Icons made by Freepik from http://www.flaticon.com The German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas, recently released the ‘Policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific’ (hereinafter the “Indo-Pacific Policy”). The 72-page document is available here. The Indo-Pacific Policy is intended to identify areas for cooperation between Germany and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region (which is defined […]
Reecntly Lekha Sridhar and I wrote in The Wire about a recent amendment to the Basel Convention which will change the standard for plastic waste export by developed countries to developing countries, now requiring prior informed consent from the developing country. We examine the genesis of the Basel Convention, what this development means for the […]
An article I co-authored with Bharath Jairaj in the Jindal Global Law Review on India’s energy transition titled ‘An assessment of India’s energy transition: Paris and beyond’ is available here. The abstract is set out below. Abstract Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, climate change has gained greater prominence as a topic […]
I wrote recently with Bharath Jairaj in Firstpost about why the Ministry of Power’s proposal to classify energy from large hydropower projects as “renewable energy” is ill-conceived and flawed. While India should remain strong in its commitment to de-carbonization through expanding its installed capacity for renewable energy, shifting the goalposts to re-define the concept of […]
The previous post about solutions for risk mitigation in the renewable energy sector briefly touched upon the possibility of using the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), which has been used in the road sector in India. This post will examine this theme in some more detail. The renewable energy power plant model entails high capital costs […]
An earlier post discussed the poor financial health of utilities in India, and some of the problems faced in the renewable energy sector as a result. This post will be a discussion of potential measures that could be considered to mitigate the risks faced by renewable energy power producers, and better protect their financial interests. […]
The Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently released two notifications related to environmental clearance. Green norms for the building and construction sector The first one is a notification published on November 15, 2018, relaxing the green norms for the building and construction sector. A copy of this notification is not available […]
I wrote about the Supreme Court’s directions on firecrackers here. Some of the Constitutional aspects of the judgment have been discussed here. This is the final post in the series of posts on the Supreme Court’s firecracker ban. Here I will discuss some concerns arising out of the timing of the judgment, and the potential […]
I wrote about the contents of the recent Supreme Court judgment on firecracker here. The partial ban on firecrackers directed by the Supreme Court has polarized opinion. One school of thought believes that a partial ban, in the current conditions of severe air pollution, is inadequate. Another somewhat related criticism of the judgment is about […]
At the time of writing this, on the eve of Diwali 2018, the AQI in Delhi lies steadfastly in the “Hazardous” category, as it has been for several hours now. Yet, I can hear the sound of firecrackers outside my house, in open defiance of not just concerns of health and self-preservation, but also a […]
India Environment Blog 