Organic waste ending up in landfills is one of the major causes of methane generation which is the second highest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. India’s landfills contribute to about 20% of the methane generated in the country.
The world’s mangroves, sea grasses and salt marshes together comprise ‘blue carbon ecosystems.’ They are nature’s most effective carbon sinks.
Current studies suggest that mangroves and coastal wetlands annually sequester carbon at a rate 10 times greater than mature tropical forests. They also store three to five times more carbon per equivalent area than tropical forests.
A recent report titled Blue Carbon and its role in Carbon Sequestration revealed that mangroves alone have the capacity to store more than 1,000 tons of carbon per hectare.
In just five questions, explore the circular economy—what it is, why it’s crucial for sustainability, and the challenges of adopting it.
Microplastics are an invisible pollutant, affecting everything from ocean life to human health. They’re the size of a sand grain. At smaller than 5 millimetres (mm), microplastics enter us through the air we breathe, through food we eat and even through skin. Here’s why India should be taking this issue seriously.
Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh has a long-established leather industry with two major leather clusters, Jajmau and Unnao, that contribute significantly to the local economy. The legacy leather sector, however, is a polluting industry causing problems such as water pollution which has led to increased regulatory scrutiny and operational restrictions.
Kanpur’s tanneries are adopting innovative sustainable practices, such as Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems and water recycling, to reduce their environmental footprint.
The National Biodiversity Authority, which regulates and conserves India’s biological resources, is looking to expand Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) – geographic areas that are not legally protected but that also host biodiversity – as a strategy to meet its newly updated biodiversity goals.
In October 2024, India officially committed to the “effective” conservation of 30% of the country’s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030, when it submitted its updated Biodiversity Plan and targets to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD).
