The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s meeting opened in Hangzhou, China. The US withdrew from the seventh assessment cycle presently underway, reported HT.
IPCC, the main UN body for assessing the science related to climate change, did not comment on the US’ withdrawal. The newspaper quoted the IPCC as saying: “As the IPCC sessions are closed, we do not discuss the presence, absence or attendance of delegates. The list of delegates will be published, as usual, in the report of the meeting in due course.” The report explained that this essentially means that US scientists will not participate in IPCC’s review and the US will not be contributing funding to IPCC. IPCC is meeting in Hangzhou to finalise the outlines of the three Working Group contributions to the Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) and the Methodology Report on Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. These are due in 2028, the report said.
China pledges global cooperation to address climate change
China is willing to cooperate with all parties to address the challenges of extreme weather and climate risks, Chen Zhenlin, head of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and chief representative of China to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said at the IPCC meeting in Hangzhou. Xinhua reported that Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin, said that the IPCC reports reflect “humanity’s deepening understanding of climate science”. Global Times, reported that he world faces an “increasingly severe” climate crisis while “grappling” with the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, developing economies, such as China, Brazil and the UAE, have begun to “firmly implement their own emission reduction measures”, taking “greater responsibility”,
India’s NTPC plans to spend $62 billion on 30 GW of nuclear power, sources say
Indian state power company NTPC plans to build 30 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2045, three times more than expected, at a cost of $62 billion, Reuters reported attributing information to sources.
The report said the country’s top power producer, which mainly runs coal-fired plants, is seeking land for its ambitious plan in a country where local resistance to such projects is high, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter.
Citing sources, the newswire report said NTPC was targeting 10 GW of nuclear capacity but tripled the goal after the government this month announced plans to open up the sector to foreign and private investment, the sources said.
EU-India meet dominated by energy and climate topics
Climate and energy would be the main talking points of the EU-India meet, according to experts who were part of a webinar which preceded the actual meeting, according to a report by CarbonCopy. Their opinion was that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the EU would be critical, while sorting out issues related to Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Furthermore, both India and the EU would benefit from jointly investing in R&D for clean tech, the experts said.
Karnataka declares Hesaraghatta grassland a reserve
The Karnataka government declared Hesaraghatta grasslands in the outskirts of Bengaluru as “conservation reserve” protecting a unique grassland landscape with rich biodiversity that serves as an important water catchment area for Bengaluru, frequently impacted by severe water shortages, HT reported.
The outlet added that the grasslands are also wintering grounds for migrant bird species from Europe, Central Asia and Himalayas including several species of raptors. The Lesser Florican, a critically endangered endemic bustard, was sighted in Hesaraghatta after 100 years in 2011, according to birders.
Supreme Court stays govt order that exempted construction firms to get green clearance
India’s top court stayed a notification by the Centre that exempted building and construction projects, including industrial sheds, schools, colleges and hostels with a built-up area up to 150,000 square metres from obtaining mandatory environmental clearance (EC) prior to starting construction work, reported HT.
The court passed the verdict saying the government move diluted the strict regime governing construction projects. Before the notification came into force, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), 2006, made prior environmental clearance mandatory for all constructions with a built-up area of above 20,000 sq meters.
The lawyers of the Mumbai-based NGO Vanashakti, who took the government to court, pointed out that this was the fourth attempt by the Centre to carve out an exception for building and construction projects, submitting that similar moves were made by the environment ministry in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Rome: Talks to protect Earth’s biodiversity resume with money topping the agenda
The second round of COP16 UN biodiversity talks resumed in Rome, reported AP, adding that , . “significant outcomes” were reached at the initial COP16 summit in November, held in Colombia,but delegates ran out of time. The newswire wrote that “money is top of the agenda” for the Rome talks.
The Guardian reported “concerns that countries will not turn up for the meeting”. A lack of confirmed attendees in the months leading up to the conference has raised concerns about whether the meeting would reach the necessary quorum – of about two-thirds of countries attending – to make any of its decisions valid, the news outlet reported, citing sources suggest that more than 150 countries out of 196 have now registered their intention to attend.” The lack of progress on finance is damaging overall trust in the negotiations, the report said. Politico added that delegates at the three-day meeting “will first have to restore trust in multilateralism at a moment when global diplomatic tensions are at a fever pitch”.
US: Farmers sue US government over deletion of climate data from government websites
Farmers and environmental groups are taking the US agriculture department to court over its decision to remove references to climate change from its website, the New York Times reported. According to the newspaper, the agriculture department ordered staff to take down web pages on climate change on 30 January, including “data sets, interactive tools and funding information that farmers and researchers relied on for planning and adaptation projects”. Bloomberg reported that the lawsuit alleges that the move “violated the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Freedom of Information Act”. The case is being brought by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group, the report added.
Trump pick for EPA official discloses industry clients, law firm pay
According to a Reuters report, David Fotouhi, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the second-in-charge at the US Environmental Protection Agency earned at least $3.2m in legal fees over the last year representing clients including Chevron, Ford and the US Chamber of Commerce. The report added that Gibson Dunn, Fotouhi’s law firm, is one of the largest and most profitable law firms in the United States. He served in EPA’s legal office during the first Trump administration before returning to the firm. The Trump administration has vowed to roll back the Biden-era climate agenda, including EPA regulations to reduce carbon dioxide, methane and other emissions, the report stated.
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