Impact assessment and better management of ecosystems....

The rising demand for processed food products like sugar, coffee and tea has grown and is attracting a lot of investments in the agro and food processing industries, tying up commercial agriculture to economic development. Agro based industries are water intensive and have serious impacts on the environment Enforcing stringent environmental standards on these high impact industries could act as an impetus to place India as one of the serious players in the world market of commodities. Most of the processed foods require sugar and sugar industry in India requires serious environment management to compete in the global market.

Sugarcane, as a crop is responsible for severe biodiversity lost as sugarcane growers destroy habitats to make way for plantations resulting in substantial soil degradation. This fact is evidenced by the visible destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, and the Everglades of Florida, where flourishing ecosystems have been destroyed due to indiscriminate use of fertilizers and illegal discharge of waste water into these water bodies.

Sugar mills, most often, located in countries with large population of poor people, release foul odours and emissions discharging substantial amounts of waste water, causing fertilizer run-off leading to decreasing levels of soil fertility. These adverse impacts can be mitigated through use of sustainable technologies and promotion of Better Management Practices (BMPs) within the sugar industry.

WWF report on improving farming and processing practices in the sugar industry.

BMPs, as tools, reduce the negative impacts of produce on natural resources in a sustainable way and enhance the value of such resources. BMPs used in the production process of sugar are developed through partnerships with various stakeholders. They tend to increase rural incomes of millers through increased yields and sustained soil health, benefiting businesses that consume sugar as a raw material.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports prepared on behalf of upcoming or existing sugar mills require environmental monitoring that extends all through the year although sugar milling is a seasonal activity. It is imperative that EIA reports be comprehensive enough to be presented for public hearing at the initial stages of any project and useful to adopt BMPs along the way. The report shall reflect a comparative note on pollutant levels in effluents monitored against those set by the World Bank for the sugar industry.

The EIA report so prepared should reflect a cost-benefit analysis of the environmental impacts, implementation of mitigation measures, availability of global technologies which can help project proponents assess the economic viability of a project. With specific reference to sugar mills, the reports should carry details of the pollution control equipments installed for treatment of flyash from molasses, bagasse, dust fall, liquid wastes and disposal methods of solid wastes, details relating to handling of lime sludge, press mud, bagasse, spentwash and processing of all by-products in the EIA report increasing the scope for improvement in pollution prevention measures. The report shall indicate waste minimization practices that include recycling, reusing effluent water, condensate and cooling water, declare any leakage in valves, glands and pipes to stop wastage and reduce water consumption. These are just the bare essentials of an EIA report prepared for a sugar mill.

An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) lists out mitigation measures specific to the location of the sugar mill, tillage practices, soil fertility and degradation levels of cropland. An EMP should endeavor in implementing technical, social and institutional measures for mitigation and provide methods to compensate the loss of natural resources and biodiversity. It should reflect the details of investments made towards research and development of green harvesting methods.


Environmental auditing, policy statements and management systems.

Meeting sustainability challenges in road construction....

Bad roads definitely add to inflation. Good roads reflect a government's genuine concern for its citizens. There arises to need to assess the strength of our infrastructure to cut losses and improve safety and ease of travel.

Adopting sustainability practices in road construction projects.


Environmental Sustainability in Road Construction Projects

Gaining access to Environmental Justice....

The Access Initiative (TAI), a leader in promoting "access rights" to information, justice and public participation, published a collaborative research work on the establishment of environmental courts and tribunals. The work highlights the need for specialized Environmental Courts and Tribunals (ECTs) and helps those who involved in creating or improving such ECTs by advising decision making authorities on the selection and appointment of tribunal members.

Greening Justice:Creating Environmental Courts and Tribunals

Greening, a challenge and an opportunity....

Principles of Responsible Product Stewardship.

Pursuing 'product stewardship' as a principle, helps corporates move towards sustainability where all stakeholders involved in the complete life-cycle of a product assume responsibility for its impact on human health and environment. A move to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions entails limiting the use of raw materials within a process and reducing generation of waste in the cycle of production. The principle requires a fundamental change in the product and the way its processes are designed. It includes a complete assessment of all inputs that go into the making of a product and explores the manner in which customers use and dispose of the product at the end of its life-cycle. As an environmental policy, corporates need to appoint experts in conservation and pollution prevention as their board members policy and adopt an Asset Recycle Management program (ARM). The ARM envisages a re-manufacturing process that allows parts and components of a product to be reconditioned, tested and reassembled with minimal environmental impact,

Strategies to attain sustainability include product stewardship, quality management aimed at pollution prevention and investments in clean technologies. Pollution prevention contemplates colocation of facilities that are geographically dispersed, creating industrial ecosystems where the waste from one process becomes the raw material for another, while recycling the waste so generated becomes less expensive. Using geothermal facilities to generate zero emission renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuel power generation, evolution of products and services using new or enhanced competencies, public policy innovations and alteration of consumption patterns form a valuable part of a country’s sustainability vision. Ultimately, corporations or world's enterprises are the only entities that have the resources, technology and global reach to attain sustainability. This step forward
requires a business sense that moves beyond social, ethical and political constraints in attaining sustainable development.


Seeking Corporate partnership in the upkeep of the environment.

Ecological choices....

Sustainability as a business strategy.

Climate Change and Scientific integrity....

Scientific evidence for anthropogenic climate change is clinching and questioned by very few critics, yet, the extent to which climate scientists enjoy public support remains unclear. Climategate scandal over leaked e-mails at the University of East Anglia, UK and the flawed IPCC report has certainly eroded some of the trust and despite these uncertainties public confidence on climate scientists and theories of global warming has not declined. Amidst confusion and skepticism that prevails over claims of anthropogenic climate change, scientists and researchers are hoping governments engage in climate talks at a political level to achieve necessary results including a post-Kyoto climate agreement. Political leaders are expected to take decisions based on scientific evidence and geopolitical equations rather than political aspirations. Any political interference that undermines the scientific integrity of environmental policy-making could debilitate our response to climate change, at a time when it is needed the most.

Scientific integrity in Climate Change

 
Policy makers need accurate and credible data on climate change to make possible a prompt and diligent public action on global warming. Most of the scientific research is publicly funded and it is only pertinent that scientific content be subjected to peer-review process as a quality-control measure over scientific content. Media policies driven by the aspirations of the scientific community could protect scientists from any adverse reaction to findings. Scientists today believe in engaging the public in order to achieve proper dissemination and analysis of information even as they freely debate and amend their views without fear of retaliation. A regulatory process that uses notice and comment provision is one way by which inputs from the public can be sought on scientific publications on climate change to ensure transparency and effective action. Individual and institutional leadership that creates awareness and spurs behavioral change among citizens and businesses in favor of reducing greenhouse gas emissions can make a huge difference to climate science.

Business leaders and climate leadership....

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, in one of his speeches, said "For us, there is virtually no distinction between being a responsible citizen and a successful business.....they are one and the same for Wal-Mart today." It is the CEOs who set the vision for environmental strategies and take small businesses forward without really compromising on environmental values and this global community cannot afford to lose momentum over the environmental movement. Business leaders are seen making serious attempts to attenuate the environmental impacts of their businesses and reduce the carbon footprints of their activities. Organizations that produce eco-friendly products need not lose their edge over their competitors who are yet to evolve strategies to improve their environmental efficiencies. Environmental performance and sustainability come with a certain cost, a cost, which is recovered when consumers opt for eco-friendly products. Business leaders are bound to emerge as climate leaders as they innovate to reduce any environmental impact even as they comply and conform their businesses to the tenets of ecological science. Climate leaders need to sensitize their governments about enhancing their commitments on emissions reduction and help forge public-private partnerships.