Ecology

It is in the development paradigm that the Northeast has witnessed various policies that include infrastructure development. However, infrastructure development in Northeast India entails injustice to both people and the environment. The author argues for locating infrastructure development from the sustainable development as well as justice framework. He stresses on serious engagement in infrastructural research in Northeast India to seek an alternative.

The Glasgow climate conference has delivered enough to keep the hope alive for meeting the 1.5°C climate goal.

A great hype has been created around the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) at Glasgow. John Kerry, the US climate Czar, has repeatedly called the meeting the world’s “last best chance” to avoid climate hara-kiri. Similar sentiment has been expressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. More than 100 world leaders attended this climate gala in the first week, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden.

On the first day of the Glasgow climate conference – COP26 – the biggest announcement came from India. Ending speculations on whether India ‘will’ or ‘can’ make a net-zero pledge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country will reach net-zero emissions by 2070. How ambitious are these targets?

Those most affected by the negative consequences of large-scale industrialized food production must play a vital part in discussing how to transform it. The world therefore needs a people’s Food Systems Summit that aims to end hunger and malnutrition, protect ecosystems, and provide small farmers with a decent livelihood.

Questions on her, poem by Chaoba Phuritsabam in Tattoed with Taboos: An Anthology of Poetry by Three Women from Northeast India

With a water spread of 289 square kilometres, Loktak lake is rich in biological diversity and plays an important role in the ecological and economic security of the region. It was accorded the status of a Ramsar site of international importance in 1990, which shows the significant ecological services of the wetland to humanity and the natural environment. However, the Loktat hydel project commissioned in the early 1980s disturbed the entire lake ecosystem, resulting in extensive loss to biodiversity and displacing massive human population and the wildlife. In the past five decades, the natural ecosystem has degraded considerably. The Loktak Development Authority, which came up in 1987 for taking steps to conserve and protect the lake ecosystem, has not made much headway simply for the reasons that it has not involved the community living in and around in its project designs and plans.

Nature nurtures the mankind. However, when mankind tries to fiddle with nature, it faces the wrath of the latter. Loktak Lake in the state of Manipur is a glaring example of how human intervention can damage a natural setting and also adversely affect those depending on it. Loktak, measuring about 235 square kilometres, is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India. This article is an attempt to capture the lives of the fisherwomen of Loktak and their continuous struggle for survival amidst the wave of aggressive lopsided developmental projects.

COVID-19 has reminded the world about the implications of destroying the nature. But, the world has an excellent opportunity to do something meaningful to not just reverse biodiversity loss but also improve it. In 2021, at the UN Biodiversity Conference, countries will come together to adopt a new global biodiversity strategy for the next decade – the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. We must learn from the past frameworks, especially the Aichi targets' achievements, and design a quantifiable and measurable framework. Besides, we must address zoonosis as an essential component of the post-2020 framework.