• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Lessons for Mumbai and Delhi's crusade for clean air

Rather than reinvent the wheel, we need to learn from the global playbook. New York, Beijing and London have tackled air pollution through specific measures. In the face of Mumbai's escalating air pollution crisis, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) unfurled a 27-point action plan last month, a blend of urgent and strategic measures to clear the haze enveloping the city. A closer look at these guidelines, segregating them into immediate and extended actions, while scrutinising their potential effectiveness against persistent smog reveals several loopholes. Furthermore, it juxtaposes Mumbai's approach with other metropolises that have turned the tide on air pollution, seeking lessons in their clearer skies. Mumbai’s story is similar to that of many bustling global cities, so a look at other financial capitals of major countries could give us an idea of how workable policies can be implemented. From Beijing: interim targets, specific timelines Take Beijing, formerly notorious for smog, which achieved substantial progress through investments in electric public transportation, stringent vehicle emission standards, and relocating polluting industries away from the city centre. From London: clean air zones London has also gone a long way in managing its air pollution problem. The city’s impactful measures involve the Congestion Charge, imposing fees on vehicles in Central London, thus significantly reducing traffic and pollution. From New York: tackle multiple hazards simultaneously In New York, once synonymous with smog, transformative changes ensued through strict controls on industrial emissions, the promotion of electric vehicles, and the creation of green spaces. Mumbai’s 27-point guideline BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal's recent comments on the need for an annual air pollution mitigation strategy, mark a turning point in Mumbai's battle against air pollution, recognising it as a persistent issue linked to climate change. In response to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's call for a public movement against pollution, Chahal stressed the need for community involvement, and measures like road cleaning and marshals at waste disposal sites to address local pollution sources. His resolute stance on enforcing compliance reflects a no-tolerance policy against violations, emphasising an equitable approach to law enforcement. Where Mumbai’s guidelines fall short On October 25, the BMC developed these guidelines over two successive meetings when the city witnessed a week-long bout of poor air quality with a layer of haze/smog covering the city. The BMC's plans for transparency and public engagement included a dedicated mobile app and integrating pollution control into building permissions — a blend of technological and regulatory strategies. Taking a leaf out of the global playbook

• Sustainable Food Systems

Cancer: 4 common breakfast foods that can raise mouth cancer risk

A study by the Indian Centre for Science and Environment found 84% of 38 popular brands of bread laced with chemicals known to cause cancer. Potassium bromate and potassium iodate were found in samples of breads, including pav, buns, and ready-to-eat burger and pizza, lifted from across Delhi. Potassium bromate is a category 2B carcinogen that can cause cancer and Potassium iodate is known to trigger thyroid disorder.

• Urban Lab

Delhi Plans to Unleash Cloud Seeding in Its Battle Against Deadly Smog

India’s capital, New Delhi, is preparing a new weapon in the fight against deadly air pollution: cloud seeding. The experiment, which could take place as early as next week, would introduce chemicals like silver iodide into a cloudy sky to create rain and, it’s hoped, wash away the fine particulate matter hovering over one of the world’s largest cities. The need is desperate. Delhi has already tried traffic restriction measures, multimillion-dollar air filtration towers, and the use of fleets of water-spraying trucks to dissolve the particulate matter in the air—but to no avail. The use of cloud seeding, if it goes ahead, would be controversial. “It’s not at all a good use of resources because it’s not a solution, it’s like a temporary relief,” says Avikal Somvanshi, a researcher at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi. Environmentalists and scientists worry that most of the government’s response is focused on mitigating the pollution rather than trying to cut off its source. “There is just no political intent to solve this, that is one of the biggest problems,” says Bhavreen Kandhari, an activist and cofounder of Warrior Moms, a network of mothers demanding clean air. The air is so bad that schools in Delhi and its surrounding areas have announced closures, and offices are allowing employees to work from home. The government has advised children, elderly people, and those with chronic diseases to stay indoors as much as possible. Diesel trucks, except those carrying essential goods, are no longer allowed into the city. Spells of rain last week cleaned up the air, but the respite was short-lived as air quality worsened again, aided by firecrackers set off over the weekend to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Now, Delhi officials are seeking permission from federal agencies in India to try cloud seeding. The technique involves flying an aircraft to spray clouds with salts like silver or potassium iodide or solid carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice, to induce precipitation. The chemical molecules attach to moisture already in the clouds to form bigger droplets that then fall as rain. China has used artificial rain to tackle air pollution in the past—but for cloud seeding to work properly, you need significant cloud cover with reasonable moisture content, which Delhi generally lacks during the winter. If weather conditions are favorable, scientists leading the project at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur plan to carry out cloud seeding around November 20. Until then, at least, Delhi will remain shrouded in a thick gray haze, which has become a toxic winter ritual. The smog, a dangerous cocktail of particulate matter and noxious gasses, results from a series of unfortunate events that happen at the start of winter.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Gurgaon Pollution: Air slips back to 'very poor' after two days

GURGAON: The city's air quality deteriorated to 'very poor' again on Tuesday as winds slowed down, washing away gains made a day before in clearing pollutants. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 331 on Tuesday, a rise of 40% compared to Monday's 234 (poor). The wind speed was 2kmph on Tuesday morning, down from 3kmph the day before. Gurgaon pollution According to data by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), three of the city's four air monitoring stations recorded 'very poor' AQI on Tuesday. Teri Gram recorded the highest pollution levels with an AQI of 358, followed by Sector 51 (332) and Vikas Sadan (304). Data wasn't available for the Gwalpahari station. Track the pollution level in your city "At present, dispersion of pollutants is low because of meteorological conditions. The AQI is likely to remain 'very poor' in the coming days as the wind speed will be low. As a result, the pollutant load will stay in the atmosphere for a longer time," said Shubhansh Tiwari, a research associate at the Centre for Science and Environment. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court pulled up the governments of NCR states for failing to curb winter pollution as every year in this season, the region is engulfed in toxic smog. "Something has to be done immediately," the apex court had said. Satellite data by Nasa collated by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute has recorded 52,555 instances of farm fires across six states, the majority in Punjab (35,093), between September 15 and November 21 this year. On Tuesday, 54 farm fires were detected in Haryana, whereas 513 were observed in Punjab. Pollution across NCR cities is only expected to worsen in the coming days as temperatures dip and wind speed hovers to less than 6kmph, both conditions that allow smog to linger in the air. The central government's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) said the AQI in Delhi-NCR will remain 'very poor'. On Tuesday, Delhi's AQI was 372, followed by Faridabad (322), Noida (355) and Ghaziabad (346), all 'very poor'. Residents with pre-existing respiratory conditions or other ailments are at higher risk of breathing discomfort, doctors said. Tiny pollutants such as PM2.5, according to them, are among the most damaging to health when inhaled. The average PM2.5 level recorded at Sector 51 station was 328g/m³ on Tuesday. At Teri Gram, it was 348g/m³, and at Vikas Sadan, 307g/m³. Gwalpahari's data wasn't available. The share of stubble burning in Delhi-NCR's PM2.5 was estimated at 10.24% on Tuesday against 2.25% on Monday, according to the Decision Support System, the forecasting body under the Union ministry of earth sciences. Wind speed picked up during the day in the capital, but failed to improve the air quality. After calm winds on Monday night and early hours of Tuesday, "wind speed increased up to 15kmph for a few hours during daytime. Even calm winds are unlikely on Tuesday night as winds are likely to blow", said an official of the meteorological department. But it is predicted to decrease from Wednesday evening. "Winds at the speed of 10 to 12kmph are likely to blow on Wednesday till noon," said an official.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi pollution: Thermal power plants yet to conform to emission norms

Only two of the 12 thermal power plants located within a 300-km radius of Delhi have heeded to a 2015 government order integrate technologies that reduce sulphur in their emissions, records reviewed by HT show, underlining how efforts to mitigate the air pollution crisis are marred by inaction by various stakeholders. The Union government in 2015 issued notices to all coal-based thermal power plants in this particular zone to integrate flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) technology, which substantially reduces sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, within two years. The aim, experts aware of the matter, was to reduce pollution from power plants in the National Capital Region (NCR). But, eight years since it was issued, only two plants — the Mahatma Gandhi thermal power station (Haryana) and Dadri thermal power station (Uttar Pradesh) — have integrated this technology, data from the environment ministry shows. Of the remaining 10, two — Indira Gandhi super thermal power project (Haryana) and Rajpura thermal power project (Punjab) — have awarded a tender for FGD, which takes 24-36 months to integrate. The other plants have not only missed the first deadline of 2017-end set by the ministry, but also missed three subsequent deadlines, the experts said. Coal combustion leads to a spike in sulphur dioxide (SO2), releases oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and also increases PM2.5 particulates. Thermal power plants are the only industry within NCR where the use of coal is permitted — the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) had banned coal as a permissible fuel from all other industries in NCR from October 1, 2022. The other missed deadlines were of December 2019, March 2021 and then December 2022. Central Pollution Control Board has fined the plants ₹18 lakh per month each for non-compliance between January, 2020 and March, 2021. The Union government has now laid down a fifth deadline, which for four of the plants is for December 2024 and the remaining six for December 2026. The status of compliance has been assessed by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), which said the 12 plants have a combined 36 units that are operational, but only seven units have FGD in place. “Ample time has been given to these power plants to meet not just one, but four deadlines now. Our assessment shows that out of the 36 units, only seven have FGD installed and bids have been awarded for six more units. For 15 units, a notice inviting tender has been issued and for the remaining eight units, only a feasibility study has been done,” said Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at CREA. HT reached out to the environment ministry, but officials there did not respond to queries for a comment on the matter. Data shows thermal power plants are a key contributor to Delhi’s air pollution throughout the year. A source apportionment study carried out by IIT Kanpur in 2015-16 found that nearly 52% of NOx emissions and 90% of sulphur dioxide emissions in Delhi could be attributed to industrial point sources, largely from power plants. A 2018 source apportionment study by TERI further found coal, fly ash, and secondary particles from thermal power plants and industries in Delhi contribute around 35% of the PM2.5 load in the winter, and 41% of the PM2.5 load in the summer. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said these plants are a known source of pollution for the region. “In NCR, this is the only place where coal is permitted. Had FGDs been in place, the impact of SO2 being emitted, and even NOx, would have been much lower, but this is not the case. We have seen multiple deadlines pass, but even now, we are unsure how many will meet the next deadline of December 2024,” she said.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

Q&A: What is the ‘global stocktake’ and could it accelerate climate action?

This core component of the Paris Agreement involves an exhaustive appraisal of how far the world has come in tackling climate change and how far it still has to go. Over the past two years, governments, scientists and civil society groups have submitted thousands of documents into this process and spent hundreds of hours debating their contents. The main technical conclusions emerging from the stocktake are not new. Nations are not cutting emissions fast enough, they are not sufficiently prepared for climate hazards and developed countries are not providing enough support to developing countries, But the stocktake is more than just a review of progress. It is a key part of the Paris Agreement’s “ratchet mechanism”, which encourages countries to scale up their climate ambitions over time so as to avoid dangerous warming. Governments have submitted proposals for how the main, political outcome of the stocktake could accelerate climate action. Ideas include phasing out fossil fuels, tripling renewable energy capacity and raising climate finance to the trillions that developing countries need. At COP28, countries will negotiate which elements make it into the final outcome, which will help determine the pace of change in the coming years. However, one expert tells Carbon Brief that, with so much on the table, the global stocktake risks becoming a “dumping ground” for “politically thorny discussions”, which may hamper its ability to drive meaningful change. What is the global stocktake? The global stocktake (GST) is a five-yearly temperature check that is a vital part of the Paris Agreement, housed under Article 14. Nations that signed on to the agreement in 2015 also agreed to monitor, assess and periodically review collective progress towards meeting the Paris long-term temperature goal and to take stock of their climate actions. The GST is meant to help countries collectively assess where they are, where they want to go and how to get there in terms of climate action and to identify gaps to course correct. It is meant to be an assessment of mitigation and adaptation actions so far, as well as climate finance provided and technology transferred from developed to developing countries, “in the light of equity and the best available science”, per the Paris Agreement. We’re not going to get to where we need to without engaging with a wider landscape of action and actors, and engaging with the idea of the stocktake and the Paris Agreement as trigger[s] and catalys[ts for] domestic policy shifts towards the transformations that we need. Dr Lavanya Rajamani, professor of international environmental law, University of Oxford The GST is split into three phases: an information collection phase to gather inputs from all parties and non-parties, a technical assessment phase of these inputs and other evidence, and a “consideration of outputs” phase, for countries to decide what to collectively take away from the process. The final, political phase is scheduled to conclude at COP28, to inform the next round of submissions of countries’ climate pledges in 2024-2025 and to “enhanc[e] international cooperation for international climate action”. What is the scope of the stocktake? The information feeding into the GST comprised more than 170,000 pages of documents from governments, business and civil society groups, supported by over 252 hours of meetings and discussions. These submissions were categorised into three main areas of climate action, which were decided back in 2018 at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. Nations agreed to evaluate progress on mitigation – cutting emissions – as well as adaptation to climate hazards and “means of implementation and support”. The latter point refers to how much finance has been raised to help developing countries take climate action. It also covers nations sharing low-carbon technologies and increasing their capacities to deal with the challenges ahead. Parties specified numerous “sources of input”, including greenhouse gas inventories, assessments of national climate plans and analysis of adaptation projects. They also agreed that the stocktake “may take into account, as appropriate” two more major topics. These were the unavoidable loss and damage resulting from climate change and “response measures”, which includes the social and economic consequences of climate action, for example on people working in the fossil-fuel industry. In the final synthesis report that emerged from the technical phase of the stocktake, which will inform political decisions taken at COP28, loss and damage was included as part of the section on adaptation. Response measures were filed under mitigation. However, in the draft GST text that has been prepared ahead of COP28, these issues are separated out under their own subheads. Civil society groups have emphasised the importance of ensuring loss and damage, in particular, is prominent in proceedings. How has the stocktake progressed so far? The GST began after COP26 in 2021, with a period of data collection that continued until March 2023. Prior to this, parties had negotiated the rules of the stocktake process and what kind of “inputs” would feed into it. During this period, country reports, scientific studies and other documents were submitted into the stocktake process for consideration. The second phase – the technical assessment – began in June 2022. This consisted of three “dialogues” that took place at the UN intersessional talks in Bonn in 2022 and 2023, and at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. These sessions provided time for evidence to be discussed by country representatives, civil society groups and climate experts. The dialogues proceeded relatively smoothly within the UN talks but, as Carbon Brief has reported, familiar issues emerged within them. Examples include disputes between developed and developing countries over historical responsibility for climate change and civil society groups highlighting the role of fossil-fuel lobbyists in the discussions. The outcomes of each technical dialogue were recorded in summary reports released a few months after the close of each session. These were followed by a 46-page synthesis report prepared by the stocktake’s co-facilitators, with the assistance of the UN Climate Change secretariat. This serves as a “comprehensive overview” of all the inputs and discussions. The evidence laid out in this report will serve as the basis for the political part of the GST at COP28. Nations have already submitted documents to the UN outlining how they interpret the synthesis report’s findings and the stocktake-related outcomes they would like to see emerge from the COP28 summit. How could the global stocktake accelerate climate action? The GST synthesis report concludes that there is a “rapidly narrowing window to raise ambition and implement existing commitments in order to limit warming to 1.5°C”. Achieving the 1.5°C target, or even the “well below 2°C” goal, requires nations to fill the extensive “implementation gaps” between their climate strategies and real-world action. It would also require them to come forward with new strategies that are Paris Agreement-aligned. According to the synthesis report, existing pledges would result in warming of 2.4-2.6C, with the possibility of cutting this to 1.7-2.1C if long-term net-zero targets are fully implemented. As part of the Paris Agreement’s “ratchet mechanism”, the stocktake is explicitly intended to encourage such raising of ambition. There are several ways in which governments and civil society groups are proposing it could achieve this. Much of the focus is on signalling to countries what they should submit in their new, enhanced climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Nations are obliged to submit NDCs every five years and the next round is due in 2025. The synthesis report notes that “more ambitious mitigation targets in NDCs are needed to reduce emissions more rapidly”. Greater ambition could involve new targets for both 2030 and 2035, and NDCs that cover emissions from entire national economies, not just parts of them. It could also involve NDCs based on absolute emissions reductions rather than cuts in emissions intensity. (Many nations have targets based on reducing emissions per unit of GDP, even as their overall emissions increase.) Article 4.4 of the Paris text says that developed countries should “tak[e] the lead” with “economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets”, whereas developing countries were “encouraged” to move towards “economy-wide emission reduction or limitation targets”. As it stands, many developing countries with high emissions, including China, India and Saudi Arabia, have less comprehensive NDCs, as Tom Evans, a policy advisor on climate diplomacy at E3G, tells Carbon Brief: “There [was] this agreement that developed countries would set economy-wide targets from the get go, and the developing countries would move towards setting them over time… Many of the developed countries – the EU and the US – [say] ‘over time’ is now.” At COP26, nations were “requested” to come forward with more ambitious plans in 2022, but this was largely ignored. The 2025 deadline for new NDCs, on the other hand, is part of the original Paris Agreement and is therefore widely accepted. In their suggestions for the GST outcome, some have made a point of emphasising that new NDCs should be submitted as early as possible – either “well ahead of” or up to a year before COP30, at the end of 2025. Perhaps the most high-profile elements being considered for inclusion in the final stocktake outcome are sector-specific proposals, including targets for phasing out fossil fuels, tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency around the world. (For more on these ideas, and others, see: What are countries and blocs expecting from the stocktake?) Another priority for some is ensuring that, beyond simply committing to global goals, countries use their new NDCs to explain how exactly they would contribute to such targets. Evans tells Carbon Brief that while there is a lot of focus on “flashy” topics such as fossil fuel phaseout, NDCs remain the main mechanism for making the Paris Agreement work. “The NDCs are what you can actually hold everyone accountable to. It’s the agreed terrain,” he says. Alongside measures to cut emissions, developing nations in particular would like to see the GST usher in greater ambition around climate adaptation. The synthesis report concludes that progress on both adaptation and loss and damage “must undergo a step change in fulfilling the ambition set out in the Paris Agreement”. Negotiations over a “global goal on adaptation” (GGA) will still be on-going at COP28. As a result, this component in the international effort to make countries more resilient to climate change will not feed into the stocktake. However, Sandeep Chamling Rai, a global advisor on adaptation policy at WWF, tells Carbon Brief that the stocktake could still work to inform and reinforce the GGA: “For this first round of the GST, parties might create a concrete link with the GGA and might have more concrete links established for the second global stocktake cycle.” A key element of adaptation and mitigation efforts for many developing countries will be assurances that adequate climate finance is provided after the first stocktake. Groups such as the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) have made it clear that, from their perspective, any scaling up of mitigation ambition needs to go hand-in-hand with scaling up climate finance. Avantika Goswami, a climate policy researcher at the Centre for Science and Environment in India, tells Carbon Brief: “Without dedicated efforts to ramp up finance, you’re not going to achieve the triple [renewable] energy target, so that’s definitely something that needs to be reckoned with in the global stocktake outcome.” The synthesis report concludes that “accelerated action is required to scale up climate finance from a wide variety of sources, instruments and channels, noting the significant role of public funds”. More broadly, the report also says it is “essential to unlock and redeploy trillions of dollars to meet global investment needs” and make global financial flows consistent with Paris Agreement goals. Countries must finalise a “new collective quantified goal” (NCQG) for developing country climate finance in 2024. Developing countries want to see a goal that is more ambitious and based on an assessment of their needs – rather than picked arbitrarily, as with the previous “US$100bn by 2020” target. Many have stated they want to see the analysis from the stocktake inform this new goal. Alongside finance, developing countries have also pushed for the GST outcome to include language that encourages developed countries to share their climate technologies and provide more support for capacity building in developing countries. What are countries and blocs expecting from the stocktake? From “keeping 1.5°C alive” and fossil fuel phase-down language, to addressing unkept climate finance promises, countries’ expectations from the GST are varied. Submissions made this year against the backdrop of increasing climate impacts reveal growing divergence between developed and developing countries. Broader conversations suggest that the GST is being seen both as a defining moment for climate ambition for the coming decade and as a moment of accountability for decades of inaction. Forward versus backward One of the chief differences in expectation is whether the GST looks back at the lack of climate progress from the developed world to date – and if so, how far back does it look. Alternatively, it could look more to the future and what should be done now, at a time when emerging economies contribute significantly to rising emissions and could arguably be expected to pledge more. Developing countries that are part of the G77+China negotiating bloc demanded a full assessment of how rich countries have delivered – or failed to deliver – on their pre-2020 and post-2020 climate commitments. The bloc called on the stocktake, in its political outputs, to highlight historical gaps in mitigation actions “since the start of the multilateral climate regime”. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was agreed in 1992. The G77+China also asked that the GST cover results of work under the Kyoto Protocol, the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, while also suggesting that its outputs be “both backward and forward-looking”. In contrast, developed countries including the UK, US, Japan and Australia stress the need for “forward-looking” GST outcomes, which encourage “major emitters” [a term seen by many as a loaded reference to India and China that obscures equity and historical responsibility for emissions] to “aggressively” increase the ambition of their 2030 and 2035 climate pledges. Other developing country blocs, such as AILAC, have stated that the insistence on pre-2020 discussions “has only served to delay current deliberations” and that the “historical emissions gap is narrowing between developed countries and developing countries that have substantially increased their emissions.” The group called on “all Parties to be actively involved in climate action” but that “developed nations must exhibit stronger global leadership”. According to analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, BASIC, LMDC and African countries also raised the issue of inequities in IPCC models and their implications for decarbonisation, going forward. Mitigation The idea of “keeping 1.5°C alive” has historically been a rallying cry from Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries. In their submissions, most developed countries, including the UK and Japan, called for a GST outcome that recommends policies that “keep 1.5 alive”, for global emissions to peak in 2025 and for all 2030 targets of “major emitters” to be 1.5°C aligned. The US called for “phasing down unabated fossil fuel generation steadily and rapidly”, including “immediately ceasing to permit new unabated coal power generation”, as well as “increasing global carbon management capacity to capture 1.5bn tons of CO2 (GtCO2) annually by 2035.” Russia, meanwhile, dubbed it “unacceptable” to analyse progress towards limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C instead of 2°C, while suggesting gas should be considered “a transitional fuel”. In turn, LMDCs submitted that the GST should “urge developed countries to achieve net-zero significantly ahead of the global timeframe”. Meanwhile, Zambia on behalf of the African Group of Nations urged for “a political signal from COP28” that “affirms differentiated pathways for countries in the pursuit of net-zero and fossil fuel phasedown”. It also suggested “no further exploration of fossil fuels in developed countries is targeted well ahead of 2030”, affording developing countries breathing space to close their energy access gap in the short-term. In a joint US-China statement issued on 14 November, both countries stated that they were working together and with other countries to reach a consensus on a GST decision that could be adopted at COP28. Elements put forward in the statement – such as “send[ing] signals with respect to the energy transition (renewable energy, coal/oil/gas)” – were significantly different from their individual positions on fossil fuels and on trade, indicating ongoing divergence. Finance Another key expectation from the GST is an assessment of climate finance failures so far, and how a new climate finance target can be informed by them. “Trust has been eroded by inadequate delivery on the commitments made by developed Parties, including the failure to deliver on the US$100bn target for the mobilisation of climate finance, and also by the failure of leadership by developed countries which led to a woefully inadequate mitigation outcome in 2020, putting more pressure on developing countries with less resources,” said South Africa in its submission. While developed countries, such as Australia, acknowledge the failure to deliver on the US$100bn target, they state that the stocktake should “celebrate and welcome the confidence of Parties that the goal is expected to be met” imminently and ask that “this should be more than a statement of disappointment, but a constructive reflection”. Both Australia and the US called to increase the scope of countries providing climate finance, along with an assessment on whether finance furnished by rich countries so far has been effective, to increase donor confidence. “The scope of countries that are capable of such support has evolved considerably since 2015, and the stocktake should reflect their responsibility in the decade of the 2020s and beyond,” said the US, in its submission to the GST. Developing countries, including the Climate Vulnerable Forum, called for an assessment of pre-2020 climate finance, reform of multilateral development banks and not increasing the debt burden on vulnerable countries. Adaptation and loss and damage In their submissions, countries and blocs were generally in agreement that the framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation be finalised, and its targets inform and evolve with the GST. On behalf of the African Group of Nations, Zambia called for the GST’s preamble to note “the lack of parity and balance in support between mitigation and adaptation” and to “affirm the understanding that adaptation and loss and damage are a global responsibility because they were caused by global emissions”. The Least Developed Countries bloc called for a separate section on loss and damage, distinct from adaptation in the GST, while some developed countries sought to retain the existing structure. While most developed countries echoed the need to operationalise the loss and damage fund that they agreed to at COP27, many referred to a “mosaic” of different sources and emphasised private finance mobilisation, with the US pointing to insurance solutions for loss and damage. Trade, response measures and just transition Trade policies, response measures and international cooperation also feature heavily in stocktake submissions, reflecting an external atmosphere pockmarked by geopolitical conflict. In its September submission, China stated it wants the preamble to “acknowledge that the first global stocktake is taking place in rising unilateralism, protectionism, and anti-globalism, and enabling environment for climate actions is undergoing critical challenges, including inadequate means of implementation support, sanctions on low-carbon products and industries, restrictions on technology investment and cooperation, green barriers, discriminatory legislation [and] plurilateral constraints”. G77+China, along with the LMDCs, expect the GST to “identify challenges to global cooperation” and prioritise multilateral measures over unilateral ones, such as trade barriers. Latin American countries, in their submission, hoped for a broadening of the stocktake’s assessment of the socio-economic impact of response measures, given “unexpected consequences from initiatives such as deforestation control measures and low-carbon agricultural systems”. The US meanwhile, highlighted its own domestic just transition policies, saying that “lack of implementation of response measures, especially by major emitters…building new unabated fossil fuel infrastructure not only contributes to global GHG emissions, but also risks stranded assets and job losses”. Russia stated that the GST should “specifically consider the socio-economic risks and negative consequences of an accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels, including rising electricity prices, unemployment and capital expenditures for re-equipment of facilities.” What do experts and observers expect from the global stocktake and what it means for climate action? COP watchers, commentators and participants have markedly different views on what the outcomes of the GST will be and what they could achieve, much like the parties themselves. The stocktake has been framed as a moment of reckoning, especially by those involved in the two-year process. UN Climate Change’s executive secretary Simon Stiell has described the GST as a “moment for course correction”, an opportunity to “bend the curve decisively on emissions” and as an “ambition, accountability and acceleration exercise”. The US’ climate envoy John Kerry previously “expressed hope” that the stocktake and COP28 “will mark a chance to renew climate action”, Energy Monitor reported. Kerry is quoted as saying: “A lot of interested parties around the world – whether NGOs, activists or companies – are no longer going to be impressed by repetition of previously announced things, or by sidestepping some of the realities of where we clearly now find ourselves.” According to Farhan Akhtar, one of the co-facilitators of the stocktake’s technical dialogues, the process had the “broad participation” of all stakeholders: governments, experts and non-state actors. He stated: “Across discussions, it was clear that the Paris Agreement has inspired widespread action that has significantly reduced forecasts of future warming. This global stocktake is taking place at a crucial moment to inspire further global action in responding to the climate crisis.” While the stocktake’s synthesis report sparked headlines, the form of the final deal is a key question ahead of COP28. Dr Jennifer Allan at Cardiff University’s School of Law and Politics tells Carbon Brief that while the technical process has been “very inclusive” and has an “incredibly wide scope”, the format that its outcomes will take is “really uncertain…partly because the Paris Agreement and its rulebook are vague and silent on a lot of important issues”. These include a lack of clarity on how exactly the stocktake will inform the next set of pledges. The stocktake is supposed to be in its political phase at this COP, but the text for a ministerial declaration is “nowhere near the level of completeness” for delegates to finalise quickly, warns Allan, stating that “it’s too late for a ministerial declaration, if that was ever envisioned.” This makes it likely that the outcome is restricted to a COP decision. She adds: “For me, personally, this falls short of the type of political signalling that we need in order to ratchet up ambition. I think we’ll land at a short decision encompassing the few points on which parties agree.” “What worries me is that there are many placeholders and calls for other agenda items to be brought in. If the GST decision becomes a dumping ground for other politically thorny discussions, like the mitigation work programme, then it will be very difficult to untie and land a solution. We may end up with something vague, which again could undermine its ability to inform more ambitious NDCs targeted to the priorities identified by the GST technical phase.” The enormous variety and divergence in submissions and countries’ own wishlists for the final form of the deal – be it a target to double green hydrogen production or references to protectionism – make agreement in limited time seem unlikely. Experts, therefore, welcomed the US-China statement and efforts to work with other countries towards consensus on a broad political GST decision, even if countries don’t see eye-to-eye on many, significant details. For Indrajit Bose, climate change adviser at the Third World Network, the stocktake is an opportunity to “correct injustice”. Developed countries, he tells Carbon Brief, “must assume responsibility for this gap”, as they have “consistently failed to deliver their commitments under the Convention and tried to transfer the burden of their inaction onto developing countries”. He adds: “They call for fossil fuel phase-out, but they have huge fossil fuel expansion plans. They speak of the importance of finance, but they have not delivered their past commitments and rely unrealistically on the private sector to do their job. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.” According to Bose, the argument by developed countries to end differentiation between developed and developing countries based on the fact that the world has changed since the first climate agreements in 1992 “rings hollow”. He explains: “[I]n more ways than one, the world has not changed. There is still massive poverty and development needs in the global south. Regular climate-induced disasters are further exacerbating their challenges. The global stocktake must correct this injustice and developed countries must show leadership in climate action, engage in good faith and stop considering people in the global south as unimportant, second-class citizens.” To Dr Lavanya Rajamani, professor of international environmental law at the University of Oxford, this stocktake is the “most consequential because it’s coming in the middle of the critical decade up to 2030” and provides a template for future stocktakes. However, its actual outcome, she told Carbon Brief last month, “is not likely to tell us something we don’t know”. She adds: “There are gaps in implementation, ambition, fairness and accountability. These have all been documented very well in the synthesis report of the GST’s technical dialogue. I think what we might see – which would be helpful – is ways of actually plugging those gaps. How do we get back on track?” Rajamani believes there will be an emphasis on scaling up renewable energy, phasing out all unabated fossil fuels and that there will “need to be a strong outcome on finance and support countries to actually be able to do these things”. While she hopes that there is a “strong follow-up process” embedded in the stocktake to inform new pledges in 2025, she believes there has been a “subtle shift” in the framing around target-setting following on from the stocktake. Rajamani explains: “I think there is a pivot towards focusing on implementation and understanding that implementation triggers iteratively increasing ambition. Ramping up pressure on states to just set target after target is like building a house of cards.” The second important shift to Rajamani is that “equity and fairness have been reframed”, both in terms of systems transitions domestically, and between states, where green development can be seen as “something that fosters ambition rather than something that detracts from it.” She adds: “We’re not going to get to where we need to without engaging with a wider landscape of action and actors, and engaging with the idea of the stocktake and the Paris Agreement as trigger[s] and catalys[ts for] domestic policy shifts towards the transformations that we need.”

• Down To Earth

Dharitri Youth Conclave 2023: Green crusader Sneha Shahi on a mission

Bhubaneswar: The adverse impact of climate change is now being felt globally while global warming has become a major cause of concern. Given the backdrop, Dharitri, the most credible and impartial regional daily of Odisha which is turning 50 this year, initiates steps to create awareness among the youth about this most urgent issue of climate change by hosting the third edition of Dharitri Youth Conclave November 24, 2023 at the Rail Auditorium here. This year’s conclave brings together youth icons and environmentalists to discuss climate emergency and the path ahead. The expert panelists include environmentalist Sneha Shahi, managing editor of Down To Earth magazine Richard Mahapatra, conservationist and Forest Man of India Padma Shri Jadav Payeng, and environment activist & founder of Environmental Foundation of India (EFI) Arun Krishnamurthy. One of the brightest examples of youths fighting to save the earth from pollution is Sneha Shahi. Hailing from Gujarat, Sneha is one of the 18 young activists affiliated with UNEP’s Plastic Tide Turner Campaign and winner of the Youth for Earth Award. Growing up in Gujarat, Sneha was always a girl who showed keen interest in environmental activities. In 2019, Sneha led a team of volunteers to clean up the Bhukhi stream, linked to Vishwamitri river in Vadodara, to remove 700 kg of plastic waste, following which crocodiles that were part of the waters, began to appear regularly. Sneha, who is pursuing her PhD in Extreme Hydrological Events at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, is on a mission to revive the waterbody. “The best advice I can give young people is to channel their empathy and passion into working towards a greater cause. The planet is dying and there are solutions, but there is no implementation. So, if people can work towards effective execution of plans and policies, that would be wonderful,” she opined.

• Urban Lab

20 में से 8 दिन 'गंभीर' रही दिल्ली की हवा, बाकी दिन बहुत खराब... नवंबर में यह हाल है, दिसंबर में क्‍या होगा

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) की कार्यकारी निदेशक, (अनुसंधान और वकालत) अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी ने कहा, 'नवंबर में आमतौर पर मौसम संबंधी बदलावों के कारण सीजन का पहला स्मॉग एपिसोड देखा जाता है जो स्थानीय और क्षेत्रीय प्रदूषण को रोकता है और फसल जलने से निकलने वाले धुएं से प्रभावित होता है।' उन्होंने आगे कहा, 'पिछले साल अक्टूबर में अधिक बारिश वाले दिन थे। भले ही दिवाली के बाद पराली जलाने की घटनाएं केंद्रित थीं, लेकिन यह अक्टूबर के अंत के गर्म हिस्से के दौरान हुआ। इस साल, ठंडी और शांत सर्दियों की स्थिति गहराने, स्थानीय प्रदूषण बढ़ने, पराली जलाने और दिवाली पटाखों के कारण नवंबर पिछले साल की तुलना में अधिक गंदा हो गया है।' नैशनल इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एडवांस्ड स्टडीज (NIAS) के चेयर प्रोफेसर और सिस्टम ऑफ एयर क्वालिटी एंड वेदर फोरकास्टिंग एंड रिसर्च (एसएएफएआर) के संस्थापक गुफरान बेग ने कहा, 'इस नवंबर में हाई पलूशन लेवल दर्ज किया जा रहा है क्योंकि किसी भी सक्रिय पश्चिमी विक्षोभ ने अभी तक शहर को प्रभावित नहीं किया है।' एक सक्रिय पश्चिमी विक्षोभ नमी और बारिश लाता है जो प्रदूषकों को व्यवस्थित करने में मदद करता है।

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

This month so far 2nd most polluted November in 6 years

NEW DELHI: This November is turning out to be the second most polluted in the past six years, after 2021. This month has witnessed eight ‘severe’ days and nine ‘very poor’ days so far. Of these ‘very poor’ days, air quality readings were above 390 on four days. An analysis of Central Pollution Control Board’s data shows that the average Air Quality Index (AQI) between November 1 and 20 from 2018 to 2023 was the highest at 383 in 2021. This November has seen an average AQI of 372 during the same period as against 329 in November 2020, 353 in November 2019 and 342 in November 2018. CPCB’s data shows that the overall AQI at 4pm was 392 on November 2, but it deteriorated further into the ‘severe’ category at 5pm with a reading of 402. The AQI from November 3 to 6 remained in ‘severe’ category and improved slightly to 395 on November 7. However, the readings again surpassed the 400-mark on November 8 and 9. Rain in Delhi-NCR on November 10 provided relief from high pollution levels as air quality crept up to the ‘poor’ category. However, the AQI saw a sharp rise from 218 on November 12 to 358 on November 13 due to Diwali firecrackers coinciding with adverse weather conditions and stubble burning. AQI was at the upper end of ‘very poor’ category on November 14 and 15 at 397 and 398, respectively, while two more ‘severe’ days were seen on November 16 and 17. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “November usually witnesses the season’s first smog episode due to meteorological changes that trap local and regional pollution and is impacted by smoke from crop burning.” She added, “Last year, October had more rainy days. Even though there was concentrated stubble burning post-Diwali, but it happened during the warmer part of October-end. This year, the deepening of cool and calm winter conditions, local pollution build-up, concentrated stubble burning and Diwali crackers coincided to make November dirtier than last year.” Gufran Beig, chair professor of National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and founder of System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said, “This November has been recording high pollution levels as no active western disturbance has impacted the city so far. An active western disturbance brings moisture and rain which helps in settling down the pollutants.”

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Wind speed low, Gurgaon's air 'poor' for 2nd day in a row

GURGAON: The city's air quality index (AQI) stayed in the 'poor' category for the second consecutive day on Monday at 261. The wind speed was 3kmph on Wednesday, down from 5kmph the day before, which prevented the dispersion of pollutants and led to a rise in AQI from Sunday's 234. Gurgaon pollution The Sector 51 station recorded the city's highest AQI on Monday at 345 (very poor), followed by Teri Gram (235) and Vikas Sadan (226), both 'poor'. Gwalpahari recorded the cleanest air at 183 (moderate). Track the pollution level in your city The central government's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said weather conditions are likely to be highly unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants from November 23. "Predominant surface winds are likely to be coming from the northwest direction with speeds of 4kmph-8kmph and will become calm during evening/night. There will be mainly clear sky and shallow fog in the morning from November 20 to 22. The air quality is likely to remain in the 'very poor' category," it stated. "Local factors like vehicular pollution, road dust, rampant construction and garbage burning are trapping the pollutants in the atmosphere," said Shubhansh Tiwari, a research associate at the Centre for Science and Environment. The PM2.5 level was highest in Sector 51 (310 g/m³) on Monday, followed by 221 g/m³ in Teri Gram, and 134 g/m³ in Vikas Sadan. The level of PM10 was the highest at Sector 51 (234 g/m³), followed by Teri Gram (215 g/m³). Vikas Sadan doesn't record PM10 data. According to the CPCB, the annual average permissible limits for PM2.5 and PM10 are 60g/m³ and 100 g/m³, respectively. According to satellite data from Nasa, collated by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, on Monday, 34 farm fires were detected in Haryana whereas 634 were observed in Punjab. Neighbouring Delhi (348), Faridabad (329), Noida (331) and Ghaziabad (321) all recorded 'very poor' air. Meanwhile, the minimum temperature on Monday was 13.2 degrees Celsius, while the maximum was 26 degrees. "There will be a gradual dip in mercury in the coming days. There is no forecast of rain for the next seven days. The weather will remain dry for south Haryana," IMD (Chandigarh) director Manmohan Singh said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Indian farmers rack up carbon credits with climate-conscious ways

Indian farmer Jitendra Singh proudly holds up a rice stem on his farm of lush green paddy. “Look at the height and health of this plant – the number of florets on it is amazing,” he said. Located in the northern state of Haryana, one of India’s main rice and wheat-growing regions, Singh’s 80-acre (32.4-hectare) farm is part of a gradual shift in how Indians cultivate their staple crops, from a model that is fertiliser and water-intensive to more natural, climate-friendly ways. What convinced middle-aged traditional farmer Singh to change how he grows rice was the prospect of benefiting from another fledgling movement: generating carbon credits through sustainable agriculture to sell for additional income. “The new method of rice cultivation is not only helping my land regain its fertility – it is also helping fight global warming,” Singh said. He expects to be among the first tranche of Indian farmers to receive payments from the carbon market. A score of private firms have emerged in the past few years in India, tying up with farmers like Singh to generate carbon credits, even as the role of voluntary carbon offsetting in reducing global climate-heating emissions comes under scrutiny. Across the country, these startups are enrolling farmers who cultivate resource-intensive crops like rice, cotton and sugarcane and are nudging them to use practices that emit less planet-warming gases – and in return generating credits for the avoided carbon and methane emissions from their farms. Emissions from agriculture and land use accounted for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, according to U.N. data. HIGHER YIELDS, LOWER EMISSIONS Singh first heard about the carbon credit programme in 2019 from a representative of Grow Indigo, one of the new backers of agriculture-based carbon offset projects in India. Grow Indigo is a joint venture of India-based seed firm Mahyco Grow and U.S.-based agriculture technology company Indigo Ag which produces and sells farm-linked carbon credits. With technical support from Grow Indigo, Singh tested a new way of cultivating rice on 20 acres of his farm. Instead of transplanting seedlings from a nursery into flooded fields, he used a drill machine to directly sow seed into the soil. The new method – called direct seeded rice (DSR) – cuts the overall cost of cultivation by using 12-35% less irrigation water and reducing labour, sowing time and use of chemical herbicides and fertilisers. “My rice yields have increased without having to flood my fields again and again – which also stops methane generation,” said Singh. Produced by bacteria in flooded fields, among other sources, methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas that has more potent capacity to heat up the Earth’s climate than carbon dioxide (CO2). The cultivation of rice – a staple food for more than 3 billion people worldwide – is responsible for 12% of global methane emissions and 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Singh also changed his traditional method of cultivating wheat, a winter crop that follows the monsoon crop of rice. After harvesting rice, Singh no longer sets the stubble on fire – a major seasonal source of air pollution. Instead, he mulches and spreads the stubble across the field, into which he plants wheat seeds directly without tilling – a practice that disturbs the soil and releases carbon. The new “zero-till” method helps trap soil carbon, while mulching increases the fertility of the soil. FAIR SHARE FOR FARMERS Typically, avoiding or reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to one tonne of CO2 generates one carbon credit. For instance, when Singh avoids methane emissions from his rice cultivation or sequesters carbon in the soil by not tilling it, he can generate one carbon credit per acre. Grow Indigo measures this carbon storage over a period using a combination of sampling methods and satellite monitoring, and then has it checked by a third-party auditor. Once verified and entered on a recognised registry, the credits are available for purchase by buyers who want to offset their own carbon emissions, such as corporations or individuals. For example, a multinational company could buy the credits to compensate for the emissions of its employees’ air travel. Generally, the price of one credit – depending on its quality – ranges between $2 and $50 on the voluntary carbon market, said Umang Agarwal, head of carbon and sustainable produce at Grow Indigo. Agarwal said he hoped Indigo Agriculture’s strict methodology would allow the Indian credits to fetch a high price, with farmers set to receive 75% of the revenue compared to the 35-45% share offered by some companies in India. “If the money for carbon credits comes, good – otherwise I am happy with the yield gains through new methods,” said Gurucharan Singh Bhuttar, another farmer cultivating wheat and rice on 60 acres in Karnal district. Bhuttar, who signed up with Grow Indigo about four years ago, said his wheat yield has increased after switching to the zero-till method, bringing in additional income of about 500,000 rupees ($6,000) per year as well as lower cultivation costs. Carbon credits from agriculture are still a nascent market globally, according to Ecosystem Marketplace, an international repository of information on payments for ecosystem services. Its figures show that in 2021, 500 million carbon credits were traded globally, valued at $2 billion. Of those, agriculture credits accounted for only 1 million, or about 0.2%. Indian developers have yet to sell any farm offsets on the international carbon market, but Grow Indigo predicts they could grow into a $5 billion-$7 billion market in India in a decade. DOUBTS OVER CLIMATE BENEFITS Globally, the voluntary carbon market has come under fire over the integrity of its contribution to the fight against warming. Failings identified by researchers include emissions reduction claims that are temporary or were already happening, displacement of the emissions to other sites, exaggerated climate benefits and projects that would take place even without finance from the carbon market. In the case of India, a recent analysis from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think-tank, noted that the sale price of credits is “at times inflated and at times it is so low that the project becomes unviable”. In some cases, the CSE found that a project had issued too many credits or had not resulted in the changes claimed on the ground. People who provided land and labour were not fairly compensated and project-related information was not transparent, it said in a report. “I have never personally seen such a shroud of secrecy as I found in this market,” CSE’s director general Sunita Narain told the report’s launch. “The entire purpose of these markets seems to serve the interests of project developers, buyers and intermediaries and not the mitigation of emissions,” she added, calling for a floor price of $30 per credit. Governments should consider these lessons when they meet at the COP28 U.N. climate conference in December to discuss the rules for global carbon markets, Narain added. Back in Karnal district, meanwhile, Singh is enthusiastically awaiting the first reward for his new eco-friendly approach. “If one farmer receives these carbon credit payments, others will not need much convincing to join,” he said.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

Richest 1% emitted as much as poorest 66%, enough to cause 1.3 million heat deaths: Oxfam report

Annual global emissions of the super-rich 1% was cancelling out the carbon savings from almost a million onshore wind turbines, it shows The richest one per cent of the world’s people emitted as much carbon as the poorest five billion who make up 66 per cent of the global population, according to a new report. The volume of their emissions in that year are enough to cause 1.3 million deaths due to heat, Oxfam noted in the report. Annual global emissions of the super-rich 1 per cent was cancelling out the carbon savings from almost a million onshore wind turbines, the authors of Climate equality: A planet for the 99% said. Understanding the role of “super-rich and rich people”, who are just 1 per cent of the world’s total population in climate breakdown, is important to stabalise the planet and ensure a “good life” for all, noted OXFAM in the report. The super rich are key to the climate story due to the carbon they emit in their daily lives, from their consumption and lifestyles to their investments and shareholdings in heavily polluting industries. In addition, they hold an undue influence over the media, the economy, politics and policymaking, the authors of the report pointed out. “The emissions of the 1 per cent are set to be over 22 times more than the safe limit (the emissions allowed if we are to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming) in 2030,” they added. Governments can tackle the twin crises of inequality and climate change by targeting the excessive emissions of the super-rich, investing in public services and meeting climate goals. Taxes on the wealth and income of the riches could cut carbon pollution and raise over $9 trillion a year to invest in a green, equal future for all, according to the report. “A tax of 60 per cent on the incomes of the super-rich 1 per cent of earners globally would cut the carbon equivalent of more than the total emissions of the United Kingdom and raise $6.4 trillion to fund renewable energy and a transition away from fossil fuels,” the authors noted. Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International interim executive-director, said, “for years, we’ve fought to end an era of fossil fuels to save millions of lives and our planet. It’s clearer than ever this will be impossible until we also end an era of extreme wealth”. UNEQUAL IMPACT The countries that are least responsible for global warming, the low-emitting nations, are suffering the worst consequences of climate crisis and also the least able to respond and recover. The most vulnerable countries in the world are located in Africa, South Asia, Central and South America, Small Island Developing States and the Arctic. Africa’s emissions were less than four per cent, despite the continent being home to 17 per cent of the world’s populations. More than 91 per cent of climate related disasters of the past 50 years occurred in developing countries. The death toll from floods is seven times higher in the most unequal countries as compared to more equal countries. Women and other groups experiencing discrimination, especially those with fewer economic resources tend to have less access to relief assistance and lower survival rates following a climate-related disaster. A joint research report by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Oxfam, September 2020 examined the different contributions of different income groups to carbon emissions from 1990 to 2015. During this period, carbon dioxide emissions rose by roughly 60 per cent (13.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide). Nearly half of the total growth in absolute emissions was due to the richest 10 per cent, with the richest 5 per cent alone contributing over a third (37 per cent). The impact of the poorest half of the world’s population was practically negligible. Sunita Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment, said, “climate finance can no longer be the money that goes to only increase the indebtedness of countries and makes them even more vulnerable to the next disaster”. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

FEATURE-Indian farmers rack up carbon credits with climate-conscious ways

What convinced middle-aged traditional farmer Singh to change how he grows rice was the prospect of benefiting from another fledgling movement: generating carbon credits through sustainable agriculture to sell for additional income. “The new method of rice cultivation is not only helping my land regain its fertility - it is also helping fight global warming,” Singh said. Indian farmer Jitendra Singh proudly holds up a rice stem on his farm of lush green paddy. "Look at the height and health of this plant - the number of florets on it is amazing," he said. Located in the northern state of Haryana, one of India’s main rice and wheat-growing regions, Singh's 80-acre (32.4-hectare) farm is part of a gradual shift in how Indians cultivate their staple crops, from a model that is fertiliser and water-intensive to more natural, climate-friendly ways. What convinced middle-aged traditional farmer Singh to change how he grows rice was the prospect of benefiting from another fledgling movement: generating carbon credits through sustainable agriculture to sell for additional income. “The new method of rice cultivation is not only helping my land regain its fertility - it is also helping fight global warming,” Singh said. He expects to be among the first tranche of Indian farmers to receive payments from the carbon market. A score of private firms have emerged in the past few years in India, tying up with farmers like Singh to generate carbon credits, even as the role of voluntary carbon offsetting in reducing global climate-heating emissions comes under scrutiny. Across the country, these startups are enrolling farmers who cultivate resource-intensive crops like rice, cotton and sugarcane and are nudging them to use practices that emit less planet-warming gases - and in return generating credits for the avoided carbon and methane emissions from their farms. Emissions from agriculture and land use accounted for 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, according to U.N. data. HIGHER YIELDS, LOWER EMISSIONS Singh first heard about the carbon credit programme in 2019 from a representative of Grow Indigo, one of the new backers of agriculture-based carbon offset projects in India. Grow Indigo is a joint venture of India-based seed firm Mahyco Grow and U.S.-based agriculture technology company Indigo Ag which produces and sells farm-linked carbon credits. With technical support from Grow Indigo, Singh tested a new way of cultivating rice on 20 acres of his farm. Instead of transplanting seedlings from a nursery into flooded fields, he used a drill machine to directly sow seed into the soil. The new method - called direct seeded rice (DSR) - cuts the overall cost of cultivation by using 12-35% less irrigation water and reducing labour, sowing time and use of chemical herbicides and fertilisers. “My rice yields have increased without having to flood my fields again and again - which also stops methane generation,” said Singh. Report Ad Produced by bacteria in flooded fields, among other sources, methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas that has more potent capacity to heat up the Earth's climate than carbon dioxide (CO2). The cultivation of rice - a staple food for more than 3 billion people worldwide - is responsible for 12% of global methane emissions and 1.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Singh also changed his traditional method of cultivating wheat, a winter crop that follows the monsoon crop of rice. After harvesting rice, Singh no longer sets the stubble on fire - a major seasonal source of air pollution. Instead, he mulches and spreads the stubble across the field, into which he plants wheat seeds directly without tilling - a practice that disturbs the soil and releases carbon. The new "zero-till" method helps trap soil carbon, while mulching increases the fertility of the soil. FAIR SHARE FOR FARMERS Typically, avoiding or reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to one tonne of CO2 generates one carbon credit. For instance, when Singh avoids methane emissions from his rice cultivation or sequesters carbon in the soil by not tilling it, he can generate one carbon credit per acre. Grow Indigo measures this carbon storage over a period using a combination of sampling methods and satellite monitoring, and then has it checked by a third-party auditor. Once verified and entered on a recognised registry, the credits are available for purchase by buyers who want to offset their own carbon emissions, such as corporations or individuals. For example, a multinational company could buy the credits to compensate for the emissions of its employees' air travel. Generally, the price of one credit - depending on its quality - ranges between $2 and $50 on the voluntary carbon market, said Umang Agarwal, head of carbon and sustainable produce at Grow Indigo. Agarwal said he hoped Indigo Agriculture's strict methodology would allow the Indian credits to fetch a high price, with farmers set to receive 75% of the revenue compared to the 35-45% share offered by some companies in India. “If the money for carbon credits comes, good - otherwise I am happy with the yield gains through new methods,” said Gurucharan Singh Bhuttar, another farmer cultivating wheat and rice on 60 acres in Karnal district. Bhuttar, who signed up with Grow Indigo about four years ago, said his wheat yield has increased after switching to the zero-till method, bringing in additional income of about 500,000 rupees ($6,000) per year as well as lower cultivation costs. Carbon credits from agriculture are still a nascent market globally, according to Ecosystem Marketplace, an international repository of information on payments for ecosystem services. Its figures show that in 2021, 500 million carbon credits were traded globally, valued at $2 billion. Of those, agriculture credits accounted for only 1 million, or about 0.2%. Indian developers have yet to sell any farm offsets on the international carbon market, but Grow Indigo predicts they could grow into a $5 billion-$7 billion market in India in a decade. DOUBTS OVER CLIMATE BENEFITS Globally, the voluntary carbon market has come under fire over the integrity of its contribution to the fight against warming. Failings identified by researchers include emissions reduction claims that are temporary or were already happening, displacement of the emissions to other sites, exaggerated climate benefits and projects that would take place even without finance from the carbon market. In the case of India, a recent analysis from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think-tank, noted that the sale price of credits is “at times inflated and at times it is so low that the project becomes unviable". In some cases, the CSE found that a project had issued too many credits or had not resulted in the changes claimed on the ground. People who provided land and labour were not fairly compensated and project-related information was not transparent, it said in a report. “I have never personally seen such a shroud of secrecy as I found in this market,” CSE's director general Sunita Narain told the report's launch. "The entire purpose of these markets seems to serve the interests of project developers, buyers and intermediaries and not the mitigation of emissions," she added, calling for a floor price of $30 per credit. Governments should consider these lessons when they meet at the COP28 U.N. climate conference in December to discuss the rules for global carbon markets, Narain added. Back in Karnal district, meanwhile, Singh is enthusiastically awaiting the first reward for his new eco-friendly approach. “If one farmer receives these carbon credit payments, others will not need much convincing to join,” he said.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

CSE pitches for regulating ‘secret’ carbon market, flags need for transparency

NEW DELHI: As countries gear up for the upcoming UN climate conference (COP28), the New Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has brought a spotlight on voluntary carbon (dioxide) offset markets by highlighting how “cloaked-in-secrecy world of voluntary trade in carbon credits” might be doing much more harm than good, and seems to be working for the interests of project developers, auditors, verifiers and registries. Pitching for regulating such trade globally through creating an official carbon market, the CSE has sought negotiators to frame rules in such a way that the carbon credits must work for combating climate change as the issue is expected to figure prominently during COP28, scheduled to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. The global market for carbon offsets falls under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted in 2015. Though countries agreed on a rulebook governing the carbon market during COP26 at Glasgow in 2021, the critical issues regarding necessary administrative infrastructure for the multilateral carbon credit market and accounting methodologies to avoid the risk of leakage and double counting remain unresolved. Ahead of the negotiations to fill these gaps by countries in Dubai, the CSE has highlighted many flaws of the existing voluntary carbon market in the Indian context through an investigation conducted by its researchers over the past six months. Its detailed investigative report - titled 'Discredited: The voluntary carbon market in India' - claimed to have covered 40 villages and towns across India to understand how the market works and found that though communities, their lands and their labour were central to the business/projects, such stakeholders were almost never aware that they were working to generate carbon credits. Besides, they had no rights of their own over those credits, it added. "We wanted to find out if this market was working to benefit people and the planet. What we found was there is much that needs to be done...The carbon market should be a real market and not a secret pact between buyer and seller,” said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, referring to findings of the investigation. Underlining the accountability issue in the absence of an official mechanism, the think tank flagged that the voluntary carbon markets currently operate without regulatory oversight, and lack uniformity and standardization. "They are managed through a paraphernalia of registries, project developers, validators and verifiers, traders, brokers, and carbon exchanges," it said. Carbon Market: A tool to combat climate change CARBON CREDITS *Credits are assigned to projects that can reduce greenhouse gases *These credits, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e), are then priced and traded *People and businesses that wish to offset their emissions can buy these credits and ‘neutralise’ their carbon footprints CARBON MARKET *The world, however, does not have an official carbon market yet for such trade *So, a voluntary carbon market exists for trading *The world has two leading carbon registries – Verra and Global Standard *Together, they have registered 6,481 projects across the globe till May, 2023 *They have issued 1.4 billion carbon credits INDIAN SCENE *India is the world’s second-largest supplier of carbon offsets *India’s voluntary carbon market is worth over $1.2 billion *India has 1,451 projects listed with the two registries *Indian entities have already earned about $652 million from carbon credits used to offset emissions

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

City breathes easier as wind helps improve air, hazy skies here to stay

Gurgaon: The city’s air quality improved slightly on Sunday, but experts say hazy skies are still here to stay. The average 24-hour air quality index (AQI) was 234 — or ‘poor’ — on Sunday as winds up to 5kmph helped clear away some pollutants. AQI was in the ‘very poor’ zone for the three preceding days before — it was 363, 358 and 322 from Thursday to Saturday. Meteorologists said on Sunday that wind speed is likely to slow down in the coming days and temperatures are likely to keep falling, allowing pollutants to remain suspended in the air. Stubble burning, too, has continued. “Weather conditions are likely to be highly unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants from November 23. The predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from northwest directions with wind speed up to 08-04 kmph and becoming calm during evening/night, mainly clear sky and shallow fog in the morning from November 20 to 22. The air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category,” according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar). Shubhansh Tiwari, a research associate at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said this brief improvement in air quality is “temporary relief”. “In the coming days, when the mercury dips further, local factors will contribute to the atmosphere and with low wind speed, pollutants will linger in the atmosphere,” he said. On Sunday, temperature dropped to 12.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest that mercury has fallen to this season, data by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed. “At present, cold northwesterly winds are blowing into the region… Severe winter conditions are likely to develop in the coming weeks,” said Manmohan Singh, the director of India -Chandigarh. AQI over most days in the past two weeks has been between ‘poor’ and ‘severe’ bands of the scale due to weather conditions, local emissions and pollutants released from farm fires across northwest India. Satellite data from Nasa that is collated by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute showed that farm fires have continued despite orders by the Supreme Court to states to stop them. A total of 51,533 instances of farm fires, a majority in Punjab (34,459), have been detected across six states between September 15 and November 19. The count is slowly coming down, but it’s still far from over. Farm fires in Punjab were between 1,000 and 2,000 between November 13 and 17, and have come down to less than 1,000 in the days after. Similarly, Haryana was recording around 40-60 farm fires a day, and the figure has dropped to below 40. The average PM2.5 pollutant was 210µg/m³ at the Sector 51 station, followed by 189µg/m³ at Teri Gram and 167µg/m³ at Vikas Sadan station on Sunday. The level of PM10 was 206µg/m³ at the Sector 51 station and 178µg/m³ at Teri Gram. PM10 data from the Vikas Sadan station was not available. The annual average permissible limit is 60µg/m³ for PM2.5 and 100µg/m³ for PM10. Neighbouring Delhi (301) and Faridabad (327) were in the ‘very poor’ category while Noida (268) and Ghaziabad (280) recorded ‘poor’ air. Health experts said that patients with pre-existing respiratory conditions or medical conditions are at higher risk and may also require short hospitalisations. “At present, the region is entering the winter cycle, which means that hospitals will see more bronchitis cases in the coming days. All hospitals have been told to treat emergency cases at the earliest. Parents are advised to avoid taking infants outdoors if the AQI is high. People should wear N95 masks during this weather,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

COP28: US plans to push for curbs on methane emission worldwide at key UN meet

The US plans to focus on pushing for curbs on methane emission globally in a big way at the upcoming UN climate conference to be held in Dubai, officials said in a briefing. The US, China and the United Arab Emirates will also hold a methane and other non-greenhouse gas summit during the proceedings starting on November 30. Curbing methane is the fastest and cheapest way to keep average temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius, a US state department official said on Friday during the briefing. An American initiative to raise at least $200 million to tackle methane gas emissions will be exceeded at the annual climate meet, the official said, seeking anonymity. The US also welcomed China’s commitment to include curbs on methane in their 2035 nationally determined contribution (NDC). This is the first time China has agreed to curbs on methane emissions, which are largely contributed from the global south. The Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, a joint statement released by the US and China on November 14, said the two nations will implement their respective national methane action plans. The US and China, two of the largest emitters, have agreed to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 in line with the intention expressed in the G20’s New Delhi Declaration issued this September, HT reported on November 16. They have also suggested that their emissions from the power sector will peak during this decade. China is the largest emitter, followed by the US and India, based on 2019 data compiled by the World Resources Institute. The statement, however, is silent on phasing out or phasing down fossil fuels and places too much focus on carbon removal and sequestration technologies, which are still at a nascent stage and whose effectiveness has not been fully proven, according to a brief by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). While the G20 declaration did not mention methane, it did commend countries that have NDCs with economy wide targets and targets covering all greenhouse gases. China is the largest methane emitter, followed by the US and India. China and India have not signed the Global Methane Pledge yet, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The pledge was launched by the US and the European Union at the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow. Around 110 countries have committed to a collective goal of reducing global methane emissions from human activity by at least 30% compared with 2020 levels by 2030. The major source of methane are anthropogenic sources, especially agriculture, followed by the oil and gas sector and waste, the IEA said. Methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than carbon dioxide (around 12 years compared with centuries for CO2), but it is a much more potent greenhouse gas, absorbing much more energy while it exists in the atmosphere, the agency added. India had not signed the methane pledge mainly because of its potential repercussions for small and medium farmers and the agricultural sector. On a question raised in the Rajya Sabha in 2021 on why India is not a signatory to the pledge, the environment ministry said that in the context of food security, India’s methane emissions are “survival” emissions. The two predominant sources of methane emissions in India are enteric fermentation and paddy cultivation. These emissions result from the agricultural activities of small, marginal and medium farmers, whose livelihood stands threatened by the methane pledge, the ministry had said. “Methane and CO2 are both important and if this can push oil and gas sector to reduce emissions, it is a low hanging fruit,” said Sunita Narain, director general at the Centre for Science and Environment, an advocacy group. “My concern is controlling methane from agriculture is not easy in our world as it is about survival emissions and nobody in the rich world wants to change diets necessary for reducing methane.” Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution, and rapid and sustained reductions in such emissions are key to limiting near-term warming and improve air quality. But, CO2 has contributed more than any driver to climate change between 1750 and 2011. Atmospheric CO2 levels rose 40% between 1750 and 2011. Half of human-related CO2 emissions occurred only in the past 40 years, according to Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit. Wealthy nations led by the US have been majorly responsible for historic CO2 emissions that have contributed to climate change, the collective said. “In the face of the escalating global climate crisis, the US’ call for prioritising methane emission reductions over carbon dioxide curtailments raises critical questions of fairness and feasibility. This stance not only overlooks the historical responsibility of industrialised nations for the bulk of long-lived CO2 emissions, but also disregards the unique developmental challenges faced by developing countries,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. “In developing economies, agriculture, a major source of methane emissions, is vital for their food security and economic development. Placing excessive pressure on these countries to reduce methane emissions could jeopardise these critical sectors,” he added. “We need a comprehensive and equitable approach to climate change that addresses both methane and CO2 emissions effectively. Achieving this will require technological innovation, policy changes, and, crucially, international cooperation that respects the diverse capabilities and responsibilities of all nations.”