Carbon Dioxide

As COP30 opens in Brazil, record CO₂ levels and faltering global leadership leave climate goals in peril, testing the world's resolve to act on its promises

The government has notified the Greenhouse Gases Emission Intensity Target Rules, 2025, setting India's first legally binding emission reduction targets for carbon-heavy industries. The notification, issued by the environment ministry on October 8 after considering all suggestions and objections received on the draft rules published on April 16, requires 282 industrial units across the aluminium, cement, pulp and paper and chlor-alkali sectors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output (emission intensity) from the 2023-24 baseline levels. According to the notification, each facility must reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of output (measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of product) compared to a 2023-24 baseline. The compliance period begins in 2025-26 and continues through 2026-27. The move operationalises the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022, which empowered the government to establish a domestic carbon market. It

Asian countries' growing support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce fossil fuel emissions could result in nearly 25 billion tonnes of additional greenhouse gases by 2050, undermining the Paris Agreement and exposing their economies to risks, according to a new report released on Monday. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology designed to trap carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from sources such as power plants and industrial facilities, prevent them from entering the atmosphere, and store them underground in geological formations. The study by Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, assessed current and prospective CCS deployment in China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, which together account for more than half of global fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. It said emissions from many Asian economies, led by India and other developing countries in South and Southeast Asia, show no

Today's Opinion Page is dominated by the issue of US tariffs, and what India can do to mitigate its effects. How will it impact India's GDP, and is turning to China really a wise call. Read on.

Peter Brannen's sweeping book argues CO₂ is the hidden force behind evolution, civilisation, fossil fuels, and today's climate crisis - the story of everything

Often referred to as the pinnacle of motorsport, the racecar organisation, which hosts an annual championship featuring the best drivers in the world, has seen its carbon emissions drop 26% since 2018

If the world continues to release carbon dioxide at the current rate, the carbon budget for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be exhausted in just over three years, according to an international group of scientists. The carbon budget refers to the total amount of carbon dioxide the planet can emit while still having a good chance of staying below a certain temperature threshold. In this case, the limit is 1.5 degrees Celsius, which countries agreed to at the Paris climate conference in 2015. Exceeding the carbon budget does not mean the 1.5-degree limit will be crossed immediately. It means the world is on course to surpass it very soon unless emissions are drastically cut. The latest "Indicators of Global Climate Change" study, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, also found that the carbon budget for 2 degrees Celsius could be exceeded by 2048 if current levels of CO2 emissions continue. Scientists said human activities have led to the release of

Thus far, upward of 13.5 million metric tonnes-worth of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits have been bought, and just 4.7 per cent of those have been delivered

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached 420 parts per million in 2023, the highest in the last 8,00,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) State of the Climate report published on Wednesday. The report said long-term global warming is currently estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41 degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 baseline. It said that tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and other disasters in 2024 led to the highest number of new displacements recorded in the past 16 years. These events also worsened food crises and caused massive economic losses. Carbon dioxide levels in 2023 (the latest year with complete global data) were 420.0 0.1 parts per million (ppm), 2.3 ppm higher than in 2022 and 151 per cent of the pre-industrial level (1750). The WMO said 420 ppm corresponds to 3,276 gigatonnes (or 3.276 trillion tonnes) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The report said the past 10 years (2015-2024) were the warmest on record, with each o

IPCC Chair Jim Skea said it was a "pivotal session" for the delivery of the next report on global climate science

The green cover in India has absorbed more carbon than it emitted annually in the last decade, but the rate of sequestration declines during extreme climate events such as drought, a study has revealed. The study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, also stressed the critical role of vegetation in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Green vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and releases it back into the air through respiration. "The overall balance between this uptake and release of CO2 is known as the net ecosystem exchange (NEE). When the NEE is positive, it means vegetation is releasing more carbon than it absorbs, and when it's negative, it indicates that the vegetation is effectively storing carbon," said Dhanyalekshmi Pillai, associate professor, head of the Max Planck Partner Group Germany, and of the Earth and Environmental Sciences, IISER Bhopal. "For the last decade,

As many as 33 industrial clusters from 16 countries, including five from India, on Wednesday committed to economic growth, jobs creation, and emission cuts as part of the World Economic Forum's Transitioning Industrial Clusters Initiative. The initiative, first launched at COP26 climate summit in 2021, and developed in collaboration with Accenture and EPRI, now comprises 33 clusters in 16 countries and five continents, the largest coalition of co-located companies and public institutions pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while boosting economic growth and job creation. The 33 signatories together represent potential carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions reductions of 832 million tonnes -- approximately the annual emissions of Saudi Arabia, the World Economic Forum announced here during its Annual Meeting 2025. They also make a direct contribution of USD 492 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) and support 4.3 million jobs. In addition, a new report, published

Automakers have warned of plant closures and thousands of job losses, as they struggle with weak demand, Chinese competition and lower than expected electric vehicle sales

Steel is responsible for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, around the same as India, with coal-fired blast furnaces producing 2 metric tons of CO2 for each ton of output

The unfairness in the allocation of responsibility for controlling CO2 emissions is evident in the shifting of the burden of emission reductions from consumers to producers

The study claims that Earth's continents are drifting and will one day form a single supercontinent. This will be accompanied by rising temperatures, making the human and mammalian survival impossible

With China on course to meet its 2030 climate goals with relative ease, it could now capitalise on its renewable energy advantages

Scientists have detected the gases carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on Pluto's largest moon, 'Charon', which they said could help understand how icy bodies originated and evolved in the outer Solar System. Once considered the ninth and last planet of the Solar System, Pluto was demoted to a 'dwarf planet' status in 2006, when members of the International Astronomical Union voted to scientifically define a 'planet' for the first time. According to the resolution passed then, a dwarf planet is one that has not been able to create a clear orbit for itself, free from debris. Pluto's orbit, lying in the Kuiper belt region beyond the planet Neptune, was thought to cross with those of other objects. Charon is the largest of the five known moons of Pluto and has been studied since it was discovered in 1978. Being extremely cold, there's practically no chance for life to exist on Pluto and water, essential for life, is present as ice. The team, led by researchers at the Southwest Resear

About 12 per cent of Indian companies report emissions, exceeding the global average of 9 per cent, while 24 per cent of Indian firms set emission reduction targets compared to 16 per cent globally

Flight restrictions and precious metal refinery closures in early 2020 created worries that traders would not be able to move gold to the United States in time to deliver against futures contracts