Page 4 - Climate Change

Bill Gates rejects 'doomsday' narrative, calls for balance on climate

Bill Gates urges a shift from "doomsday" climate narratives to strategies that balance emissions cuts with health, development, and adaptation ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil

UN report warns countries still far from meeting Paris climate goals

Ten years after the Paris Agreement was adopted, a latest UN report has showed that countries are making progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions but not fast enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The 2025 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report, released by the UN Climate Change on Tuesday, said the 64 new national climate plans submitted between January 2024 and September 2025 would collectively cut emissions by about 17 per cent below the 2019 levels by 2035. Though this marks "real and increasing progress", the report said that "major acceleration is still needed in terms of delivering faster and deeper emission reductions and ensuring that the benefits of strong climate action reach all countries and peoples". NDCs are climate action plans that every country makes under the Paris Agreement. These plans set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and outline how each country will adapt to the impacts of climate change. Together, these

COP out? The world's climate talks on global warming seem stuck in repeat

30 years, 30 COPs - still counting degrees. Is this where promises go to melt? This two-part series on COP30 tracks how the UN's flagship climate summit lost its direction and what's at stake

Overlapping crises: How global warming is deepening global poverty

Since climate change is a global phenomenon, it is equally critical that countries work on mutually reinforcing climate-action plans beyond the individual emission-reduction targets

India may put climate finance, adaptation at core of COP30 agenda

UNDP India's Ashish Chaturvedi says the country will focus on fair transitions, stronger partnerships, and climate-resilient development at the Brazil summit

COP30 in Brazil faces world at its hottest and most divided on climate

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

WHO launches 5-year plan to protect Asia-Pacific from climate disasters

With Asia and the Pacific among the most climate-vulnerable regions, WHO's new blueprint aims to build resilient health systems and protect millions from rising risks.

Coal may singe net-zero journey as India readies updated climate pledge

Indian policymakers are drawing up an updated climate change pledge to be presented to the UN by early November. The world's watching closely

Why climate summits fail and 3 urgent ways to make them work better

We urgently need not just to redesign climate policies but also a new method for drafting those polices

A decade after Paris summit, the world's climate promises lie in ruins

The Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 legitimised the evisceration of the UN climate framework - and history may repeat itself at COP 30 in Belem

CO2 levels hit record high in 2024, driving more extreme weather: UN agency

The UN weather agency said Wednesday that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit new record highs last year, and heat trapped by such greenhouse gases is turbo-charging the Earth's climate and causing more extreme weather. The World Meteorological Organisation said in its latest bulletin on greenhouse gases that C02 growth rates have now tripled since the 1960s, and emissions from human activities and more wildfires helped fan a vicious climate cycle." The Geneva-based agency said the increase of the global average concentration of carbon dioxide from 2023 to 2024 amounted to the highest annual level of any one-year span since measurements began in 1957. The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather," said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett in a statement. "Reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being, The increase in 202

India calls on COP30 to focus on lack of funds for developing nations

India has said the United Nations climate conference in Belm, Brazil, should focus on tackling the critical shortage of resources that developing countries need to adapt to climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the Global Stock Take (GST) breakout session during the pre-COP30 meeting in Brasilia on Monday, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said the time for continuous reviews without action has passed. "Dialogue is important, but action is imperative," he said. "We must now focus on implementing ambitious climate measures and, above all, addressing the most pressing challenge: the urgent lack of resources for developing countries to deliver adaptation and mitigation," Yadav said. The GST is a periodic review under the Paris Agreement 2015 that assesses the world's collective progress toward limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Held every five years, it examines countries' actions on mitigation, adaptation and finance and guides them to ...

India urges focus on adaptation of climate commitments at pre-COP30 meet

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday said COP30 should be the "COP of Adaptation" and called for transforming climate commitments into real-world actions that directly improve people's lives. At the Pre-COP30 Ministerial Roundtable in Braslia, Yadav said the 30th UN climate summit in Belm, Brazil, in November must send a strong signal that multilateralism remains the cornerstone of global climate action. "As we mark a decade since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, COP30 must send a resolute political message that multilateralism remains the cornerstone of global climate action," Yadav said. He said the key to achieving tangible outcomes in Belm lies in translating global policy commitments into practical, locally grounded solutions. "The focus must be on transforming climate commitments into real-world actions that accelerate implementation and directly improve people's lives," he said. Calling for a stronger focus on resilience and local adaptation, Yadav stres

Climate-linked insurance scheme: Why govt is exploring it and what's ahead

The scheme could help someone in Uttarakhand or Punjab whose house was washed away in the floods. Let's unfold the climate-linked insurance scheme and understand how it can help people

How global climate efforts can survive and thrive under Trump's leadership

Trump's initiatives are likely to mean an additional 7 billion tonnes of emissions will be created compared to a scenario where the US met its Paris commitments

Best of BS Opinion: Starmer visit shows room for growth in India-UK trade

Today's Opinion pieces look at the potential for growth in India-UK trade, the hurdles to the Gaza peace plan, India's geopolitical opportunity, and Trump's hidden call for global change

Trump's rebranding of climate change is aimed more at global regime change

Trump's UN address targets global discontent, framing climate action as elite-driven, turning science into a political wedge for ideological gain

India inks critical mineral, climate change and defence deals with UK

Modi, Starmer seek to build on FTA signed in July 24

Just 5% of climate cooperation initiatives met goals since Paris pact: CEEW

Ten years after the landmark Paris Agreement, only 5 per cent of global cooperative climate initiatives have met their stated goals, while over one-fifth have stalled or become inactive, according to the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Published in a report, the analysis found that while global climate conferences have spurred hundreds of voluntary, multi-actor initiatives involving governments, investors, and civil society, a majority lack measurable targets, budgetary support, and accountability structures needed to sustain progress. The report, 'Ten Years of Paris Agreement: A Stocktake of Cooperative Climate Initiatives,' was launched at an event which marked 10 years of the Paris Agreement, organised by the CEEW. Between 2015 and 2025, more than 475 cooperative initiatives were launched, engaging over 40,000 entities from local governments and multilateral organisations to private investors and businesses. But the CEEW analysis of 203 such initiatives found th

Govt considers introducing nationwide climate-linked insurance scheme

Should the discussions bear fruit, India - among the nations most prone to extreme weather events - could become one of the first major economies to roll out such a programme