The move marks President Joe Biden's last-ditch efforts to secure his climate legacy before Trump takes charge
2024 is set to end as the hottest year on record and the first with a global average temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It will also be remembered as the year developed nations had their last big chance to prevent the world from permanently crossing this critical threshold by funding climate action in the Global South -- and they blew it. Relentless warming fuelled record-breaking heatwaves, deadly storms, and floods that devastated lives and homes by the thousands in 2024. Millions were displaced, and all eyes turned to the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, hoping for a climate finance package capable of ramping up action in the Global South. A study published in 2023 estimated that developed countries owe around USD 170 trillion for their excessive emissions, having consumed 70-90 per cent of the total carbon budget since the industrial era. Instead, developed countries -- mandated under the UN climate regime to finance climate action in develop
These new financing will bring to the people of Bangladesh essential services such as health and water
About a million and a half deaths every year from 2009 to 2019 is potentially linked with a long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. Researchers, including those at Ashoka University, Haryana, and Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, said that the entire 1.4 billion population of India live in areas having PM2.5 levels higher than World Health Organization-recommended five micrograms per cubic metre yearly average. The team also found that nearly 82 per cent of India's population, or 1.1 billion, lived in areas with yearly average PM2.5 levels exceeding those recommended by the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 microns per cubic metre). Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, pollution is caused by particles sized under 2.5 microns in diameter. A yearly increase in PM2.5 pollution of 10 microns per cubic metre was associated with 8.6 per cent higher annual mortality, the researchers found. Fo
A closely-watched international climate case that could yield guidance for governments around the world wrapped its first week of arguments before the top court of the United Nations in The Hague Friday. The case, though not binding, is expected to spell out what countries are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. The push for the International Court of Justice to hear this case comes like much of the call to address climate change from island nations that are losing territory and fear they could disappear under rising seas. The UN General Assembly asked the court last year for an opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change. The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line, Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Hague-based court. For years his country has spearheaded calls for reductions of the ...
Britain's Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West, who just visited New Delhi, which has been struggling with poor air quality in recent weeks, has highlighted the scope of sharing best practices between the two countries to move towards a cleaner climate. West, who was in India last week for a visit covering aspects such as climate, technology, health, education and development, welcomed the announcement by Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Narendra Modi of the relaunch of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in the new year. "We have consistently said that we see an FTA as the floor and not the ceiling of our ambitions," West said in her keynote address at the second annual Indo-Pacific Conference in London on Monday. The minister noted that as the world's most populous country, India has a unique opportunity to help shift the dial and lead progress on climate and sustainable development. "When I visited India last week, everyone shared this enthusiasm for mutual ...
UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Thursday issued a strong call for global unity and ambition to secure a groundbreaking finance goal to support climate action in the developing world, saying, "Failure is not an option." As negotiators raced against time to resolve outstanding issues related to the critical objective of COP29, Stiell said a major push was needed to bring discussions to the finishing line. "It might jeopardise both near-term action, and ambition in the preparation of the new national climate action plans, with potential devastating impacts as irreversible tipping points are getting closer, he said. On draft climate finance text released earlier in the morning, the UN climate chief said that despite areas of convergence, significant differences remain. A surge in finance is essential: To ensure all parties can deliver new national plans aligned with 1.5 degrees as they must, he said. Stiell warned that delays at COP29 could complicate the road to COP30 in Brazil nex
After an all-nighter, a draft text on the new climate finance package for the developing world finally dropped Thursday morning -- shrunk from 25 pages to 10, but the major sticking points remain. With less than two days left for the UN climate conference to close, negotiators face a gargantuan task to hammer it out. A quick glance at the text shows developed countries are still dodging a key question: How much climate finance are they ready to give developing countries every year starting in 2025? This has led to significant frustration among developing countries, who have repeatedly said they need at least USD 1.3 trillion to tackle the escalating challenges. "The revised draft text, while more streamlined, presents a spectrum of options -- some good, some bad, and some outright ugly," said Harjeet Singh, a climate activist and Global Engagement Director for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. He said it acknowledges the need for public funds from developed ...
Developing countries are asking for up to USD 900 billion in public funding from a total of USD 1.3 trillion they seek from developed nations in the new climate finance package for reducing emissions and adapting to the growing impacts of climate change. Negotiators told PTI that the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group has called for USD 600 billion in public funding, supplemented by private finance at concessional rates to meet the USD 1.3 trillion goal. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is pushing for USD 900 billion in government funding, while the Arab Group has proposed USD 440 billion. Although developed countries have yet to officially propose a figure, their negotiators indicated that European Union nations are discussing a global climate finance target of USD 200 billion to USD 300 billion per year. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters that developed countries want to ascertain the package's components before committing to a
India emphasised that this ambitious, action-oriented approach depends on bold commitments from parties responsible for leading economy-wide emission reductions
Joe Biden witnessed the devastation of drought up close as the first sitting American president to visit the Amazon rainforest on Sunday, declaring that nobody can reverse "the clean energy revolution that's underway in America" even as the incoming Trump administration is poised to scale back efforts to combat climate change. The massive Amazon region, which is about the size of Australia, stores huge amounts of the world's carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving climate change. But development is rapidly depleting the world's largest tropical rainforest, and rivers are drying up. Biden said the fight against climate change has been a defining cause of his presidency -- he's pushed for cleaner air, water and energy, including legislation that marked the most substantial federal investment in history to fight global warming. But he's about to hand the nation over to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who is highly unlikely to prioritise the Amazon or anything related to clima
As world leaders and climate negotiators converge on Baku for COP29, beginning Monday, India is set to bring renewed focus to the urgent need for climate finance, accountability, and protection for vulnerable communities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the conference, and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav may also be absent, with Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh leading the 19-member delegation instead. India's national statement is scheduled for November 18-19. India's key priorities at the conference are likely to focus on ensuring accountability of developed nations on climate finance, strengthening resilience for vulnerable communities, and achieving an equitable energy transition, experts anticipate. Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), emphasised that COP29 must go beyond promises, pushing developed nations to accelerate their paths to net zero and meet their ...
Oil and gas industry associations also pushed back against the cap, arguing it will kill jobs and cut tax revenue
Demand targets, however, are only just over a quarter of the production projects, and progress made so far in the hydrogen sector is not sufficient to meet climate goals, the IEA added
Altogether, these reports help countries coordinate their climate policies action with one another
A change in the pattern and intensity of rainfall like the lack of long periods of widespread rainfall in Uttarakhand has emerged as an important reason for the increase in landslide incidents in the hill state this monsoon. Dr Sunil Nautiyal, Director of Almora-based GB Pant National Himalayan Environment Institute, said that due to the change in the pattern of rainfall linked to climate change factors and the decreasing capacity of the fragile Himalayan region to withstand it, more landslides have occurred this monsoon. "This year widespread rain has occurred only between September 13 and 15, otherwise it remained at local levels throughout the monsoon," he said. Meteorological Department sources in Uttarakhand said that this year an average of 102 mm of rain was recorded in three days between September 13 and 15 and it had occurred widely. Nautiyal said, "Apart from this, there has been a change in the pattern of rainfall in the Himalayan region. Now it starts raining suddenly
Nearly four out of five Indians support criminalising actions by government officials or leaders of large businesses that cause serious damage to nature and the climate, according to a new global survey. The Global Commons Survey 2024, conducted by Ipsos UK and commissioned by Earth4All and the Global Commons Alliance (GCA), also revealed that nearly three out of five (61 per cent) Indians believe that the government is doing enough to tackle climate change and environmental damage. Ninety per cent of them are worried about the state of nature today. Seventy-three per cent of the respondents feel that the Earth is approaching critical environmental "tipping points", where climate or natural systems, such as rainforests or glaciers, may change suddenly or be more difficult to stabilise in the future. Fifty-seven per cent believe that new technologies can resolve environmental issues without requiring significant changes in individual lifestyles, while 54 per cent think that many cla
India usually exports 2 million to 4 million metric tons of corn, but in 2024, exports are expected to drop to 450,000 tons
Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes. Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel. California Cultured, a plant cell culture company, is growing cocoa from cell cultures at a facility in West Sacramento, California, with plans to start selling its products next year. It puts cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water so they reproduce quickly and reach maturity in a week rather than the six to eight months a traditional harvest takes, said Alan Perlstein, the company's chief executive. The process also no longer requires as much water or arduous labour. We see just the demand of chocolate monstrously outstripping what is going to be available, Perlstein said. There's really no other way that we see that the world .
India on Saturday said the Global South should collectively raise its voice for an ambitious new climate finance goal at the UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan's Baku. Addressing a session of the third Voice of Global South Summit, Union environment ministry secretary Leela Nandan said COP29 must deliver concrete commitments to halt global warming and ensure climate justice. "We must collectively raise our voices in Baku for a transparent, grant-based, concessional and ambitious new collective quantified goal," she said. Financial support to help middle-income and poor countries fight climate change will be at the centre of the UN climate conference in Baku, where world leaders will reach the deadline to agree on the New Collective Quantified Goal -- the new amount developed nations must mobilise every year from 2025 to support climate action in developing countries. Achieving a consensus will not be easy, given the disappointing progress made on the issue at the mid-year U