Page 77 - Climate Change

Climate change as business: Crisis, opportunity and everything in between

As the world changes with changing realities, some businesses will suffer. But in any case India has an unplanned advantage: It has to destroy less of the old to make way for the new, writes T N Ninan

Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard gives everything away to fight climate change

All the profits of the $3 billion company, Patagonia, will now go towards fighting climate change and protecting land across the world

Climate Change intensified rain that fueled Pakistan floods, heatwave

In addition to the rainfall, a heat wave in India and Pakistan earlier this year, also fueled by climate change, worsened the flooding that left a third of Pakistan under water, the scientists found.

Extreme weather, wildfires, floods jeopardise health care services: Report

Dr. Suzy Fitzgerald remembers looking out the windows as wildfire flames surrounded the hospital where she worked. We had fire in all three directions, Fitzgerald recalled. I thought, Oh gosh, this is serious. We need to get these people out.' Fitzgerald helped with the evacuation of 122 patients from Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center on that night nearly five years ago, as the blaze gobbled up homes and buildings across Northern California. The hospital, which had filled with smoke, closed for 17 days. Medical centers around the country say that fires, flooding, heat waves and other extreme weather are jeopardizing medical services, damaging health care facilities and forcing patients to flee their hospital beds, according to a report released Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee. At a hearing, Dr. Parinda Khatri, the CEO of Cherokee Health Systems, told the committee that a pediatric clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, was forced to close for 10 days this summer

Developed world failed to meet its commitment on climate finance: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday regretted that the developed world has "totally failed" in its commitment to providing technology and finance to developing nations to deal with climate change issues. He urged the International Dairy Federation (IDF) to consider initiating a global effort whereby nations that have contributed more towards the Green House Gas emissions actually put relevant technology and financing on the table to help mitigate the climate crisis in the less developed counties. This would include many nations in Asia and Africa, many of which have the commitment but do not necessarily possess the relevant technology and resources, he said. "We do very strongly believe that the developed world has totally failed in meeting its commitments to support the developing countries and the emerging markets or less developed countries, through their contributions of technology, through their contributions of low-cost long tenure government supported ...

Large companies' assets at growing risk of climate impact: S-P Global

(Reuters) - Over 90% of the world's largest companies will have at least one asset highly exposed to the physical impacts of climate change by the 2050s, data and analysis from index and ratings provider S&P Global showed on Thursday.

Climate change, sustainable development issues of prime importance: Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said climate change and sustainable development are issues of prime importance today and countries across the board should come together to work out solutions for them. Addressing the faculty and course members of 62nd National Defence College course who had called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Murmu said we need to prepare ourselves to face not just the traditional threats but even the unseen ones which also include the vagaries of nature. The president said we are in a dynamic world where even a small change can have a wide impact, according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sometimes, it can have safety and security connotations. The pace and tide of the Covid pandemic is just an example of the threat which humanity faces today. It makes us realise the vulnerability of humankind, she said. Murmu said, every threat makes us think about the need to fight it and prevent its recurrence. We need to prepare ourselves to fac

Samsung shifting from fossil fuels for 100% clean energy operations by 2050

Samsung Electronics is shifting away from fossil fuels and aiming to entirely power its global operations with clean electricity by 2050, a challenging goal that experts say could be hampered by South Korea's modest climate change commitments. South Korea-based Samsung is a top producer of computer memory chips and smartphones and, by some estimates, the biggest energy consumer among hundreds of global companies that have joined the RE100 campaign to get 100 per cent of electricity from renewable sources like wind or solar power. In announcing its target on Thursday the company said it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its mobile device, display panel and consumer electronics divisions by 2030, and across all global operations including semiconductors by 2050. It plans to invest 7 trillion won (USD 5 billion) through 2030 on projects aimed at reducing emissions from process gases, controlling and recycling electronic waste, conserving water and minimizing pollutants.

Egypt severely affected by climate change, says minister ahead of COP27

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Suweilam said on Sunday that Egypt is one of the world's most affected countries by climate change, a news website reported

A tale of many megacities as climate extremes expose infra planning gaps

Experts say twin challenge of infra redevelopment and climate adaptation are both out of the ambit of sparsely financed municipal corporations

Never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods in Pakistan: UN chief

Antonio Guterres has warned the international community that all countries would suffer damages "beyond their capacity to adapt" if the world failed to respond to the challenge of climate change

Needs to build resilience in people living in coastal areas: Union minister

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Saturday said India needs to build resilience among people living in coastal areas with the changing climate across the globe. India's coastline is of immense strategic, economic and social importance to the country, he said. Addressing the first National Conference on Sustainable Coastal Management in India here, the minister said, "With the changing climate, we need to build the resilience of communities living in coastal areas." A programme on enhancing climate resilience of coastal communities is being implemented in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the initiative is integrating ecosystem and community-based approaches to adaptation into coastal management and planning. Spanning 7,500 kilometres, India's coastline is the seventh longest in the world, and is home to 20 per cent of the country's population, he said. "

India opts out of trade talks with a US-led group of Asian nations

Known as IPEF, the initiative is an effort by President Joe Biden's administration to deepen ties with Asian nations through a range of issues including trade, climate change, supply chains and tax

HSBC commits Rs 125 cr to green causes in India over next 5 years

Foreign lender HSBC on Friday committed Rs 125 crore over the next five years to support green causes like wetland conservation and energy transition projects in India. The lender said in a statement that the measures are is being taken as part of its efforts to limit the impact of climate change. Under the commitment, it has divided the works into two broad themes, including energy transition and nature-based solutions. The nature-based solutions will include projects to protect and revitalise wetlands, mangroves and forests, landscape restoration and promote sustainable agriculture, it said. Energy transition will include renewables and/or energy efficiency programmes to support the shift towards renewables and scale efficiency initiatives in sectors like healthcare, dairy cold chain and for productive energy use by communities, it added. "Sustainability for us is about long-term survival going hand in hand with conservation and community upliftment," its country chief executive

Amid political unrest, faltering economy, Pak floods turn into a nightmare

Pakistan's climate minister, Sherry Rehman, called the floods a catastrophe of "very epic proportion"

India, US must cooperate in climate change, semiconductors: Gautam Adani

The two countries must commit to 'free trade, openness, integration' of economies, says Adani Group chairman in award acceptance speech.

Environment-driven taxes: An interesting challenge for policymakers

The question of designing and imposing environmental taxes with specific objectives remains challenging due to the complexities involved

Pakistan floods show climate adaptation requires international support

Flooding in Pakistan shows that climate adaptation requires international support and regional co-operation

Nearly 1,300 people die in Pakistan due to floods even as rescue ops on

Pakistan's catastrophic floods resulted in the death of nearly 1,300 people in the country even as relief operations continue

New energy conundrum

It is not just a moral imperative, but a pre-requisite for a world that has a chance to keep the spiralling temperatures within check