India may announce an updated climate action plan “during, or just ahead of” COP30, the Indian Express reported citing government sources. The newspaper added that the updated pledge is “unlikely to promise anything new apart from making an upward revision” of the three targets its current pledge commits to – reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP, increasing the share of renewables and expanding its carbon sink – and extending them to 2035. India has also said its third nationally determined contribution (NDC) might “reflect the disappointment of the climate finance outcome at COP29 in Baku”, the report said.
The Hindu cited government sources saying India will submit its third NDC on 10 November, with an “increased target for energy efficiency improvement”. The newspaper report said that major emissions reductions could result from “bilateral agreements between countries where developed and developing countries jointly invested in clean-energy projects and shared the resulting cut in emissions” under Article 6 carbon markets
‘Recall verdict that allowed widening of roads in Himalayas” BJP veteran MM Joshi, Karan Singh appeal to CJI
BJP veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi and former Union minister Karan Singh have appealed to Chief Justice of India B R Gawai seeking a “review and recall” of the apex court’s 2021 judgment which allowed widening of roads under the Char Dham project to 12 metres, alleging that it has resulted in massive landslides and sinking zones, the IE reported.
The plea has been endorsed by 57 people, including historian Shekhar Pathak and author Ramachandra Guha. Academicians, scientists, current and former MPs and activists in Uttarakhand are the others who have endorsed the appeal, the IE reported.
Joshi and Singh said a 2020 circular of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which allowed the widening, should be quashed and an intermediate road width of 5.5 metres should be adopted as discussed previously. They said building a double-laned paved-shoulder road on the pristine Uttarkashi to Gangotri stretch will wreak avoidable damage in the fragile area, which is already witnessing “unprecedented disaster events” this year., the outlet added.
China plans to cut 10% emissions by 2035
China will reduce its planet-warming pollution by 7% to 10% from peak levels by 2035, “the goal, announced in a pre-recorded video by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a UN General Assembly climate meeting, falls far short of the 30% cuts the Biden administration had been pressing for,” reported CNN adding that China’s growth in renewable energy manufacturing and domestic deployment mean that it may overachieve — which it has done on previous goals.
The news channel said China gave itself until “around” 2030 to peak its climate pollution. Independent analysis shows it is likely this peak has already happened, five years ahead of schedule, and pollution is now starting to decline, the report said.
Australia has also raised its climate ambition, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing a new 2035 emissions reduction target of 62–70% (from 2005 levels). The goal, unveiled on 18 September, marks a sharp step up from the country’s 2030 target of 43%.
Trump at the UN: Climate change is a con job
US President Donald Trump in his speech at the UN general assembly called climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, reported Reuters. The news wire said Trump “spoke for several minutes out of his near-hour speech on climate change”, criticising the EU for “reducing its carbon footprint, which he claimed has taken a toll on its economy”, and “warning countries that have invested heavily in renewable energy that their economies will suffer”. Trump said: “All of these predictions made by the UN and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.” Evaluating the performances of the past climate models scientist Dr Zeke Hausfather responded to Trump’s claim on Bluesky, saying climate projects have been “pretty spot on”.
The New York Times said Trump also criticised wind turbines and accused environmentalists of wanting to “kill all the cows”. “He chose his two targets, demonising immigrants and green energy, and called them a ‘double-tailed monster’ that he claimed, without evidence, are ‘destroying’ Europe. Both subjects play well to his base in the Republican Party. But it was remarkable that he said all this to a global audience,” the newspaper said. The article noted that Trump’s speech “added up to an extraordinary diatribe that ignored the human suffering exacted by the heatwaves, wildfires and deadly floods that are aggravated by the burning of fossil fuels and, at the same time, stood at odds with the rapid expansion of renewable energy all over the world.”
Bloomberg wrote that Trump criticised the UK for ending new drilling in the North Sea in his speech: “There’s tremendous oil that hasn’t been found in the North Sea. They essentially closed it by making it so highly taxed that no developer, no oil company, can go there.” Carbon Brief pointed out that the output from the North Sea is already in decline. Oil production peaked in 1999, while gas production in the UK continental shelf peaked in 2000.
Bloomberg reported that UK energy secretary Ed Miliband responded by saying: “We are the duly elected government of the UK and we have a mandate for our mission.” The Guardian explained how Trump’s claims at the UN were false and misleading. BBC News said that Trump’s comments are “at odds with [the] overwhelming science consensus”.
China’s emissions will decline by 2030 if it continues green investments
China’s emissions are expected to peak in 2028 at 11.3bn tonnes and begin to “decline by 1.6bn tonnes by 2030 if the country manages to mobilise 17.5tn yuan ($2.5tn) in green investments over the next five years, said a latest report by investment bank the China International Capital Corporation, reported Bloomberg. In a separate article, Bloomberg said China’s “power demand growth” slowed in August, rising by 5% from a year ago, compared with 8.6% in July and 5.4% in June, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA). The article said “cooler weather has helped take some pressure off the grid”. China Energy Net explained that electricity consumption in China reached 1,015 terawatt-hours (TWh) in August. It exceeded 1,000TWh for two consecutive months in July and August – the first time this happens globally, according to financial news outlet Cailianpress, Carbon Brief reported.
EU to delay landmark deforestation law once again citing ‘technical concerns’
The European Commission is set to once again delay the enforcement of its landmark deforestation law blaming “technical concerns” as the reason for delay, reported Bloomberg. The newspaper said: “Sophisticated tracking systems are required to comply with the rules, which would be enforced using the threat of fines. Importers must have collected precise data identifying the plots of land where the goods were grown.” Agence France-Press pointed out the law has been criticised by “key trading partners from the US to Indonesia”. Politico said that businesses have complained that the law would be a “burden” and that the delay represents the latest on the commission’s “war on red tape”.
Production Gap report: Countries planning higher fossil fuel production than they were in 2023
Countries are now collectively planning higher fossil fuel production than two years ago, with projected production of fossil fuels in 2030 exceeding levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5ºC by more than 120%, a new report titled ‘The Production Gap’ has found, reported HT.
The newspaper said governments now plan even higher levels of coal production to 2035, and gas production to 2050, than they did in 2023, the report by Stockholm Environment Institute, International Institute for Sustainable Development and Climate Analytics said. Just three countries — China, the US, and the Russian Federation — are responsible for more than half of global extraction-based emissions from all 2022 fossil fuel production.
Planned oil production also continues to increase to 2050. These plans undermine countries’ Paris Agreement commitments, and go against expectations that under current policies global demand for coal, oil, and gas will peak before 2030, the report warned.
At COP28 in Dubai, countries had agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in a manner that is “just” and “equitable.” This also includes phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies or subsidies that do not address energy poverty
Europe’s bill for extreme weather damage more than doubles this decade
Extreme weather and climate change caused “more financial damage in Europe between 2020 and 2023 than it did in the whole preceding decade”, The Financial Times reported, Citing a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), the newspaper said the average annual costs reached €44.5bn during the latest four years, some two-and-a-half times higher than in the decade to 2019, according to the agency’s reportThe Guardian said that: “EU officials warn climate breakdown and wildlife loss ‘are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy’.
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