Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Northwest, central and south-central India new hotspots of intense heatwave

Heatwaves have emerged as a deadly health hazard, claiming thousands of lives across the globe in recent decades, with episodes strengthening in frequency, intensity and duration in the past half-century in India as well.

This has caused severe impact on health, agriculture, economy and infrastructure. In such a scenario, it is extremely important to identify the most heatwave vulnerable regions of the country to prioritise immediate policy intervention and stringent mitigation and adaptation strategies, the Department of Science and Technology said.

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Cos can incorporate rewards, incentives to achieve ESG goals

According to Willis Towers Watson’s Global Executive Compensation Trends, ESG has become a critical business consideration, impacting companies’ cost of, and access to, capital. ESG goals and outcomes directly impact the company’s reputation with the public and employees, and often play a role in attracting and retaining a new generation of talent.

Companies with strong ESG practices have been found to deliver more sustainable returns, including higher levels of value creation and risk mitigation.

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Blue sky thinking: 5 things to know about air pollution

Air pollution is also harming also harms our natural environment. It decreases the oxygen supply in our oceans, makes it harder for plants to grow, and contributes to climate change.Around 90 per cent of people go through their daily lives breathing harmful polluted air, which has been described by the United Nations as the most important health issue of our time. To mark the first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, on 7 September, UN News explains how bad it is and what is being done to tackle it.

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Marsh launches Flood Risk Index, Indonesia,Brazil,India,Russia and Mexico most vunerable

Over 2.2 billion people are exposed to flooding globally.1 Since 1980, over 4,500 flood disasters resulted in over $1 trillion in damages, accounting for 40% of natural catastrophe losses globally.
The five G20 countries with the largest shares of population and economic assets exposed to flooding are:China,India,Argentina,Russia,Germany

In the event of flooding, the five G20 countries where people and economic assets are most vulnerable to harm are:Indonesia,Brazil,India,Russia,Mexico

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Munich Re raises €1bn green bond

Christoph Jurecka, chief financial officer(CFO), Munich Re , said climate protection is an integral part of our Ambition 2025 Group strategy.

“By issuing a green bond, we have once again leveraged the capital markets to fund green investments. We strengthen our capital base, which gives us the financial flexibility to take advantage of current growth opportunities,” he said.

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Pollution likely to cut 9 years of life expectancy of 40% of Indians

More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, said the report prepared by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).

“Alarmingly, India’s high levels of air pollution have expanded geographically over time,” the EPIC report said.

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Weather disasters becoming more frequent and costly, UN agency says

“Thanks to our early warning service improvement we have been able to have a decrease of the casualties at these kind of events, but the bad news is that the economic losses have been growing very rapidly and this growth is supposed to continue,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a press conference.

“We are going to see more climatic extreme because of climate change and this negative trend in climate will continue for the coming decades,” he said.

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UN hails end of poisonous leaded gas use in cars worldwide

Petroleum containing tetraethyllead, a form of lead, was first sold almost 100 years ago to increase engine performance. It was widely used for decades until researchers discovered that it could cause heart disease, strokes and brain damage.

UNEP said studies showed leaded gas caused measurable intellectual impairment in children and millions of premature deaths.

“The cost of environmental degradation is real,” said UNEP’s executive director, Inger Andersen, citing what she described as a “very, very ballpark number” of USD2.45 trillion in damage to the global economy prevented by the ban.

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