A year after the Centre released framework guidelines introducing a carbon market scheme to push Indian farmers to adopt carbon mitigation techniques in agriculture, a new study found that money has not reached the smaller farmers, reported Mongabay.
The outlet said carbon farmers reported receiving almost no monetary benefits from carbon projects in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, according to a new study. The report revealed that marginalised farmers from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households had only a 5% share in cultivated land in carbon core projects compared to 17% among non-carbon farmers.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) stated that inadvertent exclusion of marginalised farmers raises concerns about the role of carbon markets in achieving inclusive developmental goals.
Teesta hydro project gets nod to rebuild without public hearing, design approval
The Union environment ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has recommended an amendment to the environmental clearance for the Teesta Hydroelectric Project Stage-III (1200 MW) by Sikkim Urja Limited, allowing it to resume operations after the October 2023 floods damaged its dam and powerhouse. The revised design shifts from a rockfill dam to a concrete gravity dam for greater resilience. The disaster meant that the plant needed a fresh design, which in turn necessitated a fresh clearance, HT reported.
The nod to build afresh was given without a fresh public hearing and even as the design aspects of the dam are yet to be approved, The India Express reported. The newspaper added that the EAC nod for the new dam comes in the backdrop of concerns the panel had itself raised over the structure’s safety and stability. The 2023 flood killed 40 people across four districts of Sikkim.
The amendment includes changing from a concrete-faced rockfill dam to a concrete gravity dam, a design tweak that would accommodate the safe release of water in the event of larger floods. Around 265 families will be relocated as part of the new design, the report said.
Centre-state scheme to assure water supply to rural India not meeting targets in rural Maharashtra?
The Centre-state joint scheme Jal Jeevan Mission, to supply water to rural households, has not met its targets in rural Maharashtra, reported IndiaSpend. The scheme mandated 55 litres of water per capita per day, but households in the region get water only once a week, the report said. The households in rural Maharashtra complain of having to pay water charges and also spend on buying water from private operators to meet their basic needs. The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched in 2019 with the stated mission of providing water to every rural household by 2024. The mission’s slogan—Har Ghar Jal—stood for an ambitious goal that every house would have a functional tap connection and an assured supply of 55 litres of water per capita per day of the prescribed quality. The timing of the supply was to be decided by panchayats and village water and sanitation committees. But the scheme has not met its target of providing water for all rural households.
India’s green court notice to top forest officials over staggering decline of forest cover in NE
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s green court, served notices to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Mizoram, along with the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), over the alarming decline of forest cover in Assam by 83.92 square kilometres between 2021 and 2023, Syllad reported.
The court action followed a media report citing data from the India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR 2023), which revealed a collective forest loss of 327.30 square kilometres across the northeastern states during this period. Mizoram recorded the highest decline, losing 178.42 square kilometres of forest cover. The report highlights a worrying trend, particularly in Assam’s “recorded forest area,” which saw a reduction of 86.66 square kilometres, along with 1,699 square kilometres of degraded canopy density—signalling deteriorating forest quality, the outlet added.
The article pointed out that Arunachal Pradesh, despite leading Indian states in carbon stock with 1,021 million tonnes, has suffered a staggering 1,084 square kilometres of forest cover loss. Mizoram and Nagaland reported losses of 987 and 794 square kilometres, respectively.
Aravali hillock in Nuh flattened, NGT issues notice to MoEF, Haryana & Rajasthan officials
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued notices to the Union environment ministry, pollution control boards, and district commissioners of Nuh and Bharatpur over the flattening of Aravali hills by illegal miners, TOI reported. The green court shot suo motu notices following a report on the mining mafia. The NGT asked for their responses on the matter.
In its order on January 22, the NGT bench of chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad said the report raised “apprehensions” regarding widespread illegal mining that culminated in the collapse of an Aravali hillock along the Haryana-Rajasthan border.
Trump quits Paris deal again, says the climate accord does not reflect US values
US President Trump released an executive order to quit the Paris accord, again. The Guardian reported that the US will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries outside the accord. The newspaper added that during his first presidency, withdrawal took three years due to extra rules related to the Paris Agreement having only just come into force. This time around, NYT reported Trump can leave the agreement within one year of submitting a withdrawal letter to the United Nations.
Trump’s executive order said Paris accord was “among a number of international agreements that don’t reflect US values and ‘steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people’”
Bloomberg philanthropy to cover US climate dues as Trump quits Paris deal
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy organisation, along with other US funders have offered to cover the US’s financial obligations to the UN climate framework, after US president Donald Trump said he will pull the country out of the Paris Agreement, reported Reuters. Bloomberg, who serves as a UN special envoy on climate change, “announced Bloomberg Philanthropies will once again cover the amount of money the US owes each year to the UNFCCC and ensure the US meets its emissions reporting obligations to the body despite the pullback from global climate diplomacy under Trump”, adds the newswire. The US typically provides 22% of the UNFCCC secretariat’s budget.
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