Page 15 - Climate Change

Arctic faces drastic changes, 2024 report highlights worrying trends

The Arctic of today looks stunningly different from the Arctic of even one to two decades ago

Cyber crimes, climate change new threats to human rights: President Murmu

The human rights discourse so far has been centred on the "human agency" as the violator is assumed to be a human but with AI entering our lives, the "culprit could be a non-human" but an intelligent agent, President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday. In her address at an event hosted by the NHRC here to mark the Human Rights Day, the President also underlined that cyber crimes and climate change are "new threats" to human rights. Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The UDHR serves as a global benchmark for the protection and promotion of human rights. "As we progress into the future, we are confronted with emerging challenges. Cyber crimes and climate change are new threats to human rights," Murmu said. The digital era, while being transformative, had brought with it complex issues such as cyber bullying, deep fake, priv

2024 will be world's hottest year ever recorded, say EU scientists

C3S said data from January to November had confirmed 2024 is now certain to be the hottest year on record, and the first in which average global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius

What Trump's second term means for climate change and green policies

The world has no doubt moved ahead on its journey to build a low-carbon economy and this cannot be reversed so easily

Closely-watched climate case in Hague wraps up first week of testimony

A closely-watched international climate case that could yield guidance for governments around the world wrapped its first week of arguments before the top court of the United Nations in The Hague Friday. The case, though not binding, is expected to spell out what countries are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. The push for the International Court of Justice to hear this case comes like much of the call to address climate change from island nations that are losing territory and fear they could disappear under rising seas. The UN General Assembly asked the court last year for an opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change. The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line, Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Hague-based court. For years his country has spearheaded calls for reductions of the ...

India slams developed countries for climate crisis at ICJ hearing

India home of about 17.8% of global population, its contribution to climate change less than 4%, said JS, MEA Luther M Rangrezi to ICJ

Climate change affects financial system, need regulatory checks: RBI Dy Guv

Rao emphasised that the financial sector lacks comprehensive data to assess climate risks fully

Biden govt not to finalise guidelines on new clean fuel tax credit

Ethanol producers in particular are hoping sustainable aviation fuels will provide market growth

Climate solution: Sails make comeback in shipping, to dent carbon footprint

Had he continued working aboard fuel-powered cargo ships, Yann Jourdan reckons he'd be earning perhaps four times what he now gets as captain of a sailboat that instead uses the wind's clean energy to transport goods across the Atlantic. But the hit to Jourdan's pay is buying him peace of mind. When his 3-year-old son, Marcel, grows up, the burly French mariner wants to be able to explain what he did to make a dent in the the shipping industry's huge carbon footprint. The international merchant fleet of more than 100,000 ships transports more than 80% of global trade. But it's also responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Without a quick switch from dirty fuels to cleaner energies, its pollution is forecast to soar. Mariners pushing for wind power say investors used to view them as something of a joke. But as they pioneer a comeback for sail-powered cargo ships, they're having the last laugh. It's our job to prove that it's possible, Jourdan said aboard the new

UN calls for $2.6 trillion investment to reverse land degradation by 2030

To hit $2.6 trillion - approaching the annual economic output of France - the world needs to close an annual gap of $278 billion, after just $66 billion was invested in 2022, the UN said

Sensible trade policy key to tackling climate change on a global scale

A key agreement at Baku was on establishing high integrity carbon markets, following a breakthrough on establishing standards for a centralised international carbon market

Climate change case to open at UN court as island nations fear rising seas

The top United Nations court will take up the largest case in its history on Monday, when it opens two weeks of hearings into what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change. We want the court to confirm that the conduct that has wrecked the climate is unlawful, Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, who is leading the legal team for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Associated Press. In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times because of the burning

Took inputs from TN govt over Nayakkarpatti tungsten block sale: Centre

The statement has come in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the award of tungsten mining rights in Madurai district

India must prepare to deal cyber warfare, climate change: Prez Murmu

India should be prepared to tackle any situation in a fast changing geopolitical environment, including national security challenges like cyber warfare and terrorism, President Droupadi Murmu said here on Thursday. Also, she stressed the need to develop a deep understanding of national and global scenarios as the geopolitical dynamics have changed the security landscape. "The issue of climate change is acquiring a new dimension which needs to be understood and managed. Latest cutting edge technology needs to be applied. I am confident that our armed personnel officers will rise to the future challenges," the President said in her address at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, in Nilgiris district. "In a fast changing geopolitical environment, we need to be prepared to tackle any situation," Murmu said. "Geopolitical dynamics have changed the security landscape and there's a need to develop a deep understanding of national and global situations. We not only have to secur

COP29 finance, carbon deals could unlock billions in global investment

Two weeks of acrimonious negotiations in Azerbaijan's capital Baku resulted in a deal for $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035

Wakeup call on biodiversity: Degradation poses ecological, economic risks

India's revised NBS-AP has done well to set 23 well-advised targets conforming to various global biodiversity-related conventions

COP29 summit: India leads Global South to reject 'unfair' finance deal

COP 29 president pushed decisions despite objections, citing procedural norms

Too little, too distant: India rejects $300 bn climate finance at COP29

India on Sunday rejected the new climate finance package of a meagre USD 300 billion annually by 2035 for the Global South at the UN climate conference here, calling it "too little and too distant". The USD 300 billion figure is a far cry from the USD 1.3 trillion the Global South has been demanding over the past three years of talks to tackle climate change. Making a statement on behalf of India, Chandni Raina, Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs, said they were not allowed to speak before the adoption of the deal, undermining their trust in the process. "In continuation of several such incidents of not following inclusivity, not respecting country positions... We had informed the presidency, we had informed the secretariat that we wanted to make a statement prior to any decision. However, this is for everyone to see, this has been stage-managed. We are extremely disappointed," she said. "The goal is too little, too distant," Raina said, asserting that it is set for 2035, whic

Rich nations offer $300 billion annually after 10 years to Global South

Developed countries made a final offer of USD 300 billion annually by 2035 to help developing countries tackle climate change, hours after two groups of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries stormed out of the negotiating room at COP29 here. The USD 300 billion figure, however, is a far cry from the USD 1.3 trillion the Global South has been demanding in the three years of talks. The offer is part of the draft deal on a new climate finance package for developing nations, or the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), which will be put before countries for approval in a plenary session shortly. The new amount will replace the USD 100 billion figure pledged in 2009. The draft deal also introduces the Baku to Belem Roadmap, an important request for Africa and other developing country groups to lay out a meaningful process towards aligning the global finance system with achieving the USD 1.3 trillion goal by 2035. Issued after tiring, mind-numbing negotiations that continued fo

COP29 gets Article 6 of Paris Agreement operational, opens carbon markets

Article 6 provides trusted and transparent carbon markets for countries as they collaborate to reach their climate goals