Climate Emergency

During the COVID lockdown, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change gave many virtual environmental clearances with little or no consultation with the public. Three such environmental clearances in Mollem, Goa have given rise to Save Mollem Campaign by youth and environmental activists in Goa. They have been advocating to get the clearances cancelled and save the pristine Mollem from...

Fans, one of the most used electrical appliances in India, has the potential to reduce energy demand and carbon emissions. Fans consume about 20% of the electricity in Indian households. And this number is growing rapidly, said a study from a Pune-based NGO Prayas. Versa Drives, a Coimbatore-based company made Superfans, became one of the earliest companies to produce super-efficient fans. This fa...

In August this year, the Madras High Court delivered a rare, but decisive victory to the people of Thoothukudi in their fight against an industrial giant in their quarter-century battle. Thoothukudi is an industrial seaside town of 700,000 facing the Bay of Bengal in South India. The court not only denied Vedanta, the multi-billion-dollar global mining and metals conglomerate permission to resume...

In August this year, the Madras High Court delivered a rare, but decisive victory to the people of Thoothukudi in their fight against an industrial giant in their quarter century battle. Thoothukudi is an industrial seaside town of 700,000 facing the Bay of Bengal in South India. The court not only denied Vedanta, the multi-billion-dollar global mining and metals conglomerate permission to resume...

Forest owlets are one of the most endangered and cryptic bird species in India. These birds are found only in India and nowhere else. Though the bird was first spotted in the 1880s, for almost a little over a century, the bird was not discussed by anyone. Forest owlets looked similar to spotted owlets (a more commonly seen species), and hence were often mistaken for them. After 113 years, the spec...

At a time when the voices of youth are growing louder in the climate change campaigns because it concerns their future. Delhi police has slapped UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) on a youth led climate change advocacy organsiation called Fridays for Future(FFF).  Fridays For Future is a global people's movement for climate justice. They are a volunteer based youth led movement with over...

Students in Madhya Pradesh are documenting excess fluoride in groundwater through a citizen science project that uses smartphones and portable fluoride detection kits. The students go around villages in Alirajpur district, testing water samples from handpumps, geotagging them, and marking them as safe or unsafe. Madhya Pradesh is one of the 19 Indian states severely affected by high fluoride conte...

In 2011, Cyclone Thane had a serious impact on the livelihood of farmers in Cuddalore, the eastern coast of Tamilnadu. The farmers in this region could only grow casuarina, cashew, due to the soil conditions here. After the cyclone, many farmers looked for an alternative crop. Vettiver, a perennial grass variety, turned out to be the only feasible alternative. This hard grass could survive drought...

In this episode, Sharada Balasubramanian set off to Vanagiri, a small fishing village, in the Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu.  Every year, Olive Ridley turtles come here for nesting, all the way from Orissa. Local people say that in recent years, the turtle population has been declining. Also, the arrival of these turtles are now varying. In the last decade, shift to modern fishing practices,...

Poompuhar, a quaint, ancient, port town is in the Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu. The land has a history of a tsunami and sea-level rise, as many historians and scientists point out. The 2004 tsunami impacted the lives and livelihood of fishermen here. MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) set up ‘Fish for all Centre’ in Poompuhar, and worked with local communities on rebuilding their liv...

The videos of Kangaroos and koala bears being rescued in bushfires in Australia have made it headlines all over the world. This year the bushfires were as big as that of the whole of South Korea killing more than a billion animals in the forests and damaging millions of dollars of property. For some years, various parts of Australia have been in drought conditions which led to the spread of fires....

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) methods are said to be more resilient to climatic changes and have more nutritious yields. It enables farmers to shift out of chemical-input based agriculture to low-cost, non-chemical farming, and instead of one crop, grow many types of crops in one harvesting period. In the recent budget session, the finance minister announced that the government will promote Z...

Women forest dwellers struggle to defend their rights to the forests in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement in the forest rights case as their rights are compromised by the threat of eviction of millions of Adivasis and forest dwellers. MAKAAM - Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch - a nation-wide advocacy platform was created in 2014 with a mission to visibilise women farmers – especially marginalized...

Every country agrees that we need to fight Climate change but no one agrees who has to pay for it. Historically most developed countries grew unsustainably mainly by mining for oil and coal for their development. In the process releasing a great amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which causes climate change. Scientists have predicted that increasing CO2 increases temperatures and if the...

On World Pneumonia Day, we bring this special episode which looks at the impact of air pollution on our health but most importantly those of our children. I interviewed Dr Anupam Sachdeva, Chairman, Department of Pediatric and chairman of Academics at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. He is also the President of Indian academy of paediatrics. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Every winter Delhi turns into a gas chamber with air pollution causing severe health effects making the city go standstill. But why is Delhi failing and what needs to be done to make it a better place for children to breathe and parents to live. To discuss this and more we talk to Pallavi Pant, who was originally from Delhi but now lives in Boston has over 10 years of experience in air quality mea...

With over 500 islands, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, with its turquoise beaches and tropical forests has been facing extreme weather events in the recent past. From tsunami to cyclonic storms, these islands have seen it all. Such extreme weather events impact the livelihood of farmers living here, as agriculture is one of the key economic activities for the locals. With no borewell, canals, dam...

On 15th August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced that India will ban single-use plastic from October 2nd of this year. But on 2nd October the government decided to phase out single-use plastic by 2022 instead. To discuss this issue and more Suno India reached out to Aparna Susarla, Director, Swach Cooperative. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Over 4.2 million people from over 170 countries, old and young participated in the Climate March held last Friday. This week too, estimated 2 million people too are expected to participate in the climate strikes to be held all around the world. This is happening at the backdrop of UN Climate Summit being held at New York from September 23rd to 29th. Suno India has partnered with IndiaSpend, India'...

Sagar Island is one of the 102 Islands in the Indian Sundarban. Surrounded by Bay of Bengal on one side, and Hooghly river and Muriganga river on the other two, this island is experiencing real time effects of climate change. With the mangroves being torn down and the fragile land being used for agricultural purposes, those living there say nothing can save them from the wrath of the sea.  This is...

Desertification and land use has been in the news recently a lot more than it usually is mainly because of the UNCCD COP 14 held in Delhi recently. So during the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, all countries came together and decided to host COPs on three thematic issues Climate Change, Biodiversity and desertification. Since then there have been many many meetings across the world and this year the...

We hear of floods in the northeastern state of Assam almost every year, sometimes multiple times in the same year! And with increasing rainfall intensities because of climate change, are the existing embankments in Assam a good adaptation mechanism or are they adding to the problem? Anupam Chakravartty, an independent journalist based out of Guwahati, reaches out to the experts and most vulnerable...

In this episode of climate emergency, we discuss how the lungs of Delhi, the Aravali hills, are being encroached using the illegal purchase of forested common lands. Suno India talks with Journalists Nitin Sethi and Kumar Sambhav about their investigative piece in the Business Standard. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Home to over 10 million people, Chennai is witnessing dried lakes & reservoirs. There is very limited availability of potable water. Some schools, shops and other public spaces have been shut down, IT offices have asked their employees to work from home and hospitals are rationing water. In this first episode of Climate Emergency, our new podcast on the impact of climate change and growing env...