India’s environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupendra Yadav expressed deep concerns over the failure of developed countries to meet financial commitments for a just transition, climate adaptation, and additional funding for biodiversity conservation, Business Standard reported. Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Yadav said: “Climate change and biodiversity loss remain critical challenges, and these cannot be addressed without a transformative change in how the world approaches development”. The newspaper report said the statement “comes a day after almost all” countries – including India – missed the February 10 deadline to submit their third round of UN climate pledges. According to the paper, Yadav “urged developed countries to fulfil financial promises made and work together to close this gap as the world approaches the final stretch towards 2030”, adding that “without adequate financing, many nations face a debt burden that threatens their ability to pursue sustainable development.”
PM Modi’s US, France visit: SMRs, review of surcharges on luxury cars, solar cells on agenda?
India plans to review import tariffs on over 30 items, including luxury cars, solar cells and chemicals, Reuters reported, citing senior finance ministry official. This may lead to increased imports from the United States as global trade tensions grow.
The move, aimed at reducing average tariffs, comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US and France. Also high on agenda during the twin visit is securing public-private partnerships for small modular reactors (SMR), reported Down to Earth.
In a bid to avoid President Donald Trump’s growing tariff actions, India has already reduced average import tariff rates to 11% from 13% on several items in the latest budget, the newswire report said.
Nuclear energy expected to form key part of energy mix: Nirmala Sitharaman
India’s Union Budget 2025-2026 renewed focus on nuclear energy announcing a ₹20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission aimed at developing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). This initiative signals a strategic shift towards nuclear power as a potential substitute for coal, reported CarbonCopy.
The introduction of the Nuclear Energy Mission aims to fast-track the deployment of at least five indigenously developed SMRs by 2033. These next-generation nuclear reactors are expected to play a crucial role in cutting emissions, providing a stable power supply, and reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Historically, coal has dominated India’s energy landscape, accounting for nearly 70% of electricity generation. While renewable energy sources such as solar and wind have gained traction, they remain intermittent and dependent on weather conditions.
India’s sugar production to drop 12%: Impacts of climate change and ethanol production
Sugar production in India may drop massively in the 2025 season, with forecasts predicting a fall to below 27 million metric tonnes (MMT), down from 31.8 MMT in the previous year, reported ANI. This marks a 12% decrease in output, primarily due to increased diversion of sugarcane for ethanol production and a reduction in cane availability across key producing states, reported the Outlook. The Centre increased ethanol prices for the Chandigarh route by 3%, the anticipated hikes for the Bihar and Direct routes were not implemented, leading to some disappointment within the sector, the report said.
This season between October 2024 and September 2025, Maharashtra was projected to produce about 102 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar, down from 110.20 lt in the 2023-24 season. According to ChiniMandi, farmers have blamed climate change for early flowering, which shortened the crop’s life cycle. This early flowering ended the vegetative growth period prematurely, limiting accumulation of sucrose (sugar) in the stalks, impacting the overall yield, report said.
Lack of finance hamper India’s climate goals: Economic survey
The “failure of developed countries to commit adequate amounts of climate finance” at COP29 in Baku “might force India to temper the ambition of its climate targets for 2035”, said India’s national economic survey tabled in Parliament, the Indian Express reported. According to the newspaper, the survey described the $300 billion climate-finance target as “out of sync with the needs of the critical decade when action is required to keep the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement within reach”. The report added that resources to meet development targets and “international climate partnerships” might be “compromised” by the funding shortfall and “lead to a reworking of climate targets”, which will increasingly rely on domestic resources. The government survey also “flagged China’s dominance in clean-energy gear as a potential risk to its low-carbon transition.”
The survey also stated that coal and other fossil fuels will be the mainstay for energy needs in the medium term because of their reliability. “Lessons learned from the experiences of developed economies underscore the risks of prematurely shutting down thermal energy sources without viable technological alternatives that ensure a stable energy supply,” the survey said.
China threatens countermeasures to combat Trump tariffs, restricts Tungsten exports
China said it will defend its rights and interests while hitting out at new 10% tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese exports. The country said it will “take necessary countermeasures, FT reported. The newspaper cited analysts saying the tariffs instituted “would most affect home appliances, home furnishings, lithium batteries and [electric vehicles (EVs) made] in China”. It says that “many expect[] Trump to add more tariffs once his officials complete a review of trade policy in April”.
Meanwhile, China has put export controls on tungsten and other niche metals used in the electronics, automotive and solar industries as it “retaliated in a targeted way to US tariffs”, Bloomberg reported, adding that the move came immediately after President Trump imposed a blanket 10% tariff on Chinese imports. China produces around 80% of the world’s tungsten and bismuth, and is also the No. 1 supplier of the other metals.” While there are “alternative sources of tungsten being developed outside of China – including in Australia, Spain and South Korea,” the report said.
Paris Agreement no longer relevant for Indonesia, says envoy
Following Trump’s quitting of the Paris accord for the second time, Indonesia’s climate envoy Hashim Djojohadikusum said he considers the Paris Agreement “no longer relevant for Indonesia following the US withdrawal from the deal”, Antara News reported. The Indonesian news agency quoted him saying: “If the US does not want to comply with the international agreement, why should a country like Indonesia comply with it?” It says the nation “remains committed to developing new and renewable energy”, citing energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia, but says he “highlighted the high costs required.”
Most countries miss Feb 10 deadline to update plans to fight climate change
Only a dozen countries of the 195 nations that signed the 2015 Paris climate met the February 10 deadline to submit their updated “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. CarbonCopy wrote that with major contributors to global warming resisting to upgrade their NDCs in 2025, experts in India and Global South have said that EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) contradicts the spirit of the Paris Agreement that mandates rich countries account for their historical emissions and instead plans use the extra tax exclusively for the domestic industry to invest to reduce emissions and not share with countries from where EU imports.
The Associated Press reported that the nearly 200 signatories to the Paris deal were all due to have submitted their emissions-cutting plans for 2035 by the deadline, adding that the countries who submitted their plans on time account for 16% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, but “almost all of that is from the United States, where President Trump has already discarded the plan submitted by President Biden’s administration”.
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