Greenhouse Gases

Industrial boilers behind 7% of India's greenhouse gas emissions: Report

Boilers in India's factories release 182 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is about 7 per cent of the country's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and over a quarter of all emissions from industries, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The report also said these boilers emit more particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) than the entire automobile sector in India, primarily due to weak emission standards. Industries such as food processing, chemicals and textiles depend on steam produced by process boilers to operate. The findings were released at the 'National Conclave on Greening Industrial Boilers in India', organised by the environment think tank iFOREST, in partnership with the Central government's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the labour department of the Uttar Pradesh government. To reduce pollution and help India meet its net zero targets, iFOREST has suggested launching a "Green Boiler Mission"

Atmospheric CO2 reaches 800,000-year high at 420 ppm in 2023: WMO

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached 420 parts per million in 2023, the highest in the last 8,00,000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) State of the Climate report published on Wednesday. The report said long-term global warming is currently estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41 degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 baseline. It said that tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and other disasters in 2024 led to the highest number of new displacements recorded in the past 16 years. These events also worsened food crises and caused massive economic losses. Carbon dioxide levels in 2023 (the latest year with complete global data) were 420.0 0.1 parts per million (ppm), 2.3 ppm higher than in 2022 and 151 per cent of the pre-industrial level (1750). The WMO said 420 ppm corresponds to 3,276 gigatonnes (or 3.276 trillion tonnes) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The report said the past 10 years (2015-2024) were the warmest on record, with each o

Vedanta Aluminium says has reduced GHG emissions by 28.5% from FY12 to FY24

Vedanta Aluminium on Wednesday said it has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 28.5 per cent between 2011-12 and 2023-24 fiscal years. "This achievement underscores the company's unwavering commitment to responsible environmental practices and its vision for a net-zero future," the company said in a statement. Vedanta Aluminium Chief Operating Officer Sunil Gupta said the company's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is reflected in the substantial reduction of GHG emissions and the firm's growing adoption of renewable energy. "Beyond environmental stewardship, we continue to empower local communities and foster sustainable industrial practices. These achievements underscore our leadership in sustainability and reaffirm our dedication to balancing growth with responsibility to people, the planet, and future generations," he said. These initiatives have impacted the lives of about 600,000 individuals across 269 villages in some of the most backward ...

Paris agreement in grave danger, world must head to reduce GHGs: WMO chief

The Paris Agreement is in grave danger and the world must mark 2025 as the year of decisive climate action to reduce greenhouse gases and speed up the transition to renewable energy, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said on Tuesday. Saulo, who attended events to mark the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) 150th anniversary here, said the celebration comes at a crucial moment for the planet. She pointed out that 2024 was the hottest year on record in India and globally too. In 2024, India suffered prolonged extreme heat, which greatly impacted human health, agriculture, water supply and energy supplies, she recalled. "Heavy monsoon rains caused disruption and death, as we saw with tragic landslides in Kerala in July. More recently, air pollution hit alarming and dangerous levels in many parts of the country," Saulo said. The WMO chief said 2024 also became the first calendar year with an average temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius above th

India's GHG emissions fell 7.93% in 2020 compared to 2019: Govt to UNFCCC

India's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 declined by 7.93 per cent compared to 2019, while its GDP emission intensity fell 36 per cent between 2005 and 2020, according to new data submitted to the UN climate change office. In its fourth Biennial Update Report (BUR-4) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 30, India said its total greenhouse gas emissions -- excluding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) -- amounted to 2,959 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) and 2,437 MtCO2e including LULUCF. "Total national emissions (including LULUCF) have decreased by 7.93 per cent with respect to 2019 and increased by 98.34 per cent since 1994," according to the report. "India has progressively continued decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Between 2005 and 2020, India's gross domestic product (GDP) emission intensity reduced by 36 per cent," it said. Biennial Update Reports (BURs) are

ISO certifies TCI-IIMB digital tool to track greenhouse gas emissions

Transport Corporation of India on Thursday said its lab set up in collaboration with IIM, Bangalore, has received ISO certification for a digital tool that can track greenhouse gas emissions. The TCI-IIMB Supply Chain Sustainability Lab at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), founded in collaboration with TCI, has become the first organisation in India to achieve ISO 14083 certification for its groundbreaking digital platform, the Transportation Emissions Measurement Tool (TEMT), it said in a release. "This certification underscores the platform's ability to accurately quantify and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from freight transportation activities, helping organisations to measure, manage, and ultimately reduce their transportation-related emissions in line with regulatory requirements and sustainability goals," TCI said. (TEMT) is a comprehensive online platform designed to measure emissions across all modes of transportation. In India, the transportation

Centre, power industry exploring curbs on most potent greenhouse gas SF6

The stable nature that makes SF6 an excellent insulator also aggravates its impacts on the climate

Decarbonisation key to firm profitability, India ahead of global average

Globally, only about 25 per cent of the companies reported annual decarbonisation benefits worth at least 7 per cent of sales

Need to address data challenges for slashing urban emission: Experts

Indian cities can play a central role in reducing greenhouse gas emission and building resilient urban environments if data collection and "scenario modelling" were strengthened, according to experts working on urban emission and strategies on mitigation plans. Using the Climate Action for Urban Sustainability (CURB) tool, up to 77 per cent of urban emission could possibly be tackled by 2050 by identifying sectors having the greatest potential in slashing emission, a team from Delhi's World Resources Institute (WRI) found. However, the challenges are plenty, the authors said. These include a limited capacity of institutions for data-driven exercises. This will need to be addressed to slash greenhouse gas emission and create sustainable, resilient urban environments. "Strengthening data collection, scenario modelling, and capacity-building frameworks will enable cities to set more ambitious and achievable climate targets, positioning them as key drivers of India's overall greenhouse

Pollution of warming gas methane soars; people are mostly to blame: Study

The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds. Tuesday's study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons) of methane in the air, up nearly 12 per cent from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18 per cent in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2 per cent in the same time. Methane levels in the air are now 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times, the study said. Methane levels in the air had plateaued for a while in the early 2000s, but now are soaring. Humans cause methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture and filling up landfills. Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring, ..

Denmark to be 1st to impose tax on livestock carbon emissions: Danish govt

A tax was first proposed in February by government-commissioned experts to help Denmark reach a legally binding 2030 target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent from 1990 levels

'Unusual temperatures, gas levels seen in days before Turkey earthquakes'

Unusually high land temperatures and levels of greenhouse gases in the air were observed in Turkey days before two earthquakes struck the country on February 6, 2023, a new research has found. Analysing satellite data from November 1, 2022 to February 10, 2023, Mehdi Akhoondzadeh from the University of Tehran, Iran, said that monitoring the ground and atmosphere for unusual physical and chemical parameters -- known as earthquake precursors -- could be part of an early warning system for earthquakes. The earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria were each of at least 7.6 magnitude and about nine hours apart. The death toll is said to be more than 50,000 and the earthquakes were the deadliest ones in modern history. Even though researchers are aware of earthquake precursors, it has so far been difficult to conclusively identify a pattern of such "red flags" that could foretell an impending earthquake, said the author of the study published in the Journal of Applied Geodesy. This is becau

India to spend up to $385 bn to meet renewable energy target: Moody's

India, a major greenhouse gas emitter, has said it aims to ramp up non-fossil fuel capacity set by 50 GW each year to help meet its 500 GW target.

Germany likely to miss 2030 climate goal, advisors calls for new policy

Expert Council on Climate Issues, which has independent authority to judge the country's climate performance, said Germany is unlikely to meet its goal to cut 65% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

UK plans to implement carbon tax on imported goods like steel from 2027

The British government announced plans Monday to charge a carbon levy on imported raw materials such as aluminum, iron, steel and cement from 2027, in an attempt to prevent firms being undercut by overseas producers. However, the plan has come under criticism from the body representing British steel as being too sluggish, as it will come into effect one year after similar proposals from the European Union (EU) are implemented. Announcing its plan, Britain's Treasury said the proposed new tax will level the playing field, helping greener domestic producers compete against higher carbon, but cheaper, foreign rivals. For years, fears have been expressed that efforts to cut greenhouse gases in the UK are not being matched overseas, meaning that emissions are just being displaced to other countries without ambitious net-zero targets, leading to little global benefit. This levy will make sure carbon-intensive products from overseas like steel and ceramics face a comparable carbon price

'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

India refrains from signing the COP28 Health and Climate Declaration

India on Sunday refrained from signing the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, with sources pointing out that curbing greenhouse gas use for cooling in the health sector, which is one of the points in the document, may not be practical or achievable within the country's healthcare infrastructure in the short term. The declaration calls for climate action to achieve benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including from just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets. On the occasion of the first Health Day at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) on Sunday, the declaration expressed grave concern about the negative impacts of climate change on health. The declaration is signed by 124 countries till now with the US and India, which are among the top greenhouse gas emitters, absent from the list of signatories. The declaration, aimed at addressing the critical intersection

Record-breaking rise in greenhouse gases threatens climate goals: WMO

The concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere once again hit a new record last year and there appears to be no halt to this escalating trend, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The global averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), considered the most critical greenhouse gas, were a staggering 50 per cent above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) in 2022 for the first time. These levels have continued to escalate in 2023, it said. The WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin noted that although the growth rate in CO2 concentrations was slightly lower than the preceding year and the decade's average, this decline was likely due to short-term variations in the carbon cycle. The report highlighted that new emissions from industrial activities continued to rise. Methane concentrations also grew, and levels of nitrous oxide, the third main gas, saw the highest year-on-year increase on record from 2021 to 2022, according to the ...

Trading for a greener tomorrow

The way forward to meet the nationally determined contributions is a well-regulated domestic emission trading mechanism

Itziar Irakulis Loitxate: The climate sleuth tracking methane leaks for UN

The 27-year-old PhD student isn't a detective but she may be the closest thing the world has to climate police