 2009-2019 linked to air pollution: Study

About a million and a half deaths every year from 2009 to 2019 is potentially linked with a long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Researchers, including those at Ashoka University, Haryana, and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, said that the entire 1.4 billion population of India live in areas having PM2.5 levels higher than World Health Organization-recommended five micrograms per cubic metre yearly average. The team also found that nearly 82 per cent of India's population, or 1.1 billion, lived in areas with yearly average PM2.5 levels exceeding those recommended by the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 microns per cubic metre). Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, pollution is caused by particles sized under 2.5 microns in diameter. A yearly increase in PM2.5 pollution of 10 microns per cubic metre was associated with 8.6 per cent higher annual mortality, the researchers found. Fo

CoP16: India underlines efforts on land restoration, drought resilience

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav pointed to the link between desertification and poverty, stating that India recognised land degradation as socio-economic issue and recalled India's presidency at CoP14

Global warming result of unplanned, unscientific development: CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that global warming is a challenge for the world and it is a result of unplanned and unscientific development by the man. "The world is concerned; every person who has even a little positive feeling about the environment and the living world and its bright future in the country is concerned (about the environment)," he said, at an event organised to distribute appointment letters to 701 forest guards selected by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission. Global warming is a challenge for the whole world, but it has not come from anywhere else, he said, adding that it is a result of following the path of unplanned and unscientific development that man is facing it as a problem. "Somewhere there is excessive rain, and somewhere there is a 'heat wave'. Somewhere life is destroyed by floods, and somewhere people are yearning for a drop of water," Adityanath said. Congratulating the selected candidates, Yogi s

No reason to scale back our domestic targets, says CEEW's Arunabha Ghosh

Expectations from this year's COP are clear on issues, whether we have a ministerial presence or not, Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of Council for Energy Environment and Water, said in his interview

Biodiversity policies should include behavioural changes, say researchers

About 90 per cent of the current national biodiversity policies fail to specify behavioural changes expected of an individual or a group, such as farmers, consumers and fishers, a finding that researchers said could explain the lack of progress on meeting conservation targets. A total of 1306 policy actions proposed by ten National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) from all world regions were coded for target actors, target behaviour and responsible agents as well as the policy options. The team, including researchers from the University of Surrey, UK, found that only 11 per cent of national biodiversity policies explicitly addressed the critical role of behavioural changes expected of individuals to meaningfully deliver on biodiversity conservation. "Unfortunately, we have collectively developed a major blind spot in biodiversity policies. There's a heavy focus on grand actions such as resource management, but little attention is paid to the everyday behaviours -- .

India commits to 30% protected areas in updated biodiversity plan

India has launched its updated biodiversity action plan with a goal to protect at least 30 percent of its terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030, in line with global biodiversity targets. The updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), unveiled at the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, outlines 23 national targets aligned with the 23 global goals set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which was adopted at the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada in 2022. A key goal of the KM-GBF is to protect at least 30 percent of the world's land and ocean areas by 2030. It also aims to restore degraded ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, and rivers, to ensure they continue providing essential resources like clean water and air. India, recognised as one of the 17 megadiverse countries, became a party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994. It harbours 7-8 percent of the world's