Page 3 - Climate Plan

Climate change threatens to undo educational gains of recent decade: UNESCO

Climate related stressors like heat, wildfires, floods, droughts, diseases and rising sea levels affect education outcomes and threaten to undo educational gains of recent decade, according to the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM). The global report compiled by UNESCO, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and University of Saskatchewan in Canada has pointed out that most low and middle-income countries are experiencing climate-related school closures every year, increasing chances of learning loss and dropout. "Climate change related impacts are already disrupting education systems and outcomes. Direct effects include the destruction of education infrastructure as well as injuries and loss of life among students, parents and school staff. Climate change has a negative impact on education indirectly through its displacement of people and the effects on people's livelihoods and health," the report said. "Over the past 20 years, schools .

Agri firm Samunnati gets Rs 133 cr debt funding from Swiss firm Blue Earth

Agriculture value chain enabler Samunnati on Friday said it has raised Rs 133 crore (USD 16 million) in credit financing from Swiss impact investment firm Blue Earth Capital. This is Blue Earth Capital's first debt investment and will help Samunnati expand initiatives aimed at improving the lives of small farmers across the country through projects focused on climate adaptation, resilience and mitigation practices. The funding from Blue Earth is the single largest debt tranche raised by Samunnati during the first quarter of the fiscal year. "We're grateful for the support from Blue Earth Capital... This boost will strengthen our efforts to improve the lives of smallholders through climate and sustainability projects," Samunnati founder and chief executive Anil Kumar SG said in a statement. In the current fiscal year, Samunnati has already secured USD 5 million (Rs 41 crore) in debt funding through external commercial borrowing from Enabling Qapital. In the previous fiscal year, it

Shell shareholders reject investor climate resolution filed by activists

The company, however, introduced a new 'ambition' to cut overall emissions from oil products such as gasoline and jet fuel sold to customers by 15-20% by 2030 compared with 2021

BJP went back on Sixth Schedule promise, will continue movement: Wangchuk

In March this year, Leh, known for its breathtaking landscapes and monasteries, made headlines as climate activist Sonam Wangchuk led a 21-day fast in sub-zero temperatures seeking autonomy for Ladakh. Thousands joined the Ramon Magsaysay Award winner whose life inspired actor Aamir Khan's character Rancho in Bollywood blockbuster "3 Idiots". After ending his fast on March 26, Wangchuk began a sit-in which was called off on May 10 in view of the Lok Sabha elections. Though the government did not accede to the protesters' demands for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, Wangchuk says the movement is anything but over. "On one hand, land is going to corporations and on the other hand, China is capturing our land, thousands of square kilometres of land. People of the country need to understand our pain," Wangchuk told PTI. "The Sixth Schedule is required to protect the mountains, glaciers and ecology. Though it is required in the whole ...

None of G7 economies on track to meet 2030 mitigation targets, shows report

None of the G7 members are on track to meet their existing emission reduction targets for 2030, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday. The analysis by Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, comes ahead of the G7 climate, energy, and environment ministers' meeting in Venaria Reale, Italy, during April 28-30. The G7 collectively aims to achieve a 40-42 per cent emission reduction by 2030 but existing policies suggest that it will likely achieve only 19-33 per cent by the end of this decade, the analysis showed. This is at best around half of what is needed and would lead to greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 exceeding a 1.5 degrees Celsius compatible level by around four gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Such a shortfall in ambition does not provide the leadership signal needed from the world's richest countries, making up around 38 per cent of the global economy and responsible for 21 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the .

March marks yet another record in global heat, says EU climate agency

Each of the last 10 months ranked as the world's hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin

Climate activists seek major human rights ruling against European states

Depending on the ruling, countries may need to update their plans for reining in climate-warming emissions in the near term

US Fed blocks tough global climate-risk rules for Wall Street Banks

European central bankers have been advocating for the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to agree on requiring lenders to disclose their strategies for meeting green commitments

EU must prepare for 'catastrophic' climate change risks: Environment agency

Policymakers need to draw up new plans to address the challenges, the Copenhagen-based body said in its first Europe-wide analysis of climate-related risks

Feb hottest on record with avg temp 1.77 deg C above pre-industrial period

The world last month experienced the warmest February on record, with the average temperature being 1.77 degrees Celsius more than the February average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period, the European Union's climate agency said on Thursday. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) also said that every month since June last year has been the warmest such month on record. Scientists attribute the exceptional warming to the combined effects of El Nino -- a period of abnormal warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean -- and human-caused climate change. C3S last month said the global mean temperature breached the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold for an entire year for the first time in January. A permanent breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius limit specified in the Paris Agreement, however, refers to long-term warming over many years. According to climate scientists, countries need to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius a

Poland protests: Many injured amid violent clashes between farmers, police

Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said. Police used tear gas and said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament. Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation. Police noted on the social media platform X that its officers are not a party to the ongoing dispute and warned that behavior threatening their safety cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response. The deputy agriculture minister, Michal Kolodziejczak, said he didn't believe that real, normal farmers caused a riot in fr

India will always be a 'champion' for climate action, says Ruchira Kamboj

We feel that climate change is interlinked with development matters and hence needs discussion in forums with universal participation, Kamboj said while addressing UNSC open debate

India, Singapore pact in climate finance has promising future: NITI Aayog

The cooperation between India and Singapore in the field of green finance has a promising future, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery has said, asserting that the two countries can work within the framework laid out in the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration on sustainable finance. The three-day Singapore visit of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog's vice-chairperson came under the Distinguished Visitors Programme (DVP) of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It aimed to strengthen bilateral ties and foster mutual cooperation across all levels, according to the foreign affairs ministry here. India and Singapore can make something quickly and important happen in terms of green finance-climate finance within the framework that has been laid out in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration on sustainable finance, he said after concluding the visit to understand thinking among planners in the city-state. Adopted on September 9 last year, the G20 New Delhi Leaders'

WTO's trade policy toolkit for climate action

Our policymakers may take note of the recommendations and fine-tune our policies

Carbon market push at COP28 summit tries to fix scandal-tainted credits

The concept of trading carbon credits across borders to accelerate the green transition is not new, nor are challenges to its transparency and impact

Phasing out fossil fuels among options on table for COP28 climate talks

"Absolutely not," he said when asked in a TV interview in Riyadh whether his country, the world's top oil exporter, would be happy to see the language added

COP28 and the coal question

Before India and China can commit to a future without coal, there are geopolitical and technological hurdles that need to be resolved

'Trade Day' at COP28: To deliberate on policy options for climate action

At COP26 held at Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, most developed countries committed to achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050

UN climate talks are focusing on the contagious effect on human health

In remarks read at the Vatican by an aide, the pope called for an end of what he called "bottlenecks" caused by nationalism and "patterns of the past"

COP28 climate summit 2023: Exxon, Aramco lead emissions cut pledge

The list of national oil companies includes Brazil's Petrobras, Nigeria's NNPC and Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz. China's largest oil and gas companies haven't joined