THE GREEN BULLETIN
GCESD Newsletter
18th Issue. March 20 - March 26, 2017.
POLLUTION
Google Street View cars turned into gas leak detectors
The Environmental Defense Fund funded the retrofitting of a fleet of Google Street View cars with gas leak-detecting technology and starting in 2013 these cars began roaming the streets of major cities to not only map the leaks, but also measure their severity.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/google-street-view-cars-turned-gas-leak-detectors.html
CLIMATE CHANGE
The Mental Health Toll of Climate Change Could Be Dire
Climate change isn't just causing extreme weather events, says a report co-authored by the American Psychological Association. It's also causing trauma and post-traumatic stress. The report suggests an individual’s core sense of identity could be undermined due to climate change disasters, and the binds that hold societies together might be pushed to their breaking point.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.seeker.com/health/the-mental-health-toll-of-climate-change-could-be-dire
High Temps on the High Seas
Under an international program begun in 2000, and that started producing useful global data in 2005, the world’s warming and acidifying seas have been invisibly filled with thousands of these bobbing instruments. They are gathering and transmitting data that’s providing scientists with the clearest-ever pictures of the hitherto-unfathomed extent of ocean warming. About 90 percent of global warming is ending up not on land, but in the oceans.
For more information, please visit:
http://archive.onearth.org/articles/2014/10/oceans-feel-the-heat-of-global-warming
ENVIRONMENTAL NORMS & POLICIES
India to halt all coal plant construction by 2022
Climate home report's that a draft plan by India's government suggests the country will cease construction of all new coal plants by 2022 at the latest. Basically, that means no new coal plants after the 50GW already under construction are completed. Alongside the admission that no new coal plants are needed beyond those already underway, the plan also calls for the addition of 100GW of solar and wind—a figure that would double the country's current renewable energy capacity.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/india-halt-all-coal-plant-construction-2022.html
Supreme Court bans registration, sale of BS-III cars
The Supreme Court on 29th March 2017 banned the sale and registration of Bharat Stage (BS)-III emission norm-compliant vehicles from April 1, saying the health of millions was more important than commercial interests. India will switch to the more efficient and stringent BS-IV norms, already in place in some parts of the country, including Delhi, from April 1.
For more information, please visit:
Lawsuit against Indian Government over failure to take ambitious climate action
9 year old Ridhima Pandey from Uttarakhand has a filed a petition before the National Greet Tribunal which includes allegations based on India’s constitution, the public trust doctrine, intergenerational equity and the alleged non-implementation of four environmental laws dating back as far back as 1980. The prayer asks the court to order the Government to prepare a carbon budget and a national climate recovery plan to ensure that India does its share to reduce atmospheric CO2 below 350 parts per million by the year 2100.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nine-ridhima-pandey-court-case-indian-government-climate-change-uttarakhand-a7661971.htmlEl Salvador Passes World’s First Total Ban on Metals Mining
El Salvador has become the first nation in the world to ban the mining of gold and other metals, ending a decades-long fight by activists to protect the country’s limited water resources. The federal government will grant small-scale artisanal gold miners a two-year grace period to close their operations, and will provide technical and financial support to help them do so.
For more information, please visit:
http://e360.yale.edu/digest/el-salvador-passes-worlds-first-total-ban-on-metals-mining
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
World Environment Conference: Govt argues for sustainable development
The Indian government argued for a plan for sustainable development balancing the need to protect the environment and continued growth at the third World Conference on Environment organized by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi.
For more information, please visit:
Artists, Lawyers come together in a unique collaboration on environment
In one of the most unique crossovers between environment, law and art, some known artists and lawyers will attempt to raise awareness through a mock court trial on green issues. The event “Landscape as Evidence: Artist as Witness,” the event will be conducted as a mock trial or in which participants are a retired judge, practicing lawyers and artists. Directed by Zuleikha Chaudhari in collaboration with Khoj International Artists’ Association, the event will be staged as a part-performance and a part real legal proceedings.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.india.com/news/agencies/artists-lawyers-come-together-in-a-unique-collaboration-on-environment-1988825/GNLU Centre for Environmental And Sustainable Development (GCESD)
GNLU Centre for Environmental and Sustainable Development
Ground Floor, Administrative Block
Gujarat National Law University
Attalika Avenue, Knowledge Corridor, Koba, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382007.
Email: gcel@gnlu.ac.in
Website: gnlu.ac.in
Location: Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Phone: 079-23276611