Page 40 - Climate Change

UAE leverages oil power to push secretive oil cos on emission cuts: Report

The effort, termed as the Global Decarbonisation Alliance, aims to make a significant impact at the COP28 negotiations starting on November 30 in Dubai

Earth records its hottest 12-month stretch due to climate change: Research

As per a report from Climate Central, the planet ran nearly 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average from November 2022 through October 2023

CEA highlights integral link between climate, development agendas

There is an integral link between climate and development agendas, Chief Economic Advisor Anantha Nageswaran said on Friday. Nageswaran made the statement while inaugurating a session of NITI Aayog's workshop on accessing multilateral development banks (MDBs) and global finance for development and green growth on Friday. "Issues surrounding the global challenge of leveraging private capital for social goals were discussed," NITI Aayog said in a statement. The deliberations focused on changing Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to work on broader programs instead of individual projects, the statement added. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery chaired the second session on "Implications for a Strengthened and Bigger MDB System for India", which focused on the impacts of a stronger MDB system, especially with the goal of tripling lending volume by 2030. According to the statement, India's focus on becoming investable, especially in green hydrogen and ammonia, was highlighted. The

India, UK share climate action goals, says British Indian minister

Britain's newest Indian-origin Cabinet minister, Claire Coutinho, has spoken of the shared energy and climate change goals between the two countries in her first major diaspora speech as UK Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero. The 38-year-old Goan-origin Conservative MP, promoted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a recent Cabinet reshuffle, joked about setting somewhat of a trend as the latest British Indian member in frontline British politics at a diaspora Diwali reception organised by India Global Forum (IGF) here on Thursday evening. As the second Cabinet minister of Goan heritage after Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Coutinho stressed the hugely important India-UK partnership and the potential for further collaboration in the climate action sphere. I am not the first British Indian Cabinet member. I'm not even the first Goan Cabinet member because we are starting quite a trend in this country, said Coutinho. The relationship, that living bridge that we have with India,

EU's major plan aimed at fighting climate change to go to final votes

European Union institutions and conservationists on Friday gave a conditional and guarded welcome to a major plan to better protect nature and fight climate change in the 27-nation bloc. The plan is a key part of the EU's vaunted European Green Deal that seeks to establish the world's most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets and make the bloc the global point of reference on all climate issues. Yet it has had an extremely rough ride through the EU's complicated approval process and only a watered down version will now proceed to final votes. Late Thursday's breakthrough agreement between parliament and EU member states should have normally been the end of the approval process. But given the controversy the plan had previously stirred, the final votes - normally a rubberstamp process - could still throw up some hurdles. The plan has lost some of its progressive edge during negotiations over the summer because of fierce opposition in the EU's legislature, particularly from the

Decoupling of emissions and GDP not yet achieved: RBI deputy governor Patra

Patra further said that central banks and financial institutions must actively address climate change, as it impacts their mandates of price and financial stability

Climate action imposes heavy cost on developing nations, says CEA

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said climate action, including energy transition, impose a heavy cost on developing nations. Observing that emerging countries are already grappling with twin challenges of poverty alleviation and economic growth, he said climate change and energy transition are an added burden. Energy transition must bear three costs, including rise in costs of production from rising fuel cost and higher costs of new energy sources as they replace traditional sources, he said at an event organised by Centre for Social and Economic Progress. He suggested that developing countries need to build the ship even as they are sailing. India has announced that it aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2070 and meet 50 per cent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced more ambitious targets for 2030, including installing 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, reducing the emiss

COP28: A mirror to pledges and promises

With climate change-induced disasters multiplying, the Dubai summit cannot afford to be just a talk shop

Hot October makes 2023 'virtually certain' to be warmest year ever

Both November and December would need to be significantly colder than average in order for 2023 to avoid becoming the hottest year ever

COP28 looks set for conflict after negotiations on climate damage fund

Tense negotiations at the final meeting on a climate-related loss and damages fund an international fund to help poor countries hit hard by a warming planet ended Saturday in Abu Dhabi, with participants agreeing that the World Bank would temporarily host the fund for the next four years. The United States and several developing countries expressed disappointment in the draft agreement, which will be sent for global leaders to sign at the COP28 climate conference, which begins in Dubai later this month. The US State Department, whose officials joined the negotiations in Abu Dhabi, said in a statement it was pleased with an agreement being reached but regretted that the consensus reached among negotiators about donations to the fund being voluntary is not reflected in the final agreement. The agreement lays out basic goals for the fund, including for its planned launch in 2024, and specifies how it will be administered and who will oversee it, including a requirement for developing

Pacific Islands want a climate solution, but the US is not listening

That Vanuatu thought to take its dilemma to the highest court in the world demonstrates the severity of the issue

Need to shift away from foods that add to climate change: President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday said there is a need to shift away from those foods which add to climate change problem and opt for healthy foods that do not cause any harm to nature. She was speaking at the valedictory session of the three-day World Food India event (November 3-5) in the national capital. "We must consider the environmental cost of what we eat. The previous generations did not have to worry on this count," Murmu said. "The time has come when we have to choose our menu in a way that avoids any harm to nature," she added. The president called for shifting away from those foods that affect climate and moving towards environment-friendly menu. "We need to make conscious decisions to shift away from those foods that add to the problem of climate change and to shift towards the ones that are good for not only our health but also for the health of the planet," Murmu said. Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras said there is a great potential in th

West Asian countries to launch new climate initiatives at COP28 meeting

Although the contribution of Arab countries to carbon emissions is limited, the Arab region is one of the most affected by climate change, according to the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund

Deaths due to zoonotic infections expected to increase 12 times in 2050

Animal-to-human infections, or zoonotic diseases, have been increasing at an "exponential rate" and in 2050, are predicted to kill 12 times as many people as they did in 2020, researchers have warned in a new British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health study. Animal-to-human infections, also called 'spillover' infections, have been the cause of most modern epidemics, including COVID-19, the researchers from Ginkgo Bioworks, an American biotechnology company founded in 2008, said. Analysing 60 years of historical epidemiological data, the researchers detected a general pattern of increasingly larger and more frequent spillover events, even as their analysis did not include the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Climate and land use changes are predicted to drive the frequency of spillover events, facilitated by population density and connectivity, the researchers explained. However, the researchers said that the implications of these findings for future global health are difficult to ...

COP28 Prez calls on MDBs to work faster to address climate finance

Dr. Al Jaber told the MDBs they have already made "good progress" on reform, including an endorsement by shareholders of a new vision for the World Bank

Developed nations must advance emissions target to 2040, says Kant

Climate change is the biggest crisis for the world, and to achieve net-zero target by 2050, developed countries will have to advance their emissions target to 2040, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday. Addressing 'The Energy Transition Dialogues' organised by ORF, Kant said 80 per cent of growth in the world economy will come from emerging economies. "Climate change is the biggest crisis before us... therefore there has to be a huge sense of urgency and that... must come from G7 countries and China," he said. Net-zero emissions mean that the world is not adding any further emissions to the atmosphere. "If you want to achieve net zero by 2050, the developed world, which has occupied almost 90 per cent of the carbon space in the world, needs to advance its net zero target to 2040," he said. India has committed to going net zero by 2070 and China by 2060. The Group of Seven (G7) nations have committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Kant emphasised on the need

Low-income nations risk 30% seafood nutrient loss to climate change: Study

Low-income countries could lose up to 30 per cent of nutrients from seafood due to climate change, researchers say in a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. These findings about the loss of nutrients, including calcium, iron, protein and omega-3 fatty acids, were valid in a high emissions and low mitigation scenario, the researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, said. The nutrient loss may be restricted to 10 per cent, however, should the world meet the Paris Agreement targets of limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius, they said. "Low-income countries and the global south, where seafood is central to diets and has the potential to help address malnutrition, are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change," said first author William Cheung, professor and director of the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF). The researchers used predictive climate models on historical fisheries and seafood farming databases to ma

Southern California wildfire prompts evacuation order for thousands

A wildfire fuelled by gusty Santa Ana winds ripped through rural land southeast of Los Angeles on Monday, forcing about 4,000 people from their homes, fire authorities said. The so-called Highland Fire erupted at about 12:45 p.m. in dry, brushy hills near the unincorporated Riverside County hamlet of Aguanga. As of late Monday night, it had spread over about 5 square kilometres of land, fire spokesman Jeff LaRusso said. About 1,300 homes and 4,000 residents were under evacuation orders, he said. The fire had destroyed three buildings and damaged six others but it wasn't clear whether any were homes. The region is sparsely populated but there are horse ranches and a large mobile home site, LaRusso said. No injuries were reported. Winds of 32 to 40 kph with some higher gusts drove the flames and embers through grass and brush that were dried out by recent winds and low humidity so that it was "almost like kindling" for the blaze, LaRusso said. The winds were expected to ease somew

Bad air to unseasonal rain: It is time to look up and heed the warnings

The time has come to look around and induce climate action in decision-making

Green deposits offering higher interest than regular FDs, should you pick

Green deposits are essentially deposits raised for the purpose of utilising the proceeds towards financing of green projects/activities