Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

ECB tweaks inflation target, carves out climate role

In perhaps the biggest change, the central bank said it will do more to help the fight against climate change and will include climate change considerations in monetary policy operations in the areas of disclosure, risk assessment, collateral framework and corporate sector asset purchases.

“The ECB will adjust the framework guiding the allocation of corporate bond purchases to incorporate climate change criteria, in line with its mandate,” it said.

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Yamuna pollution: Rs 12 cr fine imposed on 12 CETPs for not meeting wastewater standards

Untreated wastewater and poor quality of effluent discharged from CETPs and sewage treatment plants is the major reason behind pollution in the river in Delhi, according to experts. These 12 CETPs are in industrial areas in Jhilmil, Badli, Mayapuri, Mangolpuri, Nangloi, Okhla, Narela, Bawana, Naraina, GTK Road, Keshav Puram. These CETPs do not comply with the requisite standards with respect to biological oxygen (30 mg/litre), total dissolved solid (2,100 mg/l), sulphate (1,000 mg/l), Sulphide (2 mg/l) etc.

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Brutal Summer’s record-high temperatures flare up extreme events in Northern Hemisphere

Extremes are piling up in what’s poised to be a brutal summer as the planet warms. Climate change is intensifying many unusual weather patterns to the point that scientists are able to detect its influence nearly in real time. That’s been the case during the heatwave that’s boiled Canada and the U.S. northwest this season, as well as the heatwave that hit Siberia last year.

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Global financial regulators attempt to align rules on climate risks

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which coordinates financial rules for the G20 group of nations, said its “roadmap” seeks to coordinate approaches to disclosures by companies and plug gaps in the data needed to spot financial stability “vulnerabilities” and develop tools to address them.

The roadmap attempts to align rules still in the planning stage between now and 2023 to avoid more divergences between various measures for the same activity.

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Swiss Re’s Nina Arquint receives `The 2021 Geneva Association Women in Insurance Award”

Jad Ariss, Managing Director of The Geneva Association, said: “I congratulate Nina Arquint on winning this award, which recognises her leadership role in reducing the underwriting of coal, the most polluting and carbon-intensive fuel, and her great dedication to tackling environmental risks. Ms Arquint and her team have made demonstrable contributions to reducing the financial viability of coal and contributing to accelerating its phase-out globally. This work is in alignment with The Geneva Association’s mission to promote the use of insurance to create a better, more resilient, and more sustainable world.” 

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Unveiling its last petrol car, Lotus sets off in pursuit of Porsche

The Emira, which will start at around 60,000 pounds ($83,000), is the first new petrol Lotus model in more than a decade but it will be the last powered by fossil fuels.
Lotus is currently developing an electric sports car platform in partnership with Renault for the French company’s Alpine brand, and that framework will also be available to other carmakers.
Lotus and its Chinese owner Geely want to transform what is now a tiny company making some 1,500 sports cars a year into an electric powerhouse churning out tens of thousands of high-end saloons and sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) as well.

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Public, not polluters, too often pay to clean up environment, EU auditors say

“Polluters need to pay for the environmental damage they cause,” said report author Viorel Stefan. “Up to now, though, European taxpayers have far too often been forced to bear the costs that polluters should have paid.”

The auditors looked at a sample of 42 environmental clean-up projects, backed by 180 million euros ($214 million) of EU funds, to fix issues like industrial pollution and contaminated landfill sites in Italy, Poland and Portugal.

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Govt may issue guidelines for ‘flex-fuel’ vehicles by October

The government is also working on an incentive scheme to promote manufacture and use of flex engines in vehicles. The details would be specified when policy in this regard is unveiled.

The use of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) is being actively looked at by the government to ensure increased use of bio-fuels for running vehicles, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor had told IANS earlier.

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