Page 67 - Climate Change

Indian railways far from 'carbon neutral 2030' goal; lags in clean energy

The organization had installed renewable capacity of 142 megawatts of rooftop solar and 103.4 megawatts of wind energy as of August

Over 80k delegates, 140 heads of state to attend COP28 in Dubai: Minister

Over 80,000 delegates, including over 140 heads of state and government leaders, would participate in COP28 which is scheduled to be held next year in the UAE, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, one of the country's ministers and special envoy for climate change, has said. Al Jaber, who is the minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE's special envoy for climate change, highlighted the importance of the UAE hosting the Conference of the Parties and said COP28 will be an important global event coinciding with the country's national day and will be held at Expo City Dubai. "COP2, which will be hosted in the UAE in 2023, will welcome high-level participation including over 140 heads of state and government leaders, over 80,000 delegates, and more than 5,000 media professionals," Al Jaber said on Tuesday, He said the determination of the UAE, its strong diplomatic relations with global nations and its pragmatic position on climate action, underpinned by proven experience in the energ

Andhra Pradesh focuses on climate change governance, sets up special cell

The Andhra Pradesh government has created an exclusive Climate Change Cell (CCC) in its Environment, Forests, Science and Technology Department to implement a state action plan and make it climate resilient through improved climate change governance'. AP will soon come out with a Climate Change State Action plan, on the lines of the National Action Plan for Climate Change, and the new CCC will be tasked with its implementation. Building capacities for climate change actions (mitigation and adaptation) and addressing issues through an Ecosystem-based Approach will be the key, according to Special Chief Secretary (EFST Department) Neerabh Kumar Prasad. Mitigation of climate change and protection of vulnerable sections of society through an inclusive and sustainable development strategy, which also enhances ecological sustainability, will be the CCC's main focus area. As climate change poses a challenge to sustainability of social and economic development, livelihoods of communities a

India among top 5 countries in global climate change performance index

India is ranked among the top five countries, and the best among the G-20 nations, under the global Climate Change Performance Index, an official statement said. The index is published by German Watch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network International based in Germany. The CCPI aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries. "India has been ranked amongst top 5 countries in the world, and the best among the G20 countries, based on its Climate Change performance," a power ministry statement said. India jumped two spots, and is now ranked 8th as per the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI, 2023), it stated. The latest report of CCPI, released at COP27 in November 2022, shows Denmark, Sweden, Chile and Morocco as the only four small countries that were ranked above India at fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. The first, second and third ranks wer

India moves two spots up to rank 8th in climate change performance index

India has also been ranked amongst top 5 countries in the world and the best among the G20 countries, based on its Climate Change performance

COP27 loss and damage fund: Is India a net loser?

The recently-concluded Cop 27 relegated realistic climate goals to back seat, and put several developing countries in a tight spot. Will India gain from the newly-established 'Loss and Damage' fund?

COP27 fails to turn off the oil tap as global production hits all-time high

The latest global climate summit has failed to even mention the reduction of fossil fuel usage, a key demand from India, in the final agreement text at Egypt

Huge impact of CAs on businesses can save the world: Julia Penny of ICAEW

In a Q&A, the head of the apex body of chartered accountants in the UK discusses the challenge of sustainability and other issues her tribe faces across the globe

Best of BS Opinion: Protecting data privacy, the FTX fraud, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

COP27 agrees to adopt loss and damage fund but finer details missing

India's call to end all fossil fuels not acknowledged in final draft

Good and bad news

COP27 does not push forward India's agenda significantly

Historic compensation fund for poor nations approved at UN climate talks

The UN published an updated draft of the proposed deal of the climate summit in Egypt on Saturday. It makes no mention of the need to phase down all fossil fuels, one of the key demands this year, and reiterates the Glasgow Pact language on coal. Negotiators, however, said they have reached a tentative deal on the creation of a fund to address loss and damage, a term used for irreparable destruction caused by climate change-fuelled disasters. The success of the talks hinges on a separate loss and damage fund, the primary demand for COP27 from developing nations. The deal, however, is part of the larger agreement and has to be voted on by negotiators from nearly 200 countries. The Presidency consultations on the tentative deal were scheduled for 6:30pm (Egypt time), which means the closing plenary is now likely to take place on Sunday morning. Experts said no reference to oil and natural gas -- on which developed countries depend -- in the text is not in the interest of climate acti

Climate talks poised for disaster fund deal to compensate poor nations

Negotiators say they have struck a potential breakthrough deal on the thorniest issue of United Nations climate talks, the creation of a fund for compensating poor nations that are victims of extreme weather worsened by rich nations' carbon pollution. There is an agreement on loss and damage, which is what negotiators call the concept, Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna told The Associated Press on Saturday. It still needs to be approved unanimously in a vote later today. That means for countries like ours we will have the mosaic of solutions that we have been advocating for. We proposed a text and this actually just has just been accepted, so we now have a fund, Norway Climate and Environment minister Espen Barth Eide told the AP. New Zealand Climate Minister James Shaw said both the poor countries that would get the money and the rich ones that would give it are on board with the proposed deal. If approved, it's a big win for poorer nations which have been calling for

UN climate summit: Parties scramble for consensus on key issues in overtime

The UN climate talks in Egypt dragged on into overtime on Saturday, with no sign of parties arriving at a consensus on several key issues, including loss and damage, mitigation work programme and adaptation. COP27 president Sameh Shoukry said deliberations continued through the night, but did not result in a clear direction towards a consensus. The success of the talks hinges on a fund to address loss and damage, which refers to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to or when options exist, but a community doesn't have the resources to access or utilise them. Financing or a new fund for addressing loss and damage -- for example money needed for relocating people displaced by floods -- has been a long-pending demand of poor and developing countries, including India. Developed nations, particularly the US, have opposed this new fund over fears that it would hold them legally liable for massive damages caused by climate change. "Need more time to ag

BS Views of the week: Twitter layoffs, FTX crisis, climate change, and more

Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Twitter layoffs, FTX crisis, climate change, and much more

COP27: Despair, lack of progress at climate talks, yet hope blooms

It's a desert, where little grows. It's a climate conference, where water is scarce inside buildings and out, lines are long, tempers are short, meetings go late and above all progress comes in one-drop drips. Yet hope springs forth in the strangest places. Not in the naive new face, but in the hearts and minds of veteran activists and officials, who have gone through this frustrating sleep-depriving exercise, not once or twice but numerous times. And it blooms in a odd metal tree sculpture in a centre square here at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt. People write their hopes on green paper leaves. Hope is the only meaning (sic) that makes us ALIVE! Mohamed Ageez, an Egyptian youth activist wrote. Former US Vice President Al Gore looks at more than 30 years of climate change efforts and sees hope in progress and change. United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen and The Nature Conservancy Chief Scientist Katharine Hayhoe see it in all the people in the

COP27 climate deal hurtle towards overtime, countries mull EU offer of fund

27-country EU said it would back one of the toughest agenda items financing for countries wracked by climate-fuelled disasters

COP27: To decarbonise by 2050, India needs investments of at least $7 trn

And India's progress towards net zero by 2070 will depend on how successful it is in facilitating an orderly transition to a clean economy

COP27: India opposes efforts to extend scope of mitigation to agriculture

India has opposed the developed world's efforts to extend the scope of mitigation to agriculture at the ongoing UN climate summit in Egypt, saying rich nations do not want to reduce emissions by changing their lifestyles and are "searching for cheaper solutions abroad", sources said on Thursday. Expressing concern over the draft decision text on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, India said the developed countries are blocking a pro-poor and pro-farmer decision by insisting on expanding the scope for mitigation to agriculture, thereby compromising the very foundation of food security in the world, a source in the Indian delegation said. "At every climate summit, the developed countries wish to change the goalposts of the international climate regime using diversionary means to dilute their responsibilities arising from their historical emissions. "Annex-I countries, it may be recalled, owe the world a carbon debt of 790 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2), which is worth USD

Global assessment reveals huge potential of peatlands as climate solution

These findings are part of the Global Peatlands Assessment, published on Thursday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)