The Svalbard Global Seed Vault or the Doomsday Vault is a seed storage facility for the world’s agricultural crops that can help in combating the effects of climate change, population growth, extinction of crop species and destruction of gene banks.

Water flowing into the sea constitutes a major portion of India’s water balance. There is a need to efficiently conserve the resource.

The profile based on 2011 Census suggests that access to tap water, presumably a safe source, is a distant dream to many as only 44 per cent of population can avail it.

There has been a pulsating debate around genetically modified (GM) crops for over a decade now. While some recommend their use, there are juxtapositing views asking for more nuanced understanding of issues of safety surrounding them.

The Paris Agreement is now an international law. But the target of preventing temperatures rising beyond 2 degrees centigrade can never be achieved unless countries come together and show concerted will.

The limited opportunities to mine for minerals on land is making the world consider deep seabed mining as an alternative. But this can pose major destruction to marine biodiversity, given our limited knowledge of the effects of disturbing the high seas, especially in oxygen-minimum zones.