Environment Support Group

ESG Opinion

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Modi government’s new environmental laws a threat to India’s biodiversity and forests

The seamless passage of the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, effectively emasculating regulatory powers contained in the parent laws, namely, the Biological Diversity Act (BDA) 2002 and the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980, was guaranteed by the absence of the entire opposition, which was boycotting Parliament demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on the Manipur crisis.

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Biodiversity & BiopiracyCampaignsESG Opinion
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Protecting Brinjal from piracy at a time when MoEF&CC dilutes biodiversity laws

The Supreme Court’s decision restoring ESG’s PIL comes at a time when the world is preparing to address grave biodiversity losses due to trade, biopiracy, over extraction and also due to climate change as part of the 15th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Montreal 7th to 19th, December, 2022.

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BengaluruESG Opinion
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Greed Vs Green

Leo F. Saldanha, the coordinator of the non-profit Environment Support Group, which has been litigating for lake preservation for over two decades, says,
“All these were natural agricultural wetlands. But while putting up buildings, planners should have ensured space for water to collect and interlinkages to lakes downstream if they overflowed. It was a very simple thing to do, but we ignored it and the citizens are paying the price—as we all experienced in the recent floods.”

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ESG OpinionFeatured ArticlesMedia
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Why did Bengaluru get badly flooded? | Express Dialogues

Bengaluru witnessed torrential rains and floods that created a disastrous impact. As a result, a large part of #Bengaluru was underwater.
The New Indian Express spoke to experts to understand the cause and effect of this concerning issue.Experts go on to state that rapid construction, encroachment, and corruption are behind the crisis.

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EnergyESG OpinionSolar
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Securing Skilled Jobs for the Present and the Future

Good research-based approaches to skill building are the need of the hour in order to identify the right approaches in building a broad spectrum of jobs. Anticipating Skill Needs for Green Jobs is a study that offers practical guidance on building employment opportunities  and developing short term job oriented skill courses.  From the experiences of the pandemic it has been learned that it is certainly more beneficial for society overall to provide a range of skill training – from farm-based activities to non-farm skills – and speaking to the  needs of the region, even at the very local  levels. It is such an approach of care that will help youth in making wise choices to secure their futures, in ensuring economic security of their households and to look to the future with dignity and confidence.

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AdvocacyEnvironment & Forest PolicyEnvironmental GovernanceESG Opinion
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Fundamental dilution of Environmental Laws and Jurisprudence of India Proposed

The current proposed amendments to four major environmental laws, are effectively a big step away from India’s long held statutory tradition of protecting environmental and natural resources and is a clear indicator of prevailing priority: putting business and commercial interest over environmental protection and safeguarding human rights.  The draft Bills were put out on 1st July 2022 by the Ministry in English, not any of the other Scheduled languages, and the commenting period ends on 21st July 2022.  Never in the history of India has there ever been such a rush to put interests of international and national business empires over that of peoples of India and its biodiversity.   

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EnergyESG OpinionSolar
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Designing a low energy home

The most important aspect of a sustainable house or infrastructure is to create one that consumes less energy in both its production and operation. As human civilization settles down comfortably into a lifestyle of energy and product consumption, we lead ourselves to believe that we can become green by just shifting the source of energy generation, unwilling to fathom that unnecessary product and process creation is the underlying issue. Energy reduction and lifestyle changes can pave the way for true sustainability.

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Pavagada solar plant shines, but at what cost?

Alternative sources of energy like solar is the way ahead but going forward in this realm requires a need to understand that mega power plants spanning thousands of acres, commissioned by converting habitable lands may not be the right way to do it. Solar plants can coexist with farming, animal rearing and other rural livelihoods. It just needs more dialogue and local people’s participation to suit the local landscapes.

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EnergyESG OpinionSolar
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Reimagining Renewable Energy for this Earth day

22nd April 2022 will be the 52nd year since the observation of  Earth Day. A day that marked the birth of the modern environment movement across the West. Earth Day in the 1990s became a global call for action drawing attention of the world to the developing environmental crisis as a fallout of the Rio Summit 1992. Now we are enduring climate change impacts. The IPCC report 2022 warns if global carbon emissions are not reduced substantially, heat and humidity will surpass human tolerance and this can seriously impact human health and the economy.

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ESG OpinionSolar
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An office memorandum, a committee, and lack of clear objectives mark Women’s Empowerment by MNRE

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has issued an office memorandum on the 10th of March to constitute a committee to promote women-centric policies, programs and interventions in the RE sector. The memorandum claims that the MNRE under its various schemes and programmes, has been encouraging participation of women in RE sector and mentions a recent online session held on ‘Women in Renewable Energy (RE): Call for Action’ that was organized to acknowledge the role of women entrepreneurs and leaders in the Renewable energy Sector and to discuss the way forward. The ministry acknowledges the comments and feedback received on possible interventions to further increase participation of women in the RE growth story.

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CampaignsESG OpinionUrban GovernanceWaste Management
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Two Waste Management Stories From The Dakshina Kannada District

By: Janani S, The author is an architect and researcher on inclusive urbanism at Environment Support Group. Pachnady was still over 2 kilometres away but the stench of garbage reached us early. In 2019, the Pachnady landfill was in the news due to its slide down during the monsoons engulfing the residences and a temple in the vicinity. The solid waste of the city has polluted the groundwater here beyond repair rendering it unfit for drinking. Many of the farmers and other victims await their full compensation even after two years and their livelihoods witness a standstill as they are unable to cultivate in these degraded lands. In this context, we, researchers from the Environment Support Group, visited the waste management facility of Pachanady, Mangalore to get a better understanding of the prevailing situation.

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