Bleak Prospects at Durban By Dr Arvind Kumar The 17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) opened in Durban, South Africa, on 28 November this yea ...

Building Flood-Resilient Cities According to a news report recently released by IRIN news agency, there are about 3,000 low-lying cities vulnerable to frequent floods in the world. Asia accounts for m ...

Achim Steiner on Climate Change Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, spoke to Christian Schwägerl of SPIEGEL about the current state of global climate negotiati ...

FDI in Retail The UPA Government’s decision to throw open the huge Indian market to multinational companies, which had been lobbying for years for entry into multi-brand retail has evoked mixed reacti ...

Asian Cities Food Resilience By Dr Arvind Kumar Experts at a recently held UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) workshop in Bangkok on resilient food systems in Asia said that Asia’s largest cit ...

Regional disaster response in Asia By Dr Arvind Kumar Recent media reports indicate that the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Center) was formally endo ...

Weather Disasters & Climate Change By Dr Arvind Kumar According to a UN science report released on 18 November the link between climate change and extreme weather events, including punishing heat ...

Cooking Stoves Linked to Pneumonia By Dr Arvind Kumar According to a recent study published in Lancet journal and reported by the media, in many developing nations around the world, cooking is primari ...

Global Fund in limbo By Dr Arvind Kumar Media reports show that international assistance to the Global Fund to fight HIV, TB and Malaria has more than halved the estimated amount of money available in ...

Climate Change & Rivers By Dr Arvind Kumar According to a recent study, soaring temperatures and erratic rains brought on by a changing climate may radically alter water flows in the world’s major ...