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CLIMATE CRISIS

India may need $1 trillion by 2030 to adapt to climate change

2nd December 2015

As climate risks grow worse, the dynamic adaptation gap for India could grow to $360 billion in finance and much more in technology. Nayantara Narayanan, Scroll.in As the 21st Conference of Parties on Climate Change gets underway in Paris, a major sticking point in the deliberations will be climate finance. India is leading the charge…

CLIMATE CRISIS

India’s INDCs and the road to Paris – 5

29th November 2015

(Note: In this series of posts, we take a closer look at India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), ahead of the Paris climate talks. This concluding post primarily examines trends in India’s energy consumption, which is what will primarily determine whether we can meet our climate targets or not. Also read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of…

CLIMATE CRISIS

India’s Energy Crisis

28th November 2015

Can India modernize its manufacturing economy and supply electricity to its growing population without relying heavily on coal—and quite possibly destroying the global climate? Richard Martin, Technology Review An old man wakes on the floor of a hut in a village in southern India. He is wrapped in a thin cotton blanket. Beside him, music wails…

CLIMATE CRISIS

NEWS UPDATE #74 (Climate special)

26th November 2015

Climate change makes past five-year period the warmest on record: WMO The Guardian Climate change made 2011-2015 the warmest five-year period on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) state of the global climate report. This year is set to be the single hottest ever registered, with planetary temperatures passing the symbolic milestone of 1C…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Special: Institutions are pulling out investments worth billions from fossil fuels

24th November 2015

What is fossil fuel divestment? Divestment is the opposite of investment – it is the removal of your investment capital from stocks, bonds or funds. The global movement for fossil fuel divestment (sometimes also called disinvestment) is asking institutions to move their money out of oil, coal and gas companies for both moral and financial…

CLIMATE CRISIS

India’s INDCs and the road to Paris – 4

20th November 2015

(Note: In this series of posts, we take a closer look at India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) and its larger context, ahead of the Paris climate talks. Also read: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the series) Consumption injurious to the planet’s health Sujata Byravan, The Hindu Most observers agree that the government has set ambitious…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Research: Burning existing fossil fuels will melt the Antarctic ice sheet

17th November 2015

READ ORIGINAL PAPER: Combustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet By Ricarda Winkelmann, Anders Levermann, Andy Ridgwell and Ken Caldeira If We Burned All the Fossil Fuel in the World Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker What would happen if we burned through all of the fossil-fuel resources known to…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Video & Report: Fossil Fuel Subsidies Push Us Closer to Climate Disaster

14th November 2015

‘Production Subsidies are Driving the World to Burn More Fossil Fuel than it Needs’ Unfortunately, these environmentally damaging subsidies are often ignored during discussions on fossil fuel pricing and use, which tend to focus on the quantifiably larger and more politically controversial consumer-focused subsidies The Wire With global climate talks set to happen in Paris…

CLIMATE CRISIS

India’s INDCs and the road to Paris – 3

13th November 2015

(Note: In this series of posts, we take a closer look at whether India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) ahead of the Paris climate talks. In this third installment, we present comments by three independent observers that critically analyse India’s climate commitment. Also read: Part 1 and Part 2 of the series) “India has low per capita emission only thanks…

CLIMATE CRISIS

World Energy Outlook 2015 has a mixed message for the future

12th November 2015

Latest World Energy Outlook sees clear signs that the energy transition is underway, but warns strong direction is needed from Paris climate summit IEA.org More at: www.worldenergyoutlook.org An extended period of lower oil prices would benefit consumers but would trigger energy-security concerns by heightening reliance on a small number of low-cost producers, or risk a…

CLIMATE CRISIS

NEWS UPDATE #72

10th November 2015

India’s energy emission growth at 8.2 per cent, highest globally: PwC Asian Age Buoyed by strong economic activity, India’s energy emission growth was highest in the world at 8.2 per cent last year, says a report. According to the report by global consultancy firm PwC, the sharp rise was on account of double-digit growth in…

CLIMATE CRISIS

India’s INDCs and the road to Paris – 2

2nd November 2015

(Note: In this series of posts, we look at whether India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) – its promise of action to counter climate change ahead of the Paris climate talks this year – is all its claimed to be. In this second installment, we look at some of the later, more critical analyses of India’s climate commitment. Read Part…

CLIMATE CRISIS

The climate challenge is deeper than technology

24th October 2015

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: DEVELOPMENT AND DISARMAMENT ROUNDTABLE Technology’s role in a climate solution If the world is to avoid “severe, widespread, and irreversible [climate] impacts,” carbon emissions must decrease quickly—and achieving such cuts, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, depends in part on the availability of “key technologies.” But arguments abound against…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Series: India’s INDCs and the road to Paris – 1

22nd October 2015

(Note: India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), its eagerly awaited promise of action to counter climate change ahead of the Paris climate talks this year, was released earlier this month. Starting with this one, we present a series of posts that look at whether India’s pledge is all its claimed to be. In this post, we present…

CLIMATE CRISIS

News update

20th October 2015

‘Capitalism is Mother Earth’s Cancer’: World People’s Summit Issues 12 Demands Common Dreams Decrying capitalism as a “threat to life,” an estimated 7,000 environmentalists, farmers, and Indigenous activists from 40 countries convened in the Bolivian town of Tiquipaya for this weekend’s World People’s Conference on Climate Change, aiming to elevate the demands of social movements…

CLIMATE CRISIS

National Geographic Special Issue on Climate Change

18th October 2015

Fresh Hope for Combating Climate Change (Introductory article) If a climate disaster is to be averted, we’ll have to move forward without relying as much on fossil fuels. It can be done. Robert Kunzig, National Geographic THIS YEAR COULD BE THE TURNING POINT. Laurence Tubiana thinks so. She’s a small, elegant, white-haired woman of 63. At…

CLIMATE CRISIS

High GDP growth centered paradigm and GHG emissions

11th October 2015

Shankar Sharma, ORF Energy News Monitor Whereas many conventional economic analysts argue that in order to have adequate human development index the country’s economy has to grow continuously at an appreciable rate, a densely populated and resource constrained society such as ours cannot afford to ignore the implications of high energy / material consumption (which…

CLIMATE CRISIS

News update

5th October 2015

India pledges 33-35% cut in carbon emission intensity by 2030 Livemint.com India has said it aims to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% by 2030 from 2005 levels, and achieve 40% of its cumulative electric power of around 350GW installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, mainly renewable power. The statement comes…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Journalist Nitin Sethi answers readers’ questions on climate change and India

11th September 2015

Nitin Sethi, Senior Associate Editor, Business Standard DATE: September 02, 2015 SUBJECT: Should India distance itself from China on its climate change policy? ASKED BY: RANJEET KUMAR The biggest hurdle in tackling climate change is finance in a developing country. Although, India is ready to adopt the process of mitigation and adaptation, we do not have…

CLIMATE CRISIS

Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change

29th August 2015

Climate Change: A Warning From Islam Bill McKibben, New York Review of Books Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos Ziglab Lake, Jordan, 2009 On August 19, a convocation of some sixty leading Muslim clerics and religious scholars from around the planet, spurred by the growing siege of climate disasters affecting the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, issued an Islamic…