Environmental Risk Analysis: Problems and Perspectives in Different Countries

The authors discuss various industrial accidents, which have led to growing concerns about the potential hazards and risks involved in chemical process industries

The role of fiscal instruments in encouraging the private sector and smallholders to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation: Evidence from Indonesia

While developing countries around the world are preparing to implement REDD+, there is a debate on the possible role of fiscal instruments in encouraging the private sector and smallholder stakeholders in reducing emissions. Drawing on a case of Indonesia, an early leader on REDD+, this paper investigates the role of fiscal instruments in encouraging the private sector to reduce forest-based emissions and the implications for improving the forest sector governance. In particular the study highlights the perspectives of a range of forest sector stakeholders on the role of fiscal instruments that contribute either positively or negatively to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Indonesia. The study comprised a review of the existing instruments in Indonesia, as well as surveys and interviews. An online survey and structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with a range of forest sector stakeholders, including government, civil society, academia, and palm oil concession holders. Findings indicate that there is a range of formal and informal fiscal instruments at the various jurisdictional levels, and a variety of incentives and disincentives. More emphasis on cross-sectoral co-ordination, alternatives to commodities such as palm oil, and continued land reform, is required

Environmental Justice in India: The National Green Tribunal and Expert Members

This article argues that the involvement of technical experts in decision making promotes better environmental results while simultaneously recognizing the uncertainty in science. India’s record as a progressive jurisdiction in environmental matters through its proactive judiciary is internationally recognized. The neoteric National Green Tribunal of India (NGT) – officially described as a ‘specialised body equipped with necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues’ – is a forum which offers greater plurality for environmental justice. The NGT, in exercising wide powers, is staffed by judicial and technical expert members who decide cases in an open forum. The experts are ‘central’, rather than ‘marginal’, to the NGT’s decision-making process. This article draws on theoretical insights developed by Lorna Schrefler and Peter Haas to analyze the role of scientific experts as decision makers within the NGT. Unprecedented interview access provides data that grants an insight into the internal decision-making processes of the five benches of the NGT. Reported cases, supported by additional comments of bench members, illustrate the wider policy impact of scientific knowledge and its contribution to the NGT’s decision-making process

The Indian State in a Liberalising Landscape

There has been much discussion recently on the 'great Indian land grab', i.e., the acquisition of fertile land by the government, and the handing over of this to large-scale industry. What do these ongoing land transfers tell us about the nature of the Indian state? To engage with prevalent views about state withdrawal from the economic sphere, or its reconstitution as a regulatory entity, this paper builds a picture of the state in a liberalising landscape based on empirical evidence. It outlines the role of the state in Gujarat province, during a transfer of 30 square kilometres of forest and coastal land to a cement manufacturing and exporting operation 'Karkhana Ltd'. The case of land liberalisation illustrated by the experience of Karkhana does not evince a state in withdrawal. Nor do we witness a regulatory state that watches a changing economy from the legal and coercive sidelines. As the normative legitimator of liberalisation, a buffer in the contentious politics of land, and as an institutional promoter of and manoeuvrer through the new land regime, India's state is central to the liberalising landscape.

Technical Capacity, Policymaking and Food Standards: An Overview of Indian Experience

The SPS Agreement in the WTO gives legal validity to the CODEX\ud standards. Since the developed countries have been at the forefront of\ud setting the food standards in the CODEX, the developing countries have\ud been increasingly engaged in the CODEX, and also in the WTO, with an\ud objective to increase their exports of the agricultural and food products.\ud But such objective and desire have often been stymied by the lack of\ud institutions which can sustain the intense technical negotiations at the\ud CODEX. If these participations are not qualitatively satisfactory, the very\ud objective of such participations is not fulfilled. But since most of the\ud developing countries are lacking in such high technical capacity, they are\ud unable to influence or qualitatively shape the negotiations in the CODEX.\ud This also impacts their exports of agricultural and food products.\ud India has been an active member of the WTO. But whether it has been\ud able to influence or respond to the play of events internationally and\ud concomitantly balance it with the domestic imperatives that are embedded\ud in the international legal and technological regimes, institutional capacity\ud constraints and other social issues. This paper examines such issues, and\ud also examines some bilateral trade agreements which demonstrate the\ud mounting pressure on the developing countries to conform to the food\ud standards of the developed countries

Drinking Water Salinity and Maternal Health in Coastal Bangladesh: Implications of Climate Change.

Background: Drinking water from natural sources in coastal Bangladesh has become contaminated by varying degrees of salinity due to saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels, cyclone and storm surges and upstream withdrawal of freshwater. Objective: Our objective was to estimate salt intake from drinking water sources and examine environmental factors that may explain a seasonal excess of hypertension in pregnancy. Methods: Water salinity data (1998-2000) for Dacope, in rural coastal Bangladesh, were obtained from the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information System. Information on drinking water sources, 24-hour urine samples and blood pressure were obtained from 343 pregnant Dacope women during the dry season (October 2009 - March 2010). The hospital-based prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy was determined for 969 pregnant women (July 2008 - March 2010). Results: Average estimated sodium intakes from drinking water ranged from 5 to 16 g/day in the dry season, compared to 0.6 - 1.2 g/day in the rainy season. Average daily sodium excretion in urine was 3.4 g/day (range 0.4 - 7.7 g/d). Women who drank shallow tubewell water were more likely to have urine sodium > 100 mmol/d than women who drank rainwater (OR=2.05, 95% CI: 1.11 - 3.80). The annual hospital prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy was higher in the dry season (12.2%, 95% CI: 9.5 - 14.8) than the rainy season (5.1%, 95% CI: 2.91 - 7.26). Conclusions: The estimated salt intake from drinking water in this population exceeded recommended limits. The problem of saline intrusion into drinking water has multiple causes and is likely to be exacerbated by climate change induced sea-level rise

Who Changed Delhi's Air? The Roles of the Court and the Executive in Environmental Decisionmaking

Although there is general public approval of the improvements in Delhi’s air quality in the recent years, the process by which this change was brought about has been criticized. A common perception is that air quality policies were prescribed by the Supreme Court, and not by an institution with the mandate for making environmental policy. A careful review of the policy process in Delhi suggests otherwise. We find that the government was intimately involved in policymaking and that the main role of the Supreme Court was to force the government to implement previously announced policies. A good understanding of what happened is essential, as the Delhi experience for instituting change has become a model for other Indian cities as well as neighboring countries.air quality, Supreme Court, compressed natural gas, Delhi

Chevron's seismic survey, USAID's Nishorgo project, the Lawachara National Park of Bangladesh: a critical review

The paper mainly reviews the USAID-funded Nishorgo project which is an environmental project undertaken for the conservation of the officially declared protected areas of Bangladesh. This project is based on a co-management approach having the major features of Public-Private Partnership arrangements. Both state and non-state actors including the local communities are the participants in the project. However, the operation of this project coincides with the business interests of the US-based multinational company- Chevron in the project sites. In fact, it conducted a seismic survey in the Lawachhara forest areas of north-eastern Bangladesh. But the survey raised a public controversy as it violated the municipal laws of the country on wildlife conservation. This paper takes a Gramscian perspective to review the two different but related MNC and donor projects. In this regard, the first project of seismic survey provides a case study for the analysis of Chevron’s operation in Bangladesh, while the second project reviews USAID sponsored Nishorgo. Based on field works, interviews, and content analysis of local newspapers, this paper finds that both projects appear to have some other purposes which are largely related to the economic interests of the USA. In both cases, members of the local public and private agencies appear to partner with their international cohorts, and neglect the genuine responsibility of conserving the forests, thus further complicating the principles of public-private partnership empirically

Mega projects in India Environmental and Land Acquisition Issues in the Road Sector

Mega projects (primarily infrastructure) receive a sizable investment (~10%) of the gross fixed capital formation in India. Environmental clearances and land acquisitions have been the two major reasons for delays in the projects. However, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of projects running on schedule and a sharp decline in the proportion of projects with cost overruns. These accomplishments have been achieved due to better financing, project management, and reform in the regulatory frameworks related to environmental and land acquisition aspects. The acceptance of a user fee and development of alternate sources of revenue have helped attract larger investments in mega projects. With increasing private sector participation, delays due to project management are expected to reduce. The modifications in the regulatory framework on environmental and land acquisition issues are moves in the right direction. However, methods used for assessments related to environmental impact and land acquisition are still manual, making the whole process time consuming. Technology could be a good instrument in reducing the time required for these assessments as well as in bringing transparency in the system. Decentralization with capacity building at the state level would also help in the long run in reducing these delays.