Indians know little about the water they use and the waste they discharge

Water is life, and sewage tells its life story. This is the subject of the “Citizens’ Seventh Report on the State of India’s Environment”, Excreta Matters: How urban India is soaking up water, polluting rivers and drowning in its own excreta. It has a seemingly simple plot: it only asks where Indian cities get their water from and where their waste goes. But this is not just a question or answer about water, pollution and waste.

The question is whether the protests across the world can be channelled to shape a better tomorrow

According to Time magazine, the 2011 person of the year is “the protester”. Clearly, this is the image that has captured the world — from dissent against the lack of democracy and repression in large parts of West Asia, to anger against economic policies in vast and disparate parts of the world. People, all over, are saying enough is enough.

In 1990, China was responsible for only 10% of annual emissions. But in 2010, it contributed some 27%

In 1992, when the world met to discuss an agreement on climate change, equity was a simple concept: sharing the global commons – the atmosphere in this case – equally among all. It did not provoke much anxiety, for there were no real claimants on the horizon. However, this does not mean the concept was readily accepted.

Sunita Narain in Durban

The Durban Conference on Climate Change finally ended on the wee hours of Saturday after running for over 24 hours beyond schedule. By Friday, the two-week meeting being held at the International Convention Centre in Durban, had broken down into the ministerial-level huddles - small groups of top leaders meeting to thrash out a consensus. The halls outside were full of people waiting for some action. But strangely enough, there was no sense of anticipation or excitement. Strange in a world that is increasingly feeling the pains of climate change and that knows that time is running out.

However, Durban meet also reveals resistance of rich countries to sharing ecological and economic space with developing nations

The Durban climate change conference — the 17th conference of parties — has ended, after grueling and acrimonious negotiations on how the world would cut carbon dioxide emissions that are linked to growth, but are also now jeopardising its future because of catastrophic weather changes.