Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Environment Day: Climate change, toxic air remain issues of deep concern for India, say experts

As per the ‘State of India’s Environment 2021’ report, poor air quality was the fourth leading risk factor for early death worldwide in 2019, surpassed only by high blood pressure, tobacco use, and poor diet. Over the past two decades, deaths attributable to ambient PM2.5 in India has increased by 2.5 times, the report said, adding that between 1990 and 2019, deaths due to household pollution has increased by over 40 per cent, the report said.

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39 lakh people displaced in India in 2020 due to climate disasters, conflicts: Report

The top three countries with high internal displacements last year were China, Philippines and Bangladesh, where over four million people were displaced, according to the State of India’s Environment Report 2021 released by the Centre for Science and Environment.The report stated that 76 per cent of the internal displacements globally in 2020 were triggered by climate disasters.

It said 4.05 crore people were displaced in the world that year, out of which, 3.07 crore people were displaced due to climate disasters and 98 lakh due to conflicts and violence.

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Decline in water availability due to increase in human, cattle population: Javadekar

”India has only four per cent water share of the world’s fresh rainwater resources. So, there is a basic necessity to save, reuse and repurpose. When India became independent, the availability of water was 5,000 litres per capita now it has become 1,100 litres. There is a basic decline in the availability of water due to human and cattle population growth,” he said.

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India’s biggest torn between BlackRock and funding coal

State Bank of India hasn’t decided whether to help finance the Carmichael mine for Adani Enterprises Ltd, whose main shareholder is Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, following mounting pressure from climate activists and investors, Bloomberg reported in April.

Funding for global energy is at a tipping point. Green bonds and loans from the global banking sector so far this year exceeded the value of fossil financing for the first time since the clinching of the Paris Agreement at the very end of 2015.

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India brings forward target of 20 pc ethanol-blending in petrol to 2023

”The Central Government hereby directs that the oil companies shall sell ethanol-blended petrol with a percentage of ethanol up to 20 per cent as per the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications, in the whole of the States and union territories,” the Oil Ministry said in a Gazette notification.

”This Notification shall come into force with effect from the 1st April 2023”.

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Howden launches Parhelion, world’s first fully sustainable insurer

Against the backdrop of an insurance industry starved of truly sustainable capacity, Parhelion’s new and diversified ESG products will meet the risk financing needs of a greener economy. 

The new business has been seeded by Howden and will match the surge in institutional capital seeking sustainable investment strategies with the growing demand from corporates looking for an insurance provider to support their journey towards ESG transition and a more resilient future.
At the end of 2020, over $40tn of assets globally were invested in ESG-aligned and sustainable impact strategies, nearly double the amount invested just four years earlier*, but very little has been deployed across the (re)insurance industry.

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India launches global initiative for clean energy innovation

India among 23 governments collectively launched bold new plans to catalyze action and spearheaded a decade of innovation to drive global investment in clean energy research, development and demonstrations.

The goal is to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for all this decade, to accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement and net zero pathways.

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Air quality improved during lockdown in India, study shows

There was a 40 per cent reduction over the national capital, New Delhi. In India alone, about 16,000 premature deaths occur annually due to exposure to poor air quality. The study also found Land Surface Temperature (LST) over major cities in India substantially declined in contrast with the previous five-year average (2015-2019) with day temperatures being up to 1°C cooler and those at night up to 2°C cooler.

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