Sunita Narain's edit on "The bogey of green clearances" should be read and pondered on,perhaps.
Regards
Urvi
From: CSE
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 11:28 AM
To: csewhatsnew3@lists.csenews.org ; csewhatsnew4@lists.csenews.org ; csewhatsnew5@lists.csenews.org ; csewhatsnew6@lists.csenews.org
Subject: The bogey of green clearances-CSE's News Bulletin (Oct 18, 2011)
==================================================
CSE's Fortnightly News Bulletin (October 18, 2011)
==================================================
Industry says environmental concerns are stalling progress. Recent investigations by CSE suggest otherwise: very rarely has an industrial project been refused a green clearance, and this is the focus of Sunita Narain's edit this fortnight.
Also in the crosshairs is Down To Earth's cover story on growing antibiotic resistance, and a multitude of other news, features and announcements.
CSE is looking to expand its team, and we hope all our readers out there will join the search: we are trying to find someone who can join us in our renewable energy section, someone with the requisite skills and experience, and that proverbial fire in the belly... Just check out the details below in 'Work with CSE'.
And thank you for reading us.
=====================================================================================================================
Sign up to receive this e-newsletter
http://cseindia.my2.in/cseindia/?p=subscribe
To unsubscribe, just click
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========================================
EDITORIAL: The bogey of green clearances
by Sunita Narain
========================================
The environment is holding up growth and economic development. This is the common refrain in circles that matter. So when the Group of Ministers tasked to resolve the issue of coal mining in forests asked for a report on what needs to be done, it was told that the best would be to dismantle green conditions, almost completely.
The B K Chaturvedi committee recommends that all coal mining projects should be given automatic clearance, with exceptions only for projects in "dense" areas. There is no definition of "dense", of course, or an understanding of the importance of forests for water and livelihood. Then the committee wants all those provisions that seek to protect the rights of people or the environment to be relaxed. It recommends that the gram sabha, required to give consent to the project, should be held without a quorum. In other words, democracy should be sidelined. Similarly, public hearings should be done away with when it comes to expansion of the current mines. It also recommends that even in areas identified critically polluted new projects should be allowed without check. It has no time to waste on such minor considerations as the health of the people who live in these regions. The horrendous cumulative impacts of these massive projects must be ignored, because we are a nation in a hurry, it says.
This report reflects the general mood. It is for this reason the proposed manufacturing policy, which seeks to create massive areas as national investment manufacturing zones, wants none of these inconvenient green checks. It wants to take away all powers of the environment and forest clearances from the Centre and state agencies and hand them over to the project proponent.
But are green clearances holding up projects? My colleagues spent days poring over the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests' publicly available database to seek answers. What they found should make us wonder why there is such a hue and cry about the environment as an impediment to growth. In fact, the reverse is true: green clearances are certainly failing to safeguard the environment. This is what should concern us. Make us angry.
First, it should be understood that the scale and pace of green clearances have been unprecedented in the past five years. In fact, the pace doubled, with 203,576 hectares (ha) of forestland diverted for mining and industrial projects in the past five years. Coal mining accounted for more than half the forestland diverted, and as many as 113 coal mining projects were cleared—the highest in a five-year plan since 1981.
Secondly, clearances when added together overshoot the current and future targets. Take power projects. The 11th Five Year Plan targets 50,000 MW of additional thermal power capacity to be created till 2012. In the 12th plan the proposal is to add another 100,000 MW. This is what needs to be built and set up till 2017. Now consider this: in the past five years, till August 2011, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has granted clearances for an astounding 210,000 MW of thermal power capacity, that is 60,000 MW more than what has been proposed till 2017. Now also consider the fact that the thermal power capacity built in the past five years was a mere 32,394 MW. What is going on? Why are new projects asking for clearances when the old, cleared projects are still not being built? Is this a land-water-coal scam, given that each project sits on valuable natural resources? Or is it all about getting the licence to pollute?
Take the cement industry. At the end of the 10th plan, India's installed capacity was 179 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). During the 11th plan, green clearances have been given to an additional 190 million tonnes per annum, which takes the combined capacity to 369 MTPA, far beyond what is operational or what is proposed as the target for this period. This is true for virtually all the industrial sectors we analysed.
There is another layer of misinformation. Coal shortage is being cited as the reason for underperformance of the energy sector, which, in turn, is leading to a strident call to open up more forested regions for digging. The fact is Coal India Limited (CIL) produces over 90 per cent of India's coal; it controls over 200,000 ha of mine lease, including 55,000 ha of forest area. The estimated coal reserves with CIL are 64 billion tonnes, and the company produces 500 million tonnes per annum. Who is then responsible for the shortage of coal in the country?
What is clear, instead, is that in this haste to give clearances, it is the environment that is being short-changed. Most mining districts of the country have become a living hell. More are emerging as the hotbeds of thermal, mining and industrial projects, and nobody wants to fix the horrendous environmental fallout of this growth.
What needs to be done? In my view, environmental regulations should be strengthened, not weakened. Growth managers must look for other reasons they are failing in pushing up industry numbers. More importantly, environmentalists must see how the regulatory regime can be worked better. This is the agenda that matters.
Post your comments on this editorial online at http://downtoearth.org.in/content/bogey-green-clearances. To read some recent press releases on the subject, just visit us at www.cseindia.org.
=======================
MORE FROM DOWN TO EARTH
=======================
- Cover Story: Fatal resistance
Government policy to restrict sale of drugs, but will it be able to contain their irrational use?
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/fatal-resistance
- Special Report: Panna's poaching nexus exposed
Staff of the tiger reserve is hand-in-glove with poachers, while the state government kept its eyes tightly shut
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/panna-s-poaching-nexus-exposed
- 20 Years of DTE
A death-trap beneath -- reliving the horrors of an earthquake in Garhwal
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/death-trap-beneath
- News: Bamboo still a distant dream
No village in Maharashtra other than Mendha Lekha has been able to access bamboo
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/bamboo-still-distant-dream
- News: Mahan at all costs
How government bent all rules to ensure Mahan forest in Madhya Pradesh goes to Essar and Hindalco for mining coal
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/mahan-all-costs
- News: Finally, community forest rights
Tribals of BR Hills can now manage resources in Karnataka reserve
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/finally-community-forest-rights
- News: Free from poverty line
Centre delinks access to welfare schemes from poverty line
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/free-poverty-line
- News: One-sided deal
Contract farming is increasing in India, but laws are not in place to protect farmers
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/one-sided-deal
- S&T: Yummy but harmful
Indian markets are flooded with foods that contain colours beyond permissible limits
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/yummy-harmful
- S&T: Origin of child birth
Junk DNA, the precursor of modern mammalian pregnancy
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/origin-child-birth
- Blogs: Patently Absurd
Politics of the internet
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/politics-internet
- Interview: Chhattisgarh will not allow GM crops
In conversation with Chandrasekhar Sahu, agriculture minister of Chhattisgarh
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/chhattisgarh-will-not-allow-gm-crops
Down To Earth is now on Facebook and Twitter. Do follow us, share, comment, and discuss
and stay in constant touch with our reporters on www.facebook.com/down2earthindia and twitter@downtoearthindia.
==========================
Web DTE
==========================
Reporter's Diary: Drums, cymbals and stories
Kaushik Das Gupta attends a festival that celebrates endangered stories
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/drums-cymbals-and-stories
Blog: Where's Bhoodan Land?
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/where-s-bhoodan-land
===========================
Gobar Times
===========================
Cover Story: Dirty, grimy, polluted tree
Air pollution is back with a vengeance
http://www.gobartimes.org/content/dirty-grimy-polluted-tree
===========================
On India Environment Portal
===========================
- Sub-portal on South Asia and Sustainable Development: Provides in-depth information through news, reports, analysis, opinions and events, linked to other key institutions and websites etc. Please do contribute studies, reports, court orders etc, especially from our neighbouring countries in the South Asian region.
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/indepth/term/9790
- CSE Environment Photo Library
CSE's perspective and collection of photographs is now here to help illustrate your views on environment. Reach the online CSE Environment Photo Store at http://www.flickr.com/photos/csepictures
- Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/indiaenvportal and join us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/indiaenvironmentportal/228015872817
- Get linked.
List and provide links of your organisation (or your library's website) on the portal as a 'free-to-use' online resource on environment.
For any assistance, please contact kiran@cseindia.org, kirandwi@gmail.com
=============================================
LEARNING WITH CSE
Courses offered by Anil Agarwal Green College
=============================================
Covering India: Where Journalism meets Environment - New Delhi, December 1 - 15, 2011
Date: December 1 to 15, 2011
Late Date of Application: October 31, 2011
This December, strap up and brace yourselves, learn to communicate the environment-development challenges in contemporary India.
Course details: http://www.cseindia.org/node/2607
Course Contact: Sharmila Sinha
(sharmila@cseindia.org / cseindiasharmila@gmail.com)
Ph: 91-11 29955124/6110/6399 (Ext: 270)
Fax: 91-11-29955879, AAGC Mobile: +91 9818482018
----------------------------------------------------
Towards Sustainable Buildings - Policies and Practices; 3-Day Training Programme
Date: November 2-4, 2011
Late Date of Application: October 24, 2011
Anyone with professional interest in Green Buildings as a bureaucrat, regulator, researcher, consultant or just a concerned citizen will benefit from this programme.
Course Modules:
- Framework for EIA for Building and Construction projects
- Challenges and Issues with implementation of EIA process for
- Building and Construction projects
- Making EIA work for Building and Construction projects
- Decoding National Building Code and Building Bye Laws
- Energy Conservation in Buildings, ECBC and its implementation
- Water Conservation and Efficiency Improvements in Buildings
- Green Buildings for all
- Green Ratings for Buildings
Course Details: http://www.cseindia.org/content/towards-sustainable-buildings-policies-and-practices-3-day-training-programme
For more information contact
Sakshi C Dasgupta
Deputy Programme Manager, Sustainable Building Programme
Phone: +91 (011) 29955124/125 (Ext. 250)
Mob: +91 9811910901
Fax: +91 (011) 29955879
Email: sakshi@cseindia.org
----------------------------------------------------
A training programme on Social Impact Assessment
Date: November 9-11, 2011
Last Date of Application: October 24, 2011
To build capacity and create awareness among regulators, developers, NGOs and academicians in understanding the SIA process
Course Modules:
- Exposure to aspects of SIA, from theory to applications
- Integrated approach for addressing SIA and EIA process
- Knowledge on review of SIA reports and identification of strengths and weaknesses
- Post SIA monitoring
- Role of SIA in planning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Procedure for institutional strengthening and capacity building
- Experience sharing on national and international best practices adopted in SIA
Course details: http://www.cseindia.org/content/cse%E2%80%99s-short-term-training-programme-social-impact-assessment
Course contact: Sujit Kumar Singh
Industry & Environment Unit
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062
Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6110 (Ext. 281)
Mobile: 9899676027
Email: sujit@cseindia.org
================================
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Journalists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, interested in the climate debate, will congregate for this annual workshop in Delhi.
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CSE is organising a one-day national conference on lake conservation in the last week of January.The objective of the workshop is to set up a network of researchers, NGOs, legal advocates and regulators from India involved in the conservation of urban lakes.
We invite abstracts (not more than 250 words) from researchers, NGOs, faculties, law practicioners, in the areas relevant to lake conservation (and/or threats).
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CSE's Clean Air Campaign team is organising a citizens' survey in Jaipur to understand the challenges of air pollution and transportation that the city faces, and identify the way forward.
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The Environment Health Bulletin
The second edition of The Environment Health Bulletin, a quarterly by CSE's Food Safety and Toxins unit, will be out soon. This edition will include articles on energy drinks, endosulfan, pesticide management bill, BRAI bill and the Food Safety and Standards Act.
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Environmental Governance Quarterly
CSE has started a quarterly newsletter focusing on environmental regulations and regulators. The newsletter will cover new and upcoming laws and regulations,changes in the regulatory regime, important environmental litigations and best practices in regulations and its implementation. It will also capture news from key environmental regulators and give critical perspective on important regulatory issues.
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Work with CSE
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CSE is looking for a Team Head to steer its Renewable Energy Programme. The candidate Will have to take a lead role in research, policy briefs, report writing, organising conferences/workshops/training and in advocacy and campaign on renewable energy issues. For more details, just log on to http://www.cseindia.org/content/team-head-renewable-energy-programme
====================================
From our stores
===================================
Books from CSE that you might have missed:
Climate Change and Natural Resources -- A book of activities for environmental education
This is a collection of easy-to-understand-and-do activities for students and teachers, to be done in classrooms and at homes. Do take a look at http://www.gobartimes.org/?q=node/201, or write to Vikas Khanna at vikas@cseindia.org
Mobility Crisis - Agenda for Action 2011
Our publication on the way cities are being held hostage by rising vehicular traffic, and some thoughts on how to break the gridlock
(Pages 116) PB: Rs 290 / US $12
Challenge of the new ballance
Based on a CSE study of the six most energy/emissions-intensive sectors of the country to determine India's low carbon growth options, this book is a must have for all who are interested in development economics and the way ahead for the country. The six sectors -- power,steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizer and paper & pulp -- together account for an estimated 61.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions in India, excluding emissions from agriculture and waste. Their energy profile is no less intensive...
(Pages 156) PB: Rs.690 / US $39
To order please visit: www.csestore.cse.org.in
Coming soon: Excreta Matters
CSE's 7th State of the India's Environment report on water and wastewater, based on a comprehensive survey of 71 Indian cities.
====================================
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====================================
You are receiving this newsletter because you have asked to be included in our list, attended a CSE event or requested information.
CSE is an independent, public interest organization that was established in 1982 by Anil Agarwal, a pioneer of India's environmental movement. CSE's mandate is to research, communicate and promote sustainable development with equity, participation and democracy.
CSE's Fortnightly News Bulletin (October 18, 2011)
==================================================
Industry says environmental concerns are stalling progress. Recent investigations by CSE suggest otherwise: very rarely has an industrial project been refused a green clearance, and this is the focus of Sunita Narain's edit this fortnight.
Also in the crosshairs is Down To Earth's cover story on growing antibiotic resistance, and a multitude of other news, features and announcements.
CSE is looking to expand its team, and we hope all our readers out there will join the search: we are trying to find someone who can join us in our renewable energy section, someone with the requisite skills and experience, and that proverbial fire in the belly... Just check out the details below in 'Work with CSE'.
And thank you for reading us.
=====================================================================================================================
Sign up to receive this e-newsletter
http://cseindia.my2.in/cseindia/?p=subscribe
To unsubscribe, just click
http://www.cseindia.org/content/please-enter-your-email-id-unsubscribe-cse-newsletter
If you have any questions or concerns about newsletter subscription, please contact Vikas Khanna at vikas@cseindia.org
========================================
EDITORIAL: The bogey of green clearances
by Sunita Narain
========================================
The environment is holding up growth and economic development. This is the common refrain in circles that matter. So when the Group of Ministers tasked to resolve the issue of coal mining in forests asked for a report on what needs to be done, it was told that the best would be to dismantle green conditions, almost completely.
The B K Chaturvedi committee recommends that all coal mining projects should be given automatic clearance, with exceptions only for projects in "dense" areas. There is no definition of "dense", of course, or an understanding of the importance of forests for water and livelihood. Then the committee wants all those provisions that seek to protect the rights of people or the environment to be relaxed. It recommends that the gram sabha, required to give consent to the project, should be held without a quorum. In other words, democracy should be sidelined. Similarly, public hearings should be done away with when it comes to expansion of the current mines. It also recommends that even in areas identified critically polluted new projects should be allowed without check. It has no time to waste on such minor considerations as the health of the people who live in these regions. The horrendous cumulative impacts of these massive projects must be ignored, because we are a nation in a hurry, it says.
This report reflects the general mood. It is for this reason the proposed manufacturing policy, which seeks to create massive areas as national investment manufacturing zones, wants none of these inconvenient green checks. It wants to take away all powers of the environment and forest clearances from the Centre and state agencies and hand them over to the project proponent.
But are green clearances holding up projects? My colleagues spent days poring over the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests' publicly available database to seek answers. What they found should make us wonder why there is such a hue and cry about the environment as an impediment to growth. In fact, the reverse is true: green clearances are certainly failing to safeguard the environment. This is what should concern us. Make us angry.
First, it should be understood that the scale and pace of green clearances have been unprecedented in the past five years. In fact, the pace doubled, with 203,576 hectares (ha) of forestland diverted for mining and industrial projects in the past five years. Coal mining accounted for more than half the forestland diverted, and as many as 113 coal mining projects were cleared—the highest in a five-year plan since 1981.
Secondly, clearances when added together overshoot the current and future targets. Take power projects. The 11th Five Year Plan targets 50,000 MW of additional thermal power capacity to be created till 2012. In the 12th plan the proposal is to add another 100,000 MW. This is what needs to be built and set up till 2017. Now consider this: in the past five years, till August 2011, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has granted clearances for an astounding 210,000 MW of thermal power capacity, that is 60,000 MW more than what has been proposed till 2017. Now also consider the fact that the thermal power capacity built in the past five years was a mere 32,394 MW. What is going on? Why are new projects asking for clearances when the old, cleared projects are still not being built? Is this a land-water-coal scam, given that each project sits on valuable natural resources? Or is it all about getting the licence to pollute?
Take the cement industry. At the end of the 10th plan, India's installed capacity was 179 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). During the 11th plan, green clearances have been given to an additional 190 million tonnes per annum, which takes the combined capacity to 369 MTPA, far beyond what is operational or what is proposed as the target for this period. This is true for virtually all the industrial sectors we analysed.
There is another layer of misinformation. Coal shortage is being cited as the reason for underperformance of the energy sector, which, in turn, is leading to a strident call to open up more forested regions for digging. The fact is Coal India Limited (CIL) produces over 90 per cent of India's coal; it controls over 200,000 ha of mine lease, including 55,000 ha of forest area. The estimated coal reserves with CIL are 64 billion tonnes, and the company produces 500 million tonnes per annum. Who is then responsible for the shortage of coal in the country?
What is clear, instead, is that in this haste to give clearances, it is the environment that is being short-changed. Most mining districts of the country have become a living hell. More are emerging as the hotbeds of thermal, mining and industrial projects, and nobody wants to fix the horrendous environmental fallout of this growth.
What needs to be done? In my view, environmental regulations should be strengthened, not weakened. Growth managers must look for other reasons they are failing in pushing up industry numbers. More importantly, environmentalists must see how the regulatory regime can be worked better. This is the agenda that matters.
Post your comments on this editorial online at http://downtoearth.org.in/content/bogey-green-clearances. To read some recent press releases on the subject, just visit us at www.cseindia.org.
=======================
MORE FROM DOWN TO EARTH
=======================
- Cover Story: Fatal resistance
Government policy to restrict sale of drugs, but will it be able to contain their irrational use?
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/fatal-resistance
- Special Report: Panna's poaching nexus exposed
Staff of the tiger reserve is hand-in-glove with poachers, while the state government kept its eyes tightly shut
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/panna-s-poaching-nexus-exposed
- 20 Years of DTE
A death-trap beneath -- reliving the horrors of an earthquake in Garhwal
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/death-trap-beneath
- News: Bamboo still a distant dream
No village in Maharashtra other than Mendha Lekha has been able to access bamboo
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/bamboo-still-distant-dream
- News: Mahan at all costs
How government bent all rules to ensure Mahan forest in Madhya Pradesh goes to Essar and Hindalco for mining coal
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/mahan-all-costs
- News: Finally, community forest rights
Tribals of BR Hills can now manage resources in Karnataka reserve
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/finally-community-forest-rights
- News: Free from poverty line
Centre delinks access to welfare schemes from poverty line
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/free-poverty-line
- News: One-sided deal
Contract farming is increasing in India, but laws are not in place to protect farmers
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/one-sided-deal
- S&T: Yummy but harmful
Indian markets are flooded with foods that contain colours beyond permissible limits
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/yummy-harmful
- S&T: Origin of child birth
Junk DNA, the precursor of modern mammalian pregnancy
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/origin-child-birth
- Blogs: Patently Absurd
Politics of the internet
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/politics-internet
- Interview: Chhattisgarh will not allow GM crops
In conversation with Chandrasekhar Sahu, agriculture minister of Chhattisgarh
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/chhattisgarh-will-not-allow-gm-crops
Down To Earth is now on Facebook and Twitter. Do follow us, share, comment, and discuss
and stay in constant touch with our reporters on www.facebook.com/down2earthindia and twitter@downtoearthindia.
==========================
Web DTE
==========================
Reporter's Diary: Drums, cymbals and stories
Kaushik Das Gupta attends a festival that celebrates endangered stories
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/drums-cymbals-and-stories
Blog: Where's Bhoodan Land?
http://downtoearth.org.in/content/where-s-bhoodan-land
===========================
Gobar Times
===========================
Cover Story: Dirty, grimy, polluted tree
Air pollution is back with a vengeance
http://www.gobartimes.org/content/dirty-grimy-polluted-tree
===========================
On India Environment Portal
===========================
- Sub-portal on South Asia and Sustainable Development: Provides in-depth information through news, reports, analysis, opinions and events, linked to other key institutions and websites etc. Please do contribute studies, reports, court orders etc, especially from our neighbouring countries in the South Asian region.
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/indepth/term/9790
- CSE Environment Photo Library
CSE's perspective and collection of photographs is now here to help illustrate your views on environment. Reach the online CSE Environment Photo Store at http://www.flickr.com/photos/csepictures
- Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/indiaenvportal and join us on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/indiaenvironmentportal/228015872817
- Get linked.
List and provide links of your organisation (or your library's website) on the portal as a 'free-to-use' online resource on environment.
For any assistance, please contact kiran@cseindia.org, kirandwi@gmail.com
=============================================
LEARNING WITH CSE
Courses offered by Anil Agarwal Green College
=============================================
Covering India: Where Journalism meets Environment - New Delhi, December 1 - 15, 2011
Date: December 1 to 15, 2011
Late Date of Application: October 31, 2011
This December, strap up and brace yourselves, learn to communicate the environment-development challenges in contemporary India.
Course details: http://www.cseindia.org/node/2607
Course Contact: Sharmila Sinha
(sharmila@cseindia.org / cseindiasharmila@gmail.com)
Ph: 91-11 29955124/6110/6399 (Ext: 270)
Fax: 91-11-29955879, AAGC Mobile: +91 9818482018
----------------------------------------------------
Towards Sustainable Buildings - Policies and Practices; 3-Day Training Programme
Date: November 2-4, 2011
Late Date of Application: October 24, 2011
Anyone with professional interest in Green Buildings as a bureaucrat, regulator, researcher, consultant or just a concerned citizen will benefit from this programme.
Course Modules:
- Framework for EIA for Building and Construction projects
- Challenges and Issues with implementation of EIA process for
- Building and Construction projects
- Making EIA work for Building and Construction projects
- Decoding National Building Code and Building Bye Laws
- Energy Conservation in Buildings, ECBC and its implementation
- Water Conservation and Efficiency Improvements in Buildings
- Green Buildings for all
- Green Ratings for Buildings
Course Details: http://www.cseindia.org/content/towards-sustainable-buildings-policies-and-practices-3-day-training-programme
For more information contact
Sakshi C Dasgupta
Deputy Programme Manager, Sustainable Building Programme
Phone: +91 (011) 29955124/125 (Ext. 250)
Mob: +91 9811910901
Fax: +91 (011) 29955879
Email: sakshi@cseindia.org
----------------------------------------------------
A training programme on Social Impact Assessment
Date: November 9-11, 2011
Last Date of Application: October 24, 2011
To build capacity and create awareness among regulators, developers, NGOs and academicians in understanding the SIA process
Course Modules:
- Exposure to aspects of SIA, from theory to applications
- Integrated approach for addressing SIA and EIA process
- Knowledge on review of SIA reports and identification of strengths and weaknesses
- Post SIA monitoring
- Role of SIA in planning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Procedure for institutional strengthening and capacity building
- Experience sharing on national and international best practices adopted in SIA
Course details: http://www.cseindia.org/content/cse%E2%80%99s-short-term-training-programme-social-impact-assessment
Course contact: Sujit Kumar Singh
Industry & Environment Unit
Centre for Science and Environment
41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062
Ph: 91-11-2995 5124 / 6110 (Ext. 281)
Mobile: 9899676027
Email: sujit@cseindia.org
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UPDATES FROM OUR PROGRAMME UNITS
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South Asian Media Briefing Workshop on Climate Change, 2011
Journalists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, interested in the climate debate, will congregate for this annual workshop in Delhi.
Date: November 16-17, 2011
For more details, visit http://cseindia.org/content/invitation-cses-south-asian-media-briefing-workshop-climate-change-2011
or get in touch with Papia Samajdar at papia@cseindia.org
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Second National Research Conference on Climate Change
CSE, in association with the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi and Madras, is organising the Second National Research Conference on Climate Change. The conference will be held in Delhi. We invite abstracts from faculty, students, and practitioners in the areas of climate science, impacts, adaptation and mitigation.
Date: November 5-6, 2011
For more details, visit http://cseindia.org/content/2nd-national-research-conference-climate-change
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National conference on lake conservation
CSE is organising a one-day national conference on lake conservation in the last week of January.The objective of the workshop is to set up a network of researchers, NGOs, legal advocates and regulators from India involved in the conservation of urban lakes.
We invite abstracts (not more than 250 words) from researchers, NGOs, faculties, law practicioners, in the areas relevant to lake conservation (and/or threats).
Submissions should be sent to sushmita@cseindia.org
Abstract submission deadline: November 30, 2011.
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Jaipur Citizen's Survey: Transport and air quality challenges
CSE's Clean Air Campaign team is organising a citizens' survey in Jaipur to understand the challenges of air pollution and transportation that the city faces, and identify the way forward.
Would you like to volunteer your participation in the survey? Just fill out a form at http://cseindia.org/node/1190 and send it to us.
For details, please get in touch with Vivek at vivek@cseindia.org
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RainWater Harvesting Technical Support
Every Friday between 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, CSE provides detailed technical guidance to interested individuals, RWAs and institutions to implement rainwater harvesting. The technical assistance will be provided at CSE's office at 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area.
For details, see
http://www.cseindia.org/content/catch-rainwater-solve-your-water-problems
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Technical advice: Decentralised wastewater treatment systems
Every second and fourth Friday, meet our experts at CSE, 41, Tughlaqabad Institutional Area for guidance on
planning and designing these systems.
For details, contact Deblina at deblina@cseindia.org or call her on 9899596661.
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The Environment Health Bulletin
The second edition of The Environment Health Bulletin, a quarterly by CSE's Food Safety and Toxins unit, will be out soon. This edition will include articles on energy drinks, endosulfan, pesticide management bill, BRAI bill and the Food Safety and Standards Act.
To subscribe, please visit http://cseindia.my2.in/cseindia/?p=subscribe
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Environmental Governance Quarterly
CSE has started a quarterly newsletter focusing on environmental regulations and regulators. The newsletter will cover new and upcoming laws and regulations,changes in the regulatory regime, important environmental litigations and best practices in regulations and its implementation. It will also capture news from key environmental regulators and give critical perspective on important regulatory issues.
To view the newsletter, please go to http://cseindia.org/content/newsletter-0
To subscribe, please visit http://cseindia.my2.in/cseindia/?p=subscribe
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Work with CSE
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CSE is looking for a Team Head to steer its Renewable Energy Programme. The candidate Will have to take a lead role in research, policy briefs, report writing, organising conferences/workshops/training and in advocacy and campaign on renewable energy issues. For more details, just log on to http://www.cseindia.org/content/team-head-renewable-energy-programme
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From our stores
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Books from CSE that you might have missed:
Climate Change and Natural Resources -- A book of activities for environmental education
This is a collection of easy-to-understand-and-do activities for students and teachers, to be done in classrooms and at homes. Do take a look at http://www.gobartimes.org/?q=node/201, or write to Vikas Khanna at vikas@cseindia.org
Mobility Crisis - Agenda for Action 2011
Our publication on the way cities are being held hostage by rising vehicular traffic, and some thoughts on how to break the gridlock
(Pages 116) PB: Rs 290 / US $12
Challenge of the new ballance
Based on a CSE study of the six most energy/emissions-intensive sectors of the country to determine India's low carbon growth options, this book is a must have for all who are interested in development economics and the way ahead for the country. The six sectors -- power,steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizer and paper & pulp -- together account for an estimated 61.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions in India, excluding emissions from agriculture and waste. Their energy profile is no less intensive...
(Pages 156) PB: Rs.690 / US $39
To order please visit: www.csestore.cse.org.in
Coming soon: Excreta Matters
CSE's 7th State of the India's Environment report on water and wastewater, based on a comprehensive survey of 71 Indian cities.
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About this e-mail
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You are receiving this newsletter because you have asked to be included in our list, attended a CSE event or requested information.
CSE is an independent, public interest organization that was established in 1982 by Anil Agarwal, a pioneer of India's environmental movement. CSE's mandate is to research, communicate and promote sustainable development with equity, participation and democracy.
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