Climate

Funding in climate-tech startups cools but VCs signal a greener future

Funding in India's climate-tech startups fell from $2.4 billion in 2022 to $1.5 billion in 2024, with capital needs, scale issues and slow adoption posing key challenges

New India Assurance to launch parametric insurance for climate risks: CMD

State-owned New India Assurance will this month launch a parametric insurance product, which will provide a financial safety net to its retail and business customers against climate risks, said chairman and managing director Girija Subramanian on Tuesday. Parametric insurance refers to losses arising out of calamities including heavy rainfall, high speed wind and flood/drought. Unlike traditional insurance policies, the payout in case of parametric insurance products depends upon triggering of pre-defined parameters, thus allowing for quicker claim settlement. "Parametric insurance is a use and file product, which is allowed by the regulator IRDAI. We have got it already registered on IRDAI so the product is ready and can be used across both retail and business groups. We are ready with that in a big way," Subramanian told PTI. Asked about the timeline for launch of the product, she said: "We will be launching it by the end of this month." Subramanian said the parametric insurance

Growth capital firm Playbook Partners targets 2025 to raise $250 mn fund

Playbook Partners aims to invest in 12-15 companies in two years, with an average ticket size of $20 million

Traditional VC model not enough for deep science: Social Alpha founder

Manoj Kumar, the founder of venture development platform Social Alpha, says that deep science is all about impact first, rather than return first, making it harder to find typical venture funding

US key to COP30 despite Trump's pullout from Paris Agreement, says Brazil

The United States remains central to climate negotiations and can make a crucial contribution to the preparation and execution of COP30, even after its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Brazil has said as it prepares to host this year's UN climate conference in Belm. COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago told journalists during an online briefing that there is no intention of ignoring the US, even if the Trump administration does not participate in climate negotiations. "No, there is no idea of ignoring the US because the US is the key country for this exercise. The US government may limit its participation, but the US as a country, as a place with such amazing technology and innovation, can contribute in a very important way to the preparation of COP30 (and) during COP30. So, the US is a central country for these discussions and solutions," Correa do Lago said in response to a question from PTI. Brazil's Environment and Climate Minister Marina Silva told journalists during her ..

NOAA layoffs could impact forecasts, cyclone tracking in India: Scientists

Scientists and policymakers have voiced concern over the layoffs at the US climate agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), saying any reduction in observation data could affect monsoon forecasts and cyclone tracking in India. Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal NOAA employees on probationary status were fired last week. These included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in the national weather service offices. "We are worried. If NOAA reduces observations, there will be implications on weather forecasts. When ocean observations reduce, there is less data to assimilate. Hence predictability will reduce," M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI. Climate scientist at the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology Roxy Mathew Koll termed the NOAA layoffs as a global crisis that could impact climate science. NOAA provides data and models that support weather-climate monitoring, forecasting and disaster preparedness .

India only G20 nation to achieve climate goal before time: Bhupender Yadav

BS Manthan: Bhupender Yadav to discuss India's climate policy in new era

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, is slated to address the role of India's climate actions amid a 'new climate order' at Business Standard Manthan on Feb 27

President Trump creates uncertainty for world's most cited climate report

US government scientists participating in the IPCC's global assessments were issued a stop-work order from the Trump administration, according to media reports late last week

Four days, countless headlines: How Donald Trump changed the game again

In four days, Donald Trump signed major orders, changed key US policies, and announced decisions that caught attention at home and around the world

Experts call for systemic change in accounting, ESG to reflect true value

Income statements in the US haven't changed since maybe 1920

Moment of decision missed in 2024 at UN climate summit but all's not lost

2024 is set to end as the hottest year on record and the first with a global average temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It will also be remembered as the year developed nations had their last big chance to prevent the world from permanently crossing this critical threshold by funding climate action in the Global South -- and they blew it. Relentless warming fuelled record-breaking heatwaves, deadly storms, and floods that devastated lives and homes by the thousands in 2024. Millions were displaced, and all eyes turned to the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, hoping for a climate finance package capable of ramping up action in the Global South. A study published in 2023 estimated that developed countries owe around USD 170 trillion for their excessive emissions, having consumed 70-90 per cent of the total carbon budget since the industrial era. Instead, developed countries -- mandated under the UN climate regime to finance climate action in develop

Here's all about the best climate news you may have missed this year

Averting catastrophic climate change was always going to involve plenty of steps forward as well as steps back

Here's all about the worst climate news of the year you may have missed

If the ongoing renewables boom (see below) doesn't avert those plans, coal's role in India's grid looks to be getting back on track

Pakistan secures $10 mn in climate financing for nature based solutions

Pakistan has secured USD 10 million in climate finance funding to enhance integrated and adaptive water resource management in the Indus River, with a particular focus on nature-based solutions, to benefit the local communities. The funding was approved on Friday by the Adaptation Fund Board for the project called Sustainable Actions for Ecosystems Restoration in Pakistan (SAFER), according to a statement by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The Adaptation Fund was established in 2001 to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries which are Parties of the Kyoto Protocol that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The project particularly focuses on interventions around the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, and targets women, children, and youth, in order to build the resilience of those communities disproportionately hit by climate-induced crises. The proje

Wangchuk stays at Ladakh Bhawan as protesters denied move to Jantar Mantar

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite fast to demand the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule, stayed put at the Ladakh Bhawan here on Monday with protesters claiming that they were denied permission to move to Jantar Mantar. Wangchuk and his supporters marched to Delhi from Leh to press their demand and were detained at the capital's Singhu border on September 30. The 'Delhi Chalo Padyatra' is being spearheaded by the Leh Apex Body (LAB). The protesters were released by Delhi Police on the night of October 2. On Sunday, Wangchuk stepped out of the Ladakh Bhawan around 4 pm and announced that he was going to sit on a fast. An LAB member told PTI on Monday that the authorities are yet to allow the protesters to move to an alternate site to continue their stir, so the fast will continue at the Ladakh Bhawan. In a brief interaction with the media on Sunday before starting his fast, Wangchuk said he and his supporters were forced to protest at the Ladakh Bhawan

PIL filed at Delhi HC over detention of activist Sonam Wangchuk and others

Sonam Wangchuk, along with approximately 120 others, was detained by the Delhi Police while marching towards the national capital to demand the implementation of the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh

Leaders at climate meetings in NY warn of growing mistrust between nations

National leaders addressed the group after adopting a 'Pact for the Future' aimed at ensuring and increasing cooperation between nations

19.3% drop in particulate pollution in 2022 adds 51 days to life expectancy

India recorded a significant 19.3 per cent drop in particulate pollution in 2022 compared to 2021, the second-highest reduction in the world after Bangladesh, adding an average of 51 days to the life expectancy of every citizen, according to a new report. The annual report, "Air Quality Life Index" 2024, by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) also said that Indians are likely to lose 3.6 years of life expectancy if the country fails to meet the World Health Organisation's annual PM2.5 concentration standard of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. The researchers attributed the decline in particulate levels in India and other South Asian countries primarily to favourable meteorological conditions and a reduced number of thermal inversions -- when a layer of warm air traps cooler air near the ground, causing pollution to build up. PM2.5 concentrations in India in 2022 were around 9 micrograms per cubic metre, 19.3 per cent lower than 2021. The most significant ..

What is Atlantic Nina? How La Nina's cousin could affect hurricane season

This cooling comes from two climate phenomena with similar names: La Nina, which forms in the tropical Pacific, and the less well-known Atlantic Nina