Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Committee on energy efficiency, low carbon technologies to be set up: Power Minister

“A Committee/Group to be set up having members from all relevant Ministries for implementation of the Roadmap on Energy Efficiency and low carbon technologies,” he said.

The minister said a concerted push for renewables is already underway and a detailed action plan will be developed to identify potential areas. Singh directed to keep the focus on sectors with the highest emissions intensity such as Transport, MSMEs and Power plants.

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Reinsurers look at dumping coal from bulk-buy policies in green gambit

Five of the world’s six largest reinsurers – Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re, SCOR and Lloyd’s of London – have already scaled back bespoke coverage for coal projects. But only Swiss Re, in a statement in March, has said it will go further and tighten its treaty reinsurance stance.

A rail contractor to Adani Enterprises’ giant Australian coal project last month, for example, asked the Australian government for help to obtain insurance that it was not able to secure from the market.
“The first consequence is insurance is harder to get, the second consequence is it’s expensive, the third consequence is there are all sorts of caveats on it and at the extreme you might not be offered it”, said Paul Merrey, insurance partner at KPMG.

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UN chief: Desertification and drought destabilizing well-being of 3.2 billion people

Having contributed to the collapse of biodiversity and promoting zoonoses – diseases which jump from animals to humans
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called desertification “another reminder” that human health and that of the environment, are “deeply intertwined”.

Desertification and drought also increase water scarcity, at a time when two billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, said Ms. Azoulay, adding that “over three billion may have to confront a similar situation by 2050”.

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Nagaland staring at drought-like situation with no rain in sight: Minister

Addressing a press conference, he said the state is witnessing peculiar weather this year and a drought-like condition is feared if there is no rain within the next few weeks.

The state is facing rainfall deficiency of 20-59 per cent, except for the Mon district where the rainfall is in excess of 48 per cent, as per Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) data.

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IMD, ICMR launch expert committee to explore climate-based solutions for malaria elimination in India.

Dr Manju Rahi, Scientist and Deputy Director-General of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR, Government of India said, “The impact of climate change has emerged as a major threat to the very existence of the human race. At the Indian Council of Medical Research, we are working to combat climate-sensitive diseases through a concerted national strategic action focused on climate and health. Vector-borne diseases like Malaria are priority targets for action in the health-climate agenda.

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India’s contribution to climate change in last 200 years just 3%: Javadekar

“India’s contribution to climate change in the last 200 years is just three per cent. The unbridled carbon emissions particularly by Europe, USA and in the last 40 years by China, caused climate change disaster. These countries prospered economically but polluted the world,” Union Environment Prakash Javadekar said.

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Sri Lanka seeks initial $40m from fire-ravaged ship’s operator

The Sri Lankan authorities and the ship’s operator say there’s still no large oil spill

The Sri Lankan navy believes the blaze was caused by the vessel’s chemical cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals, most of which was destroyed in the fire. But debris including burned fiberglass and tons of plastic pellets have already polluted nearby beaches. There are concerns that a spill of remaining chemicals and oil on the ship could devastate marine life.

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EU, U.S. sow seeds for climate cooperation, dodge coal’s end date – draft

The United States and EU are the world’s second-and third-biggest emitters of CO2, respectively, after China. A draft of their summit statement, seen by Reuters, outlines plans for a transatlantic alliance to develop green technologies and points to sustainable finance as an area for closer transatlantic collaboration. The EU and the United States will also “scale up efforts” to meet an overdue spending pledge of $100 billion a year by rich countries to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming, the draft said.

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