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India extends full support for annual climate meet

He also conveyed India’s position that COP26 should ensure a balanced outcome with equal treatment to agenda items such as adaptation, finance and technology transfer.”…reports Asian Lite News.

India on Wednesday extended full support to the UK for the annual climate change summit to be held at Glasgow in November this year, but reiterated its position that COP26 should ensure a balanced outcome with equal treatment to agenda items such as adaptation, finance and technology transfer.

Ahead of the annual climate summit COP26 or the Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Glasgow in November, its President-designate Alok Sharma from the UK was on a short India trip.

On the last day of his visit, Sharma met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav apart from speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) National Council Session. He also launched the GreenCellM, an e-bus.

Yadav and Sharma discussed issues relating to climate change, COP26, India-UK 2030 Roadmap, and other related matters.

“India believes that climate actions must be nationally determined and it strongly advocates that the differentiation and operationalisation of flexibility provided in the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement for developing countries should be at the core of decision-making,” emphasised Yadav, reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on climate justice while fighting climate change.

Yadav also informed the UK delegation about the remarkable feat India has achieved in decoupling growth from emission intensity, demonstrating ambitious actions in renewable energy, energy efficiency and rise of green cover, an official said, adding, “He also conveyed India’s position that COP26 should ensure a balanced outcome with equal treatment to agenda items such as adaptation, finance and technology transfer.”

Sharma and his team were informed about the global initiatives spearheaded by India under Modi’s leadership for tackling climate change such as Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), Coalition on Coalition Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and International Solar Alliance (ISA), a government release said.

Reminding that India is among a few G20 countries on track towards UNFCCC and Paris Agreement goals and has taken decisive actions to tackle climate change, Sitharaman mentioned that India is taking concrete steps at appreciable speed to meet its commitments on the target of 450GW of renewable energy by 2030.

“Of these, 100 GW has already been achieved,” she said.

The Finance Minister also highlighted the extensive work done on the Hydrogen Energy Mission.

Sitharaman expressed hope that the commitment made by the developed countries to provide $100 billion per year to developing countries would be achieved, and sounded optimistic about a positive outcome on the new collective goals on finance in COP26.

A release from the British High Commission quoted Sharma as saying: “I leave India hopeful. I’ve had a set of very constructive discussions with ministers here and I am incredibly encouraged by the visionary speech Prime Minister Modi made on Independence Day, in particular the reference to renewables and green hydrogen.”

Claiming that countries need to be more ambitious in emission reduction targets and in accelerating the transition from coal to clean energy, Sharma said, “I’ve requested that the Indian government considers whether as part of any revised NDC, that overachievement is taken into account as well as a really ambitious plan for pushing forward on all of this.”

“When the UK took on the COP26 Presidency, less than 30 per cent of the global economy was covered by a net zero target — we’re now at 70 per cent,” he said.

COP26 is a crucial meeting in view of the Paris Agreement that India has signed along with scores of other nations.

The Paris Agreement is a global effort to cut emissions to restrict the temperature rise to 2-degree Celsius and if possible, to keep it at 1.5-degree Celsius, as compared to the pre-industrial era.

A recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has already warned of dire consequences in terms of increasing heat waves, erratic precipitation and sea level rise among other extremities for India and other nations.

ALSO READ-COP26 President-designate to meet Environment Minister Yadav

READ MORE-Sharma to don dual role as Business Secretary and President – COP 26

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India News

Meghalaya leads the way in harnessing faith for climate action

It was Pope Francis who cemented the church’s commitment to ecological sustainability with his landmark papal document ‘Laudato Si’ published in May 2015…reports Asian Lite News.

After initiating a grassroots-level movement with Climate Change Chapaul — which involved roping in traditional leaders of Meghalaya to spread the awareness of climate change — Meghalaya is starting to use another social innovation to drive a change in people’s behaviour and attitude towards climate change.

A brainchild of Meghalaya Forests and Environment Minister James K. Sangma, interaction with leaders from eight faith-based and religious organisations aims to promote climate change messages in their followers and help build a bottom-up movement to fortify the fight against climate change in the state.

Quashing the age-old myth that religion and science don’t get along, Meghalaya believes that religions can play an influential role in climate change negotiations and help build a strong public consensus in spurring the global mass climate action movement.

Laitmawsiang landscape, wrapped in fog. Meghalaya is mountainous, and it is the rainiest state of India. The word Meghalaya means, “abode of the clouds”. (Wikipedia)

The meeting was attended by Swami Hitakamananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Shillong; Pastor T.T. Diengdoh of Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Synod Sepngi (KJPSS); Father Richard Majaw, In-charge of the Education Commission and Vicar General, Archdiocese of Shillong; Kamaljeet Singh, General Secretary of the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Meghalaya; Jb Noor Nongrum, Assistant General Secretary of The Shillong Muslim Union; Pastor Elizer Sangma of Shillong Baptist Church; Rothel Khongsit, President, Seng Khasi Khatarshnong (Khasi Traditional Faith Leader); and Pema Dhondup, Tibetan Settlement Officer, Meghalaya.

Several innovative ideas were discussed from curating an eco-ministry programme by religious institutions in collaboration with state governments to adoption of eco-efficiencies to spread the message of conservation and sustainable lifestyles.

It is an established fact that faith-based organisations have been playing a key role in accelerating climate dialogues across the world ever since the Vatican and particularly, Pope Francis, kicked off a religious movement towards ecology and environment science and dedicated much of his papacy dedicated to teaching about care for the planet and raising the priority of climate change on the world agenda.

It was Pope Francis who cemented the church’s commitment to ecological sustainability with his landmark papal document ‘Laudato Si’ published in May 2015.

Pope Francis (Wikipedia)

In his document “On care for our common home”, Pope Francis called for a “bold cultural revolution” on multiple levels: Spiritual, theological, scientific and practical.

Meghalaya’s population consists of 70 per cent Christians and followers of indigenous Khasi faiths followed by Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Tibetans. Faith can therefore play an influential role in dictating social and behavioural conventions of the masses.

On the occasion, James K. Sangma said, “In taking the faith-based approach, I want the scientific and rational thought to borrow hope and optimism that religions around the world offer and wants to erase the usual disdain of science towards religions. Faith groups have a history of speaking out on behalf of the oppressed and powerless; the environment is no different.”

The minister further stated that in Meghalaya, the understanding of environment protection is rooted in the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia communities which is based on traditional values and wisdom passed on through the ages.

The living testament of this are the sacred groves and traditional reserve forests in which till now, such valued practices is what the community leadership holds on to.

Besides, the living root bridges are another story that is very telling of the people’s respect for nature. These root bridges take hundreds of years to form, therefore, the original builder knows that he would not see the full formation of the bridge but he does it anyway because he knows it is about community-living and for the future of his people. Such green concepts are intertwined with the values that come along with traditional faith or faiths that have arrived in the hills.

Sangma said he was inspired by the burgeoning global religious movement against climate change.

Forty Roman Catholic groups in countries including Australia, South Africa and the US have said that they are shunning investments in fossil fuels and switching to greener energy.

Some 1,200 institutions across the world have already committed to divest from fossil-fuel companies, totalling $14.5 trillion. One-third of these are faith-based organisations.

In 2020, faith leaders from Scotland jointly played a role in pushing for the government’s adoption of a new climate change bill and their global counterparts delivered a series of recommendations to the G-20.

Back home, organisations like EcoSikh helps cities in India adopt environmentally friendly pilgrimages. The Bhumi Project, a Hindu organisation, develops long-term sustainable plans for environmental care and trains young people to become climate leaders.

Green Muslims connect volunteers to local climate action initiatives. A similar eco ministry programme in Kerala that has embedded ecology and climate change in its constitution is working on spreading awareness about climate change, sustainability, regenerative agricultural practices and urging people to not destroy wildlife or forests. It has won the UNESCO prize for sustainability.

An interesting study by UNEP also pointed out that faith-based organisations control 8 per cent of the Earth’s habitable land, 5 per cent of commercial forests and 10 per cent of financial institutions and therefore, people of faith can be great allies in stalling the impending reality of climate change for the state.

ALSO READ-Meghalaya Home Minister quits after Shillong violence

READ MORE-Meghalaya’s new intervention for tackling climate change

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Need mitigative steps to save livestock from cyclones: Experts

In Gujarat, 67 people had lost life, 88,910 houses/huts were damaged and as many as 8,629 cattle were lost due to cyclone Tauktae…reports Nivedita Khandekar

Two months after the ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’, cyclone Tauktae ravaged several districts in Gujarat, experts have suggested building ‘pucca’ structures for ‘gaushalas’ should be taken up as a mitigative exercise on institutional level for saving cows and other live stocks during cyclones, frequency for which is set to increase due to climate change.

In Gujarat, 67 people had lost life, 88,910 houses/huts were damaged and as many as 8,629 cattle were lost due to cyclone Tauktae, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had said in a written reply to a question about ‘Loss of Life and Property Due to Cyclone Tauktae and Yaas’ in the Rajya Sabha on July 28.

An NGO has offered financial help to dozen-odd gaushalas (cow-shelters) from Saurashtra-Bhavnagar region for rebuilding pucca structures to avoid future damage in view of the cyclone’s intensity.

Managing trustee of a Mumbai-headquartered NGO Samast Mahajan, Girish Jayantilal Shah, said during his visit to Delhi that as many as 19 gaushalas suffered major damage due to cyclone Tauktae and Samasta Mahajan has already offered Rs 50 lakh for reconstruction to 12 of them.

Samast Mahajan’s assessment of these 19 gaushalas had shown that the damage was worth Rs 5 crore. The NGO could afford to donate Rs 50 lakh, which was already handed over to these gaushalas.

“Several of these gaushalas were old, dilapidated structures. There were no efforts ever at serious repairs as all of these are run by charitable trusts and were short of funds. When we offered monetary help, we have categorically told them to construct pucca buildings. This will help in future cyclones too,” Shah, who is also a member of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said.

The NGO has now requested the Gujarat Gaushala Ayog (GGA), a government agency, to help re-build these gaushalas. The GGA has an annual budget of Rs 100 crore.

ALSO READ: India skips London Climate meet on technical reasons

Earlier this year in March, the government, in reply to a Parliamentary question, said: “Studies show a decreasing trend in the frequency of formation of Cyclonic Storms over the Bay of Bengal and an increasing trend over the Arabian Sea, based on the data during 1965-2020.”

Not just this. Experts point out that even the intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea has increased in recent years. The phenomenon has been ascribed to the rapid warming of the relatively cooler Arabian Sea (as compared to the Bay of Bengal) that suits cyclone formation.

As many as 29 districts in Gujarat, especially those in Saurashtra region, are vulnerable to intensified cyclones and storm surges, which have increased three-fold between 1970 and 2019, an independent analysis released in May this year by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) had said.

Experts lauded the effort by Samast Mahajan and said, just as there are earthquake-resilient buildings, the need now is to have cyclone-resilient structures.

“This can indeed be a good mitigative step in view of the increasing frequency of cyclones on the west coast. There should be guidelines on the structural designs in view of the safety of the structure,” retired professor from MS University, Vadodara, KC Tiwari told IANS over phone.

Tiwari, had conducted courses on disaster management before retiring last year, said, it is important to have proactive measures and steps such as these (building pucca structures for gaushala) can well be carried out as an institutional efforts to prevent damage in the long term.

Farming, both agriculture and horticulture along with the animals are key aspect of livelihood protection, especially in rural areas, and must be part of plans before, during and after disasters, experts pointed out and said, this is not new and has been practiced on the east coast by Odisha as part of the ‘Animal inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR)’ practices.

“Odisha has already been doing a lot of cow protection and other measures for livestock in general. This is something that needs to be replicated elsewhere too,” said head of the geo-meteorological hazards department at the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi, Dr. Surya Prakash.

It is for the district level and/or the veterinary department to plan and implement it, he suggested.

Thanks to the early warning system and a standard protocol followed by Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, millions of cattle are saved by relocating it before a cyclone strikes the east coast. This kind of mitigation action becomes imperative in view of the economic losses suffered due to cyclones.

However, not all states have made it institutional. According to NIDM literature, during disasters, most evacuation centres do not accept animals in the absence of guidelines/laws for that or for the reason of scarce resources/infrastructure.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction moved its focus from ‘disaster management’ to ‘disaster risk management’, with the priorities for action converging on reducing risk, enhancing resilience and preventing disaster-related losses.

The Sendai Framework recognizes that effective DRR requires expanding the focus to include the protection of livelihoods and productive assets, and this includes livestock, working animals, tools and seeds.

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Meghalaya’s new intervention for tackling climate change

A grassroot ‘mini climate change conference’ was held with 18 villages of a province called Ri-Bhoi – known for facing the ravages of fast approaching climate change reality….reports Asian Lite News

As climate change morphs into a real time threat, Meghalaya has turned to invoking its traditional leaders and institutions by turning them into evangelists and climate actors and crusaders.

Meghalaya Forest Minister James Sangma has decided to take it upon himself to collect ecological knowledge and climate wisdom from the ancestral conceptions and indigenous tribal leaders of traditional institutions to create awareness and strategy of climate change adaptation and mitigation for the state.

A grassroot ‘mini climate change conference’ was held with 18 villages of a province called Ri-Bhoi – known for facing the ravages of fast approaching climate change reality.

Apart from the formal government systems (the state legislature and judiciary) as well as Autonomous District Councils that were carved to allot greater autonomy to tribal communities in Meghalaya, the state’s village level traditional institutions called Dorbar in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and Nokma in Garo Hills are village level authorities that administer at the local levels in the matter of quotidian activities like settlement of local disputes, management of natural resources and provision of basic services.

In that sense, Meghalaya is a strong decentralised society where these Dorbars and Nokmas organise the community and social life for their citizens and hold a great degree of historical legitimacy amongst people.

Infact, Meghalaya was exempted from the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act which allows for the devolution of governance through the decentralised Panchayati Raj system because of its strong grassroot and community governance structure.

One of the global learnings emerging from Covid response all across the world is a new form of ‘decentralised’ governance where the state works in alliance with traditional and grassroots institutions and leaders.

This bottom up approach is critical for social mobilisation and tackling the 21st century challenges like climate change.

Several complex issues such as climate change, diminishing rain patterns, green livelihoods were discussed with indigenous examples of several localised climate legislations – emerging in the conversation. In the idea exchange, there were conversations about green energy and livelihoods, agroforestry models and several preservation models that could incentivise the villagers and junta to create a new template of climate action economy.

After having piloted a successful project using multi strains of indigenous Algae or phyco-remediation to clean up the toxic industrial waste of one of its rivers, the Forest Minister has launched an open mandate to embrace local ecological knowledge and build nature based solutions.

Sacred Groves in Meghalaya, which are community based sacred forests, have been largely instrumental in community led forest management practices and large scale preservation. There were more green livelihood options such as algae and carbon farming, agro-forestry models and wellness tourism using folk medicine – with abundance of high value indigenous wellness knowledge systems were also discussed with the grassroots representatives.

Forest management and climate change adaptation strategy should integrate socio-cultural and ecological phenomenons and should be aimed to sustain human needs and maintain the ecosystem integrity.

It has also been emphasised to include climate change and conservation as a part of school along with several green interventions with the headmen for turning the province into a ‘climate action zone’.

The grassroot conference was one of the first interventions on the part of the government to start collecting indigenous knowledge, community engagement and empower decentralised governance to bolster its fight against climate change.

(The writer is Minister for Power, Environment and Forests, Meghalaya)

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Environment India News

Torrential rains clobber Mumbai, paralyse traffic, trains

Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister, said the situation is being closely monitored…reports Asian Lite News.

Massive rains pounded Mumbai — in many places measuring over 20 cms (200 mm), paralysing road and rail traffic, all through the night, officials said here on Sunday.

The Western Railway suburban services were stopped completely due to flooding on tracks at most places in the city and surrounding and many outstation trains were stuck at various locations.

There was waist-deep water in some parts with water entering ground floor homes or buildings in many low-lying areas.

The downpour, which started after midnight, continued virtually non-stop and led to waterlogging or flooding in most parts of the city and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation said its rain guages recorded over a staggering 157mm (15.7 cms) in the south Mumbai, 14 cms in eastern suburbs and 13 cms in western suburbs.

The Maharashtra government, BMC and the coastal Konkan districts of Ratnagiri, Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Raigad are on high alert with the Disaster Management Units in readiness for any eventuality.

Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister, said the situation is being closely monitored.

“As of 3 a.m., rainfall measured by IMD. Some places have crossed 200 mm now.A Mumbai has faced an extremely intense system of precipitation accompanied by thundering. The BMC pumps are operational and officers are on ground,” Thackeray said.

According to KS Hosalikar, Head SID, Climate & Research Services, Pune, said: “Extremely Heavy rainfall realized so far and severe floodings observed due to very very intense spell in a very short time.”

The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai during the day.

ALSO READ-European Commission unveils ‘Fit for 55’ climate package

READ MORE-Kerry, Putin stress importance of cooperation on climate issues

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‘Two Banks of a River : The Indus in Ladakh’

The online exhibition foregrounds the Indus’ significant impact in Ladakh, which crosses serene riverscapes, from the high Himalayas, through a melange of cultures and traditions, down to its delta in the Sindh and out in the Arabian Sea during its course…Siddhi Jain.

Ladakh is a dream place for most travelers. A series of photographs on the Indus River in the Ladakh region, taken by artist-photographer Isaac Tsetan Gergan, follow the length and breadth of Ladakh, from Nubra to Zanskar and Leh to Kargil telling the story of the river and of the state. On view till July 11 online, the exhibition titled ‘Two Banks of a River — The Indus in Ladakh’ brings to light the traditional practices followed by the locals and how the region’s waterways are imperiled by pollution and commercialisation.

Leh

The online exhibition foregrounds the Indus’ significant impact in Ladakh, which crosses serene riverscapes, from the high Himalayas, through a melange of cultures and traditions, down to its delta in the Sindh and out in the Arabian Sea during its course. Like it has nourished our ancestors, the river continues to bring life to the thousands of villages and communities along its course, says the exhibition about the life-giving river.

Building on how the Indus supports life, livestock and agrarian practices have built Ladakh, it shows how the Ladakhi way of life and everyday systems are sustainable and use resources wisely and in harmony with the environment. “One cannot say the same of today’s booming industries and infrastructure development.”

“Prayers have been offered to the great river, ashes dissolved into its currents. The Indus, like all water bodies, is sacred in these regions. The sacredness ascribed to water made communities use it wisely and deliberately, certainly not wastefully or thoughtlessly.”

The Vancouver-educated artist-photographer shares that the containers of water were prayed over, as they held a significant place in the home and were designed beautifully. “The plastic bucket, while cheaper and perhaps more practical, still pales. Do we carry forward our values related to water, even as we know of its decreasing availability? How can we still build our systems around traditional values connected with water?” says a note on the exhibition.

It adds: “Waterways are being polluted. We have a number of hydro-power projects that have come up too. Rising temperatures and erratic weather patterns, episodes of sudden downpours have increased risks to livelihoods and settlements. There is only so much water; can everybody have an equal share? The changes in the mountains are evident, many times before it is in the plains, owing to its fragility.

“Similarly the changes in climate are seemingly slow but certainly steady and constant. The impacts of Indus being dammed has altered life downstream, even if in small ways, or the flash floods that caused massive loss of life, land, and history. Sewage water seeping into the waterways, to the rise in tourism leaving an unmistakable trail of non-biodegradable waste, we come to make as our way of life. What is in our control and can we be better stewards of the resources we have been given?”

Leh

Reminiscing about a simpler past and reflecting on the present, the artist observes: “Photographing and writing about the Indus, hearing old folk tell their stories or experts giving presentations, I have been moved across emotions and thoughts about water and its central place in Ladakh. Sitting by still brooks to the banks of the raging Suru, I have seen water flow through Ladakh. Laying on the soft grass in a willow’s shade along a rushing stream, hearing the soft water following on the flattened pebbles is not only romantic but is still possible. From my position, while writing, on the other side of the bank are sounds of heavy machinery, earth movers, concrete and iron pillars rising higher, sweat under yellow helmets — a new age coming to the ancient mountains.”

The online exhibition is on view on the website of the India International Centre.

ALSO READ-Future Bright For Ladakh As A Union Territory

READ MORE-Sanskruti Centre and The Nehru Centre highlight Ladakhi culture

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Promises on Climate, Covid, Nature Fall Short in G7

G7 leaders along with leaders of guest nations pose for photograph during the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

Challenged to meet 2010 promises on climate finance, ensure the developing world is fully vaccinated by 2022 and restructure the debt hold facing African, Asian and Latin nations — they fell well short, areport by VISHAL GULATI

The recently-concluded G7 summit has been a massive letdown on a historic opportunity to tackle the triple crises of climate, COVID and collapse of nature, experts across the globe said on Monday.

If the leaders cannot get their act together by the October G20, the UN climate conference, COP26, slated in November in Glasgow is doomed to fail — that’s the take of leading analysts as the 2021 Cornwall summit wrapped up on Sunday.

Challenged to meet 2010 promises on climate finance, ensure the developing world is fully vaccinated by 2022 and restructure the debt hold facing African, Asian and Latin nations — they fell well short.

G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

The September UN General Assembly is now set as the key date for G7 leaders to deliver ahead of COP26.

Responding to the G7 communique, Christian Aid’s Patrick Watt’s, Director of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns, told IANS: “This summit was an opportunity for the richest nations of the world to tackle the perfect storm of the pandemic, the climate emergency, and the debt crisis that is hitting the world’s poorest people hardest.

“We’ve heard warm words about a green Marshall Plan and ambitions to vaccinate the world, but this falls well short of what’s needed. This is a partial plan not a Marshall Plan. The US committed 6.5 per cent of its post-war GDP to the Marshall Plan. The UK, in contrast, has reneged on an aid promise one tenth as ambitious. The G7 needed to progress comprehensive debt relief, deliver on climate finance promises, and act to end vaccine apartheid.

“The G7 leadership has failed to make real progress in any of these areas. The success of the COP26 climate summit now hangs in the balance. There is still time for rich nations to deliver a solidarity package that tackles these interconnected crises. Without it, the COP will fail.”

A family photograph of G7 Leaders during the summit in Carbis Bay. Picture by Simon Dawson No 10 Downing Street

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace, said: “Everyone is being hit by Covid-19 and worsening climate impacts, but it is the most vulnerable who are fairing the worst due to G7 leaders sleeping on the job.

“We need authentic leadership and that means treating the pandemic and the climate crisis for what they are: an inter-connected inequality emergency. The G7 have failed to set us up for a successful COP26 as trust is sorely lacking between rich and developing countries.”

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Echoing similar sentiments, Rachel Kyte, Dean of Fletcher School at Tufts University, and former UN climate envoy, said: “We need a detailed plan for making the $100 billion a reality by the UN General Assembly. It’s a big year for climate diplomacy and the G7 members will have to hit high notes at the G20 finance meeting in July before arriving in Glasgow in November.”

Ahead of the G7, YouGov polling for climate think tank E3G showed overwhelming public support across Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the UK and the US for helping poorer countries cut their dependence on fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

Taken as one, 66 per cent of voters in G7 countries support this, with clear majorities of support in all seven countries.

The public in all seven countries wanted their government to stick to promises made at the UN in 2010 to deliver $100 billion of climate finance a year.

“Fifty per cent of G7 voters want their government to stick to their pledge, while just 29 per cent think circumstances have changed sufficiently that their government should go back on their pledge,” said the poll.

The good news from Cornwall is that tackling climate change was inextricably woven through every agenda item.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street

Each G7 country did commit to increase and improve climate finance through to 2025, but only a few offered clear new pledges. Canada was also among those countries to hike climate finance contributions, while others said they will review pledges pre-COP26.

The leaders did agree to end the public financing of coal by 2021, with Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US agreeing to back a $2 billion coal transition fund. The deal leaves China isolated as the world’s biggest public backer of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.

G7 leaders offered a vision of a green alternative to China’s Belt and Road, but the G7 ‘Marshall Plan’ or ‘Build Back Better World’ initiative urgently needs details, which should be delivered by the UN General Assembly.

Bernice Lee, Hoffmann Distinguished Fellow for sustainability and Research Director Futures at Chatham House, said: “It’s good to see G7 turning their back on coal, but words are not enough. They now need to get serious about a global clean partnership that delivers for developing nations.”

The mixed outcome places huge pressure on the shoulders of Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who will steer G20 talks that commence in July, with a finance meeting in Venice now set as a critical moment ahead of COP26.

ALSO READ: ‘India’s engagement with G7 stands on its own’

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G7 leaders agree on efforts to combat climate crisis

G7-leaders-agree-on-efforts-to-combat-climate-crisis

The joint efforts by the US, UK, Canada and Germany will include a new collective commitment to provide up to $2 bn to support the work of the Climate Investments Funds, reports Asian Lite News

The Group of Seven (G7) leaders agreed to a set of concrete actions to accelerate the global transition away from coal generation as part of efforts to combat the climate crisis.

In a fact sheet, the White House stressed that confronting the climate crisis presents a historic opportunity to drive economic recovery, create millions of good-paying union jobs and build back better while investing in a more resilient, prosperous, equitable, and secure future.

“Recognizing that unabated coal power generation is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and consistent with President Biden’s domestic leadership, G7 leaders will commit to an end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of this year,” it said.

The joint efforts by the US, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany will include a new collective commitment to provide up to $2 billion to support the work of the Climate Investments Funds focused on accelerating the transition from coal for key developing countries while investing in technology, job training, and infrastructure to enable the transition to a more reliable and prosperous clean energy economy.

The world leaders are also launching the G7 Industrial Decarbonization Agenda, a first-of-its-kind platform to accelerate innovation, deploy decarbonisation technology and harmonise standards. They will also emphasise sectoral decarbonisation in power, transport, agriculture, and buildings.

ALSO READ: G7 to unveil global anti-pandemic action plan

The White House also informed that all G7 leaders, for the first time, will align their long-term and short-term climate goals in a manner consistent with keeping the 1.5 degrees celsius global warming threshold within reach.

The leaders will also resolve to strengthen adaptation and resilience to protect people from the impacts of climate change and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, as well as to mobilise finance and leverage innovation to reach these goals. According to the White House, Biden is also advancing policies domestically that will achieve carbon-pollution free energy in electricity generation by 2035.

“These policies will support scale up of technology that captures carbon and then permanently sequesters or utilizes that captured carbon, which includes lowering the cost of carbon capture retrofits for existing power plants — all while ensuring that overburdened communities are protected from increases in cumulative pollution,” it said.

Earlier, G7 leaders also launched the ‘Build Back Better World’ (B3W) partnership for meeting the infrastructure needs of low and middle-income countries as parts of efforts to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The scope of the initiative ranges from Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa to the Indo-Pacific.

ALSO READ: G7 To Counter China’s BRI

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Asia News Education

Imran says Pakistan most at risk due to climate change

Khan reiterated that it was imperative to take steps to protect the environment, which include making national parks, planting trees and carrying out urban forestry….reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan is among the countries most at risk due to climate change, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday.

“We are more vulnerable than Bangladesh due to the melting of our glaciers. It is not our fault. There are giants that contribute to carbon emissions but countries like us face the consequences,” Dawn news quoted Khan as saying at an event here.

“For the first time in the US, President Joe Biden’s administration is focusing on climate change. The previous administration was not thinking about environmental degradation,” he added.

Khan reiterated that it was imperative to take steps to protect the environment, which include making national parks, planting trees and carrying out urban forestry.

“We need to utilise all available resources to increase the number of trees in the country.”

The Prime Minister lauded that fact that mangroves had increased in the country during the last 20 years despite deforestation.

Regarding awareness about climate change among the public, especially among school children, he said: “We need to take this further so that our entire country is focused on ensuring a better future for coming generations.”

Meanwhile, Education ministers from across the globe are being urged to prioritise quality climate education as a major outcome at the next UN Climate Conference when they meet in Italy as part of the Group of 20 (G20) round of meetings.

An international alliance of labour and teachers’ unions, green groups, youth and parents’ organisations, research institutes, and international organisations issued a statement on Thursday underlining the importance of climate literate citizens in combating climate change.

The groups involved, representing millions of people across the globe, also see quality climate education linked to strong civic engagement as key to better decision-making by governments, green jobs, and building a new, stronger, and more sustainable 21st century economy.

The Joint Civil Society Statement on Climate Education Ambition, focusing on the G20 meeting in Sicily on June 22, argues technological shifts and innovations in areas such as clean energy and electric mobility will be crucial towards achieving the goals of the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement.

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India to receive normal, well distributed rainfall: IMD

The LPA of the season rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1961-2010 is 88 cm…reports Asian Lite News.

Southwest monsoon’s seasonal rainfall from June to September this year over the country, as a whole, is most likely to be normal and well-distributed spatially, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The rainfall during these four months is expected to be 96 to 104 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).

However, the IMD’s National Weather Forecasting Centre said, quantitatively, the monsoon seasonal rainfall during these four months over the country as a whole is likely to be 101 per cent of the LPA with a model error of four per cent up or down.

The LPA of the season rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1961-2010 is 88 cm.

Rain. (File Photo: IANS)

“Monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be well distributed spatially and most parts of the country is expected to receive normal to above normal rainfall during the season,” said the IMD.

The latest global model forecasts indicate the prevailing neutral ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) conditions are likely to continue over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and possibility of development of negative IOD conditions over the Indian Ocean during the monsoon season, it said.

The weather office further said the southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the four homogeneous rainfall areas is most likely to be normal over northwest India from 92-108 per cent and south peninsula from 93-107 percent. It is most likely to be below normal over northeast India (106 per cent).”

The southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the monsoon core zone, which consists of most of the rainfed agriculture regions in the country is most likely to be above normal (over 106 per cent of LPA), it said.

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