A note to UN Climate Champion, PM Narendra Modi.

It is not that, there is no progress in the last 25 years, there is indeed more awareness that Climate Change is a problem which needs to be tackled. But that awareness has come more from civil society and NGO’s who have been able to bear a certain amount of pressure for the governments to act. However, when it comes for the governments to take the onus and do better, they have always hidden behind the glib text, to show more than what happens at the ground level.

This article shall attempt to point at the dangers & alternative opportunities that lie in the wake of the new political discourse that is taking place in India vis a vis; Climate Action. India is going through a great change in its political and social space. Any government which would come into power must fully align with the spirit of the 3 crucial agreements namely – The Paris Agreement, The Sendai Framework & The Sustainable Development Goals.

But before we begin let us remind ourselves that we the people have been given a seat at the CoP24. Now we need to add some more of them in CoP25 if a change is to come.

Together with the UN, Sir David Attenborough has launched a climate action campaign inviting people around the world to share their thoughts on climate change. Thousands of influencers from around the world are joining him by inviting their social media followers to use the hashtag #TakeYourSeat to gather people’s experiences and opinions.

To start with, let us look at some of the points mentioned in the 2018 IPCC Special Report on Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

B. Projected Climate Change, Potential Impacts and Associated Risks:

B.1 Climate models project robust differences in regional climate characteristics between present-day and global warming of 1.5°C, and between 1.5°C and 2°C. These differences include increases in: mean temperature in most land and ocean regions (high confidence), hot extremes in most inhabited regions (high confidence), heavy precipitation in several regions (medium confidence), and the probability of drought and precipitation deficits in some regions (medium confidence).

B.2 By 2100, global mean sea level rise is projected to be around 0.1 metre lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared to 2°C (medium confidence). Sea level will continue to rise well beyond 2100 (high confidence), and the magnitude and rate of this rise depend on future emission pathways. A slower rate of sea level rise enables greater opportunities for adaptation in the human and ecological systems of small islands, low-lying coastal areas and deltas (medium confidence).

In the cacophony of the largest democracy of the World, the above two paragraphs have not even figured in any major Newspaper, TV or social media which is consumed by the general public at least in a consistent enough manner.

Around the World, each political party are coming up with their own “development” agenda which looks more like electoral appeasement than a real long-term plan of action.

The Modi government which came into power on the development plank has also got trapped into the discourse that has been the bane of India’s development in the last 70 years! That PM Narendra Modi got selected for the UN Champion of the Earth Award makes it all the more important that his government which is most likely to continue for another term is able to understand all the aspects beyond the obvious. It is only then good governance is possible. And India can be the torch-bearer on Climate Change Abatement & Mitigation.

Let us discuss four Mumbai related projects to see how the development discourse which should have by now turned towards Sustainable Development Goals, is not up to mark.

1.The New International Airport at Navi Mumbai ( New Bombay); 2.The Metro Yard at Aaery Forest area, 3.The Coastal Road project & 4.The Shivaji Statue.

The thing that one finds in common with all the four projects at a glance is the huge environmental impact it will have on the ecosystem. And how the complete governance machinery has been able to bulldoze its will to prove otherwise. Stating it as a public requirement while giving lip service to the recommendations from expert environmentalists who know better.

It is not that we do not need to develop, but why is it that Economic considerations always surpass Ecological considerations? Why does it become too costly & unviable to take measures which are ecologically sound while designing a project? This is a question we must answer.

The New International Airport at Navi Mumbai:

NAVI MUMBAI AIRPORT IGNORES CLIMATE RESILIENCE
The development of the Navi Mumbai airport will lead to the destruction of the local wetland ecosystem (Photo by Hiren Kumar Bose)

https://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2018/11/21/navi-mumbai-airport-ignores-climate-resilience/

Although cities rely on the countryside for their survival, the rural areas are often ignored and neglected. Faced with expanding its infrastructure, urban planners set their sights on swathes of forest, mangroves and wetlands. There has been no attempt to understand the extent to which new investment in infrastructure is resilient to the changing climate requirements. Emerging economies like India is investing billions in durable infrastructure every year. However, it has often failed to take into account future climate change in their planning. This leads to high risks of loss and damage. The NMAI project, planned to ease the traffic of the burdened Mumbai international airport, is one such endeavour where climate-related issues have not been taken into account in the planning specifications.

There are two thoughts that get comes to the mind, could the government not have tried to decongest the existing airport by removing encroachments and illegal construction? And a bit controversial as it may sound, demolishing certain parts around the city-airport & redesigning the area by relocating the project affected people with proper compensation? While also making an attempt to extend the air-strip at the Juhu airport, again by not attempting to take the sea but along the coast. By realigning the airstrip and allowing smaller aircraft & private jets to operate from there. I confess I may be completely wrong in this assessment as I am not an aviation expert, however, when one looks at the image below of both the airports, the runways are not exactly identically aligned. That perhaps gives me the hope that things could still have been done.

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However, if one looks closely at the slums in an around both the airports, well that is a lot of space for expansion! Maybe an alternative solution could have come out? And the ecology of Panvel at Navi Mumbai may have been left untouched.

The Metro Yard at Aaery Forest area :

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  Proposed Mumbai metro project threatens Aarey’s complex ecosystem
  Situated in Goregaon, Aarey is a biotope that gives refuge to scorpions and tarantulas, besides being a treasure trove of birds, butterflies, amphibians and the leopard

This Garden of Eden has been earmarked by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) for constructing a metro car shed over an area of 28 hectares. This will lead to the uprooting of 2,298 trees. According to MMRDA, 2,044 of these trees could be transplanted, but the rest of the 254 trees would have to be cut down. While inadequate knowledge is dangerous, so is the habit of a simplistic way of looking at things. For instance, trees are just a unit of complex ecosystems. Even if we manage to successfully transplant trees outside, what happens to the layers of complexity in the habitat matrix that renders Aarey its veritable uniqueness?  Aarey was once a part of the deciduous stretch of forests, now restricted to the adjacent Sanjay Gandhi National Park and hillocks. With the coming of the Aarey dairy co-operative, the thickness of the forests was broken up to create open ecosystems of grasslands, scrubs, marshes and water bodies, giving refuge to an interesting assemblage of species. The large open para grass fields are feeding grounds of Munias, Drongos and Egrets which have been cleared for the metro car shed. The drains that nurture these grass pastures are home to native fish species, crabs, shrimps and Checkered Keelback water snakes that are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, by virtue of being Schedule II creatures.

Yet again, Economic consideration won over ecological considerations. The question that comes into mind is if one looks up North of the place labelled Aarey is Nagri Niwara Cooperative Housing Society. Adjacent to it is a patch of barren land. Why could this area not have been selected? If Metro which is an engineering feat, crisscrossing the length of Mumbai, why the shed could not have been placed somewhere off-track, so to speak?

As an engineer, I understand design challenges, cost escalation and the horrible state of affairs to get anything done in Indian cities. But, once more the cries of the other living beings of this planet are simply ignored – uprooting of 2,298 trees! imagine if these were human lives!

The Coastal Road Project:

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  https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

One look at the above image and the advantages versus the disaster is obvious. But what is more dangerous and not being put forth is the fact that the coastal road would change the Development Plan of the Mumbai City to a large extent.

The Coastal Regulation Zones rules have recently been amended. Let us have a look at that before I point to the crux of the problems by highlighting a few paragraphs below.

Cabinet approves Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2018:

FSI allowed as per current norms in CRZ areas Greater opportunity for Development of densely populated rural areas Tourism Infrastructure for basic amenities to be promoted CRZ clearance streamlined No Development Zone of 20 meters for All Islands Special importance to All Ecologically Sensitive Areas Special focus on Pollution abatement

Salient Features:

(i)         Allowing FSI as per current norms in CRZ areas: As per CRZ, 2011 Notification, for CRZ-II (Urban) areas, Floor Space Index (FSI) or the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) had been frozen as per 1991 Development Control Regulation (DCR) levels. In the CRZ, 2018 Notification, it has been decided to de-freeze the same and permits FSI for construction projects, as prevailing on the date of the new Notification. This will enable the redevelopment of these areas to meet emerging needs.

One look at the size of the land which is being reclaimed, the gleam in the eyes of the builder-politician lobby is obvious. And they have patience. They will let about 10 years pass by, which is the amount of time needed to fill up the bonanza of extra FSI they would receive with the change of CRZ due to the coast being pushed further back.

Once that happens & with woeful lack of space for further expansion some “development” would be allowed on the reclaimed land, which at present are being promised to be left as “open space” as shown in the illustration above. And to justify it, we already have the CRZ’18 notification para (i) -“redevelopment of the areas as per emerging needs”.

(iii)       Tourism infrastructure for basic amenities to be promoted: Temporary tourism facilities such as shacks, toilet blocks, change rooms, drinking water facilities etc. have now been permitted in Beaches. Such temporary tourism facilities are also now permissible in the “No Development Zone” (NDZ) of the CRZ-III areas as per the Notification. However, a minimum distance of 10 m from HTL should be maintained for setting up of such facilities.

While Toilet Blocks & Drinking Water Facilities & Waste Management facilities should be allowed, it would be a disaster to allow Shacks etc to come up around the Marine drive coastline. The unscrupulous would point to clause (iii) in its whole form. One must be careful and DP laws of the city must over-rule such situations from occurring in the future.

(iv)      CRZ Clearances streamlined: The procedure for CRZ clearances has been streamlined. Only such projects/activities, which are located in the CRZ-I (Ecologically Sensitive Areas) and CRZ IV (area covered between Low Tide Line and 12 Nautical Miles seaward) shall be dealt with for CRZ clearance by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The powers for clearances with respect to CRZ-II and III have been delegated at the State level with necessary guidance.

This is classic. Now, the developer-mafia doesn’t really need to go all the way to New Delhi. Their work can easily be justified at the local level citing para (i)! One wouldn’t be the least surprised to know that those who would be giving clearance would be Neta’s whose qualifications would be basic with no or little understanding of the complexities of Ecology.

(v)       A No Development Zone (NDZ) of 20 meters has been stipulated for all Islands: For islands close to the mainland coast and for all Backwater Islands in the mainland, in wake of space limitations and unique geography of such regions, bringing uniformity in treatment of such regions, NDZ of 20 m has been stipulated.

This was surely done with Mumbai in mind. But when a Tsunami comes, or there is a storm surge, the maximum impact is within 500Mt. There needs to be a Hazzard line drawn up. The Hazard Line is an advanced warning system that helps to not only prevent deaths but also save crores in property loss.

What is most amazing is that India was supposed to get a Hazzard Line in 2015! A Hazzard Line is the line that demarcates the coastal area that is at high risk from flooding, coastal erosion and emerging threats like sea level rise. It would help the 13 coastal states and Union Territories be better prepared for disasters like cyclones and storm surges.

Further, with no serious action and awareness program created till date, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction to which India is a signatory has been completely set aside on this matter.

(vi)       All Ecologically Sensitive Areas have been accorded special importance: Specific guidelines related to their conservation and management plans have been drawn up as a part of the CRZ Notification.

One would be amazed at how the law enforcement agencies as well as the government agencies who but are humans with a designation and duty would pass by the very roads which are encroached, the playgrounds which have been usurped by the greedy developer or slums & even by that famous “paan” from a pavement shop opposite an upmarket eatery, very well knowing that it is illegal. Then one fine day they would wake up and give a demolition order!

Therefore the question is, who would enforce the strict guideline? When the damage is already done?

(vii)      Pollution abatement has been accorded special focus: In order to address pollution in Coastal areas treatment facilities have been made permissible activities in CRZ-I B area subject to necessary safeguards.

Just recently there was a hue & cry about single-use plastic with the Government of Maharashtra coming down heavily on the manufacturers, who were lackadaisical for years on the ruling. Plus single-use plastic is freely available all across the city and state. Therefore para (vii) inspires no confidence.

The point that needs to be understood with the Coastal Road, which is facing huge legal & social challenges is to try and decongest Mumbai. To create a Development plan which matches the carrying capacity of the Island City & take the hard measure to shift out people towards Navi Mumbai townships. Places like Palava City, Ulwe etc can absorb the flab that is within Mumbai. It would be a win-win situation for all. While human tendency would be to resist. As there would be legitimate fears of loss of livelihood and lifestyle. Politics especially dirty politics would come into play. But, all these can be tackled with honest intention and scientific approach.

The 1st step would be to remove illegal encroachments, be it homes, shops or any other. The 2nd would be to create by enacting laws which compel business districts to come up in a uniform manner allowing people to shift to the newer locations.

Costs can be calculated, losses can be estimated and compensation can be built around it. It would cost far less than to undo the damages which are sure to happen should development without proper thought is taken up. No one is denying that the job of the government is easy. But it is easy to talk to experts and stakeholders without an eye towards the next election result. For good has a tendency to prove itself. And it would always bring in the desired price.

The only thing is to inform and explain it to the people in a proper manner.

The Shivaji Statue:

Courtesy: Rediff.com

Somehow development and politics have got confused in the midst of building statues around the Nation. While it is true that to boost economy job creation is must & in that process one creates projects which have the ability to cater to all sectors of industry and trade. The Shivaji Statue project could have avoided & can still avoid controversy & greater damage to the marine ecology, but by shifting the location of the Statue. It would be the best face saver if the location from the midst of the sea is shifted to the Elephanta Caves island, which is already a tourist destination & it would perhaps be easier to safeguard the ecosystem around the already human settlement areas.

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To end, let us go back to CoP24 and re-read the words that were spoken –

Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said that “COP24 will be Paris 2.0.”  

However, the best summing up of the event was by Dr Joeri Rogelj, a lecturer in climate change at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, talking to Carbon Brief;

“Under the Paris Agreement, emissions and proposed emissions reductions will be regularly compared, added up, and assessed in light of their adequacy for limiting warming well below 2C and 1.5C. This requires common rules for emissions reporting. But instead of requiring countries to adhere to scientifically robust methods, the final Katowice text now allows countries to use ‘nationally appropriate methodologies’, which, in all likelihood, will only be used to do some creative reporting and portray emissions of specific countries in a better light than they are. This is particularly an issue in the land-use sector.”

With a year almost over and as we are moving closer to the next CoP the events that have taken place doesn’t inspire much. We can once more safely assume that Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation requirements have been pushed under the carpet.

Just as it has happened for the last 24 times and we can not have really much hope that the 25th CoP will be any different. Unless the people who would be making the policies are not those who are governing the Nation as political parties. The complete process has to be de-linked from the political agenda and directly controlled by a world level ombudsman. Maybe such a thought must find its place in the deliberations that would take place in Chile.

 

SDG#15: Life on Land (?)

With the grand event of UNFCCC CoP24 coming closer. It is that time of the year when Politicians would be high or rhetoric & poor on delivery.

As usual, evidence on the above inference would be from experience from events happening in India.

We begin with the City of New Delhi which at present is reeling under severe air pollution, both due to the annual crop burning as well as the bursting of fire-crackers. The severity of the situation is best shown by News18 images some of which I will be posting alongside.

This image shows the Rashtrapati Bhawan ie; the Presidential Palace. The wings of the building North Block & South Block houses the HQ of Defence, Finance, Prime Ministers Office etc. Which means we are looking at the Nerve Center of Indian Administrative Power.

But it was the Supreme Court, which came out as the custodian of Environment, by virtually banning fire-crackers & crop-residue burning. Yet the honourable SC has been made a laughing stock! Nothing was done by the great political leaders, of all the great & grand parties of India which swear on their Gods that they are the messiah of the citizens of India. When they can’t fix issues in New Delhi, it would be foolish to imagine that any administration really works in other state capitals. We need not even mention the villages and small towns. It would simply add insult to injury.

Why have our political leaders and administration not been able to tackle this annual issue? What is the reason for those who know the subject in depth not been given the platform by our over-the-top, TRP seeking media to spread the message, to educate and prevent this annual disastrous event from taking place, instead of talking about it as an annual ritual after it has happened? We would never know.

However, an attempt will be made through this article to explain in the easiest language possible about the dangers of pollution.  So that the common men can relate to it. What we see in the image here is hay being burnt in the fields of Punjab and a thick smoke envelope the entire area. Crop residue has always been burnt when New Delhi was called -Dilli, & perhaps if we can get the historical records at the time it was called Indraprastha. So what has changed which causes such a havoc? To understand it we have to look at many factors.

The growth of Urban areas, which never took into account geographic or historical data. Things like wind direction, rainfall pattern, forest cover, catchment areas nothing has ever been considered. What was forest land a few hundred years ago became land for cultivation, as trees were felled to satisfy the ever-growing populations as Dilli became the Capital of the Mughals and then the British. With Independence, came the need for Green Revolution, and the leaders brain-washed into considering everything western to be superior went into the use of pesticides and herbicides completely contrary to the Organic way of farming (which we are again adopting, form the West!). So today when we are burning the crop residue we are also releasing into the air the poison we put into our food!

So, when the Punjab Farmers Defy the Government Ban, ( click the link to know more) they must also be explained that they must not just look at it from the point of view they have, which is mentioned in the article but to safeguard their own lives too.

Then we schooled ourselves into the architecture which is completely western in form and function. Tall glass buildings, with utter disregard to wind-flow patterns, to such an extent that the wind flow within the city slowed down allowing dangerous fumes from unregulated use of automobiles, factory etc. What was once industrial district became part of new urban living areas, while the old well designed urban areas got haphazard building permissions for mixed use.

Today we have a problem, which can not be easily solved. There are economic and social considerations to be factored in. Add to that the political compulsions and vote bank politics and we all know that there will not be a decent solution coming anytime soon.

Suggested Solution:

But by next winter, should the governments both state and centre want, pollution from both crop residue and fire-crackers can be stopped. The governments must map out the farms and make a law where the rich farmers would have to buy composting machines as well as air-purifying machines. These would be made available on low interest in easy EMI to them. While to the subsistence farmers, community composting machines, as well as rental air-purifiers, can be supplied, via NGO’s or CSR. Crop residue burning can be staggered in places where the supply of the machines can’t reach in the initial learning time.

As for fire-crackers, a sustained political campaign, maybe even using the Ramlila actors, messages must be spread pan India that Deepawali meant lighting of clay lamps. The alien concept of fire-crackers which crept into it as tradition must be removed by the sustained evidence-based scientific approach. 

The Science and technology ministry should gear up with support form innovative startups to find better solutions. 

The next point we must now tackle is sensitivity to effects of pollution and how it leads to climate change. We will begin with a very simple fact, which many may not even think or know about. It is only then the affirmative actions we all seek would happen, as without a groundswell of support nothing ever gets done.

“High levels of pollution found in many of the world’s major cities are having negative effects on plants and insects, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.”[read more] Science Daily published the above report on 9th November 2018. “…plants exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) — similar to levels recorded in major urban centres — are able to better defend themselves against herbivorous insects…Results from the study show that insects feeding on these leaves grew poorly, which suggests high levels of air pollution may be having cascading negative effects on communities of herbivorous creatures.”

Anyone with basic school education has read about pollination knows that insects & herbivore animals play a super-major role in germination and growth of plants and fruits. With all the money at one’s disposal, the “Midas Touch” still stands true. We may all rave and rant about culture and traditions, political compulsions but we forget that the basis of life is to have clean air-water-food.

It was the 3 basic pillars which created the civilization and we live in the Holocene Epoch, of the Quaternary Period, in the Cenozoic Era. Yes, era and epoch & period aren’t words we need to remember in History books. We all are actually living in one!

The point is, will there be someone left, to read in their History book about our Era or we are the last of the Human Civilization? Before the Armageddon which has already hinted its arrivals with fire-storms [click to know more] and hurricane wipe us out?

 

 

SDG#13: Climate Action …..the woeful lack of it

On the eve of Earth Overshoot Day, I begin my  article on the UN SDG #13 Climate Action; with a paragraph from the venerated Magazine:

Biodiversity in crisis: How close to the brink is life on Earth?

Attention-grabbing headlines about extinctions obscure our dearth of knowledge about just how many species are being wiped out and how big the implications are?

By Graham Lawton

“SEE those little beetles with a black cross on a red background?” I lean in to take a look. “They’re Panagaeus cruxmajor – the crucifix ground beetle. They were collected by Charles Darwin back in the 1820s.”

Ed Turner is curator of insects at the University of Cambridge’s Zoology Museum, where many of Darwin’s beetle collections are held. He is proud to show me specimens collected by the man himself, and I am chuffed to see them. But the thrill doesn’t last. If we were to follow in Darwin’s footsteps and go out hunting crucifix ground beetles on the fens north of Cambridge, Turner says, we would have no chance. “They’re extinct. In this county, anyway.”

The last time anyone saw a crucifix ground beetle in Cambridgeshire was 1951. Changes in land use and overuse of pesticides haven’t been kind to this dweller of watery fenland.

You would have to be living under a rock not to have heard about the biodiversity crisis. Since about 1500, expanding human activity has condemned vast numbers of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles to an early grave. Now worries have spread to smaller creatures that actually do live under rocks, in leaf litter, in dung heaps and in puddles and ponds.

Turner is in no doubt. “Insects are in massive decline and have been for some time,” he says. “It’s quite a clear picture and a depressing one. By any measure that you choose, biodiversity of insects is declining.” I ask him what that means. “It means something is very, desperately wrong with our world.”

Readers may wonder how it is worrisome if insects are becoming extinct? After all, it is a great thing if these pests and ‘creepy’ creatures die-off. Well, one look at the food chain diagram would explain that ‘humans’ too would become extinct. Whether we like it or not, all life is linked to one another in a complex manner which is explained as the food chain/web. [To the uninitiated ‘nematodes, arthropods’ = worms,insects]. The insects are like the foundation of a building and even children understand what would happen should the foundation of a building is destroyed. To those who may have forgotten their kindergarten science; worms help in keeping the soil fertile for germination of plants, the primary source of energy. And the bees ensure pollination. So, it’s the worms and insects who hold the key to our wellbeing.

Courtesy: https://www.blm.gov/

Climate Action is a topic on which much can be written. But, today I would like to take my readers to a scenario which could make most understand why we must safeguard Earth’s ecosystem. The below mentioned 9.31-minute video could perhaps change the mindset of many, who do not understand that our planet is a complex living organism by itself. Every action has its reaction and the sooner we understand and come into harmony with it the better it would be.

The explanation given for the demise of Mars is theoretically possible and perhaps accurate. The stripping of the Atmosphere leading to the escape of all surface water and with it, life itself.

What if something similar should happen on Earth? Before we scoff that idea, we must remember that it was somewhere in the 1980’s we found that our Atmosphere was thinning out. It was called the Ozone Hole!

While the World came together and we think we have plugged it, there are other events which are taking place around the world which is fast accelerating us towards Aggremendon! This summer of 2018 has some of the record high temperatures as given below –

UAE: 51.4°C Africa + Algeria: 51.3°C Tunisia: 49.2°C LA: 48.9°C Baku: 42.7°C Japan: 41.1°C Kabul: 40.5°C Montreal: 36.6°C Swedish polar circle: 32.5°C Baltic Sea: 25°C.

IMAGE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY/ THE EARTH INSTITUTE CLIMATE SCIENCE, AWARENESS AND SOLUTIONS

War, unprecedented destruction of the Rainforest and a stoic refusal by some of the most powerful Nations in the world to turn away from fossil fuel has been making the Earth warmer than ever before.

Some would question, as to why seemingly rational people. National leaders of Nations which are the most prosperous and powerful have steadfastly refused and refuted the Science, to debunk the theory of Global Warming? Some did come up with evidence that the Earth was, in fact, cooling in the period between the mid-1990’s to 2000 AD!

There was indeed a “Pause” in the Global warming for 15 long years.

However, recent research has found that the Earth was actually warming all the while but the effects felt was exactly the opposite. This can be explained by the fact as mentioned in Live Science Article:

The Earth really does have a massive, hidden air-conditioning system that messes with the climate in paradoxical, unexpected ways and is, in turn, affected by climate change. And a new paper turns to that AC unit to, possibly, answer one of the abiding mysteries of climate change.

This has been furthermore accurately supported by EarthSky with detailed analysis. And also putting out a clear argument to the ‘Nay’ sayers, who rely mostly on Satellite observations, to refute Climate Change.

On the 1st of August, the Earth will Overshoot. which I explained in my previous article. We are still trying to extract more and more resources, from the planet without really thinking that short-term political gains would leave the successors to the throne with unprecedented problems.

We can still have a course correction, as devised and explained by many environmentalists, we need to roll back the Earth Overshoot day as planned. Just 4 days every year, as that is the least painful solution available. Any further delay it shall no more be an option.

Before I end, let us think of a Hollywood Sci-Fi Script.

Let’s imagine that in the year 2025,  Mars probes which are trying to probe in detail the underground water found in Mars happen to find not just life forms, but traces of ancient civilization of Humans. Could it be that we destroyed that planets magnetic field by detonating underground atomic bombs? Stripped the vegetation in search of coal? And created an Ozone Hole so big that it couldn’t be plugged?

Would the Meghalayan Era of the Holocene Epoch, which we know as the Computer Age be the last for the Human Civilization on a planet we Martians named Earth?

 

SDG#13: Climate Action

India was the global host of 2018 World Environment Day which took place on June 5, 2018. There could be no other event more important for India than the World Environment Day. That the Nation should align as one and consider the Sustainable Development Goal #13 – Climate Action as its manifesto in the strongest possible manner than ever before. The reasons become obvious with the following articles and videos. In fact, the first news report from WION below was Published on 16 Nov 2017, It is almost as if Nostradamus not NASA who is predicting them. For the below-mentioned news just proves them 100% true and then some more.

That it has only 1691 views and 7 likes till date tells a story no environmentalist would want to know….The attempt therefore, once more is to ramp up support for Climate Action, through this article.

Climate Prediction:

Reuters: India is the most vulnerable country to climate change, followed by Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh, a ranking by HSBC…… Of the four nations assessed by HSBC to be most vulnerable, India has said climate change could cut agricultural incomes, particularly unirrigated areas that would be hit hardest by rising temperatures and declines in rainfall. (read more)

Climate Re-Action:

 High-intensity dust storms uprooted trees and caused buildings to collapse across India’s northern states, resulting in multiple deaths across North Indian state of Rajasthan. .

Climate Prediction:

According to an HSBC report published in March 2018, India is amongst the most vulnerable nations to the effects of climate change. The highest risks related to climate change are concentrated among the low-income groups living in houses, which are especially vulnerable to wind and water hazards due to extreme weather events. Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai are especially prone to bear the brunt of climate change.

(courtesy:swarajyamag.com)

Climate Re-Action:

The above video is perhaps the best compilation of what India is facing. All at the same time. Extreme Heat Conditions in Kashmir, Floods in Karnataka and Drought in Madhya Pradesh.

But what is the actual story on the ground? According to the latest report filed by Nibu Pullamvilavil scribe with the Wire –

A preliminary assessment by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, IIT Gandhinagar and IIM Ahmedabad found in 2015 that India will have to invest Rs 24.3 lakh crore every year by 2030 to implement adaptation actions. The study noted that total government spending on capacity development in India has grown consistently over the last decade; Rs 6.2 lakh crore was spent in 2013 alone.

The National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), established by the Government of India in 2015, aims to support concrete adaptation activities. As of today, 26 projects have been approved at a total cost of Rs 648.9 crore, and of which Rs 315.3 crore has been released. This is woefully inadequate given the size of our country and the challenges it faces. 

Urban India has been largely ignored vis-à-vis adaptation efforts. Climate resilience and risks associated with climate change have failed to find mention in ‘smart city’ proposals approved by the Centre. (read more in the Wire)

To make a City ready for adaptation and mitigation, it is very important that the general public are made to understand the dangers of climate change. This is woefully inadequate.

Post three years after the Prime Minister of the Nation has signed the Paris Agreement. We still don’t have all the states adopting the SDG’s as their agenda. If one peeks into the Niti Ayog website:

If you click on the above and go into the menu from the states, click say Maharashtra, it says that it has gathered reports in detail for goals 3-4-5-15. While the rest are awaited.

Once on the page, you would notice, only one from the Environmental Action Plan, Goal 15 has been touched. Goal # 13 which is Climate Action, the state of Maharashtra is yet to compile its detailed information. Let alone take action! In fact, it states that the action program on SDG # 13 would be done by 2020. This is because of the promised funding by developed countries of $100 Billion. But what happens if that promised money doesn’t come. Do we have a plan B? This is the state post signing the agreement in 2015. And the program has an end date of 2030.

Not only Urban areas have been ignored, the City of Mumbai with its 2034 Development Plan shows no real thought has been put with the SDG’s in mind but the standard fare of ‘Business as Usual’.

We all know that the recent Talona Dialogues held in Bonn in May was not a great success to indicate that the Developed countries are anywhere ready to owe to their historic responsibility by giving grants to fix the problems related to Climate Change.

If India is serious about climate change it would have been mentioned in the NAINA in clear words about its adherence to the SDG’s. But it only offers a vague lip service to the same.

It would be unfair to say that the officials and the top political masters are not interested or want to implement a sound policy which aligns to the urgent needs in a highly dangerous Climate Change situation.

But it is the lack of action at the grass root level, which doesn’t allow the common man on the street to grasp the meaning and the importance of Climate Action. This is what should be the plan B.

India can generate enough resources of its own to develop and plan truly smart cities and implement not only Climate Action but all the other goals from within its own means. But for that sound policy should not remain in paper. They should be openly debated in public and solutions found for logjams which plague it.

The biggest hindrance to Climate Action is that it in itself has no immediately perceivable Return on Investment for the Investor. This is the major reason for the lip service which most of its industry are doing, one such example is the Building & Construction Sector. It is a shame to see buildings being built and claimed to be Green Building Rated when all that is happening is a scam called pre-certification. Under Pre-Certification all the Builder-Developer needs is to sign an undertaking that his design & construction would be in accordance to the documents submitted. Once they receive the Certificate they become eligible by the green tribunal authorities to construct. If an independent verification is done by say the UN designated independent bodies. Almost all the top-rated buildings will fail barring a handful.

For a country which is grappling with corruption in every layer of the society, Climate Action is the least priority for the vast majority. Unless there is a peoples movement as it happened in Tuticorin – an industrial unit became a focal point to fight pollution. things will not change.

But such movements are neither good for the society nor for the country as it only creates havoc. Havoc not only because it has already damaged the Environment but also because it leaves a permanent scar in the society which has to deal with death and destruction.

Therefore the country should consider as Plan B;  a mandatory high-school to college level subject & examination on the effects of Climate Change. Thus when the next generation managers and industrialists take charge there is already a strong connect and understanding of the complex subject. And at the same time, it would enable those very people the to create a conducive architecture for a monetary benefit which is tangible for all.

 

 

 

 

SDG#2 No Hunger?

Climate change is one of the major causes which will cause food insecurity. This is known to almost all the governing agencies in India & abroad.

But the common person can not understand this. For them it is policy failure and ineptitude of the governments who are supposed to provide with succor. Although that being partly true, if the present government still fails to address the problem of climate change and educate its citizens to address the challenges of hunger not only from the perspective of responsible consumption (SDG#12, will deal with separately) but also trying to balance it with the environmentally friendly activities to develop a variety of forests like, Agroforestry, Social forestry, Farm forestry, Community forestry, Extension forestry etc. The Goal of Zero Hunger is set to fail.

This article shall look at what hasn’t really changed in the behavioral pattern, especially in India to be able to achieve this stupendous goal by 2030. Before we begin exploring let us understand the correlation between hunger and climate change.

The United Nations Reports on Indian Nutrition & Food Security: With nearly 195 million undernourished people, India shares a quarter of the global hunger burden…….The government has large food security and anti-poverty programmes but there are critical gaps in terms of inclusion and exclusion errors. Women and girls are particularly disadvantaged. Despite the achievement of national food self-sufficiency, new challenges have emerged: Slowing agriculture growth, climate change, land degradation and shrinking biodiversity. Large tracts of farmlands in India have become barren due to imbalanced fertilizer use and excessive use of a single fertilizer, urea. ……..With a five-fold increase in food grain production from 50 million tonnes in 1950-51 to about 250 million tonnes in 2014-15, India has moved away from dependence on food aid to become a net food exporter. In 2016, the government launched a number of programmes to double farmers’ incomes by 2022……..They include the National Food Security Mission, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the Integrated Schemes on Oilseeds, Pulses, Palm oil and Maize (ISOPOM), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana,…..The government has also taken significant steps to combat under- and malnutrition over the past two decades, such as through the introduction of mid-day meals at schools, ……The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, aims to ensure food and nutrition security for the most vulnerable through its associated schemes and programmes, making access to food a legal right. [Read More]

My arguments begin by reading between the lines of the above report. The lines I have marked in red shows how fragile is the system presently. And it will take years of sustained efforts before we can turn the clock back. Barren lands do not become fertile in one season. It takes at least a decade before the natural balance is restored.

The erstwhile Planning Commission had created the ‘development agendas’. Mostly they were copies of the western thoughts. They did not have any ill intentions. But the result is for all to see. The “Green Revolution”, which yielded bumper crops. DDT is now considered a confirmed poison. Yet with years of schooling to use pesticides have now made the simple farmers reticent to let go these dangerous health hazards. When farmlands were declared as Non-Agricultural patches for the Urban Sprawl & Industries came upon forest lands, in the name of Development. We took one more step in the wrong direction.

As per government data, independent India lost forest area in the following manner:

4696 million hectares forest land to non-forestry purposes,

0.07 million hectares to illegal encroachment,

4.37 million hectares to cultivation,

0.518 million hectares to river valley projects,

0.141 million hectares to industries and townships, and

0.061 million hectares to transmission lines and roads.

If we read the analysis by Wakeman Neutron, published in Legal Bites: Farm Crisis and Unrest in India – Case Study Farmer’s Agitation, it says;

The major causes of the agrarian crisis are unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of water, technology fatigue, access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit, and opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing. ….The per unit area productivity of Indian agriculture is much lower than other major crop-producing countries. This is a major impediment in enhancing the farm income. Out of the gross sown area of 192 million ha, rainfed agriculture contributes to 60 percent of the gross cropped area and 45 percent of the total agricultural output….Adverse meteorological factors add to these problems. [Read in detail]

In spite of Prime Minister Modi declaring Agriculture as one of the prime focus agenda for development & despite bumper monsoon and a good harvest in the year 2016-17 the country has and is continually witnessing farmer’s agitation.

With a sea of agitating farmers swamping Mumbai and pressure mounting, the BJP-led Maharashtra government Monday accepted almost all demands of the farmers, including their right to till forest land and extension of farm loan waiver to those who had borrowed between 2001 and 2008. [The Indian Express] 

This unprecedented pressure made the policymakers take a very dangerous and wrong decision once again. And its fallout will be an unmitigated disaster in the years to come.

The previous Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) wrote in his will before his sad demise on May18th 2017 – “Do not erect a memorial when I die, but plant a tree if you loved and respected me,”

Mr. Anil Madhav Dave had reasons to be worried.

Between 1880 and 2013 India lost about 40% of its forest cover. Today, 24% of its area is under forests or 7 lakh sq km, according to government data. The area under forest and tree cover has grown by 5,081 sq km between 2013 and 2015. A rise in forest and tree cover may seem like a reason to celebrate but a careful look at the state of forests shows the government has many promises to keep before the woods are lovely, dark and deep. To revive forests will take more than a public campaign to plant trees.

With an ever-increasing population, people are compelled to cultivate on the same plot of land more frequently as there is very little forest area available. Forests are also being converted to permanent settlements.

The quest for Sustainable Development Goal #2 to be true within the timeframe of 2030 AD seems impossible in the face of such unprecedented challenges.

In our quest to eradicate hunger in the short term, we are destroying the very diversity which allows for food to grow. Food is both plant and animal life. Nature is so beautifully balanced that each is dependent on the other for survival. When we start to destroy the basic bio-diversity by cutting down the forest to grow a particular type of crop. The crop yield would go up for a short while but then we will face the same challenges as mentioned above. And by now even a 5th-grade student knows that without forest there is no rain.

Therefore, if we wish to actually strive for Zero Huger we need to educate the people and make them participate in mitigation and adaption to Climate Change.

 

 

SDG #1: The mindset of the Rich cause Poverty

The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way:

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.

Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways.  Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action — for the poor and the wealthy alike — a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

The Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation puts it more simply: –

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter.  However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money. [Courtesy: New Brunswick Canada]

Most of us have never been hungry for days, unbathed, unwashed, with tatters on our backs and the open sky as a roof to sleep. We have never been so hopeless to have carried the carcass of hope to its funeral and come to terms with the fact that hope is indeed dead!

So let us find and try to correct some of the fundamental flaws humans have created into their complex civilization. That has given rise to such deep divides of the Rich & Poor.

The richest people in the world have a staggering amount of wealth — comparable to the GDP of small countries for some.

But before we end poverty we need to understand that between the rich and the poor there are other income groups which fill the gap!

And that huge population are all looking towards the rich lifestyle and aspiring to reach there. Everything is geared towards consumption and more consumption, which puts an enormous amount of stress on the planets finite resources.

And as the unmitigated consumption continues, it is but a matter of time before this finite resource will get over. But by then it would be too late to reverse the clock, pushing more and more people towards poverty.

Now, once we understand that the poorest are not in such huge numbers, and change the fundamental way in which we think, we may just be able to reduce this gap. Else it is the people in between the richest and the poorest who would keep sliding backward. With the last in the line vanishing into oblivion!

To make us understand how deep is this problem. We must look at what is happening to our resources. Let us understand what is Earth Overshoot Day.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international think tank that coordinates research, develops methodological standards and provides decision-makers with a menu of tools to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits.

To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day for each year, Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days of that year that Earth’s biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity’s Ecological Footprint. The remainder of the year corresponds to global overshoot. Earth Overshoot Day is computed by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity’s Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for that year), and multiplying by 365. [Read More]

So, as evident from the illustrated video above, that we are slowly but surely contributing amongst a host of problems; extinction of species. And Homo Sapiens ( humans) are also just another species among many which habitat Earth. And like it or not the laws of Earth applies to us too!

So, as long as we keep consuming the way we are doing at present, the last man in the line of poverty is just…Disappearing!

So, what difference does it make to the human society should the poor die?

Well, they are the blue collared workers in the factories, the invisible conservancy worker who cleans our clogged city drains of filth. The poor constitute the bulk of Maids, Newspaper vendors, Sweepers, Watchmen and Drivers in a City. They are also the invisible masons and coolie who build our infrastructure. And they are the farmers without whom we would not be able to grow a single blade of grass to feed ourselves. And finally, they are the vote bank of the political parties in India.

So, when more and more people who constitute the lower middle-class start sliding back into poverty, due to resource depletion it would create huge social upheaval which no political or social scientist would be able to contain. The promises of development would fail. And chaos will prevail.

So, what needs to be done is to frame policies which will reduce this consumption pattern?

As per the Global Footprint Network – If we reduce driving by 50% around the world and opt for walking, biking or taking public transit instead, Earth Overshoot Day would move back 10 days. 

And many more such solutions lies in the hands of the cities. The global efforts for a Sustainable living will be won or lost on how Cities and its citizens behave. Below is a brief look at the % contribution of the global footprint from each Nation.

India thankfully has the least contribution to the disaster in the making. But let’s not celebrate yet. We are poised to make a quantum jump in becoming a “Developed Nation”.

The definition of a Developed Nation is one that appropriates the total world resources for its own consumption. Is wasteful and decadent in every manner possible, when looked through the prism of Sustainability.

Before I close, let us look at the infographic from WWF India & remember that in 2018 too August the 2nd would be the day the Humans would exhaust the Natural Resources which belongs to all life in this Planet.

So the question is, do we need to become Rich or we should aspire to become Wealthy?

 

 

SDG#16: Sustained Destruction or Development Goals?

After a long hiatus, I begin a series which will focus on the Utopian aspirations of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals & the ground reality as it stands as of now. Mostly, my comments would be more India centric with a generic view of the world as I can but only capture what others have written, being no expert myself on World Affairs.

I would begin my series with the lofty goal #16. PEACE & JUSTICE.

An Extra Half Degree of Global Warming Could Displace 5 Million People

Business | March 18, 2018, Sunday // 14:35

A half-degree increase in the planet’s average temperature may not seem significant, but new research suggests the increment could be the difference between 5 million people having a home or not, according to News Agency UPI.  Read more

Warming climate will displace millions in coming decades: World Bank

AFP|Mar 19, 2018, 08.02 PM IST

WASHINGTON: The number of people fleeing crop failures, droughts and rising sea levels will grow drastically over the next three decades if world governments do not intervene, according to a World Bank report released Monday. Read more

Well, the above news is almost dime a dozen nowadays. But are the players in the video below actually reading them?

 The question that arises is, therefore are we really looking at saving this planet? Or it is still a handful who really are trying hard to tell the world that Aggremendon is near but to some that have always been good business.

Destruction ( read armed conflict ) is the most sustainable development ever in the History of Humans. Let us look at the conflicts that are ongoing currently.

Therefore the question arises, how does one end conflict? And there would be several experts around the globe who would come up with stupendous theories on it.

But none have ever said – “Well, just stop supplying arms and ammunition in the conflict zone!”

It does not take a rocket scientist to tell us, that in absence of Ammunition, existing armaments would simply be useless. And while we humans are born bloodthirsty and greedy, and would not actually stop ourselves from killing each other, the mayhem by sword, spears, rocks and hot oil doesn’t really affect the health of the planet.

Therefore SDG-16 which stands for Peace and Justice. Must be seen from the perspective of the other members of Gaia  Not just the Homo Sapiens!

To most Peace, Justice, Compassion are words and/or feelings which one has for Humans & perhaps to domesticated animals. Rare would be a person who considers chopping down of trees as murder. Yes, we all know plants are living things, it has a life which we snuff out without much ado. Trim it branches ( consider cutting off the fingers) so that it looks pretty.

As for Earthworms and Bee, well they make a good subject for Hollywood movies but the UN Security Council will never discuss the mass destruction of all types of life in the conflict zones. It would be such a frivolous and silly thing to do! After all, they are wise men, on whose decisions lives depend.

The funniest thing about the United Nations is that it is not United at all. It may have been created as the ultimate Utopia but right at the beginning of its birth, a defect was inserted. A defect so subtle that not many have been able to see it. Although it is in plain sight.

The right to VETO!

Strange as it may seem. The Champions of Democracy. France, USA & UK who have had a democracy somehow aligned to the autocratic idea of USSR and China.

And while the UN itself would find it appalling if called anything but a democratic institution, that it allows just one Permanent Member from the total 193 Nations to wield the power over all 195 Nations is amazing in itself.

Unless and until this very fundamental flaw is corrected, there is no way Peace and Justice will prevail. And with the never-ending wars of the modern era, which has enough arms and ammunition to blow the Earth into bits, warnings given out by climate scientist and peace activists would fall on deaf ears!

So, when we talk form lofty podiums tomorrow about Peace and Justice, let us remember that Extinction is the only option if we don’t find a way for SDG#16 to win.

 

 

 

 

India is set to fail the Sustainable Development Goals

A recently published study by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – the European Commission’s science and knowledge service – analyses the interaction between humidity and heat. The novelty of this study is that it looks not only at temperature but also relative humidity to estimate the magnitude and impact of heat waves. Heatwaves amplified by high humidity can reach above 40°C and may occur as often as every two years, leading to serious risks for human health. If global temperatures rise with 4°C, a new superheat wave of 55°C can hit regularly many parts of the world, including Europe. 

The study analyses changes in yearly probability for a high humidity heat waves since 1979 under different global warming scenarios. If global temperatures increase up to 2 C above pre-industrial levels the combined effect of heat and humidity (known as apparent temperature or Heat Index) will likely exceed 40°C every year in many parts of Asia, Australia, Northern Africa, South and North America. Europe will be least affected by up to 30% chance of having such strong heat wave annually.

However, if temperatures rise to 4°C a severe scenario is on the horizon. Scientists predict that a new super-heatwave will appear with the apparent temperature peaking at above 55°C- a level critical for human survival. It will affect densely populated areas such as USA’s East coast, coastal China, large parts of India and South America. Under this global warming scenario, Europe is likely to suffer annual heat waves with an apparent temperature of above 40°C regularly while some regions of Eastern Europe may be hit by heatwaves of above 55°C. (Read more )

Lipponen, a researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, used publicly available data from NASA to demonstrate the rising temperatures across the world.

In light of the numerous reports of negative impacts of climate change, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa urged participants of the annual Munich Security Conference to consider climate change as a “security story” with far-reaching implications for global peace and stability.

In preparation for the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security released a series of reports on how SIDS could get adaptation support, including help to migrate, under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The above information is nothing new to the initiated and neither does it come as a surprise to the Political class of the World. Why else we would have been meeting up like clock work every year under the aegis of UNFCCC? And once more in less than 100 days, we meet at CoP23.

Yet when we look at the ground situation in India. The only narrative that we see is political. The noise is one of divisiveness, corruption & apathy of the governing class and neglect and ignorance of the people.

The only ray of hope lies with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who like many of his predecessors ( not all ) actually wants to lift India from the rut it has put itself in and considers that as status quo.

But how does one man alone change the narrative of a Nation?

While it is true that recent survey shows him as the most popular, with slightly diminishing returns. It is not because the NDA which he governs has done everything supremely. But more because many still believe in the person. Rather than the government. When people vote in State elections, Municipal elections they vote for PM Modi & not for the person who stands for the election. The wins of many MP, MLA, MLC is the direct aura of Narendra Modi, which kinds of blinds the vision of the voter, who otherwise would not even look at the ordinary achievements of these politicians who are no better than the ones defeated. And a couple of them even worse than them.

The PM began with taking up the broom & try clean up the filth in and around cities. But has failed to remove the filth of lethargy from the peoples. He is as the polls predict the best chance India has. Therefore it is all the more important that the Sustainable Development Goals don’t fail under his parties rhetoric of Good Governance.

We are a people who love the cacophony of posturing and politics instead of implementation of policy. We love to blame the politicians ( and rightly so to a very large extent) but don’t for a minute reflect that it is us who choose our representatives and they come from the very society which has forgotten its roots and have no pride in our traditions or culture. We are a Nation where a very high number have no civic sense, ethics or moral compass. While the remainder belongs to a class which has no influence to change the mindset.

Disconnected are the urban class and Disoriented the rural folks.

This allows the unscrupulous to bend every policy which would truly make India into a great Nation, to something they can use for their own narrow personal gains.

So much so that the narrative of a Shining India is slowly turning into a “Signing India”. Almost all the MoU’s which are being signed have headed nowhere. The states which copied the ideas of our PM to promote them have as of now not really made an impact. In a way, it should have.

Here is a test to prove it – If one still finds traffic violation, double parking, encroached footpaths and people throwing garbage all around, in-spite of CCTV installed all around. In the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata. Not to mention the toxic froth spewing lake in Bangalore. 

Then India as a whole has failed! She voted for change. Which can’t be brought about by bringing in the same set of people into governance through the back door whom the people had rejected.

The country voted for change in 2014. And every State & Municipal elections thereafter!

A few good people at the Center can not govern India. We need the same mindset of people at the grass-root level. Sadly the NDA government equals the UPA government at this level. The apathy and inefficiency along with the latent corruption are slowly reducing the impact of all the good initiatives which India needs to take to fulfil its Paris Agreement Obligations.

The apathy & mindset of the lower rung in governance will not allow for any Sustainable Development. And Climate Change is a clear & present danger leaving us with very limited time.

Let us analyze The Global Goals vis a vis India. And see where we stand so that a course correction can be done by those who have the wherewithal and influence to do so.

Goal 1: No Poverty; Goal 2: Zero Hunger; Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being

These are goals which can’t be achieved 100% anywhere in the world. It was not possible when God’s walked the planet and will not be when AI – Robots would.

Having said that, in the Indian context, it is not just the population but the methods used which push people towards poverty.

In ancient India, there was the Varna system. A class where based on IQ and financial capacity a person was either a Teacher, a Warrior, a Tradesman or a Peasant. This combined with lower population increased the well-being amongst most. And this idea must be explored in the modern context. Sans Politics. A difficult but not impossible task.

Inequality is created when a person of a certain skill set is made to work on areas in which the persons simply can’t excel because they lack either in Physiological, Psychological or Financial strength, which makes it extremely difficult for them to train and apply the methods required to succeed and reach the higher echelon.

We have landless farmers coming into the city and do menial jobs such as security guards or sweepers etc. A person who would excel in cultivating the best wheat which a bread manufacturer, who perhaps employs them as menial labour, would never be able to. This tends to keep the poor always at the bottom of the pyramid, with hopelessness staring at their future.

This is simply because we lack the idea of creating urban farmlands which would enable the farmer to live within a city and yet find a job which he is skilled for. That such urban agriculture would have umpteen benefits can be discussed later.

India is always found to provide knee-jerk solutions more out of political compulsions rather than a long thought policy. It provides sops via loan waiver etc but has still not thought that under the PM mission for “Skill India”, it should first identify the aptitude of the people and then train them to excel within that sphere. We are trying to skill most of the farmers into everything to do with Urban India.

Skills like – Housekeeping, Shuttering Carpenter Solar Installer, Apparel, Machining, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning, Welding, Electrician Construction, 2 Wheeler Repair, 4 Wheeler Repair, Appliances, Fitter, Security, Bar-Bending, Construction-Mason, Plumbing, Kitchen, Front Office Tourism & Hospitality, Beauty Wellness, Healthcare, Retail.

How many generations would it take for a family of a poor marginalized tribal coming from the remote areas of Naxal infested states to become a skilled welder or a retail salesman? When AI is fast catching up and snatching away the traditional jobs of the urban poor, towards whom the Skill India is more targeted? Can’t really be sure poverty can be eliminated by becoming a bar bending or construction Mason. As for Beauty wellness & Hospitality, we have to be real in acknowledging that not many “customers” have the sensitivity to speak with a village bumpkin who can hardly communicate in the “slick city/town language” and is not trendy enough. Which would only lead to depression and failure for these marginalized sections of the society!

Yes, some of the urban low-income groups may benefit from the Skill India program. But it would be more of statistical and optical success good for politics rather in terms of SDG achievements.

The disaster through neglect of rural India, especially Agriculture and its related programs such as watershed implementations can’t be corrected within a short term. It would need a change in approach and mindset of all stakeholders.  But in the short term if India needs to eliminate poverty it must look at Urban & peri-urban farming as a solution and laws made to make it a viable alternative. Food is a fundamental requirement and India has the chance with its young demographic dividend, most of whom live in the rural areas to be the exporter of food and reduce inequalities amongst Nations.

However, it is most unfortunate, that even after years of running from one business house to another, by those who understand the crisis of poverty & food,  almost none have been able to figure out the math of considering Urban Farming as a profitable venture. For it is the “Cost of Land” which is very steep making RoI not very attractive for those who can help. (For the idea of terminal market complex click this link)

The laws of Capitalism is most powerful!

Goal 4: Quality Education; Goal 5: Gender Equality; Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

While we talk about education, all we focus upon is literacy. In the pretext of freedom of expression, we dish out out-dated and regressive soap-operas on Television in every regional language across India. For want of TRP, paid media creates false news and debates take place which completely polarizes society.

Cities look like hovels, as no civic sense is instilled within the citizens by the governing council members and the public at large give scant regard to basic cleanliness, driving sense or even bother about illegal construction. In-fact they willingly buy into those very properties knowing fully well that the political dispensation a decade from the present would regularize all that is illegal. This is the fallout of literacy without education. The reason for this can also be squarely attributed to politicians who have understood it to be a tax-free venture open institutions only to loot and also to launder their ill-gotten gains.

While there are no great incentives to be a teacher, in which women at large can excel & is one of the noblest profession. Decent pay and training can work wonders for the future of India.

With the city infrastructure creaking, commuting to work is one of the most stressful events for the common man, whose output shrinks day by day leading to a loss in economic growth.

Political parties are quick in mobilizing workers for disruptive agendas which serve their narrow political gains. But if the same mobilization is done of party workers, block by block, ward by ward of the elected council members to clean up the city and look into the ways by which urban farming can be done. Employ on a weekly rotation basis the unemployed persons who can monitor the basic civic rules amongst the citizens. And spread the awareness into the peri-urban areas of the megalopolises, there is hope yet that the above SDG’s could be met to some extent.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation; Goal 13: Climate Action; Goal 14: Life Below Water; Goal 15: Life on Land

As long as water would remain the cheapest commodity and education the last priority the availability of clean water is not possible. Couple that with corrupt industrial houses who still consider profit as the only motive in their lives.

While it was reported that the National Green Tribunal had taken strong action and closed down many industries in the start of this year, they are up and running with only cosmetic changes applied to the sewage treatment. These companies have the money and the legal minds to fight it out in courts to circumvent the strict laws so much so that in the state of Maharashtra at Navi Mumbai area stray dogs have turned blue in colour. (Click on the NDTV Report for video.) 

It is not just life below water that is affected by these kinds of pollution but also life on land gets affected. As ground water turns poisonous and unless stringent penalties are taken India would see Minamata Disease.

A simple solution would be to use drones with image sensing radars which can spot pollutants on both land and river. It could also collect water and soil samples through a robotic arm and help authorities to find the right solution.

We are already having CCTV cameras in our towns and city roads. Hovering drones over industrial areas would definitely help in limiting damages towards the planet and it would perhaps be the best climate action taken by the government.

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

India is blessed by the Sun & the Sea. It’s long coastline and abundant sunshine makes a perfect case to apply Wind/Solar power stations to meet its energy needs of the present and can tap into the wave energy as and when required in the future.

However, this opportunity for abundance hides the fact that large tracts of land are required to install solar power stations. Land at no point of time is devoid of biodiversity nor are there any place on earth where there is no Life on Land. There may not be human or mammalian occupation but micro-organism or invertebrates are sure to exist.

But then we have a proverb – “crushed like an ant”, “trampled the grass”  to prove our infinite strength and that is exactly what we do when we set up the wind or solar parks. Now we are also thinking of apeing some other countries and the thought of floating solar panels has gained currency. But when one covers vast track of water body, what happens to the marine life just under the shade? What would happen to the pond/river/sea bed which would not have the option of sunlight touching it? Would we then not disturb Life on Water?

There is no lesser evil. One must stop this choice between development and destruction. India stands in a unique position which can give it leadership position is showcasing a balance hereto unseen. And I daresay that it would be Prime Minister Narender Modi, should the right ideas reach the PMO.

India by default knows about sustainable living, it has been a way of life which we have forgotten only in the last 30 odd years, in our race to ape the “developed” west. The disconnect of a Nation from its culture is one of the root cause of global warming. A study of the link given above would make many agree that we know how to connect with Nature. What we need is how to do so in the modern concept.

We must declare mandatory Rooftop Renewable Energy, for both green field and retrofit. Yes, city skyscrapers are not of the same height. As of now let them be fed by the green power from already established RE Power Plants. But the Development Plan henceforth shall take into account the Sun Path and build heights across towns and cities would be determined by it. This would enable every roof to carry Solar PV. Roads cutting across cities would be as per the wind pattern determined through computation of fluid dynamics, so that tunnel effect is exploited to the maximum by vertical axis wind turbines which also doubles as street lamp-posts.

We must contain the spread of Powerplants to new areas. We must aim for Net Zero buildings not by deriving smart calculations but by use of vernacular architecture. By instilling pride in Indian Architecture so that we consume less energy and water, to begin with. Only through responsible consumption & production of already fragile and scarce resources, we can hope to survive. To adapt to a changing climate which we are already too late to stop.

The devastating cycle of floods and droughts have begun and no political calculations can stop the downfall of the ruling party when millions die or there is a scarcity of food. The vast majority of voters are the peasant and the blue collared workers. Who can simply connect to one attribute of the adult franchise; if s/he has voted for a particular party it is because they want their livelihood to be cheaper/better. The recent price rise of vegetables has already been squarely put as a failure of Modi Government by them. They will simply throw out the present incumbent irrespective of having the knowledge that the alternative would also not be better. It is their only way to vent frustration and they will use it.

But those who understand governance know that at present continuity is the best hope. We don’t need populist measures but hard risk-taking decisions which the Prime Minister has the gumption to take. Only such actions would help stave off the extreme danger which is already manifest.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Goal 9/11 is perhaps the most important in the Indian context as they are drivers for growth. They are the change agents which can catapult the country from a developing to a developed nation.

And therein lies the extreme danger and challenge!

The danger is building cities which would destroy forest and biodiversity, uproot indigenous population and further marginalize the poor. This would surely happen if we use the calculation of Capitalism. Where the only motive is to profit and to a large extent profiteer.

And therefore the challenge, the effort it would take to make truly Sustainable Smart Cities using the best of industry and innovation. Of using products which by themselves have a small carbon footprint and by design would help reduce consumption. They would not come cheap and would, therefore, fail in showing returns on investment in the traditional way of calculation. Where the principal factor is greed, not sustenance.

Mansoor Khan in his book The Third Curve. has rightly looked at the factors; excerpts are given below –

Financial markets are under threat. Growth rates are dropping. 
The age-old remedies prescribed to boost economic growth are proving ineffective, if not outright dangerous. 
Eight years after the 2008 global financial crash, nothing seems to work as per projections. 
But what if the rules of the game have inverted? 
What if economic growth is eluding us for a reason that we have discounted all this while? 
What if there are indeed limits to growth? 
Yes, the Modern Industrial World stands at a crucial and unavoidable turning point. The sacrosanct paradigm of modern economics, namely perpetual growth, is in the process of ending. Our economic growth model makes 2 simple yet amazingly unreasonable assumptions: 
1. That money is the currency that runs the world. In fact it is energy. 
2. That we have limitless energy & other resources on a finite planet.

Each of us must read what he says or hear him speak, to understand what each of us must do to push the government in the right direction.

We, therefore, can not design the mundane cities and call them Smart. We can not afford to use glib mathematical calculations and call buildings “Net Zero” and hang a plaque from some crediting agency whose underlying raison d’être is to promote Business As Usual.

Here is a simple example to prove the charge. India recorded the maximum temperature of 51°Celsius in May this year in Rajasthan. It has already been scientifically established that temperatures are set to rise in India due to climate change, the excerpts of which are at the start of this article. We also know that the mean average temperature of the Indian subcontinent has risen by 0.6°Celsius . This was declared by no other than Union Minister Dr. Harshvardhan on the 5th of August’17.

We also know as per NEERI report, that glass facade increase surrounding temperature by 17-19°Celsius. Yet we have “experts” who with the use of clever and sophisticated software prove that the building is a Net Zero energy emission building. This is not only happening in India but all over the World.

The Global Goals indeed require Innovations. But we are innovating lies! The problem with that is while the pretenders would make some money and the architects of the Paris Agreement would pat themselves on their backs.

Earth would neither spare the smooth talkers nor the soothsayers. It would simply extinguish everything. 

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

August -15th: Climate change will have a negative effect on key crops such as wheat, rice, and maize, according to a major scientific report out Tuesday that reviewed 70 prior studies on global warming and agriculture. (phys.org)

August -18th: Extreme weather events are costing India $9-10 billion annually and climate change is projected to impact agricultural productivity with increasing severity from 2020 to the end of the century. In a recent submission to a parliamentary committee, the agriculture ministry said productivity decrease of major crops would be marginal in the next few years but could rise to as much as 10-40% by 2100 unless farming adapts to climate change-induced changes in weather. (Economic Times)

August -19th: Sending worrying signals to the farm sector, deficient rains in central and peninsular India have taken toll on the ongoing Kharif (summer crop) sowing operation, bringing down the total acreage as on Friday, as compared to the sown area during the corresponding period last year. Oilseeds and pulses are the worst hit. It will increase the country’s import bills if the sowing does not pick up in next two-three weeks. India, in any case, has to depend on imports to meet its domestic demand for these crops. (Times of India)

The Ph ys.org report on Climate change as reported on August 15th’17 juxtaposed with the two local news on India proves that nothing is a “Chinese Hoax” as claimed by a brilliant(?) analyst of world affairs.

In fact, both the Chinese and Indian governments must tone down their political rhetoric and get into actual cooperation to save their peoples from the Danse Macabre of Planet Earth. Unless peace prevails, there would be an atmosphere of mistrust and with the ever severe climate change impacts of drought/flood cycle neighbours would not come to rescue of each other when most needed. Hegemony will not help. We still have but one planet and finite resources. Greed has brought about Climate Change, further lust for an appropriation of wealth would lead to Armageddon. And there is no prize for knowing that Goddess Earth will win.

There has to be Partnership of Nations to ensure that the Global Goals are actually met. It is the need of the hour but real-politics is taking precedence of utopian ideals. While this article is India centric, it does not limit the issues to this Nation alone. For what happens to the Indian continent is true for the whole of Asia and in fact the world. We are failing due in our duty towards the planet. And no amount of platitude and self-praise would help us.

It is time to get real and do Justice to Earth.

 

Who is VVIP – the Planet or a President? Why Trump Must Go!

As an Indian citizen, who would never immigrate to any other Country come what may, it makes no difference who becomes the next President or Prime Minister of another country.

Global governance expert decries ‘snub’ of Patricia Espinosa as Trump administration considers whether to pull out of Paris climate deal. Patricia Espinosa has been unable to obtain a meeting with the US state department. Photograph: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP/Getty Images

But, when an Executive decision made by a man could endanger the lives of my family & friends due to that man’s personal belief that Climate Change is a Chinese Hoax! Then it becomes a cause for worry!

If the article in the Guardian – UN climate chief unable to secure meeting with US state department is true then the World is in grave danger and while there is nothing a foreign Nation can do to intervene in their Constitution I guess the member countries of UNFCCC should show some spine and do what Uncle SAM has been doing since long!

IMPOSE TRADE SANCTIONS!

I’m sure the Capitalists around the world would snort at this, and some may even think of the choicest abuse! For, the USA is the single largest market in the world which makes economies move….

They should pause for a while and ask not as some Banker or Financial Analyst, but as a simple Human …..

Is it the Planet they live in gives them their next meal Or It is the economic and foreign policy of Nations?

It took more than 20 years, to just arrive at some concessions that the Planet is first! And in less than 20 months we are going to see all that has been achieved unravel? Because, some man who has been given some imaginary powers by some group of citizens written is a piece of paper, which is called the Constitution?

That paper, ink and even the hands that wrote and signed on it are but the product of this Planet.

Just how far are we to sink before sanity returns? Are we willing to let the Small Island Nations drown under the sea while shedding crocodile tears at the UNGA podium?

Let War ravage Nations, as it did in Syria?  Climate Change Helped Spark Syrian War, Study Says – National Geographic

Would at least the British, the closest ally of the USA come forward and put some sense, will their King to be, who believes it to be so?  Is the Syrian conflict linked to climate change? -CNN interview, set sail to America and knock some sense into the erstwhile subject?

To those who fear that all will be lost, if we do not side with this President of the USA! I would within my humble limits point to a few things he has already said and done. He wants America First. That means what is indigenous to America, should be made and consumed in America first. This makes an excellent case for all other Nations around the World to follow suit. And if one looks closely it would actually HELP in saving the Planet.

Say for example Mangoes. This fruit is not indigenous to the USA. Therefore it should not be sold there at all. Likewise, all fruits and vegetables & allied goods and services should not reach the shores of the USA, as the first option. And before economists and government officials throw a fit, here is the argument.

For too long, Politicians and Economists have stood somberly at various forums including Davos and spoken about how to uplift the poor and the downtrodden. Here is the golden chance to be triumphantly victorious at that.When we start to sell our home grown produce first to our own citizens, the cost will go down. There will be less waste due to transportation and it would also reduce the GHG emissions. It would spur growth and prosperity and also create jobs. Is this not what all the pundit profess? Prosperity for all.

But then the argument would be looking at the SENSEX. But why should I? Why should something cost me a 100 when it can be produced at 10 and sold at 30? Do we really need to follow the laws of Economics as it has been taught to us? That we are following a failed model can be best explained by the expert in the video below. And I would request all readers to listen to it.

The Third Curve by Mansoor Khan.

Economics as we know it has helped destroy this planet. And as has been so eloquently explained in the talk that nature follows a bell curve, let’s there for rest assure us that the idiocy which we see unfolding in the USA foreign policy with regards to climate change will end when the correct measures are taken by the World at large.

 

 

8th November 2016 & The Paris Agreement

India which signed the CoP 21 Paris Agreement in 2015 December ratified it with much fanfare on 2nd October 2016. The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who can, without a doubt, be called not only the father of the Nation. But also perhaps the visionary who saw that Sustainable Development is the only way towards the progress of the human civilisation.

As the Earth Patriot, I wanted to pause and see the difference, the long awaited Paris Agreement make. For with the Paris agreement in place,  I presumed that there were no more doubts left and the routine Earth Day, Earth Hour & so many other events, that have been created over the years, would not just be empty gestures, as they were turning out to be,  but real change on the ground would be felt.

I was not looking at the big changes that would shape the future but the smaller ones which make the building blocks upon which a future stands.

As always, I can not talk about other Cities and Nations, but briefly, touch on certain events that may happen there which would impact my Country too.

Filmed on December 5th, 2016..the below Video captures many thoughts which are best spoken by someone who is regarded as an authority in the field rather than some passionate novice, which I consider myself to be on many a subject I feel strongly about.

Just as Poor Nations, Small Island States & Developing Nations point towards the USA and the rich EU Nations in particular for the calamity that has manifested, similarly its the large Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata & fast catching up with them are Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar & others who pollute and pillage the National wealth more than what should be their fair share.

If one were to take a sample survey of the lifestyle of the well-to-do in these cities, they match with those living in New York or London.  It is but the citizens of these mega-cities who should have been in the forefront of change..for they are the direct contributors to climate change in this Anthropocene Era. And they must be held accountable and make the changes required towards fulfilling the goals envisaged in the INDC’s submitted as per the Paris Agreement by India at the UN.

Industrialists & Entrepreneurs of all sectors, with deep pockets, somehow can not believe that they need to pay back to the Planet from which it extracts and is trying their level best to circumvent the situation. Either through bribery or through lip service. And the biggest tragedy for the planet is that they have and even now would succeed.

And one of the major cause would be an event that happened on the 8th of November 2016.

November 8th, 2016 was not just any ordinary date. Two events unfolded. One in India and the other in the USA. But both the events impact India.

In the history of human civilisation, 8th Nov’16 would go down as the day when the USA elected someone who could destroy planet Earth, not by utilising any Nuclear Bomb but by utilising his intellect or rather choosing not to on a particular subject which affects the whole World!

While it is known that the Brain has the superpowers yet to be discovered by modern science, we might be at the threshold of experiencing the horrors of someone extremely powerful, refusing to apply them when it comes to Climate Change.

The most dangerous aspect of this event is a thought no one is seeming to ask is, would the United Nations (here representing the World leaders) sit back and allow a person’s personal belief on Climate Change bring the World to the brink of disaster?

Will the death of Island Nations and the drowning of its people consider as a genocide? Should the USA buoyed by Climate Change denial, increase it’s GHG emission manifold & other countries follow suit? Or a Natural Disaster?

When we have a superpower Nation and its supreme leader as a Naysayer to Climate Change, the damage it does to 22 years of hard work by the UNFCCC is enormous.

Let us then link it to the events that unfolded on that day in India and see how dangerous it can become for my country should the balance of powers between climate change believers and deniers change.

The anti-corruption drive of Shri Narendra Modi, by demonetizing the ₹500 & ₹1000 Notes have no parallel in the history of the World. A brilliant master stroke is what many including me believe it to be. For, whether or not the corrupt would be punished for failing to pay taxes, the humongous amount of cash having come back into the system would make many a Government INDC programs into a reality.

But if we have Mr Donald Trump convince the World that it does not agree to the Paris Agreement but it could be the death knell of Swacch Bharat Yojana!

Swacch means Clean. It not just means clean municipal drains. It also denotes Clean Air, Water & Food. It could also denote a transparent and clean way of conducting sustainable business to attain the goals envisaged in the Agenda 30. The UN Sustainable Development Goals, which is the bed-rock of the INDC’s the years of effort given to achieve the Paris Agreement stands threatened.

But when you have a Naysayer in Mr Donald Trump, whose background is also that of a builder. Yes, we have Trump Towers in India too. And certain high-end residential projects are being built in Joint venture with his company, Green Building and Sustainable Development goes for a toss!

Indians, especially city-bred have the propensity to drool over anything that is Western. Harrods and Hollywood have more credibility than Hindi Cinema & Himalayas.

So, it would not be surprising to see the much maligned [ and rightly so in most cases if not all ] builders working towards “Smart Cities” & AMRUT Towns & Adarshgrams which completely divorces the idea of sustainable development practice, barring the lip service it has been giving. And this lip service has nothing to do with the conscience to make a social commitment but to garner any and all government incentives. The Water stressed peri-urban and rural landscape could suffer more and this would have an enormous strain on the social order, which is shimmering at the best of times.The cities of India are as parochial as is the society. A sprawling ugly forever expanding juggernaut which keeps pushing the marginalised to oblivion while at the same time its unplanned and ugly buildings consume energy in every form from this resource deficit planet.

But when the attention is diverted by someone sitting across the Ocean with Presidential Decrees which have ramifications in the immediate socio-economic fabric of my country. Better building design and other INDC programs would take a back seat while the Nations looks for solutions as of how to safeguard its position as the biggest software solution provider & other goods and services which churn the economy.

As certain set drivers of Indian economy are set to change, it would be impossible for the Government to focus on the good work of the INDC’s but take a step backwards by the pressures that would be created by the unscrupulous to allow them to continue with Business As Usual.

But before I end this page, it would be important to state that even though the policies of the President of United States may be bringing to end the Status Quo, the World has been in for so long. There is a glimmer of hope within his inward-looking policies, should he but agree to the Climate Change Agreement and endorses it.

And those advantages I would present in the next article.

 

Greenwashing in Construction Industry

With India Poised to create “Smart Cities”, a lot of movement is seen at the grassroots level which must be understood and reformed. These are most prevalent in the Peri-Urban and “New Urban” Space where the focus should be the most.

The construction industry is plagued with greenwashing, this is evident all over the world. Let us understand this with a few examples.

Say, a person goes to visit residential or commercial premise which claims that it has designed the building as per green standards.The marketing person over there usually shows them a brochure which has some of the salient features based on the Green Building Certification program they have claimed to have adhered to. An average person, however,does not understand what are the defining features which would make a building ” Green”. Thus takes it all at face value.

Typical green building brochure has the data which talks about energy efficient water fixtures, energy efficient electrical systems and smart waste disposal systems. While the systems which are shown are actually a part and parcel of a green building, they are not necessarily an indicator of the building being actually “green” in the true sense of the term.

To understand greenwash one must have the basic understanding of the term ” Green”. It has nothing to do with the colour spectrum in general. It is a simplistic term that has been coined to indicate that project has adhered to the norms required under Environment – Health and Safety guidelines. Each Nation has their own guidelines for EHS.

If one follows F.E.W ( Food – Security; Energy – Efficiency; Water – Sufficiency; Waste – Management) best practices, the Environment ensures that the Nation is safe from many Health hazards, which plague modern society due to Climate change.

India for one has some of the most stringent norms for environment protection, energy efficiency and water & waste management. And it is not a cake walk for those who are not disciplined enough to follow them correct.

Real estate in India not exactly recognised as yet industrial sector on its own. This allows for many players, who do not have either the skill-set nor the discipline that is required in the construction and building industry. Transparency in real estate is yet to be above suspicion in India.

Now, this brings into play a situation; wherein the pretenders try to copy whatever is trending in the market. For most of these “hobby” Builders, who have come into the market to make a quick buck “greenwashing” is the best way forward to add a premium to their projects.

So they hire Green Building Consultants to provide them with the basic design compliances while on the construction compliances they cut corner. It begins with the material management. More often than not they procure products which do not really conform to the standards that need to have adhered. They would usually go about in a very sly manner. If you would scrutinise the product, the product itself would be green compliant. However and Designs simulations the specifications that the consultant would have given will not be followed. Further, these developers know that it is extremely hard to have some of the points to be proven false.

For example under the Sustainable site compliance, it is necessary to save the topsoil if it is fertile; have a sediment as well as an air-pollution management plan. And a reforestation and forest protection plan. Rare would be a case where trees would be saved, if at all. It is also not uncommon to do under-reporting so that a bare minimum are replanted. Because, as per Green Norms, every tree that needs to be cut, three trees must be planted.

Sometimes due to project design constraint it is not possible to replant all the trees as per rule on site. But there are options available where one can plant a tree somewhere else to compensate for the ones that were murdered ( I use this word because trees, as we all know, are living beings. They just don’t have a vocal cord and limb ) to make way for “human”(?) development.

As none of the Certification programs ask for mandatory third party Monitoring – Verification – Reporting but, in self-assessment and checks by the party which has applied for certification. It is not abnormal to find projects that don’t plant trees on site but also not bother to spend for NGO’s who do so. Further, they plant some Shrubs and pass it off as Tree. Mostly this happens because not many know the difference between a shrub & tree. But another point that most don’t see is that it is difficult to grow Trees on a concrete podium ! Tree have roots which go deep down on earth, unlike shrubs.

It also points to a very curious fact, that the podium and beneath it are a few thousand tonnes of concrete, spread from end to end of the plot. Leaving not even an inch of soil anywhere. So how then are they certified green ? They are complete anti-thesis to the act of sustainable site, a very mandatory point. For no amount of artificial water-harvesting process can ape the actual water retention and percolation process of mother nature. And while on the rain water or ground water harvesting; very few if at all, hire someone who is a professional Hydrologist. Therefore the attempt on any watershed program is more often than not, flawed right from the beginning of the project.

Further, the rating systems; in order to gain popularity & market reach came up with the idea of “Pre-Certifying” a project. Under this, the developer through his chosen Green Building Consultant would promise to comply with all the best practices. Based on design intent and simulation report thereof. Any building can achieve a good rating under the pre-certification program.

And the feather in the cap comes from some of the “Green consultants”, they are a group usually found in every Certification program Chapter member. These super intelligent beings can actually get a project get “Platinum” or “5-Star” certified, even if they have been hired post ground-breaking of the project and even to the extent when the project has reached podium level of construction. For, they have mastered the art of “product based” compliance certification giving design basis a near miss.
They are something like some of our famous “Vaastu” consultants who have a solution for everything.

Thus these people follow the classic Pre-Certification route. Get an “intent” letter in place and lo & behold, the developer now has a Green building, which perhaps is greener than the genuine developer who having understood the constraints and costs may in all his honestly achieve a “Silver” Certificate.

Now having established the methods of green-wash we need to answer the moot point? Is green wash as big a villain as it is being painted to be? The answer is both a Yes and a No.

Yes – because in the short term we are getting the sub-standard buildings which are getting passed off as Better Building Design / Energy Efficient Buildings. As the natural lifespan of buildings is over 50+ years, so with time we will have a huge inventory of non-performing buildings in a resource deficit world. Stringent laws which have to come into force sooner than later as we having passed 407 PPM this June and 2016 having been officially recognised by WMO as the hottest the planet has ever recorded; the pressure is building on all signatory nations of CoP-21 Paris Agreement to implement their NDC’s faster.

India already has their Nationally Determined Contributions for Abatement of Climate Change in place. Four more National Action Plans are being added to the earlier Eight National Action Plan on Climate Change, declared by the then PM in 2010.

Currently, eight ‘missions’ are operational, each of which is a sectoral response to the impacts of climate change. Three of them — on solar energy, afforestation and energy efficiency — seek to slow down the growth of India’s emissions. Another three — on agriculture, water and Himalayan ecosystems — are about initiating measures to adapt to the effects of climate change. The remaining two — on sustainable habitat and strategic knowledge — are service missions and seek to create more knowledge on useful climate responses.

National Action Plan on Solar, Energy Efficiency and Afforestation “Green India” are a sectoral response to the impacts of Climate change. To this Wind & Waste -to- Energy will be added.

The other National Action Plan where on Water, Agriculture & Himalayan Eco-system, to this the new Costal Regulation Zone and National Health Mission is being added. These will essentially be measures for adapting to effects of Climate change.

From a layman perspective, it is hard to recognise the tremendous changes it will bring to the Building and Construction Industry. But if one reads the intent behind each it is not really hard to see what is coming like a juggernaut towards the Real Estate sector.

Those who are smart enough will adapt and adopt. And in this game, the pretenders of today who are greenwashing, having made a false “good” reputation of being responsible developers of Climate Resilient Building would design their next projects with truthful intent.

For, it is not the certification which is big,it is the actual performance of the building. Thus a falsely claimed 5-Star/Platinum rated building would perform poorly than a genuine Silver/3-Star rated building. The buyers would be able to discern this sooner than later and thus it is the market force which will wash away the “green washing” of buildings.

 

Climate Change Agreement & India’s role towards Planetary Health.

Now that the applause have died down on the historic event of the World finally agreeing on Climate Change in Paris CoP21. And would be ratifiying it on 22 April 2016.

I would be writing down my thoughts on how we perhaps be able to make true the Indian INDC and perhaps even better it.

I do believe that if there is any Government post the one lead by Hon.Smt. Indira Gandhi; it is the sarkar of Narandera Modi which has the guts and gumption to take on the World in its own terms and prove a point or two.

However, there are far two many ills, which needs to be solved before we can actually see the fruits of “Good Governance“.  By good governance alone India can hope to make its INDC a success.

Lets therefore begin with the below text and graphic from the Lancet:

By almost any measure, human health is better now than at any time in history. Life expectancy has soared from 47 years in 1950–1955, to 69 years in 2005–2010, and death rates in children younger than 5 years of age have decreased substantially, from 214 per thousand live births in 1950–1955, to 59 in 2005–2010. But these gains in human health have come at a high price: the degradation of nature’s ecological systems on a scale never seen in human history. A growing body of evidence shows that the health of humanity is intrinsically linked to the health of the environment, but by its actions humanity now threatens to destabilise the Earth’s key life-support systems.

As a Commission, we conclude that the continuing degradation of natural systems threatens to reverse the health gains seen over the last century. In short, we have mortgaged the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present.

In this article, we would try and see how the Solutions spelled out in the above can be incorporated into the thinking of India. One must hopefully agree that the INDC, which India has submitted although highlights India’s aspirations is more of a political document than a scientific one and that stands true for most of the Nations which think they will not drown into oblivion in the immediate future.

We all know that the Paris CoP21 is a compromise, with hopes that as the unprecedented calamities which keeps battering the World becomes more intense, better sense would prevail.

Although not a doomsayer or critique of the intent of many in the Super Developed Nations. A faint doubt does persist about the Rich Nations political intent in this regard …realpolitik as we all know would not consider devastations in Uganda in the same scale of that in the USA !

And if a poor country which is strategically placed gets battered, which in all probability will. It is better for the economy of the donor Nations. They can always sell their “technology”. Thus they are not really serious in tackling the Anthropocene Era with a deft hand.

With the report of the recent H-Bomb explosion coupled with the construction of artificial island within the nine dash lines are any indicators of whether Sustainable practices shall win, in the face of Geo-Politics. The prospect is grim.

We just don’t seem to learn and care for our planets health at all. And nothing can underscore it better than the oft repeated manner in which disasters are reported.

I still have not been able to figure out why News anchors give a smile when they say “…a big disaster but thankfully no loss of human life, reported…”! As if its only the Humans whose life matters.

And if looked closely, the death of someone who is rich and/or powerful would be covered for weeks and temples/memorials built which have “flame of honour” burning in perpetuity! No problem with sentiments but if one looks closely, the flames which burn are using fossil fuel ! How sustainable is that?

With this mindset which prevails, let us look at what problems and solutions India needs to provide as per the Lancet points mentioned above.

1. Learn about Planetary Health.

For India, this one point would have been most easily achieved had we not clamoured for an European education system. But developed our own.

One must concede that it was easier said than done, post Independence when there were many issues to grapple with. Also we must not forget that the founding fathers of modern India post independence were mostly educated by the European system of learning.

But now under a new government, and a proud Indian population which not only has the international thinking but can and will not be averse to gaining knowledge of our own text written and practised in the high centres of learning in ancient Takshishila and Nalanda Universities.

The first lesson we must learn is lessons of sustainable living. The Vedas are the most definite source of learning about sustainable living,it needs to be decoded and made modern. This is one task the HRD ministry must take, without giving it a political colour which would be an easy spin-off should it be given a religious colour. That is the last thing sustainability needs.

No one can deny that the religion of the ancients all over the world began with worship of Nature. Thus the Vedas which talk about nature can not have any colour of religion but the singular and most important religion of all, Life.

The ancients all over the world knew much better the balance of life than we presently do. The knowledge of Vanaspati  which is found in the Vedas would be an interesting read for many modern botanist. Which would prove that knowledge is universal and must be given the chance to thrive.

What is the need to learn the Vedas,one would like to argue ? The first fundamental of Vedas is to respect life and also humility. It also teaches Yoga, which teaches oneself to control the senses or Self-control. Once we have self control our wants would automatically stop at the gate of needs.

That would be the start point of nursing the Planet (by nursing back the Nation) back to its health.

           2.Reduce Food Waste.

There is a very simple method to achieve this. Let there be a voluntary fasting day adopted  (in City based school where the Middle/Rich Class of the population send their Child)   for 1 day in a week every 52 weeks! While schools don’t open all year round the practice of fasting one day must be continued through out the year. Especially to build the child’s knowledge, that hunger is universal. And while holidaying in exotic locales a day without food would keep them grounded to the facts of life. And it is universal knowledge that parents too learn from their children, thus the cycle of empathy shall be complete.

Many of us have not experienced hunger when we were young. We also pamper our children by placing all types of food, within easy reach and almost ready to eat. How then can we as a generation not waste food, when we don’t even know the effort that goes into creating food in the first place? While no one is asking that we turn our children into farmers, but a little knowledge of kitchen gardening would surely help. And such activities can easily be programmed through school curriculum. Not as a one-off visit which many school organise but as a lesson conducted every year.

Innovation and lectures are fine, but when we set in a culture of decadence we are bound to face the problems associated with it.

Many a modern city child / young adult have not seen the trees which bear their most favourite fruit. Nor can they associate with the concept of the humongous requirement of water a paddy or wheat field require; while gobbling down their favourite bread or noodles! Children care, and surely if they were to tour the present day drought affected regions of Maharashtra and other parts of India, they will become stronger individuals.

Neither do they care or made painfully aware when they toss a plate-full of food and quarter full water glass into the dustbin the head count of the dead Indian farmers!

It would be a nice start to have the photographs of our parched fields and equally parched farmers be hung in popular fast food joints and school/college canteens.

Respect and empathy are the first step in reduction of food waste.

           3.Healthy Diets with a low environmental impact

This would perhaps pull down the present government of the day and the next ! What better nexus can their be for corporates who have invested billions in moneys, to have continue with the fast food culture? At one end it brings in easy money at the other end it creates life style diseases which also rake in more money! And if the multinational has interest both in food as well as medicine, the profit margin of the parent company would never go under!

But just as in our Nation, statesmen are born in other countries too. And they have already begun a movement.

Not many have heard of  Slow Food Foundation But that is one way of moving forward for India.In fact it would be perhaps the most easy and right thing to do.

The present P.M Narendra Modi’s Government, which is so beautifully tuned to information technology should and must take it forward. This must become one of the prime targets for the Government. And a political movement built around it would have as much potential to win votes as it would be to save the planet. Thus win accolades from both sides.

 

          4.Better Governance

Kautilya wrote The Arthashastra, the science of wealth and welfare, during the latter half of the 4th century B.C.E.. The Arthashastra contains 150 chapters, which are classified by topic in 15 books. It consists of three reasonably well developed parts: (i) national security issues including a foreign policy, (ii) administration of justice including crime and punishment issues, and (iii) policies related to economic development, taxation, labor management and financial management. ( read more).

According to the Arthashastra, Good Governance comes with peace and order which can be achieved through the collaboration of different factors in a community. While one could profess that equal weight-age should be given to all factors, one would be better placed in today’s context if Bio-diversity gets precedence over others.

Should the government policies be shaped with  the effort of retaining the bio-diversity of a given area, while allowing for industrial estates or gated townships or something in-between. The inherent conflict that would arise from trying to balance both would give rise to INNOVATION !

Yes Innovation, India would give rise to many in the process of challenging the peculiarity each acre of land has in terms of its topography, flora and fauna. When engineering meets with a economic paradigm which is less inclined to instant profiteering but a balanced approach towards long term prosperity heading towards wealth generation instead of riches for a few. It would be the beginning of better governance.

We all know that every village in India requires electricity, without which modern day development is not possible.To achieve this the normal course would be to either adopt the classical methods or balance it with some renewable energy process. Which ever way one looks at it some land would be required and certain amount of construction in a localized area has to happen. And more often than not, it would be found that some villages are still “out of bounds” due to its geographical positioning.

What if instead each family in the villages still seeking to get electricity be provided with a simple by-cycle connected to a dynamo which in turn is connected to a battery. A certain amount of pedalling would generate lets say 2KW of energy, which is more than sufficient for the villages to kick start in joining India of the 21st Century.

And at the same time, the very act can be tagged under MENREGA thus the Indian young and old in just one stroke of a pedal be forever employed !

Now connect them to the innovative minds of a start-up and one would soon see electricity produced in villages being used by the ever hungry cities and towns of India.

In one stroke prosperity can be globalized. That would surely be called good governance.

           5.Use of water more efficiently

With nearly five lakh illegal borewells sucking up Delhi’s ground water, the water table has fallen to alarming 214 feet below ground level in the southern ridge. To worsen the situation, authorities have only managed to register 169 cases against owners of illegal borewells. According to the data compiled by the Central Ground Water Board, fresh groundwater was available at just a little below 20 feet in 1977. But the water level has fallen down by more than 10 times since then in Delhi. Data compiled by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the Ministry of Water Resources show that the water level is depleting rapidly in Delhi. The groundwater table spread over 1,484 square km has declined between 2 metre and 20 metre.The worst-hit areas include most of South Delhi and parts of South West Delhi, covering over 264 square km, where the water table has dropped by as much as 10 metre to 20 metre over the last 10 years. (India Today, July 2014).

The article above are similar to many that get written in India every year. This was chosen for two reason, its fairly recent and talks of the Capital of India. The very nerve centre of Governance {?}

Some of the thoughts and warnings were given in 2015 through this article, but to see that India actually does not care one but needs to but glance through the article and know why even 2017 we shall be in the same situation.

Water Kills ! – Drought & Food Crises are effect of Climate Change

The rampant sinking of bore-wells in every part of the country has in turn has affected the traditional step-well, which was an art bestowed by the culturally rich ancestors. They understood the concept of community living. For if one were to keep sinking bore wells in the highly de-fragmented land holdings with a huge population which India has, with water being a free natural resource to be extracted; ending up with a dried water table in most parts of the country was only but a matter of time. Today the drought we are facing is more to do with highly corrupt governance machinery and apathy of people at large who don’t care for community living.

The solution to this is not the bird-brained idea of linking rivers. Because bio-diversity is not something one should play with. There is no knowledge of what could happen if the Ganga basin is linked to say for example the Godavari basin. This has to be explained in detail. And if there is even 1% of doubt over data, the matter should be rejected.

It does not mean that we can’t provide water in a better manner. The idea of Desalination plant, with the likes functioning in the coast of Tamil Nadu must be replicated fast throughout the coastal length of India and water can be pumped to the Cities and towns alike. Leaving the mineral rich river waters for irrigation purpose.

Without elaborating much,there are already many people who are ready to invest into this. What is required is a government which is ready to listen and come into a Public-Private partnership to make it happen.

Another method of making use of water efficient is to price is correct. I had given some thoughts on this earlier in this article –

Green Business Ideas – Sell water at the price of petrol – and reap the ‘fringe’ benefits.

6.End Deforestation

Absolutely no idea how do we achieve this as long as we require palm oil , coffee, tea and many such consumables which are part and parcel of our modern life along with minerals and wood.

The idea therefore has to be more innovative.Reinvesting our combined intellect to reforest vast swats of open cast mines. Allowing for cash crops to be grown on both sides of railways and road ways. And perhaps on the median of roads too.

Instead of planting flowering trees in city boulevards and parks, trees which are fruit bearing or have medical use should be planted and harvested. It can happen through both the municipal level intervention or private level intervention where the concept of vertical farming can be utilized. It is really the right time to think about hydroponics and vertical farming & bonsai combined. This is perhaps the only way we can help the mission to end deforestation. The You Tube link below will help readers to explore many ideas within program aptly named the Good Stuff.

India’s PM Modi,who irrespective of his achievements on the ground, I have always considered as a visionary. Given a second term at Governance and should he be able to rein in the vested interests, that surround India in every sphere, open cast mining would come to an end.  While he has also agreed to the fact that we can do traditional mining, I found much to my surprise a resonance to my ideas on mining which can be seen in the following article written in September 2012 Sustainable Mining should be The BASICs agenda at UNFCCC-Doha. which I would request my PMO to read along with the following Green Business Ideas – Abandoned coalfields can boost RE and save forest in India. Geothermal is a reality and low enthalpy geothermal heat can be tapped form abandoned coalfields. And to know whether or not it would make a profit. Don’t ask the CFO. Ask those who die of the smoke.

7. Family Planning

As long as we have a fragmented policy in governance which works on vote bank politics there is very little scope for India to have a robust family planning. Law and religion must be disconnected. But it is easier said than done.

The only way this would sadly become possible is due to adverse affect of Climate Change. With food and water scarcity, there will be less and less job opportunities and more and more hunger. In this void the government through NGO support must bring about a balance.

  8. City Planning

Before any Indian city is built town planners must visit the Bio Sphere II.

Once you understand the complex behaviour of the planets ecosystem, it becomes easy to understand what one must not do to fashion the 100 smart cities we are looking to build.

And then we must also know that while everyone asks us to go vertical, the concept of going down has not been explored as much. This article called Underground Urbanism is perhaps something one must read. The author is amongst many who are thinking how to reduce the building foot print. With perhaps one children museum in Mexico being a great example of how things can be done.

As more and more cities in India fail because of bad design and infrastructure, they will but have to mend their was to become climate resilient city.

If the present government can build momentum around the Swachh Bharat, with cleaning not only the cities of filth but wrong design, bad traffic and illegal construction. If only the basic right to be able to walk on a foot path without the incessant blaring of horns. One would consider India has reached a mile stone.

By merely signing and ratifying the CoP21 Agenda, sustainable practice would not happen in India. For that we need to change the mindset. And I strongly believe that the present NDA Government, if it can root out its inefficiencies will be able to deliver on Acche din.

 

Related articles

• Paris COP21: Is India the Main Stumbling Block at Climate Talks?
• India’s priority is poverty – not climate change
• A requiem for Rio in Paris
• Interactive Map: Find Out Which Country Is Most Responsible for Climate Change
• Pollution: The Deadliest Killer in the Developing World
• NOAA Website on Climate: Earth’s Hottest Period Occurred Before Man Existed
• Ban Ki-moon hails climate pact as Earth’s ‘health insurance’

 

Climate Noble; a dummies guide to win the

Use of T. N. T., a war-salvaged explosive, for peace-time purposes

At the backdrop of heightened threat from the terrorist attack, we as a human race must pause to understand if the direction we have been taking is the right one.

Every step the human civilization has been taking as different subsets have always brought havoc to some while the others have profited.

Peace can not come from the barrel of a gun and this can’t be better underscored than by looking at how we as a collective perceive what is wrong and what is right.

The greatest irony in modern world era is the concept of the Nobel peace prize. Derived from a means which by default was destructive to begin with.

To the younger generation who are not well versed about it – a short brief on Noble is below.

Alfred Nobel’s will prescribed that the Peace Prize was to be awarded by a committee of five persons chosen by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) and should go to the person who accomplished “the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the promotion of peace congresses.”(read).

While the World today reverberates to the boom of TNT or rather the newer versions and variants, lets try and find a solution form such an Irony !

And award the Noble for a much more nobler purpose like saving the Planet through sustainable practices ?

Are we going to continue with the never ending cycle of retribution, confusing that with punishment (which essentially differs from retribution) and make the world a much more dangerous place, with bombs flying around the restive Middle eastern & Mediterranean region while World Leaders congegrate to find solution to prevent global warming!

Will the United Nations CoP 21 in Paris also blow up into thin air ?

Will we find someone, a statesman perhaps who would come up with an idea which would be less bombastic and more real ? Who will win the race to win the Climate Noble ? And actually be able to link Global Warming – Food & Water Scarcity and Disease – War and Riots together and be able to unite all the Nations of United Nations to act on an everlasting sustainable solution, devoid of devious politics and personal profit.

1. Barack Obama ?

2. Xi Jinping ?

3. Vladimir Putin ?

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi could also be the answer.

Why?

Because he lends his ear to those who have chosen him to govern. At least till now, it can be safely assumed so.

(Why else would his Google+ account add an Aam Admi like me? and many of my kind.)

Before being accused of bias, lets agree that many an Indian both in India and Abroad are “fan” of his forward thinking ideas on good governance and development agenda.

Failing which the fans would stop revolving around him.

I wish him the best for showcasing India at Wembley stadium yesterday and really hope to see the Winter Session of Indian Parliament working towards making strong and implementable laws to abate climate change.

But working towards winning a Noble would be a win for India’s contribution in abatement of Climate Change and Global Warming. And India must lead the way. Should it also choose to grow as it wants as an Economic Power. Ecology must be given priority, without losing focus on Sustainable development.

For the last 20 CoP’s we have heard what other Nations want. Now its time we Unite the Nations! As was the call given beside the rostrum containing the green marble desk. And who else but Shri Modi has the guts and the gumption to do so.

Below are some ideas which may or may not have International resonance, but it is definitely India centric.But as India is presently the “darling” nation to fêté with presently; its green solutions may perhaps save the world.

Let us begin with RE solutions, especially making roof-top Solar PV mandatory in Indian Cities. More so in the Megalopolis and the Tier-I Cities.

Irrespective of size of roof. Let all the roofs be installed with solar within each city, we can use any business model as long as the power is directly evacuated to the smart grid and consumed within the city. Extra power can go to the peri-urban areas or industry. This way we ensure gradual withdrawal from fossil fuel based power and at the same time do not cripple critical functions with use of still adolescent RE solutions. And at the same time climb down perhaps in a shorter time frame from being the 13 most worst polluted cities in the World. And while we are at it a few more suggestions for the Cites before we even attempt of calling the race for Smart Cities design and implementation –

आवाज़ कम करो – We in India are a population of 1.25 Billion people. Even our whisper can actually become a din. While it would be a little difficult to throttle throats to keep the voices down, we could actually do two much more simpler things. As sustainability in inclusive of many things, not just energy and water.

1. Ban Loud Speakers, in-fact we can surely limit at the manufacturers end, the PMPO (peak music power output) to what is as per regulations. Extremely loud speaker would require a special licence, as we do in India for guns. And user has to apply to Magistrate office to get one. And this licence would only be valid for a season or purpose specified,

2. Regulate the Auto-mobile horn, a simple governor which kills the horn post 1000 use and can only be activated on-line by paying a fee not less than Rupee 2000, would surely quiet down the cities of India.

Along with reducing the noise pollution let’s get Reva by Mahindra & Mahindra on the city roads. Make that and similar auto-mobiles the only vehicles which can ply on Indian city roads. And for once let the corporates get their act together. Our children need their lungs which can’t be compared to a profit bar graph. Or stop celebrating Childrens day on November the 14th every year. And turn it into a day when we count how many of our future generations lives will be short-lived and terribly challenged due to lung diseases.

This December all the world leaders and many more would converge on Paris for CoP21 of UNFCCC. Almost all would be flying. Then taking bullet proof cars, which guzzles fossil fuel like a battle tank, board up in 7 star fully air-conditioned hotels and converge within fully air-conditioned and well-lit auditoriums.

To talk about Climate Change & Global Warming !

What our PM and his entourage could perhaps do is tell the packed crowd as how on his next visit our PM could fly in an aircraft which would be powered partly by wind turbines.

Yes wind turbines !

We all know that a commercial airliner flies at a minimum speed of 875KM/hour which is around 543Miles/hour. A turbine which generates say 10KW requires a wind speed of 25 Mph. So one can hopefully do the mathematics of what a 543mph wind speed can generate.

Ram Air turbines

Air-plane wings typically have two jet engine and the jumbo have 4. If we can replace or modify the jet engine into a hybrid system which can generate power both when the turbine is fired to rotate via use of a combustion engine or simply utilizing the very high rotation,which would come with the spinning of the blades at such high-speed, to charge up the dynamos which could at-least provide with auxiliary power during cruise speed.

The idea which I always propagate is – never try to invent the wheel. The guy who did it was smart. And I am not smart. So I believe in adaptation.

The image shows a wind turbine named “Ram Air Turbines”. The most appropriate name given by the inventors, who I am sure would be welcomed with open arms and a very very warm welcome in India by the present Government.

After all Lord Ram was an Indian and the beloved of BJP !

Coming back to the point, it more or less works as an emergency power backup during landing and essentially used in small planes for opening their landing gear.

What I want to say is that the idea is not new and the technology is also understood. But no  commercial jet aircraft can have small turbines protruding out of its fuselage, the drag would be enormous.

But adapting it, what we Indians call “Jugaad” is another thing. And I must humbly request my government to consider it as an idea which our scientist must explore.

True the World is already thinking about solutions such as these, but it is not about thinking but doing it and putting it out in the market before others do, That is what business is all about. And we need to also follow the clarion call of “Make in India”.

And as a Nation we must find the right atmosphere to inculcate the idea of start-ups in all filed not just software, which we have already championed. And going gaga over E-commerce is also not something to be too excited about. With no intent to insult or hurt any sentiment, portals are nothing but modern day shops and its owners shopkeepers.

The Airbus E-Fan Prototype Electric Aircraft

We need inventors and innovators to tackle global warming and bring about sustainability in business. The Electric Aircraft shown above proves that we already have competition.Parallel to this aerodynamic designs are already being looked into to make aircraft have one single body.

So India must come forward and think of how it can really challenge the world and become the seller of sustainability rather than buyer, which is what the current drift of the matter is.

We must think from our position of strength.And build upon it.

A couple of MIT engineers research on electricity generation and land use, estimates that solar power to produce 100% of world electricity generation would require 5,500,000,000,000 square meters (5.5 x 10^12 m^2). (link to original page). While the authors of the article love Nuclear, I would humbly ask them to wait till they can give us Fusion instead of the present day Fission technology.

World wars have been fought and are still being fought to capture or retain a piece of land mass. Unless we start to think of innovations and utilize the Reuse & Recycle policy, we will be seriously challenged in the near future on finding enough surface to utilize the abundant Solar Power. And by the way Sun’s power is pure Fusion technology without using Fission as a “trigger”.

My second suggestion or idea would be for India to have the airborne wind turbines off-shore and near the Indian sea ports, tethered to old ships which otherwise are sent to the scrap yards.

Eco Marine Power Developing Solar Sails to Power Ships

Many of the oil tankers can be used to make floating power stations which can be equipped with a combination of wind turbines and Solar PV, (CSP?) which would provide enough power to be utilized by the docked ships as auxiliary power thus saving a lot of fossil fuel from burning and creating more GHG. While Eco Marine Power of Japan and many such companies are already adapting the idea into their operational ships. If we truly want to use the wind-solar hybrid and also make a sustainable business out of it, we must allow the long coast line of India to dock off-shore ships or barges which are at their end of life and use them as floating platforms to generate power.

This would not only help India but one or few more contentious issue can also to some extent be solved by utilizing the ships.

For example the empty hulls can be modified to become soft-drink factories, where they are privately owned and they create their huge requirement of water right from the sea utilizing the solar for desalination ! Before we can finally shift our industries to the Moon. [Green Business Ideas : How about taking the polluting industries to Moon ?] which may just be possible if we can stop and save enough money which we spend on creating war machines which mostly get mothballed because hardly any Nation has the will and energy to wage another world war for conquest ! Those days are thankfully over.

Its time we conquer the 2°Centigrade Warming of the World.

 

World Environment Day, time to move beyond the Rhetoric !

While the World once more goes through the motion of conferences and sage advises. As it does every year on World Environment day,the mitigation actions which this day needs to usher in are not moving at the desired speed.

By this I don’t mean to insult the hard work being put by many a sincere person and organization. But the fantastic delusion the believers have about the method in which to approach saving the environment. Frankly speaking I don’t have a clue on what real change in the ground I’ve been able to make, since my becoming a “believer”.

Take for example emails. I believe in EMAILs. They are environmentally friendly so to speak. For every time I blog or write an email, I save a tree in the virgin forest from being cut down…..

A thought I always held until yesterday, while going through the routine motion of reading the newspaper it occurred to me that, every email I send almost all are printed on the other end by the receiver.

Can you ever imagine a top CEO, not walking into his office with his secretary scurrying behind with a ream of printed emails, in order of importance! On which the CEO has to physically sign as stamp of approval or comment upon. Prima facie there is nothing wrong about it. In fact the legal department could quote you chapter and verse as to why a physical signature is so important.

My question therefore, is a simple one. Why do we say that emails are environmentally safer? For with my limited knowledge and logical thinking, the World is deluding itself through these large conferences, packed with VVIP’s; all talking about saving the World. Talking without changing the simple ground realities.

While we rip open the heart of the Planet to extract coal, the wound of an opencast mine and the pollution accompanying it would dirty the shiny shoes and bring sweat in the brows; surely annoy the important CEO who needs the power generated by coal to run his laptop so that he can send out that all important missive, in the environmentally friendly way of E-mails which would then be printed on paper by the secretary of the receiver…..

So what do we learn when we see this video of UNEP?

 

That to create this very video we have simply contributed in destroying the planet a little bit more. For we need to use the very resources and tools which the large corporates have been manufacturing to achieve this message of saving this planet. And this cardinal truth is very well understood by the corporates and their backers. Unless that changes, unless we learn to live our lives in a completely different way it would not be possible to halt the advance of Global Warming!

So do we have hope ? Of course we do. Humans till date have always shown a pragmatic approach to problems. And solutions have been found. And to find the solutions we need to step up the awareness campaign. We have to keep promoting the cause. We have to make the general public aware of the reasons and patterns of the problem at hand. This is when we shall see real changes.

This is already happening in India. Take for example the recent articles given below

South, central & airport areas are Mumbai‘s hottest

Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar –Mumbai Times News  Network

Temperatures Vary By Up To 13°C Within City

Mumbai’s warmest neighbourhoods lie in densely built-up south and central Mumbai and the industrial east, according to new research from IIT-Bombay on the urban heat island effect in the city.Areas around the airport, including Andheri East and Kurla, are also among the city’s hottest zones.

Mumbai Heat Island Effect Surface temperatures in these “heat islands“ may be as much as 8-9 degrees Celsius higher than other parts of the city during the summer, and more than 10°C higher than green areas like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, says a study by Aparna Dwivedi, MV Khire and B K Mohan at IIT-Bombay’s Centre for Studies in Resources Engineering.In winter, this temperature difference comes down to 4°C. (read more)

The most important paragraphs were in the followup article, mentioning the use of materials for construction…

Land Use Norms Should Also List Materials For Construction

The `urban heat island effect’ is more widespread in the island city as it is more densely built and does not have a national park or adequate wetlands to bring down temperatures, says a recent study .

The “urban heat island (UHI) effect“ refers to the way in which cities become warmer than surrounding rural areas as temperatures are raised by heat-absorbing concrete and asphalt, high population densities, and pollution. The same factors make some urban neighborhoods warmer than others. The study , by Aparna Dwivedi, M V Khire and B K Mohan from IIT-Bombay’s Centre for Studies in Resources Engineering, says Mumbai’s proximity to the sea and exploding urbanization make it highly vulnerable to disasters of climate change.

“Land use guidelines need to be put in place and may also specify the use of materials which bring sustainable development and less UHI effect to Mumbai,“ the authors write in their study . In recent years, studies have found that pollution and the heat island effect may be contributing to a link between urbanization and thunderstorms in cities, including in Mumbai.

This research, part of an ongoing project, has implications for the current debate over the city’s new development plan. Allowing large increases in built-up areas in already dense areas could aggravate the heat island effect, unless planned properly , says Khire. “Some areas would become like an oven,“ he says.

English: Urban heat island Polski: Miejska wyspa ciepła (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dwivedi, an architect and doctoral student working under the guidance of Khire, is studying the growth in heat islands in the city in the past 15 years. “The idea is to look at what factors, from building materials and green cover to pollution and energy use most affect temperatures, and come up with mitigation measures,“ she says. Some kinds of glass, for example, emit more heat than others. Also, glass buildings require air-conditioning, which emits its own heat, reinforcing the heat island effect, notes Khire.(read more).

The same page also carried articles of how pollution affects the heart and the dangerously low supply of water to the city.For an average person a newspaper article has more importance and they view it more seriously than when they hear the same thing from an expert in an conference. It is perhaps because the message reaches to a larger section of the audience, whom the reader knows and can discuss with. While in a conference of Environment and related field only the deeply committed and from the industry would visit; therefore highlighting once more the role of media.

All the stake holders in the UNFCCC conference keep seeking to agree upon actions which will limit the average global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius. This could need reductions in greenhouse gases to between 40 to 70 percent below 2010 levels by 2050, and we’re not even close. We know the UNFCCC is meeting in Paris this year December and UNEP in this month is conducting a seminar in Paris. The usual suspects would be there. But what about the public? Somewhere the UN has failed to raise the awareness level of the public. And it is this failure to create a mass movement of some of the actions the public around the world do take, will surely and steadily lead us to doom.

If one would have followed the news papers in India, Mumbai. In the past few months there has been some very vocal actions taken against destruction of forest and forest land. An area called Aaerey Colony which borders the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, was earmarked for creating the Car shed of Mumbai Metro.

While an estimated 9.2 crore commuters ( 10 Crore = 100 million) have already used the Metro since its inauguration last June, the expansion plans have been thwarted due to the opposition of creating the car-shed.

This is a classic example which the Politicians and  Administrators must look at and understand where the program of abate Global warming is failing. On one hand the public wants to have better commuting system. And metro is the way towards the “Smart Cities”, but not at the cost of the Environment.

The Public at large while wanting to live within the modern trappings of City, also want to live in the lap of Nature; as have the ancestors of humans been doing for Centuries. This is the dilemma one has to address. And this can’t be addressed by taking baby steps but strong measures. True there could be a massive socio-political churning, at some parts of the world more acute than in other. But mistakes can’t be cured without pain.

To begin with lets look at some of the agenda the World We Want 2015 should be addressing.

1. Stop manufacturing cars that use Fossil fuel.

2. Insist to member Nations to not allow more than 1 car per family, even if they run on alternative fuel.

3. Promote public transport like Trams and Trains. Electric Bus are a limited option, to be used as shuttle to bring in people to the train and tram terminals.

4. Insist on making all buildings with roof-top Solar. Land is a major issue, beyond a point one will not get land to install utility scale Solar. And its not exactly great idea when the power anyway will be wheeled to the cities. All rural areas too should have solar roof-tops. Design Solar Trees along high-ways. While this will not exactly provide enough power to run the Nation, it would surely limit the use and extraction of Coal & Oil.

We need coal & oil, till the Nuclear fusion takes over or some other better form yet to be discovered. We may perhaps find a way to tap into the limitless Geothermal Energy even in areas where we don’t have the hot-spot. That would perhaps help.

English: Chicago City Hall Green Roof (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. To make it mandatory for every residential building to grow food. If every block is made to grow food, say each building grows something different, the community market would be able to augment more fresh food while at the same time reduce the pressure on farm lands to ever keep growing into the last remaining virgin forests or using pesticides.

Architects must be mandated to design by law areas within the building, for growing food and at the same time Renewable Energy. Rain-water harvesting goes naturally with this.

6. The most important part is to have mandatory laws which make “walk to work” a reality. Unless this part is achieved, the above 5 will not make sense. And this can be achieved easily by creating some pure business districts within the precinct and some mixed used buildings.

India is poised to build 100 Smart cities and retrofit 500 more. The idea of having a Wi-Fi city or some transport system tied to surveillance cameras don’t make the city smart. Neither building Climate unresponsive glass buildings, by blindly aping the west.

Do we ever question about why we keep providing licence for manufacture & sale of Loudspeakers, while at the same time we all get so annoyed with the blaring of horn and loud music ?

War & Peace can’t be in the same space, except in the famous fictitious book….

Our cities and the country can only be in sync with the environment when we start with being human. Rest will fall in place.

Come this year lets start making the Environment more conducive to usher in the Environment Day to come.

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Smart City – Choosing between a Planned Development & a Development Plan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, on his 3 Nations tour is bringing once more the Nation into the World focus, therefore sooner than later the World economies would come. Especially to build those 100 Smart Cities. For that is a lot of money and a lot of business. But before that happens, it is important that the Common Man, as we like to call ourselves in India get to know the pros and cons of building ourselves more concrete jungle, in our quest to be called “developed”.

A City is a complex mix of building and infrastructure. But the most important component of a City is the Citizens. Devoid of it, many a Great City has perished & the Civilisation the city harboured followed suit. It is therefore imperative that we strive towards more Climate Resilient Cities, because the Climate is changing. And with every Epoch of Climate Change, Extinction follows!

As per the IPCC 4th Assessment Report, The building sector contributes up to 30% of global annual green house gas emissions and consumes up to 40% of all energy. Given the massive growth in new construction in economies in transition, and the inefficiencies of existing building stock worldwide, if nothing is done, greenhouse gas emissions from buildings will more than double in the next 20 years. Therefore, if targets for GHG reduction are to be met, it is clear that decision-makers must tackle emissions from the building sector. Mitigation of Green House Gas emissions from buildings must be a cornerstone of every National Climate Change strategy. (UNEP DTIE; Sustainable Consumption & Production Branch.)

According to the 2011 India Census, there are about 30 crore houses in the country. The census defines a house as a building or part of a building having a separate entrance from a road, common courtyard, stairs and so on. About 71% were occupied while 7.5% were vacant. In the cities of India 136 lakh homes were vacant. While 111 lakh rural homes were found empty. The above data would be read as a statistical roll out for the untrained eye, but for those who choose to care it shows how “development” as we call it is becoming lopsided. The simple reason being that while of the 136,000,00 homes lying vacant in Urban centres most would be due to following reasons.

1. Occupants were living in an alternate abode within the city or in some other city around the world.

2. It was an “investment” in Real Estate.

3. It was unsold Real Estate inventory.

And if one would delve deep into the reason of empty homes in villages the compelling reason would be that the villager was trying to eke out a living in the concrete jungle we so lovingly call a City.

But very soon, it would perhaps be the city dwellers who would be gasping for the breath of life, if changes which are important and urgent are not addressed by all stake holders.

This article would try and connect unseeingly disparate dots together to create a debate in the minds of the readers to look at events that take place in a more holistic manner to arrive at better building solutions for a Smart City.

We shall look into the reasons as to why Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB) which have the best of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEM) requires to be built in accordance to a mandatory legislation. For today “Green” buildings as we like to call them are not mandatory. And most being built are nothing but a “Green-Wash”. Either due to ignorance or avarice. We shall through this article build up bit by bit why we must look at solutions to build wise. Development is a necessity and it can not be stopped. But it can definitely be made more responsive and in sync with Nature. To do that this article shall dwell on two parts – 1. what a green building actually is and 2. how it can build climate resilient cities.

Not everyone understand why the term “Green Building” is used as an epithet for Energy Efficient Buildings. Therefore lets understand it in layman terms. Experts are excused from reading further.

1. What is Green Building?

A building which during its construction and occupancy, if by utilizing the best of construction methods and practices follow the principle of Reduce – Reuse – Renew – Recycle – Refuse; can be termed as a Green Building.

Reduce –

The building industry is the single largest consumer of all the industrial sectors. A building consumes Steel, Iron, Aluminium, Copper, Nickel, Tin, Cobalt & Various rare earth materials. It uses wires, paints, varnishes which need to be mined. Forest extracts not only means logged wood but with destruction of forests, wild-life too dies. Thus from paper to petroleum, textile to leather; there is almost everything even the mountains themselves, cut into slabs to adorn the floors of the house. Destruction is the first and foremost process of building a modern Building.

By reduction of use in construction materials through efficient design and construction practice; virgin materials need to be extracted less. This helps in retaining the “Green Cover” of the as yet unexplored mines for Ore or Coal. Or building and/or upgrading of existing Hydro-power plants or deep-sea Oil wells. The former inundates vast swats of lush green forest cover, and also most of the time the homes of the city pavement dwellers, who were perhaps proud farmers eking out an honest living and most importantly producing something which no city dweller can ever do – GROW FOOD !

Before the rising backwaters of the dams flooded their homes and sank their hopes for ever.

If one has ever seen a picture of an oil spill on the sea and the associated dead sea-life nothing more needs to be added beyond reminding that with every Kilo-Watt of power produced in India via Thermal (oil or coal fired) power plants; one can in a simplistic calculation consider use of 1Kg or Coal and 1 litre of water to produce the same. The Coal is ripped form the bosom of Earth by a tear called open-cast mining; with rips out every tree & grassland. Destroying the homes of burrowed animals like rabbits and proud tigers alike. In its wake it leaves a slush which contaminates the rivers, which slowly die. Both from reduced rain-fall as well as silt.

While the burning coal creates Green House Gas emissions, the likes of which today plague Indian cities. With every bit of reduction a construction engineer brings into a building project. Sustainability of life continues.

Reuse –

By utilizing existing construction materials, through a complete supply chain recycling process and most amazingly by utilizing existing best designs! Yes designs. If one but pauses by any modern township or towers being built around any of the Indian Cities, one would find either flats, row-houses, bungalows of almost the same dimension and shape being built within that very project.

Simply put, a residential tower is nothing but stacking of row-houses horizontally and vertically; with services areas thrown-in. Thus almost everyone is having an identical house, made into an unique home by the way its is lived in! If a developer-builder company, utilizing a little more imagination beyond being swayed by Occidental designs and obscene RoI; could cash in on registering a few best designs and keep building them. It would then be promoting its very own “Signature” Style.

With each new building being built, the design and construction team would be able to keep raising the bar of excellence! For even if a design is the same, each project would throw in its own unique challenges and tweaks would have to be incorporated. But on the flip side the Master Material Sheet would become leaner and better. Design print-outs would be minimized as many details would still be relevant, within the old set of drawings from an earlier project.

Thus by the simple act of Reuse; a building and construction Industry can save life on Earth even while generating financial wealth for itself.

Renew –

The money saved thus could be utilized to buy the E-Paper Printers. Electronic paper, e-paper and electronic ink are display technologies which are designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays which emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like ordinary paper. Many of the technologies can hold static text and images indefinitely without using electricity, while allowing images to be changed later. Flexible electronic paper uses plastic substrates and plastic electronics for the display backplane. This in effect would spur growth and business of a different dimension, while help check the destruction of virgin forests. To start with, about a half of the forests that once covered the earth are gone. Every year, another 13 million hectares disappear (although afforestation adds another eight back), and the World Resources Institute (WRI) estimates that only about 22 percent of the world’s old growth forests remain intact. The activities of the pulp and paper sector threaten the habitats of several rare wildlife species such as Asian big cats (including tigers), Asian elephant, Asian rhinos, and Orangutans. The remaining natural forests in Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea, Russian Far East, Southern Chile and the Atlantic forest region in Brazil are endangered because of growing demand for pulpwood, among other threats. Forests also maintain the world’s abundant biodiversity, essential for life on Earth.

Renewal of life by the simple act of saving forest.

Recycle –

While it sure looks fashionable when a debonair man and a pretty woman tango together to break and destroy all that was a fully functional home around a tap ! (an advertisement by a tap company)

Unfortunately in India, the one that is destroyed and the one that gets built around the famous tap, the décor are “inspired” western designs. Thus near zero in climate responsiveness. The only message its sends out is how to induce further pollution. This unfortunately is the reflection the psychology of the society today. The best of practice would be to become more Oriental than Occidental.

The former is application of mind over matter. The latter is always mindless destruction of everything intelligent and vernacular. Especially in the Oriental context. The deep rooted culture of India has traditionally been towards conservation and recycling. An heirloom gifted to the daughter, the priceless Silk Sari handed down with pride and care. The feeling of pride to sit on the rocking chair which once belonged to the grandfather, when one himself becomes the grandfather. To use left-over of a dinner to cook a tasty & healthy breakfast. To live for generations in a house built by the ancestor. T

he sense of belonging and pride which has slowly but surely crumbled. Leaving the average Indian city dweller confused by the constant pull and push of cross-culture and time. Having forgotten that it is this disconnect from one’s own culture which is the root cause of Global Warming. Mythology are replete with examples of Man-Animal, Man-Plant co-existence. The Kamdhenu, The Kalpa Vriksha both are giver of plenty. A simple yet profound example set by our ancestors that without the trees and animals, humans can’t have their wish fulfilled. Culminating with the supreme example of Rama -Hunmana relationship. A synergy between Man-Animal, both considered as God themselves.

While modern building can be built and are being built from recycled materials as it has started making more economic sense, much still needs to be done when Interiors are designed. A commercial space be a hotel or hospital have constant wear & tear. Renovation is a must. But by allowing intelligence to dictate the norm rather than trend could save lots of money. A corporate bosses Burma teak wood table could be modified to be a receptionists desk, while the old reception table could go into making the internals of storage shelve. The high VoC which most of the adhesives and glues and paints carry, reduce in emitting their noxious fumes as they get older. It is best therefore to retain old furniture, as it is healthier.

The simple act of Recycling not only insures immediate health benefits, the forest remaining intact insures fresh oxygen keeps getting produced to sustain life.

Refuse –

Not many know that in the deep Pacific Ocean there lies a plastic garbage patch. Estimates of size range from 700,000 square kilometers (270,000 sq mi) (about the size of Texas) to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed gradually as a result of ocean or marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. The garbage patch occupies a large and relatively stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean bound by the North Pacific Gyre (a remote area commonly referred to as the horse latitudes). The gyre’s rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including coastal waters off North America and Japan.

As material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the centre, trapping it in the region. The primary source of marine debris is the improper waste disposal or management of trash and manufacturing products, including plastics (e.g., littering, illegal dumping) … Debris is generated on land at marinas, ports, rivers, harbour, docks, and storm drains. Debris is generated at sea from fishing vessels, stationary platforms and cargo ships. Pollutants range in size from abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in abrasive cleaners. Unlike organic debris, which biodegrades, the photo-degraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. This process continues down to the molecular level. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms that reside near the ocean’s surface. In this way, plastic may become concentrated in neuston, thereby entering the food chain.

Some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals & fish, many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. Besides the particles’ danger to wildlife, on the microscopic level the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs. Aside from toxic effects, when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal. (Text edited from Wikipedia).

When residential or commercial society post occupancy, refuse using of plastic and utilize proper waste disposal. Refuse application of polymer paint to their furniture or are careful when the materials are being used during interiors, they are saving the environment from degrading further. It would be good to remember that the salt we eat needs to be made out of drying out sea water. Humans already have plastic flowing in their blood stream, by refusing and limiting the use of plastic and other toxic materials into their building pre and post occupancy. One would be perhaps saving their own life.

The above 5-R’s constitute a “Green Building”. And thus by building or buying into one, every person contributes in doing his/her bit in saving the Environment.

2. What is a Climate Resilient City?

The United States of America have the following Climatic Zones – Tundra, Sub Arctic, Highlands, Continental Humid, Mediterranean, Marine West Coast, Desert, Steppe. The Europe has the Following Climatic Zones – Tundra, Sub Arctic, Highlands, Continental Humid, Mediterranean, Marine West Coast, Desert, Steppe.

The Sub Continent of India has the following – Highland, Humid Sub-Tropical, Tropical Wet and Dry, Arid, Semi –Arid, Tropical West.

If one goes for a tour of the Europe and North America one would find buildings built in accordance to their climatic conditions. Thus their City skyline too looks more or less the same.

The skyline of Indian cities also match and feel like any European or American city.Even though we don’t come anywhere close to their climatic conditions. Nowhere in the west would one find a copy of the Indian vernacular architecture. We on the other hand also feel proud to not have a single building designed as per Indian Architecture.

The swanky glass encased building in the long cold winter months, in the American & European countries help trap whatever sunlight available, causing a green house effect within the building. It helps in enhancing the warmth the Air-Conditioners create. Saving precious energy and fuel. With hardly 80+ days of Sunshine it is a smart thing to do in Europe.

Most SME business, in the equally swanky glass encased commercial buildings & shopping malls of India close down within the 5 years of operation as the 200+ days of Sunshine requires the Air-Conditioners to constantly hum in its effort to cool the building, while people sweat under the collars with the induced green house effect a glass house brings as a default. It also drills a large hole in their pockets.

When we start building climate responsive buildings, we would be creating a Climate Resilient City. Indians are by default intelligent and literate. But as with most around the world less educated about the manner in which their life-style affect the health of the planet. An erudite person would consider it foolish to design a wash-room with toilet paper instead of a health faucet. According to a report by David Braun of the National Geographic wrote in the World Watch Magazine worldwide, the equivalent of almost 270,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day and roughly 10 percent of that total is attributable to toilet paper. India which traditionally washed itself find wiping more fashionable and thus design there 5-star Hotels similarly. Somewhere we have not got over in wiping a white….

Black or Grey water can be recycled and reused. Making of proper toilets is the beginning of building a Smart City.

A Swwacch Bharat.

The destructions of forests and natural habitat worldwide are leading to catastrophic changes in the weather pattern. The modern life-style must factor in climate change and global warming. And cities are the principal drivers towards this unwarranted change. For all the industry thrive upon the insatiable demand of a city. The need of creature comfort has spurred the race to build automobiles, appliances, accessories which have become more important than the basic building blocks of civilization. Food – Cloth – Shelter.

We are living on the Edge.

The unseasonal rain-fall India experienced early March 2015, has wiped out the Rabi Crop. In Sangli, Maharashtra 26,000 hectares of crop was lost. Pan India the loss is already a cause of concern as we are yet to fully recover from the $7 Billion loss Cyclone Hud Hud caused last year. More disasters are to happen, that we can no more stop. But we can surely adapt.

To conclude, when India builds its 100 smart cities, it should not only look at development but also the development plan. This is what the United Nations Mitigation and Adaptation Plan requires us to do.

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Who Eats Food Anyway?

Freak Weather Takes Country By Surprise – J&K to Karnataka, rare storm drenches India – Mar 02 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

India is in a churning. In our present Prime Minister we had seen glimpses of a Statesman. But it must be known that even statesmen are human. And they must pause and listen to wiser counsel.

It is not intent alone which would remove the morass of inefficiency, arrogance and corruption that has been the bed-rock of Indian politics in the last 60 years.

But providing equal opportunity to free thinking individuals who are equally patriotic about the cause and country.

Global Warming & Climate Change has been turning hereto truths cast in stone on their heads. It is no more possible to do Business As Usual when the baseline of commerce has changed !

We can no more ignore the call for Sustainable and equitable growth. But more so, we must identify what needs to be grown in the first place. We need to decide now, before the COP21 in Paris, as to where we stand in terms of Sustainability and Biodiversity.

For with all the riches Midas had, it could not quench his thirst !

Through the below series of News articles an attempt is being made that we pause and think – is it a precursor to Apocalypse ?

An unusually potent storm system lashed India over the weekend, bringing copious rain across a large swathe of the country , from J&K to Karnataka, in what Met officials described as a rare occurrence for this time of the year. The system is expected to blow over by Tuesday morning, but not before it drenches most of north and central India, as well as parts of the south, and dumps a few feet of fresh snow in the Himalayas. “There was intermittent, heavy rainfall across large parts of the country on Sunday . Such widespread rain at this time of the year is not ve ry common. The wet weather in north and central India will continue for at least another day ,“ said B P Yadav, director, India Meteorological Department. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm, around 40mm of rain was recorded in Kanpur (UP), Katra (J&K) and Bhavnagar (Gujarat) while Delhi (Ridge), Pachmarhi (MP) and Ratnagiri saw close to 30mm. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad also had wet weather. Experts said the rains were a result of a rare confluence of factors. “It started with a western disturbance (WD) coming over north India, which is not unusual for this time of the year,“ Yadav said. It was a strong WD that induced a cyclonic circula tion over Saurashtra and Kutchh. “Such circulations usually form over Rajasthan.But this one formed at a more southern location, which caused the WD to go deeper into central India and the southern peninsula,“ Yadav said. Simultaneously , winds rushed in from central Arabian Sea, and to a lesser extent from Bay Bengal, intensifying the rain over the region. The WD is expected to move eastwards, taking the wet weather to eastern India on Tuesday and Wednesday . Day temperatures are likely to drop in north and central India, bringing a slight chill ahead of the Holi festival. There were various reports of damage to standing crops due to the intensity of rain.

The city of Mumbai witnessed unseasonal rain for the second consecutive day on Sunday . Weathermen said it was uncommon for February and isolated showers are expected for another 24 hours. Mumbai has not witnessed rainfall in February since 2009; in 2010 there were some traces. The all-time record for February has been 18mm of rainfall on February 6, 1961.

Moong production in Maharashtra is set to drop by a steep 61% and soyabean yield by 59% compared to last year as a result of the sweeping drought that set in nine months ago. While the havoc caused by the recent spell of unseasonal rains is yet to sink in, the drought which preceded it has already hit the production of the state’s main kharif crops. The drought was triggered by scanty rains between June and October 2014, whi ch devastated the kharif crop (June-Sept season). Considered one of the most widespread agricultural droughts in recent years, it has led to massive crop losses. Nearly two-thirds of Maharashtra’s villages reported half the st andard crop yield during the kharif season. Officials said wheat, jowar and chickpea crops were hit by the heavy rain, as were fruit plantations, including mango orchards, vineyards and pomegranate fields. In some cases, harvested crops and seeds were also destroyed. In Nashik, vineyards and areas where the late kharif onion crop was to be harvested have been damaged, while rabi crops such as wheat, jowar and gram across the state are bearing the brunt of the untimely rains. Though farmers in Aurangabad, Beed, Osmanabad and Parbhani completed their harvesting recently , their counterparts in Jalna are set to sustain heavy losses. Sugarcane cutting in western Maharashtra has been stopped since Saturday and harvesting of turmeric has been badly affected in parts of Satara and Sangli districts. The mango and cashewnut trees that were in the flowering stage may lose their fruits to pest infection. Grapes in nearly 60% of the vineyards spread over 60 hectares in Nashik were ready to be harvested while the late kharif onion crop on 46,987 hectares are in the harvesting stage. Both crops suffered extensive damage due to the prevailing weather conditions.The damage to table grapes is expected to bring down the price of export quality produce from Rs 70-80kg last year to Rs 50kg this year.

The damage was extensive, spanning the districts of Pune, Nasik, Amravati, Bhandara, Ratnagiri and Raigad.

Just a year ago, farmers in the state of Maharashtra bore the brunt of strong hailstorms. Over the past few months, 90 lakh farmers were hit by one of the most wide spread droughts witnessed in the state, one which devastated the kharif crop.

It has been raining woes for farmers since Saturday night as a rare confluence of weather systems drenched large parts of the country , flattening standing crops at many places and damaging vegetable fields. The matter was raised in Lok Sabha on Monday , with members seeking special packages for farmers as reports of crop damage came in from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, MP , Maharasthra, UP and Uttarakhand, among others. As unseasonal heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds lashed most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Sunday , farmers suffered damage to wheat crops at a few pockets of Sirsa, Ambala and Karnal (in Haryana), as well as Bathinda, Muktsar and Amritsar in Punjab. Sugarcane and vegetables too suffered, said agriculture department officials in Amritsar. The Met department in Chandigarh said Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and Jhajjar in Haryana were the wettest places in the two states, receiving 90mm and 150mm of rain, respectively, till Monday afternoon.

The showers took a heavy toll on crops across Uttar Pradesh. Wheat was hit in east UP while potatoes and tomatoes got damaged in central-west districts. Mango growers in Malihabad, too, complained that the downpour had damaged 10%-15% of the crop. Be sides, they feared an outbreak of a fungus infection due to the untimely rains and the sudden drop in temperature. Monsoon-like-showers made Sunday the wettest March day in Lucknow, with 30mm rain. Kanpur recorded the state’s highest 42mm rain, followed by Hamirpur (36mm) and Banda (35.6mm). Reports from east UP districts like Varanasi and Gorakhpur said the standing wheat crop suffered over 50% loss while other crops including arhar, mustard, pea and gram were also hit.

The downpour in central India could hit the output of Madhya Pradesh’s famous sharbati variety of wheat. The wetness may lead to the crop losing its S factor -shape, size and shine -said experts. The unseasonal rains in Chhattisgarh not only threatened the young chick peas crop in about 4 lakh hectares but also the huge quantities of paddy stocked in the open, state government sources said.

A sudden heavy downpour lashed the metropolis on Tuesday evening, severely disrupting road and suburban train services and inconveniencing lakhs of commuters and office goers.

The downpour caused water logging at various areas in the city. It also led to Central Railway services being disrupted on the Main and Harbour lines. While the Harbour line service was partially shut down between CST and Andheri, and CST to Wadala.The CST to Wadala line has been affected due to a part of the Cotton Green station roof falling on an overhead wire disrupting power supply. On the Main line, service between Currey Road and Byculla station has been hit with slow train services between Parel and Byculla being shut since 7.10 and all slow trains being diverted on to the fast track.(Read)

The above are just a snap-shot of news articles which were making headlines between 2013 till date. The Indian Government which Won a land-slide victory last May; may by this May be fighting to keep food prices from spiralling, much to the glee of the Opposition which being an Indian Political organisation, would do all its best to increase the hardship of the common people, so that they get elected to (mis)rule the next 5 years!

It is a shame that a primarily agrarian society such as India has had the misfortune to have been repeatedly electing a majority of unscrupulous short-sighted politicians who have sadly over-run the august Parliament of a few remaining statesman and gentlemen. The voices of these patriotic Indians are getting drowned by the din of the self- aggrandized lot.

It is important to assert that we are Indians. And as for the slogan “Make in India” well, when the day of reckoning comes in the guise of unmitigated Natural calamities which are becoming more pronounced day by day; a made in India bread in the hands of the needy would be far more important than any toy of the decadent rich! 

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Kerala – Gods own Country ?

The 11^th Kerala Environment Congress (KEC 2015) will be held at Kottayam, from 6^th to 8^th May, 2015.

The focal theme of this year’s Congress is “Climate Change and Sustainable Development”

Climate change has now emerged as the biggest developmental challenge for the planet. The IPCC 5^th Assessment Report, has clearly mentioned that the warming trends and increasing temperature extremes have been observed across most of the world over the past century. The report has provided compelling evidence that climate change is advancing rapidly as a global risk with impacts far beyond just the environment. Even though the climate change is affecting various development sectors, there is also scope for reducing emissions and deliver jobs and economic opportunity through wise use of resources. The KEC 2015 will be a thought provoking process in this direction, with the participation of people from all walks of life like scientists, researchers, policy makers, development managers, NGOs, media etc. The Congress will also identify the research and policy needs for developing viable programs to address climate change issues in the ongoing development process in India with particular reference to the State of Kerala.

Climate Smart Agriculture and Food Security Climate Change and Water Security Climate Change and Energy Climate Change, Ecosystems and Biodiversity Climate Change, Habitat and Urbanization Climate Change and Health Climate Change and Coastal and Marine Resources Climate Change and Transport

Climate Change and Disaster Management Climate Change and Buildings Climate Change and Tourism Climate Change and Plantations Climate Change and Industries Climate Change and Weather extremes Climate Change Education and Communication Climate Change, Legal and Policy Aspects

Among the various topics on which Scientist would be presenting their papers the following above topics would be covered.

It’s estimated that in Kerala, forest is cleared at a rate of 60 to 100 sq km per year.  Several hundred species of trees, herbs and climbers are either endangered or vulnerable to extinction. 

Deforestation inevitably leads to loss in rainfall and attempts at reforestation have largely been ineffective due to the introduction of inappropriate species such as eucalyptus and acacia, which hinder rather than restore ecological balance. The famous backwaters are not immune to environmental damage.  The degradation in the mountains has resulted in rivers polluted by silt and industrial effluent also takes its toll; killing fish and presenting significant health risks.  Many wells have become waste tips, causing serious ground water pollution and leading to an inadequate supply of clean drinking water. The assessment of river such as Chalakudy, Periyar, Muvattupuzha, Meenachil, Pamba and Achenkovil indicates that the major quality problem is due to bacteriological pollution. The ground water quality problems in the coastal areas are mainly because of the presence of excess chloride.The chloride concentration >250mb/l was detected in the well water samples of Azhicode, Kakkathuruthy, Edathinjil, Kadalundi, Chellanum, Nallalam, Mankombu and Haripad. in Alappuzha district, flouride concentration in the pumbing wells was observed to be high.Open well of Kerala are under threat of bacteriological contamination.In Kerala about 60% of the population relies on ground water for drinking.At the same time studies have shown that faecal contamination is present in 90% of drinking water wells.

Coastal erosion is altering the seashore landscape and putting populations at risk. Over fishing, with the introduction of trawler fishing in the 1950s, is affecting the economy and health of the local fishing community. Kerala is one among the most thickly populated region in the world and the population is increasing at a rate of 14% per decade.As a result of the measures to satisfy the needs of the huge population,the rivers of Kerala have been increasingly polluted from the industrial and domestic waste and from the pesticides and fertilizer in agriculture.Industries discharge hazardous pollutants like phosphates, sulphides, ammonia, fluorides, heavy metals and insecticides into the downstream reaches of the river.The river periyar and chaliyar are very good examples for the pollution due to industrial effluents. it is estimated that nearly 260 million litres of trade effluents reach the Periyar estuary daily from the Kochi industrial belt

[Courtesy: Centre for Environment & Development; ENVIS-Kerala;Viswadarsanam;]

As one can read on the start of the article. We are having the 11th Kerala Environment Congress. That means the problems and issues which have been raise in the above paragraphs have been flagged as many as 11 times over!

How many chances would a boss give to his employee. A Father to his Son, to correct an error? Yet we keep mum on the abuses we have been meting to our Mother Earth.

The many of the problems and issues which Kerala is facing today would perhaps be very soon taking away the title of – God’s Own Country and make it..

God’s Forsaken Country ! Unless we make the changes Now !

And the changes must reflect in the life-style of the people of Kerala. Unless the Civic changes happen in the physiological level of the populace mere reports and laws would just not be adequate to improve the disasters which are soon to manifest in a much larger scale than presently perceived.

Water, Energy, Ecosystems and Biodiversity are affected directly by the way we create our Habitat.

Haphazard Urbanization of sleepy villages, with copy-cat Buildings as designed in the West and Middle East which are not Climate Responsive in the vernacular context, compounded by setting up of Industries; in hereto Agricultural and Forest lands makes Disaster Management during Weather Extremes a severe challenge. Due to weak implementation of Education & Communication skills there lack of understanding of Legal and Policy Aspects. The continued failings of which would impact the Tourism Industry, Marine and Coastal Ecosystem and most importantly on Agriculture and Food Production!

Food is the primary source of Energy for Human. Without Energy life can’t exist. So let us probe into the ways we can tap into creating of Energy – Electrical & Mechanical; which is the primary driver of  civil development while maintaining the ecological balance to have the perennial source of food with is a life source !
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/175160129
Kerala is blessed with a few unique backwater system, which makes it a prime area to use the latent energy this has. That is micro-hydle systems. But we shall come to this later as there would be challenges to this. Moreover we need to stitch together a basket of solution to arrive at an optimum solution by inclusion of Wind and Solar!

Let us therefore explore through data that is available from various sources and start with the least used one –Geothermal

Estimation of geothermal gradients and heat flow from Bottom Simulating Reflector along the Kerala–Konkan basin of Western Continental Margin of India ( by Uma Shankar, N. K. Thakur* and S. I. Reddi of National Geophysical Research Institute, can be read here).

Geothermal power plants operated in at least 24 countries in 2010, and geothermal energy was used directly for heat in at least 78 countries. These countries currently have geothermal power plants with a total capacity of 10.7 GW, but 88% of it is generated in just seven countries: the United States, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, Italy, New Zealand, and Iceland. The most significant capacity increases since 2004 were seen in Iceland and Turkey. Both countries doubled their capacity. Iceland has the largest share of geothermal power contributing to electricity supply (25%), followed by the Philippines (18%).  ….

India has reasonably good potential for geothermal; the potential geothermal provinces can produce 10,600 MW of power (but experts are confident only to the extent of 100 MW). But yet geothermal power projects has not been exploited at all, owing to a variety of reasons, the chief being the availability of plentiful coal at cheap costs. However, with increasing environmental problems with coal based projects, India will need to start depending on clean and eco-friendly energy sources in future; one of which could be geothermal. – (See more at: http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/geo/geo.html#sthash.8nD3nsKp.dpuf )

The Costs of a geothermal plant are heavily weighted toward early expenses, rather than fuel to keep them running. Well drilling and pipeline construction occur first, followed by resource analysis of the drilling information. Next is design of the actual plant. Power plant construction is usually completed concurrent with final field development. The initial cost for the field and power plant is around $2500 per installed kW in the U.S., probably $3000 to $5000/kWe for a small (<1Mwe) power plant. Operating and maintenance costs range from $0.01 to $0.03 per kWh. Most geothermal power plants can run at greater than 90% availability (i.e., producing more than 90% of the time), but running at 97% or 98% can increase maintenance costs. Higher-priced electricity justifies running the plant 98% of the time because the resulting higher maintenance costs are recovered. – (See more at: http://www.eai.in/club/users/shankar/blogs/649#sthash.D6y8VkTr.dpuf)

Next, let’s look at Micro-Hydle-

A study sponsored by the Science, Technology and Environment Department (STED) and conducted by the Centre for Rural Management (CRM) has found that a whopping 870 households in the district are served by micro-hydel projects. The study also brings out some interesting features of this unique initiative as also underscores the need to develop a support base to improve the efficiency and efficacy of these units. A typical micro-hydel project consists of a source of water, often a stream, or a storage tank or a check-dam made of either jungle stone or concrete, a plastic or PVC flexible hosepipe and a rewound bike or cycle dynamo which acts as the generating system. The average installed capacity of the large majority of them remains below 150 Watts an hour. This is enough to meet the lighting needs and also for operating a radio, tape recorder or television set. Nearly half of these units provide power to the consumers for 12 hours a day and one-fourth of them ensure round-the-clock power supply. Moreover, 52 per cent of these units provide round-the-year power supply. (read more)

While Solar and Wind have already stabilized in the state, what is required is that the Building industry adopts Renewable Energy in toto. The method should governed by sound scientific advice which should be the guiding principle of framing the Development Control Rules of each zone in the Urban planning.

What is true for the Goose may not be for the Gander. Thus when market forces especially the copy cats with baser understanding solicit business within the RE basket; in their enthusiasm, they spoil the market for serious players either by under delivery or corruption in methods. The problem is further compounded when “hobby builders” {a one-time player, usually with lot of disposable money and zero discipline; usually plays a spoiler for developers} with zero scientific understanding opt for L1 (lowest one) all products. As the specifications of such products do not and can’t match the originals; they fail.

This not only leaves Kerala with badly designed buildings, with ugly façade completely in contrast to its serene backwater surrounding; but also energy intensive with falling products over-time. The common man, un-schooled in the methods and confused with the constant pull of identifying more to an imported Western Culture than the sound vernacular life-style are ending up as the final looser in the game.

And the biggest loss is to Sustainable Energy methods. Which could be very well possible if laws are legislated to utilize hybrid RE solutions with sound building materials and design.

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2021 AD: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi wins the Noble Prize on Climate Change!

One thing we have endeavoured to observe most scrupulously, namely, never to depart from the strictest facts and, in dealing with the difficult questions that have arisen during the year, we hope that we have used the utmost moderation possible under the circumstances. – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi riding on his inclusive development platform could win the Noble Prize. And call on his friend President Obama to compare notes!

While there is not many who doubt that the Bhartia Janta Party – BJP; under the able leadership of the duo Shri Modi and Shri Amit Shah have already started working on the political road map to achieve this. They must remember one small detail.

It might be a little difficult…if we follow only the “Capitalist” agenda of development, devoid of SUSTAINABLE Human development agenda. For one needs the “Human Capital” so to say; to cast a vote.

Any “development” which aims to garner riches at the cost of Natural Capital which is true wealth of a Nation and its people is headed for disaster.

While it made many chest puff up to 46 inches, when our PM stood his ground under intense pressure, from the USA leader’s sermon on Sustainable living and reduction on Carbon emission. The leader comes from the Nation which stood steadfast in not signing the Kyoto Protocol.

A man of truth must also be a man of care.– Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

But by not trying to figure out a way to be more sustainable than China in its race to be recognised as an Economic Power, we may be already heading towards danger with our Make in India call.

For, it is absolute music in the ears of the polluting West, to keep clean their back-yard of polluting industries and get cheap labour, just like they got in China. And get the added bonus of “sharing” technology to clean up the mess.

Coup d’état !

Sorry West! We want to bag the Climate Noble !

Here are a few ideas which the Prime Ministers Office needs to work upon from now to achieve this.

First we would remind ourselves that Air-Water-Food, and then Clothing and Shelter are the main drivers of a prosperous Civilization.

Water ! One can try drinking liquid gold but it may not quench thirst.

MUMBAI- TNN | Jan 28, 2015, 05.25AM IST: High levels of certain carcinogens were found in bottled drinking water samples in Mumbai, according to a study conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay.

A BARC team of four scientists checked 90 samples from 18 brands of bottled water sold by various manufacturers in the city. They found 27% samples contained higher than World Health Organisation-permitted limits of bromates, a salt containing bromide that is a by-product of the disinfection. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies bromates as Group 2B carcinogens that could possibly cause cancer in humans. Some samples had bromate levels four times the WHO limit of 10 microgram per litre.

READ ALSO: Packaged water found unfit to drink, but no action taken (read more)

Our Prime Minister in this year would be issuing strict laws, for contaminating water. Punishment would range from 3years rigorous imprisonment in case of human and animals falling sick to 12 years rigorous imprisonment if it can be established that death or permanent damage to organs have occurred.

Air! One can try not breathing while counting $1000. Success is doubtful.

Did we really take away 6 hours from Mr Obama’s life?

DC | January 27, 2015, 14.01 pm IST

While a long-hamstrung nuclear deal was passed and much stress given to Indo-American economic and strategic partnership, American scribes were very worried that their President might have lost six hours of his life by inhaling Delhi’s toxic air!

This thoughtful article picked on Delhi’s “acrid” fog when Air Force One descended on Sunday and also stated Obama sat in another “haze” while he watched the Republic Day extravaganza. True. Guilty!

The article reports, “Delhi has the world’s highest levels of PM2.5 – tiny, toxic particles that lead to respiratory diseases, lung cancer and heart attacks”. It further states, “During Obama’s three-day visit, PM2.5 levels in Delhi have averaged between 76 to 84 micrograms per cubic meter, according to data collected by India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences. The U.S. leader is set to depart on Tuesday for Saudi Arabia. Those levels translate roughly into an estimated loss of 2 hours a day in life expectancy, said David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, who specializes in quantifying risk in a way that is understandable to the public.”

“That’s roughly 8 cigarettes a day,” Spiegelhalter said… “I think Delhi is a wonderful city, but this pollution is harming its residents.”

Well, we are thankful that India and the U.S. will start “new joint projects to improve air quality in Indian cities”. Incidentally, the U.S. is the world’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter, while India is third. (read more)

The third important thing in life, is not a Face book account but  Food!

Can India be a global power when it can’t guarantee its own food security?

Globalist Analysis By Nina Ninkovic and Jean-Pierre Lehmann, September 1, 2013

The turn of this century witnessed profound transformations in the global economy. Twenty years ago, the share of emerging economies in global GDP was 35%. In 2012, that share passed the 50% mark of a now even greater global GDP of $70 trillion….However, just as a new consensus is emerging, once again deep shifts may be occurring….The Globalist’s Chief Economist, Uwe Bott, calls “the coming global economic ice age” as emerging markets cool off.

Certainly, there are major challenges ahead. This is especially true of the two giants, India and China, in respect to the interrelated issues of water, energy, environmental and food security….Even when India was doing well in its GDP growth rate, it was doing very poorly in its HDI (human development indicators). The water, energy, environmental and food challenges are worsened by three deep problems that plague India: a very high level of corruption; a very low level of infrastructure, and fractious infighting among political parties.

India’s Home-made Food Crisis.

Project Syndicate – The Worlds Opinion Page.By Asit K. Biswas,Cecilia Tortajada, August 8, 2014.

According to current estimates, India’s total population will reach 1.45 billion by 2028, similar to China’s, and 1.7 billion by 2050, equivalent to nearly the combined population of China and the United States today. Given that India is already struggling to feed its population, its current food crisis could worsen significantly in the coming decades.

According to the 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), India ranks 63rd, out of the 78 hungriest countries, significantly worse than neighbouring Sri Lanka (43rd), Nepal (49th), Pakistan (57th), and Bangladesh (58th). Despite India’s considerable improvement over the past quarter-century – its GHI rating has risen from 32.6 in 1990 to 21.3 in 2013 – the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization believes that 17% of Indians are still too undernourished to lead a productive life. In fact, one-quarter of the world’s undernourished people live in India, more than in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The most significant factor – one that policy makers have long ignored – is that a high proportion of the food that India produces never reaches consumers…..meat accounts for about 4% of food wastage but 20% of the costs, while 70% of fruit and vegetable output is wasted, accounting for 40% of the total cost. India may be the world’s largest milk producer and grow the second largest quantity of fruits and vegetables (after China), but it is also the world’s biggest waster of food. As a result, fruit and vegetable prices are twice what they would be otherwise, and milk costs 50% more than it should….

India will not have enough arable land, irrigation, or energy to provide enough nutritious food to India’s future 1.7 billion people if 35-40% of food output is left to rot. The new Modi government should therefore consider alternative ways to solve India’s food crisis.(read more)

Second – The Indian Civilization is much older and wiser than the Modern Civilization of the West !

Can we not delve into the learning from our ancient science and scriptures and find a way of life which is a fine balance between the modernist 21st Century and the Ancient Earth? India knows how to live sustainably. All it needs is to adopt only what is good from other Nations, while keeping intact or researching and recharging what was always good. It needs to be climate responsive. Which means it needs to design its life-style as per the ecological and climatic conditions nature has endowed her with. Not engineer an artificial life-style and simulate a climatic condition of another Nation.

When we talk of Economic prosperity and compare growth and prosperity of Nations. The indices are to a great extent correct, but only when you put them in a common platform designed by the West.

The United States of America is considered the 1st Nation in the World; all studies be it demographic, economic or military are based on keeping it as a baseline. While scholars would differ and disagree, the common man; the most important integer does compare so and thus that is the only truth.

What does it matter that we take different road, so long as we reach the same goal- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

There are no First World and Third Worlds if we start working the mathematics based on “Natural Capital“. Africa continent perhaps is still the most wealthy, even if we call many a Nation impoverished. For, the baseline we tend to use for “poor” is as per the understanding socio-economist have of modern capitalism.

Happiness and well-being do not come by copying a life-style lived by a different set of Peoples. Yet we all believe that if we can meet a certain life-style then we have arrived. We have become modern and developed.

It’s a beautiful spin put out by clever traders long ago and today it grows organically. It can’t be defined. Yet if one looks closely, what the Corporate Conglomerate wants is to create life in monochrome. And the politicians of the day help sell this by enabling policies which augment its growth and outreach.

Everybody has to have a Car, a Bungalow, a Black Suit, a silk Tie, a Red Scarf, a pair of shiny Shoe, a PET bottle of Water, a Phablet and…..have “brand loyalty”!

“Development” has become materialistic.

Would India’s prosperity be when it morphs into United States of America?

And at what price will that come? India should know better.

The politics have played out. And if truth be told. That is the trap we have put ourselves in long ago. Its time to get out.

And there is hope. In our present Prime Minister and his office, there is still this glimmer of hope that we will stand out on our own. And on our own terms. This government should think out of the box and not be pulled into a trap of its own making, in its hurry to bring “development” which others certify as growth. Instead give the world a vision and a direction, it has not yet chosen to see.

सबका साथ सबका वीकास – inclusive growth; including the planets well-being !

Political power, in my opinion, cannot be our ultimate aim. It is one of the means used by men for their all-round advancement. The power to control national life through national representatives is called political power. Representatives will become unnecessary if the national life becomes so perfect as to be self-controlled. It will then be a state of enlightened anarchy in which each person will become his own ruler. He will conduct himself in such a way that his behaviour will not hamper the well-being of his neighbours. In an ideal State there will be no political institution and therefore no political power.- Mahatama Gandhi.

We humans have been on the Earth for more than a million years, but civilization – life in cities – has come about only in the last 5,000. Through history civilizations have rose and fell, carved out of nature, dependent on nature, in the end – nature took them back.

 

Green Business Idea – A sustainable guide for Retail to win against E-retail in India.

A long time ago, people in want of grocery or clothing used to go to a designated date in an open ground where merchants gathered – it was termed as “Haat”.

Image of Dilli Haat – New Delhi

While the name “Dilli Haat”, is derived from the same concept; its open nearly every-day thus “shops” as we know them evolved over time.

Even today, in the dusty by-lanes of sleepy mofussil towns & villages, where cultures haven’t changed much since the East India Company days; the shops close for the afternoon siesta and are open but just about 2 hours post sundown. These shops are usually day-lit and most having been designed in vernacular style don’t usually require a fan. Although you would now-a-days invariably find one hanging from the central beam. Immobile as there is usually no electricity to run it. More so in peak summer afternoons.

As all the power that is being generated by the creaking Coal fired Thermal plants in India can’t cope of with the demand the swanky malls require to keep their air-conditioners humming. And the spot lights which is tactically angled with precision to highlight the wares in the hundreds of designer shops within the malls.

But as the saying goes, Time is constantly changing and for all that glitter and glamour the large retails brought in, along with the ease of shopping. It left in its wake a huge carbon foot-print. With the angst of Climate Change being felt around the World the buyers to have begun to discern. Helped by the ease of shopping online and keeping one self far away from the madding crowd has certainly helped boost the E-Retail.

And with some serious high net worth individuals with great social standing and industrial acumen investing in some of the stellar performers, E-Retail is here to stay.

This gives some serious competition to the standard brick and mortar companies. This Diwali there were complaints galore, spread over every newspaper worth its name.

And just as the Newspapers, not very long ago felt the threat of extinction from Televised News; till they evolved and adapted, whilst some perished no doubt. The Brick & Mortar Retail can become competitive if they too wake up and think differently.

Example of Mall Interior. Courtesy -tomsherrillillustrations

All they need to do is build an Energy Efficient Building (EEB) or those who only take up space within a building work towards Energy Efficiency Measures (EEM). EEM’s can be applied to existing buildings and if the management wants it, can register themselves with LEED or IGBC certification. And get a Green Building Certificate. Thus becoming world renowned.

It is a simple Green Business Idea, which would once more prove that Sustainability is the Key. And while the economic pundits, may read you many passages in sustainability, its Ecology which is the master of the game. Thus the more natural the design and function the more sustainable the Retail space will be.

There are various ways to deal with it. In the first instance, the Retail chain could hire professional Interior Designer or Architects who have been long practicing sustainable design. These people would perhaps not have the past experience in designing retail; not because they could not but because they chose not to. As modern retail, focuses more on other aspects, rather than true sustainable architectural design.

This does not deride the ones who do. But the designers, while having wanted to make a form which would follow function in its true sense; are often forced to work on perceptions which have been engrained in the client’s physique.

One just needs to visit one mall and hop to the next. They all look and feel the same. This over time becomes norm in design. Although the better managed, while being energy guzzlers are efficient in many ways, the copy cats typically cut corners and make a mess of things.

The Retail stores work with very thin margin of profits.

Now with the roaring success of E-retail, there is simply no more lee-way with the retail stores to cut corners and yet maintain their competitive edge.

But by designing sensibly or demanding a sensible and energy efficient design of the rental space, they can turn the tide to their favour.

There are many ways to achieve these, both for new as well as retro-fits.

It can be achieved by having a better lighting approach. If one could work with day-light and maximize its usage during the morning business hours then the following difference would be felt. We all know that light produces heat and it is this heat which the air conditioners first need to cool before the space gets conditioned to the desired coolth. That means the air-conditioners need to work more to get the same amount of cooling which translates to higher energy bills. Add to that the operation and maintenance cost of the lights and the compressor/filters of the air conditioner which is running extra.

There are ways and means to provide sunlight to every square foot of basement, 3 stories below. So providing the lighting into the stores and even blending with the desired interiors is not so serious a challenge for those who know how.

The woe gets multiplied in towns and cities where a diesel generator feeds the required electricity. The average unit bill shoots to ₹16/unit when we generate electricity from captive generators running on diesel.

We can today not only infuse sunlight to take care of the lighting needs but also almost eliminate the use of diesel in generators by using alternative technology to fuel it. In-fact the fuel can be produced on the spot out of thin air, the technology is in progress while fuel cells are already becoming a practice.

The Earth and Sun are the final source of energy. And its abundance is infinite. One can in a green-field or existing retail property use Geo-thermal technology to power their air-conditioners and top it with Solar PV to completely disconnect form the grid, in certain cases.

Very few understand that one of the prime expenses in a retail food chain is the gas they use to prepare their food. This too can be completely eliminated or limited to negligible cost if one follows true EEM’s.

When we mention food, we must also mention the highly depleted resource, water. Something any retail would require, to use in cleaning of the show-window or preparing food to simple drinking.

Application of rain-water harvesting can help. But by using expert hydrologist as a consultant, instead of hiring a bore-well drilling company. As they can advise on how to eliminate the cost of drilling deep when water can be had at half the depth. The water source can become near perennial with one good seasonal rain, if proper rain water harvesting technique is applied. This combined with sensible storage and use of Solar Pumps can save huge operational costs.

And while it’s true that high-end technology adds to higher cost. But by designing and building wise this cost can be made viable. In fact a Green Building can at times provide a 20-20-20 saving. That is up to 20% in construction cost, operational cost and earning through voluntary carbon credits by reducing the Green House Gas emission is possible.

Today one can create a 5000 feet square, ground + 1 storied building in 12days and start inhabiting it. A huge cost is saved in the interest of the term-loan, which makes it a sensible decision to take. While at the same time the product that is used to build it eliminates or reduces traditional high-carbon emitting materials thus follows the true Clean Development Mechanism. This is so applauded at the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change. (UNFCCC)

One could also make one of the walls in translucent concrete, to let diffuse sunlight and eliminate dark passages, which thus reduces use of artificial lights. These measures pay back in record time. Thus making the effort viable.

There are also options available to have RESCO’s, renewable energy service companies who work with a select few sustainable design firm, who on being hired, invests in the capital cost of Solar PV, thus eliminating any initial capital expenditure. With the option to pay-back in a 20 year period.

These design firms are presently exploring options to find investors who would fund the complete plethora of EEM’s – Geothermal, Low E-Glazing, LED & Air-Conditioners too. This system already works in the USA.

In fact some have tied up with Avante-grade entrepreneurs in India, who have manufactured products such as refrigerators, air-conditioners, ceiling fans and tube-lights which run with a mere 2 Kilo-Watt of Direct Current (DC) instead of A/c thus complement their efforts on a RESCO model of design.

So with Solar PV on roof-top a small retail shop can become completely self-sufficient in energy. Even with a CAPEX cost the fast pay-back period these product have, the company would have zero energy cost in 5-7 years!

The most important take away from the above is that each individual becomes a stake holder in making India a business power house while keeping sustainability of the eco-system and thus by default ones’ own self and prosper.

It’s time for Retail to adopt and adapt to Green Business Ideas!

Sandeep Goswami

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Prime Minister, did Indian Policy catch up with the Science of Climate Change in CoP 20?

Green tech is good for business, India must lead the world – Kofi Annan

With the two largest economies and polluters of the world ­ USA and China ­ agreeing on key climate targets, and German energy giant E.ON shifting away from fossil fuels to renewable power, the world is now looking to India to give a lead. The country is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. The decisions it makes and the example it sets matter. India’s businesses and industries are central to this challenge. Their actions are critical not just to avert a looming climate crisis, but also to overcome the enormous challenges of poverty and malnutrition……Above all, the impacts of climate change are reducing harvests and water supplies, increasing air pollution and competition for resources and land, and heightening tensions……The role of governments ­ here in India and across the world ­ is vital in catalysing action on these challenges, but it is not their responsibility alone. It is the private sector which is the main motor of the economy and which accounts for two thirds of the use of natural resources.(read more)

On 6th Feburary 2014, Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and Nobel laureate, in an interview to Subhabrata Guha of the Times of India said – When leaders fail to lead, people take charge and leaders then have to follow….Annan expresses optimism that slowly and steadily, the world is gearing up to the challenges of climate change and global warming.(read more)

“The world is looking to India to set a lead. I hope that India responds to national and global challenges by demonstrating the ambition to move decisively away from fossil fuels and to become a powerful advocate on climate change and sustainable development. Doing good is also good for business.”

Now there are many things,Indians both in India and abroad don’t appreciate about the Nation. But since May 2014 if there is one thing that makes Indians proud is our Prime Minister Shri Narandra Modi. Since Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi, not many Indians would have been as emotive about their Leader. Perhaps the only person who would have moved Indians more than him would be Mahatma Gandhi. And who still inspires everyone. And just as the Mahatma who went about saving humanity thus freeing a Nation. Shri Narendra Modi must lead from the front and free India from the debilitating yoke of Fossil Fuel dependent Economy. And free the Ecology from its stranglehold.

We as a Nation know we can deliver an innovative approach, but we must first try not to fall into the trap of standard cliques which the super rich and superpowers have been pouting for the last 20 years!

India Climate Dialogue

10th Dec; LIMA CoP 20: Urging rich nations not to use disasters as tools to make business profit, India on the first day of the high-level segment of the UN climate talks on Tuesday sought them to cooperate to solve the “global problems” of climate change without getting into the “price-tag” of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime…….. Bringing the sentiments of people of most of the developing countries at the UN platform, Indian environment and climate change minister Prakash Javadekar cited past examples where rich nations selflessly collaborated to pull out their poor counterparts from crisis and asked them to follow that path to save the world…….. Addressing the gathering of ministers and key representatives of many countries, the Indian environment minister also sought not to clear only his country’s priority and development paradigm but also of most of the developing countries which need to grow economically to deal with the problem of abject poverty.

India’s Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had given its approval for the negotiating position for the 20th Conference of Parties (COP-20) on climate change – to focus on the elements of 2015 Agreement and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). It stresses that the 2015 outcome to be adopted at the COP in Paris should be comprehensive, balanced, equitable and fair in order to enhance the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention.India emphasizes that the developed countries should take the lead in addressing climate change in accordance with their historical responsibilities, the latest available scientific evidence on climate change trends and the IPCC AR5. Developed countries should implement their commitments under the Convention towards developing countries for provision of finance, technology and capacity-building support. The principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDRs) – should form the basis of continued action.(read original text)

At the CoP 20,Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar mentioned about the reluctance of the rich nations to contribute to the Green Climate Fund — a financial mechanism where the developed countries contribute to help their developing counterparts in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“Some announcements have been made by some countries to contribute to the Green Climate Fund. However, the scale of these announcements remains far from what has been pledged”, he said in reference to the goal of 100 billion dollars in the GCF. 

The remarks come at a time when the rich nations are trying to dilute the provisions of the CBDRs which are ingrained the principles of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocal. Showing mirror to the developed countries by bringing the pre-2020 period at the fore, he said, “Our ambition in the post-2020 period is directly linked with ambitious actions in the pre-2020 period by the developed countries, otherwise the poor people in developing countries will not get the carbon space to achieve sustainable development. (read original text here)

To those who were following the UNFCCC programs, the above text is almost like deja vu. The language remains more or less the same, only the Countries which are for and against the positions change.

But if India truly achieves what it has set itself up to, there is hope.

The Prime Minister’s recent announcement to install 1 lakh (100,000) megawatts of solar power is surely a large sum and a super ambitious goal . That is $100 billion in investments by India alone. When compared to  $9.95 billion rich nations have committed to the Green Climate Fund, India seems to be more commited to abatement than rest of the Developed World. 

But one must listen closely to Environment secretary Ashok Lavasa said, “Of the 80,000 MW of new generation in the 12th Plan (2012-17), 35% will be from renewable sources – solar, wind and biomass. This will go up to 45% in the 13th Plan (2018-22), there will be 110,000 MW generated through conventional means, 100,000 MW from renewables.” If India had planned to generate the same amount of electricity in thermal power plants, it would burn an additional 130 million tonnes of coal every year, with its corresponding GHG emission, he added.

But the problem lies with not what is being said, instead what is happening on ground. In recent events post an acrimonious Parliament Winter session, which brought down the total opposition rating by a notch or two, important legislations were missed. And now the Government uses the Ordnance route to dismantle a few decisions which the previous government had made, which could be termed as positive. The Land Acquisition Bill at least had halted the mindless greed of many who would pillage the Earth with the most amazing excuse. The below article is mind boggling to any person who cares for the long term well-being of the Planet and wealth generation for India.

Will coal or solar power fuel India’s drive to bring electricity to its villages?

Krishnan Guru-Murthy in Madhya Pradesh, The Guardian, Thursday 30 October 2014 20.03 GMT

The village of Geer in Madhya Pradesh is about to undergo the simplest of revolutions. After 25 years of being told electricity is coming, it is finally here…….There are, according to the World Bank, around 400 million Indians waiting for electricity. The new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has pledged to connect them all within five years and plans to do so with an unprecedented dash for coal. India has the fifth largest deposits in the world but has not been mining them, so coal-fired power stations import about a third of their supply. The government has made it clear that has to change, but is being frustrated by a combination of environmental protest, court battles over corruption and the constitutional rights of tribal communities who claim mines threaten their livelihoods…….Among the companies trying to deliver Modi’s vision is Mahan Coal, jointly owned by British-registered Essar Energy and Indian corporate giant Hindalco. Chief executive Ramakant Tiwari has spent seven years battling to get permission to begin a vast opencast mine in a section of the Mahan forest. It is one of the last natural forests left in Madhya Pradesh and breathtakingly beautiful. But as we stand on a hill surveying the area Mahan Coal plans to dig, Tiwari insists he will make it even better.

“Do you not feel bad, destroying a forest and turning it into a vast scar on the landscape?” I ask.

“We are not destroying anything. We are just taking the old trees which have become coal and planting new trees for the future,” he insists. Tiwari, who looks and sounds more like a charity worker than a mining boss, sells it as part of the natural cycle of human development…….(read more)

The villagers living next to the mines see things differently. In Chilika Daad, they are sick and tired of the blasting and the dust. They say the promises they were given of development, investment and jobs were broken and all they have are homes they can’t sell and lives they can’t change.

The fact that a CEO of a Company actually believes that he can play God, is beyond belief. But this is perhaps the actual face which the world and especially the UNFCCC must take into consideration before putting into text any resolution in Paris 2015.

The Indian Prime Minister has one thing which he should not let go. And that is the belief common persons have in him. But when the voice of both the poor and those engaged in prevention of looting of the Nations Wealth in the process of creating of short-term riches are not heard; disaster shall follow.

Both Political & Economic.

Many around the world would agree that our present Prime Minister is a great orator. And one thing any good speaker would agree is that a speech becomes as good as the belief one has on the words spoken. If one doesn’t believe in the word s/he speaks it would reflect. Our Prime Minister believes, or so we would like to remember him by. But recent events and actions show that he is in a hurry to bring in all that he has promised. And that too in a very short time.

The one singular thing this Government is forgetting is that it won on a plank of “Good Governance” NOT  “Get Quickly Rich”.

And the people of this Country and the World are ready to wait a little, for long-term sustainable gains. All our Prime Minister needs to do, when “ankle biters” pursue him, towards the path of self and Nation destruction; is to talk to his people in “Maan Ki Baat“. As after many moons India is witnessing a Statesman and a Visionary, it would be sad indeed to find a Politician instead.

The faith one reposed on the NDA was as said, on good governance. This becomes somewhat shaky when one gets to read news which give confusing and conflicting messages –

Is Narendra Modi a climate sceptic? The Guardian,

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, reportedly will be a no-show at the United Nations climate summit this month. Could it be because he does not accept the science behind climate change?……..“Climate has not changed. We have changed. Our habits have changed. Our habits have got spoiled. Due to that, we have destroyed our entire environment,” the rightwing leader told students in a video Q&A, according to India Today on Friday. (read more)

The Prime Minister, understand the situation of our Nation better than most of us, but it would put him in good stead if the people within the Nation help him with the tools he needs to keep at arms length the pressure to “get quickly rich” and then end up in a polluted ditch, as did China. By becoming the factory nation producing the worst polluting products the “white man does not want to produce in his back yard, but happily consumes”.

An environmentalist looks at the World as one, thus the parting thoughts to help assuage the determination in walking a Clean, Green & Suatainable Business path is perhaps found in the recent disappearance of the AirAsia Aircraft supposedly due to bad weather conditions. It is indeed a very sad news, which every major TV/Newspaper is covering.

But what is not being said is the report published in the IPCC AR5. These disasters are waiting to happen. And while in most cases in Climate Change is was the LDC ( least developed nations) & SIS ( small island states) which were and are most affected. Recent storm and severe weather events are affecting the Developed Nations too.

IPCC Report: ‘severe and pervasive’ impacts of climate change will be felt everywhere

31 March 2014 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today issued a report saying the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents and across the oceans. The world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate. The report also concludes that there are opportunities to respond to such risks, though the risks will be difficult to manage with high levels of warming.

Severe Weather Conditions are predicted by IPCC as result of Climate Change around the World

The report, titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from Working Group II of the IPCC, details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks. A total of 309 coordinating lead authors, lead authors, and review editors, drawn from 70 countries, were selected to produce the report. They enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors, and a total of 1,729 expert and government reviewers.

The report concludes that responding to climate change involves making choices about risks in a changing world. The nature of the risks of climate change is increasingly clear, though climate change will also continue to produce surprises. The report identifies vulnerable people, industries, and ecosystems around the world. It finds that risk from a changing climate comes from vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping with hazards (triggering climate events or trends). Each of these three components can be a target for smart actions to decrease risk.

“We live in an era of man-made climate change,” said Vicente Barros, Co-Chair of Working Group II. “In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.” (read more)

As those who travel more frequently by air-planes are CEO’s of Coal Mining Companies and the likes. As all tragedy are by default learning experience. The least the second-hand perpetrators ( second hand because, users by default of using the modern tools which they buy and create demand thereof,might be the first) could do to help in abatement of Climate Change is to pause and find that perhaps the old fashioned mining for Coal is a better option than making an open cast mine. We all understand that the present Renewable Energy Solutions are “bridge solutions” at best and we need further R&D to perfect it. But this does not give us the excuse to rip the heart out because some idiot, greedy, short-sighted human, whose only contribution to this planet was amassing riches from the plunder of earth; said it was cheap. The families of any natural disaster victim would tell you what price they have paid for the folly of following the path of self- aggrandizement by a few.

A few ideas can be found in the articles which our PM must read (Sustainable Mining should be The BASICs agenda at UNFCCC-Doha.;Green Business Ideas – Abandoned coalfields can boost RE and save forest in India.). It may help save India and perhaps the Planet.

Related articles

• It’s Time to Put a Price on Carbon

 

Green Business Idea – It’s time we sell oxygen to Nations!

COP19 or CMP9 was held in Warsaw, Poland from 11 to 23 November 2013. Typhoon Haiyan hit Philippines from November 2 to 11 2013. .

CoP20 or CMP10 is being held in Lima, Peru from the 1 to 12 December 2014. Typhoon Hagupit is currently ongoing….

The reason for this repeat disaster is simple…

the World simply can’t agree to pay a price for Carbon !

It is a fact.No person on Earth would willingly want to pay for something, if it could be had for free.

But every Nation loves to sell !!

We have been quite successful in selling “Carbon”. The use of the word “Success” here implies that the concept of selling “thin air” which CO2 is; is possible. Not the success or failure of the Kyoto Protocol.

This proves beyond doubt that anything sells…all that is need is proper persuasion and packaging !

But, it is also true that the end result must be profitable. And the business plan must be sustainable. Neither is true in the case of selling Carbon. Simply because, almost all of us are hard-wired to accept Oxygen as the breadth of life. And Carbon is associate with “waste” which we discharge when exhaling! Rest of  the gases are a little less understood by the common person.

And what can’t be appreciated can’t be sold ! Even with a UN mandate and regulation in place.

This is an angle the Climate Change Negotiators must factor into their thinking ! Therefore if we wish to truly bring in a paradigm shift in the thinking of the common person. Who is also a Voter. One must change track.

By selling Oxygen to a World plagued by Carbon we may just turn the tide to the less than 2°C goal.

Let’s argue this concept and lay the ground work for the idea to find acceptance by stating some facts as under.

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions

World’s Worst Air Pollution By Cities 2010.

There is Global agreement to the fact that Pollution reduces the life-span of persons by about 5 years. Add to that the regular loss of business due to erratic attendance of the work-force which gets plagued by various ailments. Which finally adds up to loss of National per capita earning and wealth generation.

When we bring into the forefront the devastation which Global Warming brings, not many can understand. It is not because they do not understand the text or visual media. It is because human brain is conditioned to make one feel that s/he is immortal and also blessed.

Misfortune usually happens to others. It is to be appreciated for what it is, but rarely does one feel the actual pain of others. And those who do, are termed as Saints, by the lesser mortals.

California drought worst in at least 1,200 years

Therefore a person living in Philippines, which is facing the treat of flood and rain once more in 13 months can not comprehend the hardships faced by the people in the severest drought California is facing in 1200 years. 

The resultant effect is scarcity of water, which the residents are facing and somewhere the society has started to respond to the crisis by relearning to live sustainably.The California State Govt has in its official web-page come up with various ideas and advisories for the California Drought.

And unprecedented demand to have it all within the shortest possible time has also scarred India.

The Flood Ravaged Kashmir Valley

Sustainable living which people in India still know by default, is sadly fast fading as we in our attitude to “arrive” become more Occidental than Oriental.

And the greatest tragedy is that the devastation of Kashmir would be felt at Kanyakumari. In manners yet to be flagged as urgent.

For when any modern City faces such devastation, the effect is not limited to the personal tragedy of that region. Neither is it limited to the Economic loss of the Nation. For lurking in the background is the long term effect it has on the ecosystem.

And as we all know the Ecosystem has the potential to nurture Life. And its poisoning due to the folly of human can only invite disaster. What guarantee do we have that the super poisonous water, as any flood water must turn into [ when mixed with the carcases of the dead and laced with the leaching of substances like plastic, chlorides, barium, cadmium, lead & arsenic; all that can be found in many a electrical, electronic appliances, building materials and furniture & furnishings.] will not be reaching the ground water and rivers which irrigate the fertile soil which grow a Nations food ?

And such is not the case with the poisonous waters of River Jhelum reaching Punjab through Kashmir ? Can any of the SAARC Nations therefore guarantee that the food products which it would be trading would not therefore be poisoned to some degree? And can the World therefore not wake up to the risk that produce from this region could be harmful to their National Health?

The potential turmoil such thoughts such as above can create must be nipped at the bud. Simply by pointing to the above as a plausible theory.

When death becomes personal, it becomes urgent.

Thus the idea of selling Oxygen the Life giver would find relevance in the lethargic Climate Negotiations.

What one must not confuse with this recommendation, is that it is not asking for any contextual change in the way Climate Change Negotiations have been drafted. It would be self-defeating to undo a single comma or phrase our World Leaders in their wisdom have accepted. So no one is seeking the removal of the term “Carbon Sequestration”  or “Carbon Abatement” or “Carbon Offset“. So which ever method of Carbon Capture and Storage is accepted by the World all that the UNFCCC requires to do is create an Supplementary page on which the Nations agree to sell the above concept as “Selling Oxygen”.

The idea of Life is so powerful that it inspires prose & poetry. There can be no form of advertisement more powerful to sell an idea than having them being told by people who can breathe life to words..literally !

Corporates therefore would have a wonderful tool to take up the tasks of cleaning up their Carbon Emission mess either due to mandatory laws crafted by the Nations or as CSR.

It would be much easy to explain to the common person, that with every bit of Carbon-di-Oxide rise into the atmosphere, the Oxygen gets diminished as the CO2 takes away the O2 from the Air.  And with diminished Oxygen, it is that much harder to breathe. The only salvation therefore is to clean up the air. The encouragement it would receive could revive a lot many industries engaged in this task.

While there may not at present be any scientific data to explain the theory, Nature is about balance of system. In school the classical experiment of burning  a candle under the bell jar produces no change in weight, even post the last wax melts away gives some credence to the idea some are talking about in the annals of Climate Change conferences.

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