Tata Starbucks has announced that it will completely transition to compostable and recyclable packaging solutions across its stores in India by World Environment Day (5 June 2019). The company has been working since 2012 to eliminate the use of single-use plastic in its stores. Globally, Starbucks has been focusing on sustainability initiatives such as achieving…
Costa Rica has become the first country to announce its aim to become carbon-neutral by 2050. In an official decree signed by President Carlos Alvarado, the country plans to fully decarbonise by 2050 and has extended its moratorium on oil exploration to 2050. The country previously had an unofficial goal of going carbon-neutral by 2021….
Elections 2019 is happening right now, in a flurry of rallies, speeches, promises, mudslinging matches, and competing manifestoes. Expectedly, the two most-talked-about manifestoes belong to the two biggest political parties of the country. While the Congress’ well-received (by the liberal establishment) manifesto tried to concoct a heady mixture of proposals that sought to be pragmatic…
It is a testament to the mainstreaming of climate change that people are now aware of the 3Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle. While the first two Rs are yet to take off in terms of scale and popularity (although they are much more critical in the fight against global warming and pollution), recycling is becoming…
India’s cities hold 15 of the top 20 spots in the ‘world’s most polluted cities’ list for 2018, as per a report released by Greenpeace and IQAir AirVisual, a software company that tracks air-quality data. Leading the way is Gurugram followed by Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhiwadi and Noida. Faisalabad in neighbouring Pakistan is in the third…
Warming oceans are dramatically reducing fish populations, putting the ecosystem as well as income and food for millions of people at risk, as per a new study in the journal Science. The report – titled ‘Impacts of historical warming on marine fisheries production’ – found that the maximum sustainable yield that human beings could harvest…
A global initiative to create a new industry to bring some smart foods back as major staples has been launched by leading agriculture organisations from Africa and Asia. The inaugural meeting and signing of agreements by agricultural associations took place on 13 January 2019. The agreements resulted in the formation of the Smart Food Executive…
The beginning of this year saw the launch of a new organisation to develop solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the oceans. The new global alliance, Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), will commit over $1 billion to help end plastic waste and has set a target of investing $1.5 billion….
Starting from 2 February 2019, a new Hindi general entertainment fiction series called Navrangi Re! has been televised on the Rishtey channel. The drama series hopes to change behaviours on sanitation by building that message into its plot. The series is a partnership among Viacom18, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and development communications…
Earlier this month, it was reported that increasing global temperatures will melt at least one-third of the Himalayan glaciers by the end of this century. This is forecasted to happen even if the world meets its climate change targets as per the Paris Agreement. The study, called the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, was released by…
