Page 12 - Climate Change

India plays critical role in global climate targets: EDF prez Fred Krupp

India's critical role in achieving global climate targets lies in its potential to lead through innovation, strategic partnerships and scalable climate solutions, said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund. In an interview with PTI, he outlined India's unique position as an emerging economy balancing rapid economic growth with ambitious climate goals. Krupp underscored that while the world is lagging in addressing the climate crisis, countries like India have a chance to accelerate progress. "India is aiming to become one of the world's top three economies while keeping its climate goals in focus. If India can successfully produce energy-efficient goods, increase renewable energy, and adopt low-carbon manufacturing, it would have a profound global impact," he said. Environmental Defense Fund or EDF is a United States-?based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and

AI, quantum computing, green tech must drive India's growth: CEEW chief

Asserting that climate change is no more just an environmental issue but a broader economic issue, CEEW chief Arunabha Ghosh has said that India must use the opportunities and challenges posed by new disruptors as levers for sustainable growth going forward. "Whether it is artificial intelligence, quantum computing, synthetic biology and green or clean tech, these are the new disruptors and we must in a way ride this tiger," Ghosh told PTI in an interview here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that ended on Friday. Ghosh said the members of the WEF are now recognising climate risks and the broader environmental risks as one of the key business and economic risks. "Over the next ten years, five out ten risks identified are either related to climate change or biodiversity loss or extreme weather events. This demonstrates that climate change is not just an environmental agenda but a business and economy agenda," he said. What this means for the broader business agenda i

Nearly 250 mn children missed school in 2024 due to extreme weather: Unicef

At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of heatwaves, cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children's Fund said in a new report Friday. UNICEF said it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the world being kept out of class at some point in 2024 because of climate hazards. The report also outlined how some countries saw hundreds of their schools destroyed by weather, with low-income nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa hit especially hard. But other regions weren't spared the extreme weather, as torrential rains and floods in Italy near the end of the year disrupted school for more than 900,000 children. Thousands had their classes halted after catastrophic flooding in Spain. While southern Europe dealt with deadly floods and Asia and Africa had flooding and cyclones, heatwaves were the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last year, UNICEF said, as the earth recorded its .

Withdrawal symptoms: US is ceding global leadership where it matters most

Both decisions represent expressions of Mr Trump's "America First" agenda

Centre's 1,200 e-buses running in Delhi, more to be introduced: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that over 1,200 electric buses provided by the central government are running in the national capital as part of the wider efforts to reduce carbon footprint. He cited the programme to promote rooftop solar panels as another initiative to this effect. Modi made the remarks during an interaction with students at the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan (old Parliament building) where dignitaries, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge besides the prime minister, paid tributes to iconic freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary. When Modi asked a student which slogan of Bose motivates her most, she cited "Give me blood and I promise you freedom", according to an official statement. She said Bose demonstrated true leadership by prioritising his country above all else and this dedication continues to inspire the students greatly. It motivates her to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation, which is a part of the ...

US President Donald Trump's anti-climate diktat opens more doors for India

Green initiatives in India unaffected, experts flag India's chance to occupy climate leadership role

How Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' call threatens India, developing nations

Donald Trump's push for fossil fuel dominance through his 'drill, baby, drill' approach endangers global climate efforts and hits vulnerable developing nations the hardest

Experts warn of climate setback as Donald Trump pulls US out of Paris pact

The US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement will weaken global efforts to mitigate climate change, and the worst consequences will be felt in developing countries that have contributed the least to global emissions, experts said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office of his second term, signed an executive order withdrawing the United States, the world's largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, from the Paris Agreement for the second time in a decade. This places the US alongside Iran, Libya, and Yemen as the only countries not part of the 2015 global climate accord, which aims to limit global warming since the industrial revolution to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Harjeet Singh, climate activist and Founding Director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, described the move as a devastating blow to global climate efforts. The US is prioritising short-term economic gains for fossil fuel industries over the health and well-being of American communitie

UN's NZBA in trouble: Why big banks are pulling out of climate accords

After major US and Canadian banks, now European banks threaten to exit climate alliance amid concerns over net zero policies

Green transition: Expectations and recommendations for Budget 2025

It is important for India to establish a coherent and comprehensive tax framework which will incentivise green investment and support the renewable energy value chain among other measures

NZAM suspends activities after BlackRock exit amid US political pressure

BlackRock, which manages some $11.5 trillion in assets, left the Net-Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative on Jan. 9 citing confusion over its climate efforts

PM Modi to launch Mission Mausam on Jan 14 to make India more weather-ready

Climate-smart India: Mission Mausam has been designed to ensure better preparedness for future climatic challenges with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore over two years

Projected air travel growth runs counter to climate goals, says study

Steps to tame fast-growing air travel could include limiting airport infrastructure growth and corporate travel while increasing taxation on the sector

Climate change, extreme weather key challenges: DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

Says 'weather management's technologies could evolve in next 50 years

How a week of weather extremes upended lives of millions of Americans

It was a week of fire and ice. It began with millions of people across the US shivering amid blizzard conditions and frigid air that lasted for days, thanks to a jet stream that slips out of its usual path more often these days. Then, catastrophe in California, with wind-whipped flames taking off in a landscape parched by months of drought to become Los Angeles' worst-ever wildfires. To cap it off, major weather monitoring agencies confirmed 2024 as the hottest year in global history. Even more dire, four of the six agencies said it was the first full year Earth went beyond a warming threshold seen as critical to limiting the worst effects of climate change. Welcome to one wild week of the climate crisis, scientists say. There will be more. For the average person, this means the changes you're experiencing more extreme weather, rising costs due to climate impacts, threats to food and water security aren't anomalies, said Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illino

Everyone should act in combating global warming: Union minister Shekhawat

Union Culture and Tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday said every human being should not act as the "owner" of this planet but act as its "custodian". After inaugurating a climate change gallery titled 'On the Edge' at Science City, Kolkata, Shekhawat said climate change has turned up to be a big issue for the entire world and every citizen as a stakeholder should play his role, not only whistleblower scientists. He said the time has come when one should stop presuming that issues like carbon emission, rise in sea level, extreme weather conditions will not affect him individually in his lifetime but are merely academic issues flagged by scientists and reports in media. "We have to behave with responsibility. Climate change is a big issue for the entire world, when discussion about the greenhouse effect and global warming began 25 years back, many might have thought its effect will be in specific areas. "That notion was belied. Those living in cold regions should no

2024 breaks records as hottest year ever, exceeding 1.5-degree C threshold

2024 recorded a global average temperature of 15.10 degrees Celsius, 1.60 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, driven by record-high greenhouse gas emissions

Earth records hottest year ever in 2024, big jump breached key threshold

Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold, several weather monitoring agencies announced Friday. Last year's global average temperature easily passed 2023's record heat and kept pushing even higher. It surpassed the long-term warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit ) since the late 1800s that was called for by the 2015 Paris climate pact, according to the European Commission's Copernicus Climate Service, the United Kingdom's Meteorology Office and Japan's weather agency. The European team calculated 1.6 degrees Celsius (2.89 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming. Japan found 1.57 degrees Celsius (2.83 degrees Fahrenheit) and the British 1.53 degrees Celsius (2.75 degrees Fahrenheit) in releases of data coordinated to early Friday morning European time. American monitoring teams NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the private Berkeley Earth were to release .

Los Angeles wildfires burn towns, Hollywood in flames: What's happening?

Unrelenting wildfires fueled by dry conditions and fierce winds devastate Los Angeles, highlighting the growing impact of climate change on once-seasonal disasters

Remote but resource-rich Greenland occupies key position in warming world

Greenland is where climate change, scarce resources, tense geopolitics and new trade patterns all intersect, said Ohio University security and environment professor Geoff Dabelko