Explore Business Standard
Greenhouse Gases
Diageo India (United Spirits Ltd) has reported a 93 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2020 in its fourth annual ESG index, achieving 99 per cent renewable energy use well ahead of its 2030 targets. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) index, aligned with Global Reporting Initiative standards, UN Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board disclosures, covers fiscal year 2024-2025 and highlights water conservation, low-carbon initiatives and community impacts in water-stressed regions. Jitendra Mahajan, Diageo India's Chief Supply and Sustainability Officer, said the agenda builds a business that "grows responsibly, leads with integrity and creates long-term value". Key achievements include a 54 per cent improvement in water-use efficiency at distilleries and 35 per cent at packaging sites since 2020, with 1,82,000 cubic metres replenished in FY25, bringing the cumulative total to 11 lakh cubic metres since 2020. Initiati
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
The Earth's protective ozone layer is on track to return to 1980s levels by the middle of this century, with the 2024 Antarctic ozone hole smaller than in recent years, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a new report. The WMO Ozone Bulletin 2024 said lower ozone depletion this year was partly due to natural atmospheric factors but stressed the long-term improvement reflects the success of global action. The bulletin was released on World Ozone Day, which also marked the 40th anniversary of the Vienna Convention that laid the foundation for international cooperation on ozone protection. "Forty years ago, nations came together to take the first step in protecting the ozone layer, guided by science, united in action," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "The Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol became a landmark of multilateral success. Today, the ozone layer is healing. This achievement reminds us that when nations heed the warnings of science, progres
The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, the European Union agency that tracks global warming said Thursday, with temperatures easing slightly for the month as compared with the record high two years ago. Despite the slightly lower global average temperature, scientists said extreme heat and deadly flooding persisted in July. Two years after the hottest July on record, the recent streak of global temperature records is over for now. But this doesn't mean climate change has stopped, said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. We continued to witness the effects of a warming world. The EU monitoring agency said new temperature records and more climate extremes are to be expected unless greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are brought down. On July 25, Turkey recorded its highest-ever temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius as it battled wildfires. While not as hot as July 2023 or July 2024, the hottest and second-hottest o
Before India significantly relaxed sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission control norms exempting a large number of coal-fired power plants, an independent analysis had warned that key scientific studies being cited to justify the move were riddled with contradictions and risked undermining public health. In an analysis released last month, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) alleged that studies by institutions such as NEERI, NIAS and IIT Delhi were being "selectively used to justify inaction" by power plants across the country, which continue to delay the installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units to control SO2?? emissions -- a major air pollutant. India established stringent sulphur dioxide emission standards for coal-based power plants in December 2015, requiring compliance within two years. Even after multiple extensions, 92 per cent of coal-fired power plants have not yet installed flue gas desulphurization units to control SO2 emissions, a major air ...
Boilers in India's factories release 182 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is about 7 per cent of the country's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and over a quarter of all emissions from industries, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The report also said these boilers emit more particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) than the entire automobile sector in India, primarily due to weak emission standards. Industries such as food processing, chemicals and textiles depend on steam produced by process boilers to operate. The findings were released at the 'National Conclave on Greening Industrial Boilers in India', organised by the environment think tank iFOREST, in partnership with the Central government's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the labour department of the Uttar Pradesh government. To reduce pollution and help India meet its net zero targets, iFOREST has suggested launching a "Green Boiler Mission"
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
Vedanta Aluminium on Wednesday said it has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 28.5 per cent between 2011-12 and 2023-24 fiscal years. "This achievement underscores the company's unwavering commitment to responsible environmental practices and its vision for a net-zero future," the company said in a statement. Vedanta Aluminium Chief Operating Officer Sunil Gupta said the company's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is reflected in the substantial reduction of GHG emissions and the firm's growing adoption of renewable energy. "Beyond environmental stewardship, we continue to empower local communities and foster sustainable industrial practices. These achievements underscore our leadership in sustainability and reaffirm our dedication to balancing growth with responsibility to people, the planet, and future generations," he said. These initiatives have impacted the lives of about 600,000 individuals across 269 villages in some of the most backward ...
The Paris Agreement is in grave danger and the world must mark 2025 as the year of decisive climate action to reduce greenhouse gases and speed up the transition to renewable energy, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said on Tuesday. Saulo, who attended events to mark the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) 150th anniversary here, said the celebration comes at a crucial moment for the planet. She pointed out that 2024 was the hottest year on record in India and globally too. In 2024, India suffered prolonged extreme heat, which greatly impacted human health, agriculture, water supply and energy supplies, she recalled. "Heavy monsoon rains caused disruption and death, as we saw with tragic landslides in Kerala in July. More recently, air pollution hit alarming and dangerous levels in many parts of the country," Saulo said. The WMO chief said 2024 also became the first calendar year with an average temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius above th
India's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 declined by 7.93 per cent compared to 2019, while its GDP emission intensity fell 36 per cent between 2005 and 2020, according to new data submitted to the UN climate change office. In its fourth Biennial Update Report (BUR-4) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 30, India said its total greenhouse gas emissions -- excluding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) -- amounted to 2,959 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) and 2,437 MtCO2e including LULUCF. "Total national emissions (including LULUCF) have decreased by 7.93 per cent with respect to 2019 and increased by 98.34 per cent since 1994," according to the report. "India has progressively continued decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Between 2005 and 2020, India's gross domestic product (GDP) emission intensity reduced by 36 per cent," it said. Biennial Update Reports (BURs) are
Transport Corporation of India on Thursday said its lab set up in collaboration with IIM, Bangalore, has received ISO certification for a digital tool that can track greenhouse gas emissions. The TCI-IIMB Supply Chain Sustainability Lab at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), founded in collaboration with TCI, has become the first organisation in India to achieve ISO 14083 certification for its groundbreaking digital platform, the Transportation Emissions Measurement Tool (TEMT), it said in a release. "This certification underscores the platform's ability to accurately quantify and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freight transportation activities, helping organisations to measure, manage, and ultimately reduce their transportation-related emissions in line with regulatory requirements and sustainability goals," TCI said. (TEMT) is a comprehensive online platform designed to measure emissions across all modes of transportation. In India, the transportation
Indian cities can play a central role in reducing greenhouse gas emission and building resilient urban environments if data collection and "scenario modelling" were strengthened, according to experts working on urban emission and strategies on mitigation plans. Using the Climate Action for Urban Sustainability (CURB) tool, up to 77 per cent of urban emission could possibly be tackled by 2050 by identifying sectors having the greatest potential in slashing emission, a team from Delhi's World Resources Institute (WRI) found. However, the challenges are plenty, the authors said. These include a limited capacity of institutions for data-driven exercises. This will need to be addressed to slash greenhouse gas emission and create sustainable, resilient urban environments. "Strengthening data collection, scenario modelling, and capacity-building frameworks will enable cities to set more ambitious and achievable climate targets, positioning them as key drivers of India's overall greenhouse
The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds. Tuesday's study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons) of methane in the air, up nearly 12 per cent from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18 per cent in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2 per cent in the same time. Methane levels in the air are now 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times, the study said. Methane levels in the air had plateaued for a while in the early 2000s, but now are soaring. Humans cause methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture and filling up landfills. Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring, ..
Unusually high land temperatures and levels of greenhouse gases in the air were observed in Turkey days before two earthquakes struck the country on February 6, 2023, a new research has found. Analysing satellite data from November 1, 2022 to February 10, 2023, Mehdi Akhoondzadeh from the University of Tehran, Iran, said that monitoring the ground and atmosphere for unusual physical and chemical parameters -- known as earthquake precursors -- could be part of an early warning system for earthquakes. The earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria were each of at least 7.6 magnitude and about nine hours apart. The death toll is said to be more than 50,000 and the earthquakes were the deadliest ones in modern history. Even though researchers are aware of earthquake precursors, it has so far been difficult to conclusively identify a pattern of such "red flags" that could foretell an impending earthquake, said the author of the study published in the Journal of Applied Geodesy. This is becau