Category:

Climate, Environment, Renewable Energy

Hungry for change: Faulty food systems laid bare by COVID-19 and climate crises

Farmers and poor urban residents have so far borne the brunt of the pandemic, meaning inequality between and within countries could deepen further in 2021, said Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“Even before COVID-19 hit, 135 million people were marching towards the brink of starvation. This could double to 270 million within a few short months,” warned David Beasley, head of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), in emailed comments.

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India to bank on innovative ways to garner Rs 1.75 lakh crore investment in 2021 for renewable energy sector

“There is a fund requirement of Rs 1.75 lakh crore to achieve the balance capacity of 35 GW (under bidding/ to be bid out/ auctioned) to achieve an overall target of 175 GW,” Director General of Solar Power Developers Association Shekhar Dutt told PTI.
According to him, India needs to design innovative tenders with the inclusion of wind, solar and energy storage to ensure that renewable can replace fossil fuels to a great extent.This year has been challenging for the renewable energy sector but the industry has been able to withstand the crisis caused by the pandemic with support of the government.

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Japan aims to eliminate gasoline vehicles by mid-2030s, boost green growth

The “green growth strategy,” targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century.
The government will offer tax incentives and other financial support to companies, targeting 90 trillion yen ($870 billion) a year in additional economic growth through green investment and sales by 2030 and 190 trillion yen ($1.8 trillion) by 2050.

A 2 trillion yen green fund will support corporate investment in green technology.

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Climate change ravages Kashmir’s ‘red gold’ saffron crop

Warming temperatures caused by climate change have made rainfall erratic, depleting the thirsty saffron fields of water. Shrinking glaciers across the Himalayan region have also cut water flows to the foothills downstream.

Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice; collecting it involves plucking the crimson threads from inside purple crocus flowers

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NGT extends time for constitution of biodiversity management committees

The NGT noted that India is one of the recognised mega-diverse countries of the world, harbouring nearly seven to eight per cent of the recorded species of the world, and representing four of the 34 globally identified biodiversity hotspots.
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 aims to preserve biological diversity in India and provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.

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Dutch court case claims Shell’s operations violate human rights

The case brought by the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, Milieudefensie, links the oil major’s stance on climate change with human rights. The ruling will also have implications for Shell’s European peers as pressure mounts on polluting energy companies to step up the fight against global warming.

Over two weeks of court proceedings, lawyers for Milieudefensie have argued that Shell is violating human rights by extracting fossil fuels and undermining the Paris Agreement’s aim of keeping temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Shell says it’s playing its part in addressing climate change, which can only be tackled through collaboration and not court action.

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Over 4.5 cr people in India will be forced to migrate from homes by 2050 due to climate disasters

The report  ”Costs of climate inaction: displacement and distress migration” assessed climate-fuelled displacement and migration across five South Asian countries — Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — and calculates a devastating likelihood of over 6 crore people being homeless and displaced by 2050 in South Asia alone.

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NGT rejects MP govt”s plea seeking extension of time for compliance of waste management directions

“They are to enforce the mandate of law laid down under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Rules framed thereunder and binding directions of the Supreme Court,” the bench also comprising Justice S K Singh said.

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