Climate change action: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Cities
As in 2019, 20
Dipak Dash, June 27, 2021: The Times of India
From: Dipak Dash, June 27, 2021: The Times of India
Indian cities are becoming more climate conscious while planning and implementing projects, shows a comparative assessment done by the urban affairs ministry. Though none of the 126 cities assessed could get the 5-star rating, the number of cities improving their ratings in the past two years has increased significantly.
According to the “Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0” (CSCAF 2.0) report released on Friday, only nine cities could get 4-Star rating and no city from North India could make it to this list. The nine cities are: Surat, Indore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Vijayawada, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Vadodara.
The cities were ranked on five parameters of urban planning; green cover and biodiversity; energy and green buildings; mobility and air quality; and water management and waste management.
While in 2019, only four cities had got 4-star rating, last year the number increased to nine and the number of cities with 3-star rating increased from only four to 22. Similarly, the number of cities with 2- star rating increased from 25 in 2019 to 64 last year. The number of cities with the lowest 1-star rating fell from 66 to 33.
The report has put cities under “one Star” if they are in the early stages of development and yet to consider climate change or are in the process of conceptualising climate actions. “Four star” cities are those which have allocated budgets and initiated implementation of projects.
It said significant progress has been reported specifically in the themes of urban planning, green cover and biodiversity; energy and green buildings; and waste management.
According to the report, 10 of the126 cities are meeting over 15% of their electricity needs from renewable sources while 44 cities have initiated flood and water stagnation risk assessment. It said 44 cities have instituted the mechanism for processing 100% of collected wet waste and 87 cities have some form of air quality monitoring stations. About 35 cities have developed clean air action plans. It said no city could get 5-star in water management and mobility and air quality category.A maximum of 31cities got 5-star in waste management.
Paris Agreement
The share of fossil fuels and zero carbon fuels in the primary energy supply of India and other major countries
From: November 27, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
The compliance of India and other major countries with the Paris Agreement, presumably as in 2017.
The share of fossil fuels and zero carbon fuels in the primary energy supply of India and other major countries
2021: rating system downgrades India on climate action
Vishwa Mohan, Sep 16, 2021: The Times of India
From: Vishwa Mohan, Sep 16, 2021: The Times of India
From: Vishwa Mohan, Sep 16, 2021: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: India may be the only G20 country and among few countries globally that have been ‘2 Degree Celsius’ temperature rise compatible under the Paris Agreement, but a new stringent rating system of the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has downgraded the country's overall rating from ‘almost sufficient’ category in November last year to ‘highly insufficient’ category at par with China, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Argentina and Mexico this month.
The new rating system factored in different parameters including updates on climate action targets such as mid-century ‘net zero’ emission goal and ‘1.5 Degree C’ compatibility measures.
The rating of 37 countries by the CAT, run by Germany-based non-profit group Climate Analytics and research body New Climate Institute, shows small nation Gambia as the only country which is ‘1.5 degree C’ compatible.
The CAT has rated UK, Germany, Japan, USA, Nepal and 12 other countries above India in either ‘almost sufficient’ and ‘insufficient’ categories due to upgradation of their respective climate action goals and other measures. Though the UK’s domestic target is ‘1.5 degree C’ compatible, the Tacker noted that the country’s policies and international support don’t match.
India’s rating will, however, improve significantly if it upgrades its climate action target – called nationally determined contribution (NDC) – under Paris Agreement, factoring in its decision to set up 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. The country’s clean energy push through renewables and green hydrogen will, in fact, make it ‘1.5 degree C’ compatible.
“In the previous system, we had only rated India’s NDC target against its fair share. We have updated our fair share calculations, and for India these have become more stringent, leading to a fair share rating of ‘highly insufficient’, compared to its previously ‘2 degree C compatible’ (almost sufficient),” said the Tracker in its global update on climate action.
“Of particular concern are Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and Vietnam. They have failed to lift ambition at all, submitting the same or even less ambitious 2030 targets than those they put forward in 2015. These countries need to rethink their choice,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics.
On the policy front, the Tracker noted that coal remains an issue with China and India both having huge plans in the pipelines. “South East Asia is also of concern, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea still planning to forge ahead with the most polluting of fossil fuels,” said the CAT’s report.
On NDC, it said the updates submitted so far in 2020–2021 have narrowed the gap to what is needed for 1.5 degree C only by up to 15%. There are still over 70 countries that have yet to submit an updated target.
On ‘net zero’ push, the report said though the wave of national mid-century ‘net zero’ targets give reasons for hope, it will fail without sufficient 2030 reductions. “There needs to be alignment between 2030 targets and net zero goals for the latter to be believable. Our assessment shows that most net zero targets are formulated vaguely and do not yet conform with good practice,” it said.
