Resources & Sustainable Development

Undeterred by the Fukushima disaster, and notwithstanding the shoddy performance of its Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), India is forging ahead with ambitious plans to expand its nuclear energy generation capacity manifold from the present

The UN climate conference in Warsaw was the COP with the lowest expectations ever and lived up to that in every respect. What were the issues discussed and decisions taken? Who is to blame for the stalemate?

Dr. Adil Najam is a leading global expert on issues related to developing country environmental policy, especially climate change. In this interview he speaks about his expectations for the COP19 in Warsaw. He underlines the importance of international agreements and calls for immediate action.

As old methods have lost credibility, some governments, economists and international institutions like the UN Environment Programme have adopted a new approach, based on the view that nature is an “ecosystem service” provider. In doing so, they have shifted the onus of addressing environmental risk onto the private sector and market-based mechanisms.

Coal contributes over half of India’s primary commercial energy and is likely to remain India’s most important source of energy for the coming decade or two. This article summarizes the challenges produced by coal as well as the challenges that affect the sector and perspectives of an energy future for India.

Expectations for the climate summit in Doha were so low that it is quite remarkable that the meager results still managed to fall short of them. The UN climate talks appear to have a recurring theme: The process was saved, unfortunately the climate wasn't. Did Doha move us even the tiniest step forward ?

Germany has drawn a lot of attention for the Energiewende - the aim to switch to a renewable energy economy, phase out nuclear power and leave fossil fuels behind. But what exactly is the German energy transition: How does it works and what challenges lay ahead? Check out this new website.

Large-scale wind farms and solar power plants are springing up everywhere one looks. That’s good for the climate, but small-scale farmers and the poor are becoming the pawns of hard-nosed business interests around the world.

The idea of growth as the way to end poverty and escape economic and financial crisis remains largely undisputed and is currently reflected in the concept of the green economy. But not everything that is “green” and efficient is also environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. This essay outlines a policy of less, of wealth in moderation, to enable the Earth’s resources to make a life of dignity and without need possible for all.

Barbara Unmüßig, president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation argues that because of the limited nature of our planet and the ecological challenges facing us, the fundamentals of our economy have to be reconsidered. In that respect, she thinks, the existing blueprints for a green economy do not go far enough.