POLITICS
How COP26 broke trust and downed global south
India had suggested that it will address all fossil fuels in an equitable manner, but that would place most of the burden squarely on the US and rich countries.
BUSINESS
COP26 | Climate talks at Glasgow still miss a key element: Fossil fuels
At half time of COP 26, it is increasingly doubtful that the ‘last chance for climate’ summit will deliver on the UK COP presidency’s ambition
BUSINESS
COP26 | Climate Justice is the bottom line for all climate action
Climate justice means that while all countries should participate in the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the industrialised nations, which historically and currently are most responsible for global warming, should lead this transformation
WORLD
Net Zero By 2070 — India’s goal is more ambitious than that of China, European Union
Even if India’s Net Zero goal is a decade behind China and two decades behind the United States, if the emission reduction target covers all greenhouse gases, it will be compatible with what scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic global warming
BUSINESS
COP26 | Will climate finance be the deal breaker?
Research has shown the most effective way to address Climate Change is to take investment dollars away from companies that harm our planet, and redirecting them to companies that actively promote adaptation and disaster risk reduction
BUSINESS
COP26 | Who will finance loss and damage?
The contentious issue of funding loss and damage is no longer on the official negotiating agenda for COP 26, but that has not deterred the group of 45 nations, including civil society, from renewing their call for funding for loss and damage at the summit
BUSINESS
COP26 | If not net-zero, then what?
If the science says ‘global net-zero by mid-century’, there is a strong moral case for developed countries adopting an earlier date based on their historical emissions, instead of expecting developing countries (such as India) to make deep carbon-cuts in the same time frame
POLITICS
Stubble Burning | How the Green Revolution has left behind grey skies
Stubble-burning is an unintended consequence of the technology developed for the Green Revolution. Some estimates say farmers in northern India burn about 23 million tonnes of paddy stubble every year
TRENDS
Explained | Hiding behind a smog tower
Like all end-of-pipe solutions, whether for effluents or for emissions, investments such as smog towers or effluent treatment plants have been established to be futile and economically unfeasible in the long run
BUSINESS
Get serious on climate change, time is running out
The IPCC report gives the most comprehensive and detailed picture yet of how climate change is altering the natural world. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years
BUSINESS
30 years of economic reforms and environmental degradation
What began as a response to an economic crisis has led to an unprecedented environmental crisis that is set to reverse what little gains we made over the last three decades
TRENDS
Remembering Sunderlal Bahuguna, one of the architects of the Chipko movement
Padma Vibhushan Sunderlal Bahuguna began the Chipko Andolan with Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Gaura Devi in the 1970s. Twenty years later, he spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement.
POLITICS
Uttarakhand Floods | A disaster foretold
International geologists and glaciologists studying satellite imagery say the cause of the flooding disaster to be a landslide and not a glacial outburst
BUSINESS
Budget 2021 could have gone ambitious with green initiatives
At a time when countries including the United States and China are increasing their climate change ambitions ahead of COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, sadly, there was no mention of ecosystem restoration, forest and wildlife protection, phaseout of coal, etc
BUSINESS
Is India really a global climate leader?
India ranks in several climate change performance studies, but that’s owing to its ambitious renewable energy and energy efficiency targets. It must recognise the role of nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change's adverse effects and foster climate resilience
BUSINESS
Will China lead the global fight against climate change?
It is important to note that China’s efforts to cut emissions so far have been more about pragmatism than climate leadership. Pollution and other environmental threats are increasingly seen as threats to the communist party’s standing
BUSINESS
Is corporate hypocrisy fuelling plastic waste crime?
Two recent reports paint a deadly picture of corporate irresponsibility on the one hand and illegal waste trade on the other that has allowed illegal recycling facilities to thrive, facilities that are profiting by circumventing costs linked to licence and environmentally sound treatment process
TECHNOLOGY
India’s first climate change report offers a stern warning
Though its findings echo similar climate change assessment reports, the ‘Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region’ is the first-ever indigenous attempt to document and assess climate change in different parts of India
WORLD
Tourism | Bhutan puts ecology before the economy
A country that has a tourism sector that both cares about the sustainability of the environment and nurtures its places of natural beauty is going to attract discerning international and local visitors who are willing to pay the extra dollar.
ENVIRONMENT
Budget 2020 | On climate change, it was business as usual
Budget announcements on climate change are nothing but a lip service and the proposed incremental measures fall short in their intent to transform India into a sustainable, low-carbon, high-growth economy is disappointing.
ENVIRONMENT
Budget 2020 | To fight climate change, correct anomalies in fund allocation
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman must prioritise and scale up fiscal action to address the unfolding climate crisis and environmental emergency by bolstering allocations to the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)
WORLD
Climate Change | 2020 is the year of climate emergency
The scale and intensity of this year’s unfolding disasters, be it the Australian bushfires or the Indonesian flooding, unequivocally reiterate that the link between the current extremes and anthropogenic climate change is scientifically undisputable.
WORLD
Climate Change | Sorry Greta Thunberg, the world is not ready to tackle the climate crisis
Instead of coming to the UN with concrete plans to cut emissions to net-zero, rich countries and large emitters such as the US, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil skipped the New York summit, while others practically came empty-handed to the table.
INDIA
Plastic Ban | Single-use plastic has no place on this planet
Banning single-use plastic will hurt a large part of existing investments in machinery and impact jobs in the plastics industry, but future costs of removing all single-use plastics accumulating in the environment will most certainly be higher than the costs of allowing this polluting industry to grow today.
