Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

areas for im provement can be prio ritised. The env ironme nt al benchmarks can be used as part of an envi ronmenta l policy or management system, to demonstrate yea r-on- year improvement and e nvi ronmenta l credential s to in vestors and clients. It is also a risk institutions- TERI; Development Alternat ives; Administrat ive Staff Co ll ege, Hyderabad; and the Envi ronment Protection, Training and Research Institute, Hyderabad. Courtesy: TERI Newswtre. /- 15 Aug. 02. 1'21. Fax: -1682/.f.f or .f682/.f5 management too l that can he lp Email: outreach@teri.res .i11 investment decisions on renovation, di sposa l or purchasing. The so ftware is available to members of the Env ironmental Benchmarking Club, and technical support and advice is provided to members. Members contribute to the software deve lopment process by providing data to help develop the tool furth er and refine the benchmarks. A few of the members include: Alliance and Leicester pic; Boots Company pic; Telerea l Limited; Royal bank of Scotland, etc. Courtesy: W!STA !nnovation. Jut 02, P- I 0 Fax: 91- 11-./619083 Email: will!a..,nde.1 ·snl.net.in ll'eh: ll'll'll'.ll 'ills.org STATES ASKED TO FILE ENVI RONMENTREPORTS The Times ofIndia, 12 Aug 02 In an endeavour to make the states and Union territories more envi ronment-conscious, the Union Environmen t Ministry has asked them to prepa re regu lar environment reports. The Ministry fee ls that most s tates are ' not ade quatel y' se nsitized to environmental concerns and don't even have the basic data necessary for analys is or action. Only eight states or Un ion territories have made an effo rt to prepare such reports. A Rs 60-million project to help the s tates to execute thi s exercise was launched by Union Environment Minister, Mr T R Baalu. His ministry has also signed MoUs with four na ti onal hos t Web: www. teriin. or~ GLOBAL WARMING IS HEJIIND RAIN FAILURE: UN CLIMATE PANEL HEAD Pallava Bag/a, The Indian Express, 26 .Jul 02 The current Ind ian drought may be directly linked to the larger c limate change that is affecting the globe, feels Dr R K Pachauri, Chief of the UN-spo nso red IPCC (I ntergove rnmenta l Panel on Climate Change), deneva. It is a position directly at odds with that taken by the IMD (India n Metrological Department). which says there is no question of cl imate change. Dr Pachauri, who is also the Director General of TERI, New Delhi, says " It has bee n a very peculiar summer this year and some perceptible climate change is taking place in India'. The way this year's monsoon has behaved- starting off normally, then suddenl y petering out - has no doubt surprised many c limat o logi s ts. The IPCC is a sc ientific ex pett body having 192 countri es as its members and is mandated by the UN to assess the sc ienti fic, soc ial and economic issues related to human-induced climate change. Dr Pachauri feel s once the deli cate balance in the g loba l c irculat ion patterns is di sturbed due to man-made ci rcumstances, ' nonli nea r and sudden changes are bound to be the outcome' and emphasizes that this current errati c behaviour of the monsoon is probably the first strong signal of climate change having had a direct impact on India. Courte.1y. T£RI Neli'S11'ire. 16-31 Jul. 02. 1'23 l·rv:: Hi82/.f.f or Hi821./5 £mail: outreach ii teri.res in Web. 11'11'll'. teriin. or~ KYOTO PROTOCOL MAY OPEN TilE IHJSINii: ss DOOR The Times (?f India. 9 Aug 02 Ind ia's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming is seen in orticial circles as reaffi rming its fa ith in the multilateral process and opening the doo r for possib le busi ness opportuni ti es. The Ca binet ap proved the ra tification, two months ahead of the COP-8 (Eighth Confe renc e of Parties) to the UNFCCC (U nited Nat ions Framework Convention on Climate Change), to.be held in New Delhi. As the host, and a country trying to persuade others to ratify. India was expected to ratify the 1997 Protocol whi ch sets specific em iss ion redu ction targets for developed countries. The Protocol provides lo r three mec hanisms to enable developed countries to get emission reduction credits from outside their own countries. Unde r the COM (C lean Deve lopment Mechanism), a deve loped country may take up GHG (greenhouse gas) reduction ac tiv ities in developing coun tries. The latter will be nefit from the investmen t and environmentally safe and sound techno logies, say officials. TAKING KYOTO FORWARD Business Standard, 9 Aug 02 The Un ion Cabinet's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on c limate change. nearly live years after it was signed in 1997, is not m