India Submits New Climate Action Pledges to UN Body, Flags Conditions to Fulfill Promise

India formally submitted its new nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the UN for 2031-35, stressing that the developing countries’ commitments “cannot be fulfilled” without adequate “finance” and “technology transfer”, TOI reported. 

India committed to achieve about 60% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035, with the help of the technology transfer and low-cost international finance. It pledged to reduce the intensity of its GDP emissions by 47% by 2035, from the 2005 level, and create a carbon sink of 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2035, as compared to the baseline year of 2005, HT reported, adding that India flagged the “mitigation ambition gap” by rich countries and the exacerbation of global warming due to their inadequate response. It highlighted that a significant part of the NDCs of developing countries, including India, is conditional upon the availability of adequate climate finance, technology cooperation, and capacity-building.

States Urge Centre to Amend, Clarify Grassland Ecosystems Under Afforestation Law

Several states with significant grassland cover have called for amendments to India’s forest conservation law to recognise grassland restoration under compensatory afforestation — a legal mechanism currently designed for tree-planting “that can, perversely, damage the very grassland ecosystems it might be deployed to protect,” the HT reported. It added that the demand was made by Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. 

The states said amendments under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 were needed to bring grassland restoration within the compensatory afforestation framework. The grassland extent in India is consistently under-reported because large areas are misclassified in government records as wasteland or scrubland. 

'Historic Breakthrough’: Colombia Climate Talks End with Hopes Raised for Fossil Fuel Phaseout

Governments have been asked to develop national “roadmaps” setting out how they will end the production and use of fossil fuels, after a landmark climate meeting involving nearly 60 countries, the Guardian reported. 

The voluntary plans will form the bedrock of a new initiative to wean the world off coal, oil and gas, the focus of two days of intensive talks in Colombia this week.

Bloomberg reported that the French government used the event to release a “national road map” detailing plans to end coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050.

The global conference on moving away from fossil fuels wrapped up with a clear message: the global conversation has shifted from whether to phase out oil, gas and coal to how to do it, with financing emerging as one of the biggest obstacles, AP reported.

One  of the central challenges discussed was the financial constraints facing developing countries, many of which lack the resources to transition away from fossil fuels. They are in bad need of debt relief to even begin a transition, the report said , warning that those countries are “trapped in debt” and over-dependent on fossil fuels with few viable alternatives. 

'Suicidal’ Model of Capitalism Leading to War and Fascism, Climate Summit Told

The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war, fascism and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombia’s president has said, as he convened 60 governments to address the climate crisis, the Guardian reported. 

Gustavo Petro blamed fossil fuel interests for taking ever more desperate measures to prevent a transition to green energy. 

“There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.”

'We are Facing the Biggest Energy Security Threat in History,' IEA Chief 

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said that the world is facing the “biggest energy security threat in history” due to the Iran war, CNBC reported. Birol said he expected nuclear power to “get a boost”, renewables to “grow very strongly” and electric cars to “benefit”. The comments come several weeks after Birol warned the crisis would result in “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced”. 

US-Israeli War on Iran will Push 30 million Back into Poverty, UN Warns

The US-Israel war on Iran will drag over 30 million people back into poverty and likely increase food insecurity in the coming months, the United Nations warned, according to an Al Jazeera report. 

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait of Hormuz could lead to a global food “catastrophe”. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt are among the countries most at risk, according to the FAO, the news channel said.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the ongoing blocking of cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has already lowered agricultural productivity and will hit crop yields later this year, the UN’s development chief said.

Iran Peace Deal Impasse : China Politburo Vows Stronger Energy Security  

China’s top decision-making body, the Politburo, pledged to “strengthen the country’s energy security while pursuing rapid technological development and greater self-sufficiency”,  Reuters reported. 

The Politburo meeting was the first such meeting to focus on the economy after the Iran war started, as China began to feel the pressure from the blockade of the strait of Hormuz, which has driven up oil prices and hurt Chinese exports, Bloomberg reported. 

The meeting called for “improving the security of energy and resource supply” to address “external shocks and challenges”, according to China news wire  Xinhua. 

Apple, Amazon Resist Tough Emissions Reporting Rules 

More than 60 companies – including US tech giants Amazon and Apple – are pushing back on the stricter emissions reporting rules set out by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (global standard-setter),Bloomberg reported. 

The GHG Protocol proposed changes to its initial 2015 Scope 2 Guidance, which standardize how companies measure emissions from purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heat and cooling.

ESG Today said one of the most significant changes proposed by GHG Protocol is the introduction of new hourly matching and local market deliverability requirements for market-based reporting on emissions from energy contracts and instruments, which the organization said would help align emissions claims more closely with the time and place electricity is consumed.

In the letter the companies said that they were “extremely concerned” that the new proposals, which would require companies reporting Scope 2 emissions to match carbon-free electricity purchases to individual company load on an hourly and physically deliverable basis, could significantly harm energy transition efforts, warning of impacts including potentially dramatically discouraging voluntary clean energy procurement, increasing electricity prices for individuals and companies, and slowing system-wide decarbonization, while offering only limited benefits to carbon accounting accuracy.