HindRock Singer and Youth icon Palash Sen calls for 350, comes in full support of 350.org

Established by the Civil Services Society in the Indian capital city of Delhi, Sanskriti has become one of the leading schools in the little over ten years time period of its establishment. The school recently won an award for its work with ragpickers and slum-children and has addressed its share of equity issues. Today, right in front of my eyes, Sanskriti School became another first.

The school called for ‘Sanskriti 350′ – an inter-school event inviting eco-clubs from over 30 schools, in a bid to highlight the importance of 350. Remarkably enough, Sanskriti (meaning culture) 350 was an event completely for the youth, by the youth and of the youth!

The youth event had everything from a green fashion show, a brainstorming session, green film competition, ad-mad, to a rock-band competition titled ‘the sounds of 350′! The event saw a good participation and was inaugurated by the Secreatary, Environment in the Government of Delhi Mr. J.K. Dadoo – who elaborated on the science and policy of climate change. He also warned the students of a disease called ‘affluenza’ which, according to him, is a major threat to the global environment. (more…)

India Habitat Center and the National Geographic Channel present an interesting platform for motivated agents of change. Taglined ‘U can either WAIT for the Change or Be The Change’, IHC calls for enteries for an essay competition on the topic:

India’s Youth Energy – Power and Potential – Your Vision

Grand Prize: Fully funded Summer programme at Cambridge University U.K. Other finalist get to intern with National Geographic Channel and other reputed organisations and NGOs

Eligibility: Under-graduate students only. Click here for further information.

Interested individuals should send a 1500-2000 word essay on the above mentioned topic to priyanka@indiahabitat.org latest by December 15th, 2008.

It gives us immense pleasure to introduce iClimate – the IYCN Social Networking website which is a next step in uniting the youth in India for a clean, bright future.

Link: http://iclimate.ning.com (Or http://iclimate.iycn.in)

All of you are invited to join iClimate and we hope you will find this social network useful in sharing your ideas, plans, activities and your vision for the future.

Hoping to meet you all there!

The city of Agra in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has a rich heritage and culture. It is the next big city on the banks of river Yamuna after the capital Delhi. The city also has a series of forts, monuments and structures of historical importance that invite travelers and tourists from all over the world. However and unarguably, it is the Taj Mahal – one of the seven wonders of the world, that not only puts Agra on the world map, but also makes it one of the three tourist destinations that form the Golden Triangle (Delhi – Jaipur – Agra).

The city of Agra has stood the test of time as conquering forces have passed through the subcontinent and taken hold of this jewel.  But now that the hitherto unknown force of climate change looms large, citizen groups and the Indian Youth Climate Network have called for a city wide Youth Summit on Environment and Climate Change.

While the world awakens to this global threat, Agra and its youth sleep—unaware of the challenges that lie ahead for a city already beleaguered by the current sad state.  Who will arise to this challenge of global proportions?  Will Agra lie sleeping until it is too late?  The city of the Taj which opens itself to millions from across the world annually deserves better.

As the number of tourists continue to soar, the city which lays in shambles must have its conscience awaken to ensure that the citizens arise to greater civic duty so that the image of not only our city, but of the nation is not tarnished in the eyes of the world.  One of the seven wonders of the world resides here, let that be an inspiration to make Agra drive the winds of change towards a new vision of a better world, a more sustainable world.

This above is the vision for the day long Agra Calling Summit on the 2nd of August 2008, which aims to bring together three key stakeholders - the Government, the NGOs and the youth. The challenges the ’wonder’ful city of Agra faces today are not just the global ones.  A toxic drain, the Yamuna, flows through the city.  Traffic is becoming harder to manage.  Monuments of Agra’s resplendent past crumble with neglect, and the populace has no direction how or where to begin to address these problems.

The summit will serve as a network wherein, the flow of information and action is from the experts to the masses through the channel of the students and the youth who have the energy and the vision to bring about change.

With inputs from Neha Chaturvedi, Coordinator: Agra Calling. The Summit is part of the Indian Youth Climate Network’s dedicated attempt to bring together the youth of India for a clean, bright future.

It was only yesterday that the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) – the ruling party in India – was negotiating the Nuclear Deal with the United States, in an attempt to boost the country’s Nuclear Power sector. And now that the deal is set and ready to be signed, the Government is itself struggling to stay in power. Energy and ‘Power’ have indeed been closely associated in the recent past and politics is known to be governed by the energy sector. But when the world’s largest democracy faces a political crisis over an energy policy, we can safely conclude that in the climate constrained world of today, the only way to stay in power is to get the energy policy right!

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Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh at the National Action Plan on Climate Change Release Function

Barely a week after the release of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), citizen groups and civil society members from across India began putting forward their viewpoints on the Action Plan. Shortly after the release, the Climate Challenge India (CCI) coalition, a grouping of environmental experts, financiers, businesspeople, analysts and activists committed to developing a positive leadership agenda on climate change for India, issued an independent Interim Assessment of the Government of India’s ‘National Action Plan on Climate Change’. The assessment gives the Government a B+ for effort and a D for vision. NAPCC was released on the 30th of June 2008 by the Prime Minister of India, in a high profile function in New Delhi.

While welcoming the fact that a national action plan has been tabled for discussion, the group concluded that an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on a critical issue for the country has been missed. Although the Plan talks of promoting a more coherent approach to sustainable development across government departments, it does not demonstrate the adoption of a new, more forward-looking agenda based on ensuring climate security for the nation, or a well-thought through strategy chalking out a discernible low-carbon pathway for India. There is also an absence of any sense of palpable urgency about climate change, or the establishment of clear targets and timetables for action that would have reflected a more serious level of commitment by the government.

Indeed, many vestiges of the Governments old approach to climate policy and mindset are exhibited in the Action Plan. For example, in the very first paragraph of the report, the Government takes a dig at developed countries for having caused the climate change problems in the first place. More welcome is the recognition that climate change is a serious inter-generational challenge and that particular attention needs to be paid in adaptation strategies to gender and vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly. But the absence of any attention to the need for climate-resilient planning for India’s metropolises or Tier II cities in the Action Plan, shows an utter lack of understanding about the challenge to human habitats posed by climate change.

This is not to suggest that the report is entirely without merit. There are a number of welcome measures in the report. The focus on the further enhancement of eight mission areas many of them already the subject of national plans is appreciable. Realizing that if key aspects of the report are to be implemented and improved upon, they will require the engagement of India’s many diverse and enterprising communities, CCI has requested the Government to establish mechanisms to promote such engagement, and has also committed itself to a democratization of debate on climate policy and its effective implementation in India.

Click here to read the 52 page long NAPCC |  Click here to read the 7 page Interim Assessment of NAPCC

Also posted on EcoWorldly
Image Source: PMO’s Press Release

…or so the media has us all believe.

About two weeks ago, the Government of Delhi, India unveiled the much hyped Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), previously popular here as the High Capacity Bus Corridor (HCBS) and the construction for which had been on for the last few months. The little under 6 Km BRT stretch that is now completed and is being trial run came at the cost of some lives (accidental deaths) and at the reported cost of about 3,000 heritage trees of Delhi. The dedicated bus lanes invited mixed reaction from the public; with the car users complaining about having to spend more time on the road now than before and the bus riders being annoyed with the bus-stands being displaced to the middle of the road. Poor design and lack of coordination between different stake holders further worsened the situation. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, the media has taken on itself to narrate the “failure of BRT story” with much fervour.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Delhi is the brainchild of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi’s Traffic Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) and has been executed by RITES Ltd., a Govt. of India enterprise. The Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) a “special purpose vehicle” set up by the Govt. is supervising the Project. Clearly then, the Project does not have a single master: probably leading to the mess. The BRT stretch now requires over 70 traffic marshals, 35 traffic policemen and 20 transport department officials for enforcement.

However, it is not just poor planning and lack of coordination that is leading to the mayhem on the corridor. The people using the corridor are to be equally blamed. While the authorities are trying their best to ensure people drive in the lanes meant for the type of vehicle they are using, motorists are violating every rule in the book. The cycle lane is the worst hit and sees more motorcycles, scooters and auto-taxis than cycles. The BRT needs a disciplined traffic to work best, and Delhi unfortunately does not relate much to the latter. Halting on the road to take a call, changing lanes without signaling, over-speeding and jumping signals isn’t something too uncommon in the city. In fact, it is this very discipline now required to maintain on the road, that has been irritating many.

Apparently, the media has initiated a “scrap BRT campaign” of its own! Ever since the first trial run, images and footage of cars waiting forever, motorcycles scattered around the signals, pedestrians not knowing where/how to go; have been put up on the front page/prime time by several media houses. What is unfortunate is that the media seems to have ignored the large number of people who have benefited from the launch of the BRT. While some 1.2 lakh people using their personal vehicles may facing problems and hating the BRT, more than double this number of people using buses have not complained. Rather, they have not been heard.

To gain some experience, I myself took a ride on the entire strecth of the BRT. It felt good, the journey was much speedier and the same bus that used to crawl on the road was at a speed that would not have ever been possible without the corridor. The new low floored buses that have been around for some time added to my pleasant experience. Minus the AC, the experience came pretty close to what it feels when one travels in the Delhi Metro!

Next day, I took my car on the same route, got stuck at all signals – with an empty lane on my left – that had buses zooming pass by me. Then, I realized why all the irritation, disgust and hatred was for!

3TIER: one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide announced the opening of an office in Bangalore, India this month. It should be noted here that India is one of the top four wind-power markets in the world and also, the most developed market in Asia.

According to Kenneth Westrick, fonder and CEO of 3TIER, “India has the elements needed to prove that it is possible to leapfrog fossil fuels and fully integrate renewable energy projects into a country’s energy portfolio. He further elaborated on his statement by informing that India has good wind resources in its southern and western states, tremendous potential to tap into solar and hydropower, a government commitment to explore renewable energy sources and a market of more than 1 billion people – including 420 million people with no access to electricity.

Of the total number of villages in India with no access to electricity, it can be said with absolute certainty that close to 40% of these cannot be electrified using fossil fuels. Thus, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower can play an even greater role by electrifying remote parts of the country. “As the most densely populated country in the world with many villages that have no electricity, there is strong demand to augment the power grid in India,” said Steven Cashen, 3TIER’s Director of International Marketing Development. “3TIER will work closely with developers to assess and forecast potential wind, solar and hydro energy projects.” explained Cashen.

3TIER uses its knowledge about weather, climate and their impacts on weather-driven renewable energy resources to help developers make better decisions about their investments – before, during and after projects are built. The Archean Group, an India-based wind energy developer and Independent Power Producer (IPP) and a large conglomerate of businesses spanning various interests as ores and minerals, coal, common salt, industrial chemicals, shipping and ship building and alternate energy resources has already signed an agreement to use 3TIER’s FullView Assessment™. The latter is a powerful tool that provides highly customized information about specific wind or solar resources at any global location scalable from project sites to entire countries. The group proposes to set up large-scale wind energy projects in India, for sale of power to the grid and for captive consumption by its group companies.

“With the rapid growth of the renewable energy market, developers are looking for the quickest way to find information about potential project sites, as well as how to maximize their energy production,” Cashen said.  “India’s anticipated growth and commitment to developing renewable power sources is a powerful combination to providing a viable solution to bring power to those without.”

From the EcoWorldly Blog.

The Climate Project (TCP) – a world-wide organization that supports Mr. Al Gore’s efforts on promoting climate change activism – launched its India chapter (TCP India) this weekend. With support and patronage from Mr. Gore and Dr. R.K. Pachauri and with funding and in-kind support from the JSW Foundation, TCP carried out a training session at the India Habitat Center, New Delhi. During the session, some hundred carefully selected Indian delegates from different professions were personally trained by Mr. Gore and others to spread the message of climate change and take up informed actions within their communities.

Mr. Gore categorically emphasized the need for India to play an even greater role in combating climate change and in being a leader in taking such initiatives. “India is the world’s future”, he declared and went on to inspire the delegates to take the right action now lest all of us would regret later.

At a dinner hosted in his honor, a day before the training session, Mr. Gore talked about the opportunity that lies ahead, to raise global consciousness to a higher level. “As we do so” he further went on to add, “we will find it much easier to solve the crisis of extreme poverty, to solve the challenge of HIV/AIDS, to find the political will to halt the destruction of precious forest of the planet and the devastation of ocean fishery, to stop the chronic civil wars fought by child soldiers and to bring relief to all those who are suffering unnecessarily from easily preventable diseases.”He also pressed upon the need for nations to come together to address the above challenges, all of which are now defined as political problems. “Our ability to address them will increase as we develop the capacity for vision and build the moral authority essential to taking action together as a civilization,” was the take home message by him for the night.

The training session was even more thought provoking and the energy level and the charisma carried by Mr. Gore ensured that every eye was fixed on him throughout the day. There were useful inputs by Dr. Pachauri and the rest of the TCP team that kept trickling and adding to the learning experience as well. Mr. Gore’s passion and concern for the planet and towards the human civilization was exhibited in every single sentence that he put across. The audience only got more and more engaged as Mr. Gore shifted from one slide to the next. He concluded the day with sending best wishes to all and hoping for a better planet. He left back a fully charged up audience impatient to get out and spread the message while still wanting to hear and learn more from him.

TCP India is slated to be an independent body with a skills based advisory board to lend expertise and advice towards issues pertaining to climate change. It is also being setup to spread the TCP message further and to develop “Green curriculum” to support existing training/education.