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Subject: Climate Change

1. Global Warming and Issues
2. All about Pollution

  • What is a Heatwave?

    The Konkan region, including Mumbai, has been experiencing sweltering heat in recent days, with the maximum temperatures touching the 40 degrees mark.

    What is a Heatwave and when is it declared?

    • Heatwaves occur over India between March and June.
    • IMD declares a heatwave event when the maximum (day) temperature for a location in the plains crosses 40 degrees Celsius.
    • Over the hills, the threshold temperature is 30 degrees Celsius.

    Following criteria are used to declare heatwave:

    To declare heatwave, the below criteria should be met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological subdivision for at least two consecutive days and it will be declared on the second day.

    a) Based on Departure from Normal

    • Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C

    b) Based on Actual Maximum Temperature (for plains only)

    • Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

    How long can a heatwave spell last?

    • A heatwave spell generally lasts for a minimum of four days. On some occasions, it can extend up to seven or ten days.
    • The longest recorded heatwave spell, in recent years, was between 18 – 31 May 2015.

     

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  • Mumbai Climate Action Plan

    The Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) has laid down a 30-year road map for the city to tackle the challenges of climate change by adopting inclusive and robust mitigation and adaptation strategies.

    What is MCAP ?

    • The MCAP has set short-, medium- and long-term climate goals aimed towards zero emission of greenhouse gas or a net-zero target for 2050.
    • It focuses on priority across six strategic areas:
    1. Sustainable waste management
    2. Urban greening and biodiversity
    3. Urban flooding and water resource management,
    4. Energy and buildings
    5. Air quality and
    6. Sustainable mobility

    Features of the plan

    • The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) prepared the plan with technical support from the World Resources Institute (WRI), India and the C40 Cities network.
    • It concentrates on the city, its ecological, cultural and economical landscapes.
    • The plan throws light on the current climate of the city called Baseline Assessment—climate and air pollution risks, greenhouse gas inventory.
    • The plan then assesses future trajectories in the business-as-usual scenarios and assesses future emission reduction scenarios to make Mumbai net-zero by 2050.

    Why does Mumbai need a climate action plan?

    • As per a study conducted by WRI India on Mumbai’s vulnerability assessment, the city will face two major challenges—temperature rise, and extreme rain events which lead to flooding.
    • The city is already witnessing a warming trend.
    • The analysis has revealed a warming trend over 47 years (1973-2020) with an increase of 0.25°C per decade for the city.

    What is the current greenhouse gas emission?

    • In 2019, which is taken as a base year, Mumbai’s GHG emissions were 23.42 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, which is 1.8 tonnes CO2e per person.
    • Out of which, 16.9 million tonnes or 72 per cent is from the energy sector, followed by 4.56 million tonnes of CO2 e or 20 per cent from the transportation sector.
    • The city’s waste sector contributes to a total of eight per cent of the total emissions.
    • Most of the city’s emissions come from energy use in residential buildings followed by commercial buildings and transport.
    • Electricity consumption contributes significantly to total emissions (64.3%), due to the city’s predominantly coal-based grid.

     

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  • Need for political will to tackle climate change

    Context

    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Monday its sixth assessment report.

    Bleak assessment of our future

    • In its sixth assessment report, titled ‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’, the IPCC discusses the increasing extreme heat, rising oceans, melting glaciers, falling agricultural productivity, resultant food shortages and increase in diseases like dengue and zika.
    • Failed climate leadership: Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, quoted in The New York Times, describes the IPCC report as being “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.”
    • The IPCC warns that should our planet get warmer than 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times (we are at 1.1 degrees at present), then there will be irreversible impact on “ecosystems with low resilience” such as polar, mountain and coastal ecosystems “impacted by glacier melt, and higher sea level rise”.
    • This will cause devastation to “infrastructure in low-lying coastal settlements, associated livelihoods and even erosion of cultural and spiritual values.”
    • The increased heat will lead to an increase in diseases like diabetes, circulatory and respiratory conditions, as well as mental health challenges.

    Impact on India

    • Climate “maladaptation”: The IPCC also highlights that climate “maladaptation” will especially affect “marginalised and vulnerable groups adversely, indigenous people, ethnic minorities, low-income households and informal settlements” and those in rural areas.
    • Therefore, India, with a majority of its people falling in these categories, will be especially devastated.
    • The IPCC highlights India as a vulnerable hotspot, with several regions and cities facing climate change phenomena like flooding, sea-level rise and heatwaves.
    • For instance, Mumbai is at high risk of sea-level rise and flooding, and Ahmedabad faces the danger of heat waves — these phenomena are already underway in both cities.
    • Vector-borne and water-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue will be on the rise in sub-tropical regions, like parts of Punjab, Assam and Rajasthan.
    • When the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, the grains we consume, including wheat and rice, will have diminished nutritional quality.
    • Over the past 30 years, major crop yields have decreased by 4-10 per cent globally due to climate change.
    • Consequently, India, which continues to be predominantly agrarian, is likely to be especially hurt.
    • Urban India is at greater risk than other areas with a projected population of 877 million by 2050 nearly double of 480 million in 2020.
    • The concentration of population in these cities will make them extremely vulnerable to climate change.

    Conclusion

    Fighting climate change requires fiscal expenditure and policy changes fuelled by political will, which will reap results in a decade or so. Yet, our political class has no cohesive and urgent policy roadmap to combat rising emissions and our diminishing life spans.

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  • IPCC releases part of the Sixth Assessment Report

    What is the issue:

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its sixth assessment report. The first part was released in 2021.

    What is IPCC?

    • The IPCC, an intergovernmental body was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
    • It was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN.
    • The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change.
    • The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”

    What are the Assessment Reports?

    • Every few years, the IPCC produces assessment reports that are the most comprehensive scientific evaluations of the state of earth’s climate.
    • Instead, it asks scientists from around the world to go through all the relevant scientific literature related to climate change and draw up the logical conclusions.
    • So far, five assessment reports have been produced, the first one being released in 1990.
    • The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report was a critical scientific input into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015.

    Highlights of the recent report

    • Rapidly advancing climate change: From the melting of the Greenland ice sheet to the destruction of coral reefs, climate related impacts are hitting the world at the high end much more quickly than previously assessed by the IPCC.
    • Limitations of technology: The use of some technologies designed to limit warming or reduce CO2 could make matters worse rather than better.
    • Impact of urbanization: While large cities are hotspots for climate impacts, they also offer a real opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of warming.
    • Limited opportunity for mitigation: The report has warned the opportunity for action will only last for the rest of this decade.

    Some projections of the first part of 6th Report

    • Regional focus: It is expected that this report would likely state what the scenarios for sea-level rise in the Bay of Bengal region is, not just what the average sea-level rise across the world is likely to be.
    • Rise of extreme events: There is expected to be bigger focus on extreme weather events, like the ones we have seen in the last few weeks.
    • Vulnerabilities of urban areas: Densely populated mega-cities are supposed to be among the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The report is expected to present specific scenarios the climate change impacts on cities and large urban populations, and also implications for key infrastructure.
    • Synergy of climate action is needed: IPCC is expected to present a more integrated understanding of the situation, cross-link evidence and discuss trade-offs between different options or pathways, and also likely to cover social implications of climate change action by countries.

    Here is what the previous assessment reports had said:

  • Fire Ready Formula by UNEP

    The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has called on global governments to adopt a new ‘Fire Ready Formula,’ as it warned that incidences of wildfires would rise in the future.

    What is the Fire Ready Formula?

    • The new formula envisages that 66 per cent of spending be devoted to planning, prevention, preparedness and recovery.
    • The remaining 34 per cent can be spent on response.

    New “Fire Ready Formula” focuses on Planning and Prevention  

    Serial No Budget item Percentage share of the total on  wildfire management  recommended
    1 Planning 1 %
    2 Prevention 32 %
    3 Preparedness 13 %
    4 Response 34 %
    5 Recovery 20 %

    Why need such a formula?

    • The UNEP report projected that the number of wildfires is likely to increase by up to 14 per cent by 2030.
    • Integrated wildfire management was key to adapting to current and future changes in global wildfire risk, the UNEP.
    • There is a need to invest more in fire risk reduction, work with local communities and strengthen global commitment to fight climate change.
    • Achieving and sustaining adaptive land and fire management requires a combination of policies, a legal framework and incentives that encourage appropriate land and fire use.

    Back2Basics: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

    • UNEP is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system.
    • It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972.
    • Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development.
    • UNEP hosts the secretariats of several multilateral environmental agreements and research bodies, including:

    1.      Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),

    2.      Minamata Convention on Mercury,

    3.      Convention on Migratory Species and

    4.      Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

    • In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
    • UNEP is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

     

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  • What are CRZ norms?

    The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) inspected a bungalow owned by a Union Minister for alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

    What is the news?

    • The Union Minister’s bungalow named has been illicitly constructed within 50 metres of the sea in violation of the CRZ rules.
    • The crackdown assumes significance in the escalating verbal spats between the two political rivals (which were allies for years).

    What are CRZ norms?

    • In India, the CRZ Rules govern human and industrial activity close to the coastline, in order to protect the fragile ecosystems near the sea.
    • They restrict certain kinds of activities — like large constructions, setting up of new industries, storage or disposal of hazardous material, mining, reclamation and bunding — within a certain distance from the coastline.
    • After the passing of the Environment Protection Act in 1986, CRZ Rules were first framed in 1991.
    • After these were found to be restrictive, the Centre notified new Rules in 2011, which also included exemptions for the construction of the Navi Mumbai airport and for projects of the Department of Atomic Energy.
    • While the CRZ Rules are made by the Union environment ministry, implementation is to be ensured by state governments through their Coastal Zone Management Authorities.

    Where do they apply?

    • In all Rules, the regulation zone has been defined as the area up to 500 m from the high-tide line.
    • The restrictions depend on criteria such as the population of the area, the ecological sensitivity, the distance from the shore, and whether the area had been designated as a natural park or wildlife zone.
    • The latest Rules have a no-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in the mainland.

    New Rules under CRZ regulations

    • The government notified new CRZ Rules with the stated objectives of promoting sustainable development and conserving coastal environments.
    • For the so-called CRZ-III (Rural) areas, two separate categories have been stipulated.
    • In the densely populated rural areas (CRZ-IIIA) with a population density of 2,161 per sq km as per the 2011 Census, the no-development zone is now 50 m from the high-tide level, as against the 200 m stipulated earlier.
    • In the CRZ-IIIB category (rural areas with population density below 2,161 per sq km) continue to have a no-development zone extending up to 200 m from the high-tide line.
    • The new Rules have a no-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in the mainland.

     

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  • What is Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)?

    Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out coastal vulnerability assessment for entire Indian coast at states level.

    Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)

    • Under the CVI, INCOIS has brought out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a CVI.
    • These maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast.
    • The CVI uses the relative risk that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters like:
    1. Tidal range
    2. Wave height
    3. Coastal slope
    4. Coastal elevation
    5. Shoreline change rate
    6. Geomorphology
    7. Historical rate of relative sea-level change

    Other components: MHVM

    • A coastal Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping (MHVM) was also carried out using above mentioned parameters.
    • These parameters were synthesized to derive the composite hazard zones that can be inundated along the coastal low-lying areas due to extreme flooding events.
    • This MHVM mapping was carried for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale.
    • These maps depict the coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation.

    Significance of CVI

    • India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km i.e. 6100 km of mainland coastline plus coastline of 1197 Indian islands touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
    • Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities.

    What is Coastal Security?

    • Coastal Security is understood as a subset of maritime security. It
      involves the security of the coastal water zone against any threat or challenge that originates from the sea. Coastal water zone refers to the water area seawards of the Indian coast up to the limit of India’s contiguous zone, or the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) whichever is less.
    • Coastal security has a wide connotation encompassing maritime border management, island security, maintenance of peace, stability and good order in coastal areas and enforcement of laws therein, security of ports, coastal installations, and other structures
      including Vital Areas and Vital Points (VAs/VPs) and vessels and personnel operating in coastal areas. An effective
      organization for coastal security also facilitates coastal defense.

    Why is coastal security considered indispensable for India?

    • National Security: The elaborate security arrangements on land forced the terrorists and illegal migrants to look towards the sea where security measures are comparatively lax, enabling them to ‘move, hide and strike’ with relative ease. Plugging this loophole is imperative to enable a holistic national security architecture.
    • Economic development: Coastal region plays an important part in India’s economic development. Security of the region will have a direct bearing on the following areas:
      a) Trade: India’s sea dependence on oil is about 93% which includes India’s offshore oil production and petroleum exports. Further, 95% of India’s trade by volume and 68% of trade by value comes via the Indian Ocean.
      b) Fish production: India is the second-largest fish producer in the world with a total production of 13.7 million metric tonnes in 2018-19 of which 35% was from the maritime sector. In the same period, India had exported Rs 46,589.37 crore worth of marine products.
      c) Strategic minerals: India hosts some of the largest and richest shoreline placers. The beach and dune sands in India contain heavy minerals (HMs) like ilmenite, rutile, garnet, zircon, monazite and sillimanite.
      d) Geostrategic interests: The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become a pivotal zone of global strategic competition.
      e) Dealing with climate-induced crises: Coastal zones are already under threat from environmental degradation. At the same time, the sinking of islands due to the rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean may result in the rise of climate refugees.

    How India’s Coastal Security Architecture has evolved over the years?

    • Customs Marine Organisation (CMO), 1974: Created on the recommendation of Nag Chaudhari Committee, it was mandated to conduct anti-smuggling operations. However, since the CMO was temporary in nature, not much attention was paid to strengthening this organisation. In 1982, it was merged with the ICG to avoid the duplication of efforts.
    • Indian Coast Guard (ICG), 1977: With the enactment of the Indian Coast Guard Act, 1978, the organization formally
      came into being as the fourth armed force of India. Its mandates include thwarting smuggling activities, safeguarding and protecting artificial islands, offshore terminals, installations, and other devices in the maritime zone, protecting and assisting fishermen in distress and preserving and protecting the marine environment, including
      controlling marine pollution.
    • Coastal Security Scheme (CSS), 2005: Instituted originally in 2005 and implemented by the Department of Border
      Management, Ministry of Home Affairs. The aim of the CSS was to strengthen infrastructure for patrolling and the surveillance of the coastal areas, particularly the shallow areas close to the coast.
    • Coastal Security Architecture Post ‘26/11’: Since then, the physical assets were built up and human resource capability was
      also enhanced to strengthen the coastal security. These
      efforts include:
      Strengthening the Multilayered Surveillance System: Before 2008, the existing multilayered surveillance system under the CSS was functioning only along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts.
      Indian Navy(IN): It was designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security which includes coastal as well as offshore security. It was also made responsible for the coastal defense of the nation assisted by the ICG, the marine police, and
      other central and state agencies.
      ICG: The Director-General Coast Guard has been designated as the Commander Coastal Command, and is responsible for the overall coordination between central and state agencies in all matters relating to coastal security.
      Border Security Force (BSF): The water wing of the BSF have been deployed along with eight floating border outposts (BOPs), for the security and surveillance of the creeks in Gujarat and the Sunderbans.
      Central Industrial Security Force (CISF): It was entrusted with the responsibility of the physical security of India’s major ports. Vessel Traffic Management Systems (VTMS) are also being installed in all the major and a few non-major ports to monitor and regulate maritime traffic as well as to detect potentially dangerous ships.
      Sagar Suraksha Dal: An informal layer of surveillance, comprising the fishermen community- created following the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts – has also been formalized and activated in all coastal states.
    • National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Project: It includes an integrated intelligence grid to detect and tackle threats emanating from the sea in real-time. Post 26/11, it has been strengthened by establishing NC3I network and IMAC that generate a common operational picture of activities at sea
      through an institutionalized mechanism.
    • Maritime Theatre Command (MTC): MTC structure is
      proposed to integrate the assets of the Indian Navy, Army, IAF
      and Coast Guard to achieve the goals detailed out in the Joint
      Forces Doctrine (JFD), 2017. It will enable the security forces
      to form a ‘Net-centric’ Warfare model so as to gain an
      an advantage over the adversary using a flexible force structure
      to match the varied geographic domains.
    • Inter-agency maritime exercises: Such exercises help
      build inter-service synergy, interoperability, and
      jointness. These include ‘Sagar Kavach’, ‘Sea Vigil’, TROPEX.
    • Increased cooperation with littoral countries: India
      interacts more actively with littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region and employs maritime security engagement as a cornerstone of her regional foreign policy initiatives.

    Gaps in existing architecture

    • Lackadaisical approach of the State governments resulting in the slow pace of construction of coastal infrastructure.
    • Multiplicity of agencies results in poor coordination.
    • Disproportionate focus on terrorism results in less emphasis on non-traditional threats.
    • Lack of professionalism and capacity constraints in marine police forces.
    • Technological backwardnessPort security remains neglected in most of the minor ports.

    Ways to fill gaps in the existing architecture

    • Enacting the proposed Coastal Security Bill that will facilitate the creation of NMA.
    • Strengthening the surveillance system
    • Creation of Central Marine Police Force (CMPF)
    • Promulgate the National commercial maritime security policy document for efficient, coordinated, and effective actions.
    • Effective involvement of Coastal communities such as fishermen.
    • Reinforcing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations
      Recalibrate the defense expenditure to increase capacity and resources.

     

    Back2Basics: INCOIS

    • Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
    • It has been issuing alerts on Potential Fishing Zone, Ocean State Forecast, Tsunami Early Warning, Storm Surge Early Warning, High Wave Alerts, etc.
    • It works through a dedicated ocean modeling, observations, computation facilities and the marine data center.

     

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  • Nusantara City: New Capital of Indonesia

    Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.

    About Nusantara

    • The New State Capital Law Bill has been drafted by a special committee set up by Widodo’s government and makes Nusantara, also called IKN, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia.
    • The transfer of the status of Jakarta as Indonesia’s capital to Nusantara, where 256,142 hectares of land has been set aside for the project, will take place in the “first semester” of 2024.
    • East Kalimantan, where the new capital will be, as per the bill is said to have a world-city vision.
    • It will be designed and managed with the objective of becoming a sustainable city in the world.

    Why is Indonesia changing its capital city?

    • The new location is very strategic – it’s in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas.
    • The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services.
    • Jakarta is also infamous for being the worlds’ first sinking capital city due to rising sea levels.
    • The city’s pollution levels are so bad that it has been ranking as one of the most polluted cities in the world for years.
    • Another important reason to shift the capital from Java island to Borneo island has been the growing inequality – financial and otherwise.

    Where is East Kalimantan?

    • East Kalimantan is 2,300 kilometres from Jakarta on the eastern side of Borneo island, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
    • The new capital will be located in the North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara regions.
    • East Kalimantan is an area with immense water resources and habitable terrain.
    • East Kalimantan is rich in flora and fauna.

    Why Nusantara?

    • Nusantara is an old Javanese term that means ‘archipelago’.
    • Nusantara has historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects attached to the name.
    • The name would represent Indonesia as a whole and would show the potential of the nation.

    What are the other countries that have changed capitals?

    • Indonesia is not the first country to change its capital city.
    • There has been a long list of countries that have changed their capitals for various reasons. Brazil changed its capital city from Rio De Janerio to Brasilia, a more centrally-located city, in 1960.
    • In 1991, Nigeria hanged the country’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
    • Kazakhstan moved its capital city from Almaty, which is still its commercial centre, to Nur-Sultan in 1997.
    • Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in 2005.

     

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  • What are Smog Towers?

    Some researchers in New Delhi have observed paradoxical phenomena near the smog towers. The air closest to the tower should be cleanest, but the device recorded the opposite in several instances.

    What are Smog Towers?

    • Smog towers are structures designed to work as large-scale air purifiers. They are fitted with multiple layers of air filters and fans at the base to suck the air.
    • After the polluted air enters the smog tower, it is purified by multiple layers before being re-circulated into the atmosphere.

    Structure of the Delhi smog tower

    • The structure is 24 m high, about as much as an 8-storey building — an 18-metre concrete tower, topped by a 6-metre-high canopy. At its base are 40 fans, 10 on each side.
    • Each fan can discharge 25 cubic metres per second of air, adding up to 1,000 cubic metres per second for the tower as a whole. Inside the tower in two layers are 5,000 filters.
    • The filters and fans have been imported from the United States.

    How does it work?

    • The tower uses a ‘downdraft air cleaning system’ developed by the University of Minnesota.
    • Polluted air is sucked in at a height of 24 m, and filtered air is released at the bottom of the tower, at a height of about 10 m from the ground.
    • When the fans at the bottom of the tower operate, the negative pressure created sucks in air from the top.
    • The ‘macro’ layer in the filter traps particles of 10 microns and larger, while the ‘micro’ layer filters smaller particles of around 0.3 microns.
    • The downdraft method is different from the system used in China, where a tower uses an ‘updraft’ system — air is sucked in from near the ground, and is propelled upwards by heating and convection.
    • Filtered air is released at the top of the tower.

    Likely impact

    • Computational fluid dynamics modelling suggests the tower could have an impact on the air quality up to 1 km from the tower.
    • The actual impact will also determine how the tower functions under different weather conditions, and how levels of PM2.5 vary with the flow of air.

    Issues with smog towers

    • Many experts say that the smog towers are not a viable method to clean city’s air.
    • The government had talked about 80% pollution reduction at inlet and outlet of the tower but never mentioned about the effect of distance from the tower.
    • Instead of spending ₹40 crore on two towers, the government could have spent the funds on several other options such as replacing the small and polluting industrial boilers or chimneys etc.

     

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  • A partnership to carry India into net-zero future

    Context

    At a time when our planet faces an existential crisis, there is little doubt that we need innovative, scientific and urgent steps to secure humanity’s future.

    India’s climate commitment

    • We need to act decisively to reach global net-zero, restricting future cumulative emissions to the remaining carbon budget — as COP26 noted — if the rise in temperature is to remain within the limits of the Paris Agreement.
    • At COP26, India announced its climate commitments — the “Panchamrit”, including a commitment to reach net-zero by 2070.
    • India’s announcement of its net-zero goal is a major step considering that our country is not the cause of global warming.
    • Its historical cumulative emissions are a mere 4.37 per cent of the world’s total. 

    India’s steps to achieve the targets

    [1] India’s renewable energy targets and achievements

    • India’s renewable energy targets have steadily become more ambitious, from the 175 GW by 2022 declared at Paris, to 450 GW by 2030 at the UN Climate Summit, and now 500 GW by 2030, announced at COP26.
    • India has also announced the target of 50 per cent installed power generation capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030, raising the existing target of 40 per cent, which has already been almost achieved.
    • Renewable technologies: India will not lag in terms of new cutting-edge renewable technologies and has already announced a Hydrogen Energy Mission for grey and green hydrogen.
    • In energy efficiency, the market-based scheme of Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) has avoided 92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions during its first and second cycles.

    [2] India’s E-mobility transtion

    • FAME: India is accelerating its e-mobility transition with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles Scheme to support the electric vehicle market development and enable its manufacturing ecosystem to achieve self-sustenance.
    • Incentives for customers and companies: The government has also announced a slew of incentives for customers and companies to promote e-vehicles.
    • Adoption of BS-VI: India leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020.
    • Scrapping policy: A voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles now complements these schemes.
    • Electrification of railway routes: Indian Railways is charging ahead, targeting the full electrification of all broad-gauge routes by 2023.

    [3] Ujjwala Yojana and UJALA

    • The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has benefitted 88 million households with LPG connections.
    • More than 367 million LED bulbs have been distributed under the UJALA scheme, leading to energy savings of more than 47 billion units of electricity per year and a reduction of 38.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
    • With these and many other initiatives, India has already achieved a reduction of 24 per cent in the emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2016, and is on track to meet its target of 33 to 35 per cent by 2030.

    Role of private sector

    • Since industries also contribute to GHG emissions, any climate action will need to reduce or offset emissions that emerge from industrial and commercial activity.
    • The public and private sectors in India are already playing a key role in meeting the climate challenge, helped by growing customer and investor awareness, as well as increasing regulatory and disclosure requirements.
    • Enterprises are well-positioned to not just adapt to but also gain from the low-carbon transition.
    • The low-carbon transition challenge is bigger for companies that are largely coal-powered and contribute more than half of our country’s emissions.
    • The business fraternity must make the best possible use of this opportunity to invest in climate technologies and expand the use of renewable energy sources.
    • The Indian cement industry has taken pioneering measures and achieved one of the biggest sectoral low carbon milestones worldwide.

    Way forward

    • India’s journey on the low-carbon pathway towards net-zero requires the active participation of all stakeholders.
    • Sustainable lifestyles and climate justice are at the core of this journey.

    Conclusion

    With cooperation from the private sector, India will be able to responsibly use its fair share of the global carbon space and contribute to reaching the global net-zero goal to build a more environmentally sustainable planet.

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