Environment Protection

Over 77 per cent of Earth's land experienced a drier climate during the three decades leading up to 2020, compared to the previous 30-year period, according to a report released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Monday. During the same period, global drylands expanded by approximately 4.3 million square kilometres an area nearly a third larger than India now covering more than 40 per cent of the Earth's land. The report, launched at the 16th conference of the UNCCD in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, warned that if efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions fail, another 3 per cent of the world's humid areas are projected to transform into drylands by the end of this century. Meanwhile, the number of people living in drylands has doubled to 2.3 billion over the past three decades. Models suggest that as many as 5 billion could inhabit drylands by 2100 in a worst-case climate change scenario. These billions of people face even greater threats to their lives and liveliho

Terming illegal rampant sand mining as serious, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said such activities needed to be effectively dealt with and asked five states including Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh to provide facts and figures on the issue. The top court was hearing a 2018 PIL filed by one M Alagarsamy seeking a CBI probe into illegal sand mining in rivers and beaches in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The plea alleged that unregulated illegal sand mining wreaked "environmental havoc" and authorities concerned have allowed entities to operate without the mandatory environmental plan and clearance. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said it needed to check whether a similar petition against the National Green Tribunal order on illegal sand mining was pending in the top court. Illegal sand mining is a serious issue and needs to be dealt with effectively, the CJI said, when advocate Prashant Bhushan, ...

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav pointed to the link between desertification and poverty, stating that India recognised land degradation as socio-economic issue and recalled India's presidency at CoP14

A high-level team sent by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve following the death of 10 elephants did not come across any conspiracy theory, one of its members said on Saturday. The team comprising MP forest junior minister Pradeep Airward, additional chief secretary Ashok Baranwal and head of Forest Force Aseem Shrivastava visited the spot inside the protected forest. According to wildlife expert Ajay Dubey, never before have ten elephants died within a 72-hour period in the country. An official said that the CM rushed Ahirwar and the two top bureaucrats to the reserve and asked them to submit a report on the elephant deaths that have made national headlines. The CM is dissatisfied with the preliminary report of the forest department that the pachyderms died after consuming a lot of kodo millets, an official, who attended the urgent meeting convened by Yadav on Friday night, told PTI. Quoting the CM at the meeting, the official said Yadav st

The new initiative aims to help governments, businesses, financial institutions, and local communities to make informed decisions, support sustainability and manage risks

A growing number of governments, international trade organizations and businesses are urging the European Union to reconsider a deforestation regulation set to take effect in December. Critics of the regulation say it will discriminate against countries with forest resources and hurt their exports. Supporters of the EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR for short, say it will help combat forest degradation on a global scale. Several commodity associations have said they support the objectives of the regulation but that gaps in its implementation could harm their businesses. Environmental organizations have voiced support, saying the EUDR will help slow global deforestation, which is the second-biggest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels. Here's a look at the EU Deforestation Regulation: What is the EUDR and what products is it expected to impact? Starting on Dec. 30, the EU Deforestation Regulation will outlaw the sale of forest-derived products within the 27-nation bloc

The date of World Environmental Health Day 2024 is September 26, each year. The day emphasises how important it is to create a safe and healthy environment by tackling important concerns

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said that his ministry has submitted guidelines for one-time financial aid to waste recycling start-ups in India, where municipal solid waste management is a big concern

People in the tropics and subtropics that makes up about three-fourth of the world's population, could experience strong, rapid changes in both extreme temperatures and rainfall over the next 20 years, unless greenhouse gas emissions -- the primary driver of climate change -- are reduced dramatically, a new study has found. On the other hand, if emissions are lowered enough to meet the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, then 20 per cent of the world's population, or around 1.5 billion people, could face risks related to extreme weather, researchers, led by those at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Norway, found. The Paris Agreement aims to limit the rise in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. "The regions of clear rapid change in extreme precipitation relative to pre-industrial trends tend to include the mid to high northern latitudes, low-latitude (tropical) Asian countries and equatorial African countries," the ..

The Delhi government on Monday banned the production, sale and use of firecrackers in the national capital to control air pollution in the coming winter season. Environment Minister Gopal Rai said in a statement that the ban also covers online sale and delivery of firecrackers. An action plan will be prepared in collaboration with Delhi Police, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the Revenue Department to strictly implement the ban, he added. "The ban on the production, storage, sale and use of firecrackers will remain in force till January 1, 2025 ," Rai said in the statement. This is a part of the Delhi government's winter action plan based on 21 focus points to control pollution, he said.

Under the proposed amendment to the rules, the department plans to curb illegal hill cutting activities by imposing a fine ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore, depending on the size of the plot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday urged people to commit to safeguarding the environment, ensuring a green and healthy future. "Increasing pollution, climate change and the reckless exploitation of resources are weakening our planet day by day. It is our collective duty to make meaningful efforts to protect the environment," Lal said as he flagged off a cyclothon from SMS Stadium here. The cycling rally was organised for environmental conservation by the Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair and the IMCT Foundation. The chief minister stressed that the change to save nature must begin with each of us, a statement issued here said. "Such programmes reflect our commitment to environmental conservation and raise awareness about health. These initiatives help us stay physically fit while also promoting mental well being," Lal said at the event. He noted that as vehicle use contributes to pollution, it is people's responsibility to compensate by planting more trees and b

The detailed project report (DPR) of a Rs 41,000-crore international transhipment port project at Great Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal is being finalised by the government, and it will go ahead with the implementation of the project in the next few months, a senior official said on Sunday. Great Nicobar Transhipment port project has been under scrutiny over environmental concerns. "The project has received the environmental clearances and nod from National Green Tribunal (NGT) and now there is no hurdle in its implementation. "The DPR of the project is also finalised and we are going ahead for its further implementation in the next few months," Ports, Shipping and Waterways secretary T K Ramachandran told PTI in an interview. Last year, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in a statement had said the project is expected to be completed with an investment of Rs 41,000 crore (USD 5 billion), including investments from both government and public-private partnership (PPP)

Paris Olympics 2024 will largely depend on renewable energy sources, including geothermal and solar power; France has put in place several environmentally friendly initiatives

Search teams were still digging at the site of deadly mudslides in southern Ethiopia on Friday, as the death toll rose to 257, according to the UN humanitarian office. Heavy rain triggered deadly slides on Sunday and Monday in a remote part of the country. The UN humanitarian office, known as OCHA, said in an update Thursday that the death toll could rise to as many as 500, citing local officials. More than 15,000 affected people need to be evacuated" from the area, it said. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected to visit the remote area on Friday. Mudslides there have been triggered by heavy rainfall in recent days. Abiy said earlier in the week that he was deeply saddened by this terrible loss. Photos from the scene show residents standing over the shrouded bodies of mudslide victims who are being pulled, one by one, from the muddy earth. Diggers have been using hand shovels to pick through the mud. Many people were buried in the Gofa Zone of Kencho Shacha Gozdi distric

India saw a massive 280 per cent increase in the number of projects recommended in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in 2023-24 as compared to 2022-23, according to the data presented in Parliament on Monday. Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh also informed the Lok Sabha that a total of 957.25 square kilometers or 95,724.99 hectares of forest area has been diverted for non-forestry use under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 over five years starting from April 2019. The minister said that 71 project proposals were approved in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country in 2019-20. The numbers stood at 85 in 2020-21, 154 in 2021-22, 150 in 2022-23, and surged to 421 in 2023-24. Singh also shared that 8,731 requests for forest land diversion were approved between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2023, amounting to a total of 95,724.99 hectares of forest area being set aside for non-forestry use. Madhya Pradesh saw the highe

Rich countries falsely claimed that they provided nearly USD 116 billion in climate finance to developing countries in 2022, while the actual financial support given was not more than USD 35 billion, according to global non-profit organization Oxfam International. At the 2009 UN climate conference in Copenhagen, rich nations pledged to provide USD 100 billion annually from 2020 to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, delays in achieving this goal have eroded trust between developed and developing nations and have been a continual source of contention during annual climate negotiations. In May, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that developed countries had met the long-standing USD 100-billion-a-year promise by providing nearly USD 116 billion in climate finance to developing countries in 2022. However, nearly 70 per cent of this money was in the form of loans, many of which were provided at profitable market ..

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has approved the diversion of 1,524.17 hectare of forest land for the construction of an irrigation project in Odisha's Nayagarh district, officials said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the state government has been waiting for the approval from the Centre for the last 30 years. After the completion of the Brutanga project, irrigation facilities can be provided to 23,000 hectares of land, it said. "On the basis of the compliance report furnished by the state government... final approval of central government under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is hereby granted for non-forestry use of 1524.17 hectares of forest land for construction of Brutanga irrigation project," read a letter issued by Assistant Inspector General of Forests Dheeraj Mittal on Monday. As per the conditions set by the MoEF for the approval, the legal status of the diverted forest land shall remain .

Highlighting the recent spate of terrible heatwaves in India and frequent extreme weather events around the globe, President Droupadi Murmu asked people on Monday to take smaller and local steps to protect the environment for a better tomorrow. In a note on the social media platform 'X' after visiting the seashore in this temple town, Murmu said oceans and the rich variety of flora and fauna have suffered heavily due to pollution but people living in nature's lap have sustained traditions "that can show us the way". "Inhabitants of coastal areas, for example, know the language of the winds and waves of the sea. Following our ancestors, they worship the sea as God," she said, while suggesting ways to protect and conserve the environment. The President arrived in Odisha on a four-day tour on July 6. "There are places that bring us in closer touch with the essence of life and remind us that we are part of nature. Mountains, forests, rivers and seashores appeal to something deep within

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said that two crore saplings were planted in the city in the last four years, against a target of five years set by the government. The tree plantation drive will be expanded with planting of 64 lakh more saplings of various species in the next one year, Rai said during a press conference here. The minister said the Delhi government and its various agencies will kick-start the initiative, which commences with the onset of the monsoon, from Narela on July 11. He emphasised the importance of residents' cooperation in supporting the Delhi government's efforts to increase the city's green cover and said that as part of this campaign, seven lakh saplings will be distributed among citizens free of cost. The first phase of the tree plantation campaign will cover 30 assembly constituencies and will run until August 9, Rai said. During this period, awareness will be raised among the public and free saplings will be distributed, he added. Rai