Contributed articles presented at a workshop convened at Department of History, Delhi University in September 2005.

Environmental Issues in India: A Reader brings together 33 essays by seminal environment scholars, thinkers and activists from within India and abroad. The volume is divided into five thematic sections: the first three explore the pre-colonial and the colonial contexts, and move on to independent India. The last two sections examine environmental movements and how India relates to global environmental concerns. This book will provoke, educate, stimulate and inform the lay reader and specialist alike. Students will especially enjoy the diverse sample of lucid essays by some of the best-known names in the field. Anyone keen to know more about the why and how of India’s environment will find this volume an invaluable resource.

This longue durée survey of the Indian subcontinent's environmental history reveals the complex interactions among its people and the natural world.

This exhaustive and thorough book on environmental governance in India examines the multi-layered interaction between society and nature in the light of the role of the State, the Judiciary and Civil Society. Governance of the natural environment has, arguably, emerged as one of the most complex challenges faced by humanity. Consequently, environment has been increasingly incorporated in the agenda at all levels of governance, for both developed and developing countries. Environmental Governance in India: Issues and Challenges traces this environment–development discourse and addresses the limitations, obstacles and possibilities for equitable, just and sustainable development. A pioneering text focusing on the State as a vital factor in environmental and sustainability politics, this book not only reveals the conflicts, problems and dilemmas of urban environmentalism but also suggests a viable strategy to maintain a balance between ecology and equity. Key Features: • Issues of environment and governance written in a lucid and jargon-free language. • Urban environmentalism in India elucidated on the basis of an empirical study. • Exploration of social issues in environmental governance. • Environmental governance explained from both global and Indian perspectives.

Every year on Leila's birthday Shalini kneels by the wall with a little yellow spade and scoops dry earth to make a pit for two candles. One each for herself and for Riz, the husband at her side.But as Shalini walks from the patch of grass where she held her vigil the man beside her melts away. It is sixteen years since they took her, her daughter's third birthday party, the last time she saw the three people she loves most dearly: her mother, her husband, her child.There are thirty-two candle stubs buried in that lawn, and Shalini believes her search is finally drawing to a close. When she finds Leila, she will return and dig up each and every one.

Riven with scientific uncertainty, contending interests, and competing interpretations, the problem of climate change poses an existential challenge. For India, such a challenge is compounded by the immediate concerns of eradicating poverty and accelerating development. Moreover, India has played a relatively limited role thus far in causing the problem. Despite these complicating factors, India has to engage this challenge because a pathway to development innocent of climate change is no longer possible. The volume seeks to encourage public debate on climate change as part of India’s larger development discourse. This volume brings together leading researchers and practitioners—negotiators, activists, and policymakers—to lay out the emergent debate on climate change in India. Through these chapters, the contributors hope to deepen clarity both on why India should engage with climate change and how it can best do so, even while appreciating and representing the challenges inherent in doing so.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.