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Debt crises in Global South debilitating fight against climate change: Report

The report by environmental think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) come world leaders gather in Paris for a two-day summit to discuss reforms of the internationa financial system to better tackle poverty and climate change. comes as world leaders gather in Paris for a two-day summit to discuss reforms of the international financial system to better Poor and developing countries are also the hardest hit economically by climate disasters. For example: hurricane Maria that hit the Carribean environmental projects, and rely on foreign debt to support essential activities. The report said debt payments for low-income countries are at their highest since 1998, with an average external debt service payment of 16.3 per cent of government revenue in 2023. "Debt burden exceeds the annual cost of achieving the NDC for many low and middle-income countries; it is plausible that their climate ambition is being hindered by debt obligations," it said. Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE, said losses and damage due to climate change are mostly concentrated in developing countries. "These are also the countries that need finance for the climate transition to help them develop, without adding significantly to the stock of greenhouse emissions." "In the 2011-20 period, only about 5 per cent was given as grants and the rest were loans or equity. It is then no surprise that what is termed as climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most," she said. Seventy-five per cent of all the climate finance in the decade 2011–2020 was concentrated in North America, western Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, primarily led by China. Regions where the majority of low and middle-income countries are located received less than 25 per cent of climate finance flows, the CSE report says, citing data from Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a San Francisco-based independent climate policy organisation. tackle poverty and climate change. The report titled 'Beyond climate finance' argues that historical inequalities have made developing countries dependent on imports of food, energy, and goods. High debts have limited their capabilities to spend on development and climate. Sunita Narain, director general, CSE said most of the money given is notfree or cheap - it's given as loans or investments instead of grants, which mean ..

Climate finance not going where needed most: CSE

BATHINDA: Climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most, advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) director general Sunita Narain said during a webinar where CSE launched its latest report - Beyond Climate Finance. "We know that current climate finance is inadequate. The US $100 billion a year pledged in 2009 is too little, too late. Whatever is being given in the name of climate finance is not concessional. In 2011-20 period, only about 5% was given as grants and the rest as loans or equity," she said. The webinar and the report preceded the two-day summit for a New Global Financial Pact, in Paris, France, on June 22-23. Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE, said, "Only 16% of total climate finance can be termed as concessional - money given on favourable terms such as grants or low interest loans. The money that is flowing towards climate projects is heavily concentrated in North America, Western EU and East Asia (predominantly China). This is where most of the growth in clean energy investment has been concentrated as well. So, the money is not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries." Goswami says emerging economies and developing countries (other than China) will need US $1 trillion in external finance by 2030. The CSE report points out that financial handicaps such as a growing debt crisis also hinder developing countries' climate ambition. CSE's analysis shows many low- and middle-income countries pay more in annual debt servicing costs than what they would need to spend annually to achieve their NDC goals. Narain added, "Now, when we view the pressure to decarbonise within the context of larger systemic financial barriers, it looks like the walls are closing in from all sides for the Global South. It is unacceptable that it is being said at UNFCCC forums that developing countries do not want to take on climate ambition. The reality is that most of them simply cannot afford it. This system is broken and needs urgent reform. Climate ambition cannot be unlocked while operating in a financial system that is inequitable by design."

Govt initiatives focus on transition, but better markets needed to scale up organic farming: CSE report

Help with transitioning to organic farming and better marketing as well as market access are the key issues that need to be tackled to scale up organic farming in the country, the latest report of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), 'Market Access for Organic and Natural Produce', says. While transition is getting more traction of late, the report says, not much effort is afoot to create better markets. "Most ongoing initiatives focus on the transition through capacity-building and incentives. But a lot needs to be done to provide better markets through a structured approach," said Amit Khurana, director, sustainable food systems programme, CSE on June 21, in a webinar organised to release the report. The report includes six selected case studies from three key stakeholder groups - farmer-producer organisations (FPO), retail corporations and state governments, he added. Speaking on the occasion, Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, founder and managing director of Sresta Natural Bioproducts Private Ltd, Hyderabad, said building trust in organic produce by ensuring that only genuine items is marketed is essential for the success of the sector. Seelam's successful steering of Sresta's organic brand 24 Mantra is one of the case studies of the report. CSE report: Govt initiatives focus on transition, but better markets needed to scale up organic farming: CSE report - The Economi… https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/govt-initiatives-focus-on-transition-but-better-markets-needed-to-scale-up-organic-far… 2/3 Explaining the strategy, Seelam said, "Farmers are at the core of our business. Initially it was difficult to convince farmers to adopt organic farming as during the first three-to-four years yield reduces. Benefits are visible only later. Keeping this in mind, we identify a location where farmers are pro-organic or use less chemicals. We have 100-plus trained field associates stationed in our project team to guide and support farmers and agronomists in the system." G V Ramanjaneyulu, executive director of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, who is also in the board of Sahaja Aharam Producer Company Limited, a federation of 19 FPOs, talked about the role of FPOs in scaling up organic farming. "FPOs certainly help, more so if federated, as they have the potential to augment resources, help more farmers grow food organically, leverage technology, bring efficiency in systems and help farmers earn more through shorter supply chains by bringing producer and consumer together," he said. Sahaja, formed in 2014, helps over 9,000 farmers in 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to grow food organically at low cost. It is also part of the six case studies featured in the CSE report. Meanwhile, Akash Badave, CEO of Bhoomgadi Organic Farmers Produce Company, Chhattisgarh, said his FPO managed to find its unique selling point in the products growing exclusively in the remote Dhantewade region of Chhattisgarh. The CSE report elaborates on how Bhoomgadi helped over 2,700 organic farmers from 122 villages overcome marketaccess limitations due to their remoteness. Addressing the webinar, Badave stressed that consumer education is crucial to take the organic movement forward. "We need to intensely work with the consumers. Actually, that is going to be the key. A lot of work until now has been done with the farmers. Now, we need to work very closely with the consumers, aggregating consumers, changing the behaviour, changing the attitudes and expectations," added Badave. For Dinesh Balam, state coordinator of Odisha Millet Mission, which was among the case studies done for the CSE report, there is no point in trying to redesign a system without specifically addressing the existing problems. "When it comes to millet, one of the criticisms is that millets are not cleaned properly. There's always mud on the surface of ragi, for instance. To address this, we looked at the institutions that are there at village-level that can help farmers to CSE report: Govt initiatives focus on transition, but better markets needed to scale up organic farming: CSE report - The Economi… https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/govt-initiatives-focus-on-transition-but-better-markets-needed-to-scale-up-organic-far… 3/3 ensure proper cleaning post harvesting. Every village has women self-help group. So, what we do in our programme is that we empower these women to run post-harvesting centres. We supply them the needed equipment so farmers can process post harvesting at village level. The other question when it comes to millet is that how we increase household consumption. In Odisha, we engage women's groups again to create an awareness among end users." Manoj Gupta, principal extension specialist, state project implementing unit of Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y), Himachal Pradesh, said one of the things that they realised during the implementation of their programme is that there is a need to simplify certifications, as too many confuse consumers. The CSE report also highlights how PK3Y Himachal has come up with a simpler certification system specifically for natural farming. According to Gupta, Himachal tried to make a certification methodology that is also scalable with other certification systems operational at the national and international level. This self-assessed certification mechanism (Certified Evaluation Tool for Agriculture Resource Analysis-Natural) has been made accessible through a web portal since October 2022, he added. "More than 11,000 farmers have submitted the information online and around 6,000 farmers have been certified by the online platform created for this innovative certification," said Gupta. The report also has a chapter on BigBasket, an online supermarket that sells products from 70 different organic brands, including its own BB Royal Organic and BB Fresho Organic. The event was attended not only by farmers and FPOS, but also other stakeholders involved in organic farming. "Consumer awareness and Direct-to-Consumer channels need to be developed to help farmers get a better price realisation," farm-to-fork professional Bhisham Thakkar pointed out during the session. Thangapandian, who runs the NGO Farm India in Trichy, which pushes for collective farming as well as teaches enterprise skills to farmers, said the biggest takeaway from the report is that if the farmers want to get a good price for their produce, be it in organic or even chemical farming, they have to band together as collectives. "It is impossible for small farmers especially, to expect a fair price for the products if they are standing alone," Thangapandian said

30,000 potholes among major sources of dust pollution: Study

A programme to identify pollution sources across the Capital has unearthed more than 94,000 distinct or point-sources of dust pollution between November 2021 and June 2023, with the most common being the over 30,000 potholes found in the city, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. The finding assumes significance as a 2018 source apportionment study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) revealed that dust pollution is one of the biggest sources of pollution for Delhi, particularly in the summer, where its contribution can be as high as 25% of the total contaminants in the air. Data shared by not-for-profit foundation Air Pollution Action Group (A-PAG), which is working with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other land-owning agencies in Delhi, also showed that there were more than 29,000 different locations where debris was dumped in the open, followed by over 11,000 instances of broken footpaths or dividers, all of which could be contributing to dust pollution in the city. “These are all smaller, localised sources that officials from the MCD and other agencies come across every day in their jurisdiction. On their own, they may not contribute much to Delhi’s pollution, but cumulatively, it can certainly be a significant chunk. These are sources that can easily be addressed and through the app, each problem gets assigned to the department whose jurisdiction it falls under,” said Abhishek Kumar, deputy commissioner of the MCD’s Karol Bagh zone. Using on-ground data identified by third-party teams employed by MCD, 94,374 dust-related complaints were registered on the civic body’s SmartCity-311 app between November 2021 and June this year, with each complaint then being assigned to the land-owning agency under whose jurisdiction the complaint falls under, such as the Public Works Department, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Development Authority, among others. Data from the SmartCity-311 app shows out of the 94,374 complaints it received since November 2021, 80,575 have been resolved –a pendency rate of less than 15%. MCD officials said that not only does the programme identify unique sources of dust pollution, these are also being fixed simultaneously, with each agency given 30 days to resolve each issue. A-PAG director Mohit Beotra said while transboundary movement of dust -- when dust blows in from neighbouring states upwind-- will continue, the programme allows Delhi to crack down on its own sources of such pollution. “The data shows not only have these sources been identified, but all agencies are now cracking down upon these sources simultaneously, and this is being reviewed at the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)-level and at the levels of the Delhi chief secretary and principal secretary environment. Such a coordinated programme has huge potential to tackle different point-sources of pollution,” he said. Data showed that the most complaints on the app were about potholes (30,334 instances), followed by debris in the open (29,737) and broken footpaths or dividers (11,349). A total of 10,930 unpaved roads were also identified as dust pollution sources, along with sand dumped on the roadside (5,168 instances). Surprisingly, construction and demolition sites operating without safeguards constituted only 4,162 instances. The A-PAG programme to identify dispersed sources of pollution began in January 2021 as a pilot project in association with the erstwhile south MCD. Its success led the CAQM to direct the civic body to launch from November 2021 a full-fledged programme in coordination with other land-owning agencies in the Capital to identify and fix such sources. Beotra added that an Indian Institute of technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi) study is currently underway to measure the impact of these point sources on air pollution. Experts meanwhile said that the programme sheds light on the need for every agency to have a standard operating procedure (SOP) to periodically review its infrastructure and to maintain it. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “This shows that there are localised sources of dust, and a number of these sources can be fixed by simply carrying out proper maintenance and review of the infrastructure. It also shows that every summer, simply sweeping the roads and sprinkling water is not enough, but rather, there is a need to tackle these sources too, and such an SOP needs to be institutionalised at the agency-level.”

From the India Today archives (2012) | Fatty liver disease: India’s battle of the bulge

Fatty livers are doubling the risk of heart attacks and strokes as Indians ignore the deadly obesity problem It was a day like any other in March this year. But to the bewildered 46-year-old it didn't bode well: Try as he might he just couldn't get out of bed. Two days later, when it happened again, Ratan Dharkar knew he was up against a major crisis. As a chartered accountant running his own firm in Mumbai, he had faced his share of challenges. But this was something no balance sheet could capture. Ultrasound imaging found his liver white and bright with fat. Unknown to him, fatty tissues had spread their tentacles, hardening the soft organ. As he entered the painful world of liver biopsies, injections and drugs, he asked his doctors: "Why didn't I ever get a hint?" "It's like that with the liver," they said. If your stomach sticks out more than your chest, if you find it tough to bend and tie your shoelaces, if you can't keep your shirts tucked in, you know you are piling on the pounds. It's hardly news anymore that Indians are bloating up. But now a raft of new studies are showing that predicting a person's long-term health may not be as simple as measuring the waistline. Doctors are adding a new warning about invisible fat lurking in an organ no one thinks twice about: The liver. Fatty liver disease, in the absence of alcohol intake, is rapidly emerging as a health crisis in urban India. And every plumped-up liver can lead to heart attack, stroke and even cancer. India's obesity problem just turned deadly. To capture the girth of the nation through its liver, consider the facts: 32% Indians are believed to have some degree of fatty liver disease. 70-90% people with obesity and diabetes suffer from fatty liver disease. 54% people who are neither overweight nor have abdominal obesity have fatty livers. 24% Indian men are afflicted by fatty liver compared to 13% women. 20% fatty liver patients go on to develop serious liver conditions. Urban Indians suffer from twofold increased risk of dying of heart attack or stroke due to liver fat. Liver fat is the third most common cause of chronic liver disease in India. There is twice as much fat in Indian livers compared to people in the west with similar weight. The liver is the new front in the battle of the bulge. "Fatty liver damage is no longer limited to people who drink excessively," says Dr Shiv Sarin, director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in Delhi, who co-authored the global guidelines on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) brought out by the World Gastroenterology Organisation in June this year. "Negative lifestyle choices are creating biochemical reactions that cause NAFLD. If we are not careful, it will soon become an epidemic in India because there is no treatment for NAFLD as yet," he says. Studies show that Indian men might be particularly prone to NAFLD. The liver is the missing link in the obesity crisis. And the pace of new research in this area is accelerating. In the absence of all-India studies, piecemeal research from across the country is creating the contours of this crisis. "While a medical data search of 'non-alcoholic fatty liver' on the Internet via PubMed yielded only 14 research papers in 1995 and 36 in 2000, publications on this topic have accelerated to over 200 a year in the last five years," says Dr Anoop Misra, chief of obesity, diabetes and metabolic diseases at Fortis Hospital in Delhi. PubMed is an Internet search and comprises 22 million biomedical citations. "Earlier, fat accumulation in the liver was considered innocuous. But today, it is being seen as a dangerous metabolic state," adds Mishra. According to Dr Ajay Duseja of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (pgimer), Chandigarh, NAFLD has been recognised as a disorder recently in India. There is still very little published work on it, possibly because of the earlier presumption that it is benign and that the damage does not progress. Also, the attention has been focused on viral hepatitis. It took Ratan Dharkar years of careless eating to wake up to his liver. "I have done this to myself by skipping meals and then binging on junk food," he says. The distress signals-slight ache in the upper right side of his abdomen, occasional fatigue and nausea-have always been there. "I simply did not take them seriously." That's typical because the second largest organ of the body is a silent worker, says gastroenterologist Dr Samiran Nundy, chairman, Surgical Gastro and Liver Transplant, Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi. The liver does not beat, pulsate, growl or contract. Unlike the heart, it can be counted on to perform even under pressure. For all the complex work the liver executes that is vital to good health, it never signals its presence unless something goes seriously wrong. "The liver has an amazing ability to regenerate and repair itself," he says. It can keep functioning despite damage for years. But over time, damage can change the structure of the liver irreparably. Hence liver diseases are often called "silent killers" by doctors. NAFLD starts when fat molecules accumulate inside liver cells. It is essentially a consequence of obesity and diabetes. As research shows, 70-90 per cent people with obesity and diabetes suffer from it. NAFLD can stay as a low-grade condition for years with just vague symptoms. But a prolonged build-up can start a cascade of serious liver damage. Once that happens to a person who does not consume alcohol, or drink far less than 20 gm/day, doctors call it non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (steato stands for fat and hepatitis for inflammation) or nash. If nash damages the liver irreversibly, it can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure or even cancer. It is impossible to predict who will develop cirrhosis or cancer, but the longer NAFLD remains hidden the stronger the chances are. NAFLD is an obvious outcome of obesity but it does not always manifest in obvious ways. Liver fat can hide in people who are neither overweight nor have abdominal obesity. A 2010 study conducted by researchers at the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Kolkata on a sample size of nearly 2,000 people shows intriguing results: 75 per cent of those with NAFLD had a Body Mass Index (weight by height square) less than normal, while 54 per cent were not even overweight. About 90 per cent of heart diseases are caused by nine risk factors, say doctors: Smoking, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, diabetes, abdominal obesity, psychosocial factors, poor diet, alcohol consumption, and lack of regular physical activity. Now fatty livers are being seen as the tenth risk factor. An article published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009 argues that liver inflammation damages the insides of arteries and makes blood clot. "It's a combination that can lead to heart attack or stroke," says Sarin. Obesity has invaded India since the 1990s. That's when the first foreign fast food chain opened shop in Delhi. In the last two decades, as income has grown over fourfolds, so has the girth of the nation. At its root is a 'nutrition transition', as a consequence of globalisation of economies. Food balance data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations shows that coarse grains have been largely substituted by polished cereals while consumption of meat, fat and sugar has more than doubled in affluent Indian cities since the 1990s. The rise of animal products in diet has pushed up the supply of dietary energy at a time when physical activity has declined as a result of increasing mechanisation. Liver damage is the body's slow response to this changing nutritional challenge. According to World Health Organisation, liver diseases snuff out 200,000 lives in India every year. It is one of the top 10 causes of death. Hospital records show that fatty livers account for a third of such cases. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for NAFLD or nash. With changes in diet, increase in physical activity and weight loss, prevention is the only hope. "Weight loss has a remarkable effect," says Misra. "It makes livers less fatty." Rapid weight loss, however, hurts the liver. But it's not all gloom and doom where fatty livers are concerned. Activists as well as doctors are engaging in awareness drives in schools, walking the corridors of power to sensitise the nation's high and mighty and alerting the international health bodies. The Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi has announced its plans to limit junk food in schools. The Delhi High Court has asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to frame guidelines on a pil seeking a ban on junk food and carbonated drinks within a 1,500 ft radius of schools. The Union Ministry of Health has requested the Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure withdrawal of junk food from school and college canteens. "Junk the junk food" is the slogan that is being heard from the campus. Urban India needs to go on a diet. But isolated changes will fail to make a difference without a broader shift in our new food culture. For now, doctors are happy that most fatty livers tend to stay stable and silent. But an inflamed liver can also mean the end of life.

Impressions of India — New Delhi . . . via New Haven

My wife (Sahar Usmani-Brown), who became a U.S. citizen this year, grew up in New Delhi, where her parents continue to live. I recently traveled there for the fourth time in the past dozen years — my first trip to India since an April 2014 visit that occasioned “Notes from a Nation of 1.2 Billion.” With that population now estimated at 1.25 billion, some impressions follow in this latest installment of an urban travelogue. Our last trip came during the 2014 Indian national elections, which brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi (formerly leader of the state of Gujarat) and his BJP to power. Since then, Arvind Kejriwal of a rival reform party (AAP) has been elected in New Delhi. As the newspapers reported during our stay, the Delhi and national governments are often at odds over how to address challenges from the economy to the environment. (1) Economic Growth, Yet Extreme Inequality; Continual Striving The Indian economy continues to advance relatively quickly. For example, India surpassed China as the top foreign direct investment (FDI) “destination” in 2015. The $63 billion in “greenfield” projects topped the U.S. (at $59.6 billion) as well as China ($56.6 billion). Yet as in China (and as in the U.S. around the “Great Recession”), there has been over-building in portions of the real estate market (more below). Moreover, this vast country has hundreds of millions of people struggling at subsistence levels, in both rural and urban areas — where begging, sometimes by children, is just one indicator. Drought has worsened the plight of many (more on that below, too). Still, trends of upward mobility, continual striving, and links between the indigenous and global economies are all evident. Workers commuting, children going to school, older students contemplating college and prepping for entrance exams, families consuming, international brands expanding — Delhi and its surroundings display all of this. From Accenture and Amazon to MetLife, Oracle, Honda and Uber (engendering controversy in India as in the U.S., over pricing and from cab-drivers), the signs are widely visible. One illustration is the construction of large new office and apartment towers. Real Estate and Road Development After living for several years in the city of Faridabad just beyond the New Delhi border in the state of Haryana (where caste-related protests by a group of Jats led to violence and a Delhi water shortage in recent months), my parents-in-law have now returned to Delhi proper — specifically South Delhi. Faridabad, along with Noida and other cities in metropolitan Delhi, has seen controversy around expensive real estate developments that have failed to fulfill promises to apartment buyers even as certain developers have become rich — with corrupt politicians also beneficiaries. My in-laws themselves have relevant experience with market volatility. After a decade ago investing much of their life savings into buying a new Faridabad apartment that rapidly appreciated, its value has dropped amid slower economic growth and an oversupply of middle/upper-middle-class apartments that are sometimes unfinished and under-maintained — even as maintenance fees flow to property managers. (The Faridabad apartment value roughly quintupled from 2006 to 2014 before dipping some 40 percent in the last couple of years.) My parents-in-law intend to sell the apartment and in the meantime are renting a place in Delhi, closer to friends, family, and prime medical facilities. The surge in construction of both buildings and roads is salient on the new Yamuna Expressway (named for the Yamuna River alongside) connecting Delhi to Agra. The river is silt-filled, polluted, and increasingly sparse — with the expressway built on what used to be the river’s flood plain. Quickly one leaves Delhi for Noida, a planned city in the enormous state of Uttar Pradesh. Office and apartment towers, completed or still under construction, abound. One is called “Ambience,” touting a “new standard” of living. Jaypee Greens is one major developer, including of a “Wish Town,” golf course and cricket stadium. After Noida and Greater Noida, agricultural land follows until one reaches the city of Agra — home of the Taj Mahal (the early 17th-century tomb that Shah Jahan built to honor his wife — more on that below). Along the way, there are rest stops for food and drink, such as the one where this sign appeared. Here as elsewhere, there is juxtaposition of the modern and affluent with the traditional, of grandiose aspirations and more mundane realities. Environment a Global Matter of Daily Concern Climate change isn’t an abstraction in New Delhi, where already the mid-April temperatures peaked at 110 degrees Fahrenheit every day of our stay, with nighttime lows in the 80s. There is little margin for error. An increase of a few degrees over the coming century (as many climate models project) could intensify extremes of heat, drought, and flood (during the monsoon months) in various regions of India, as in other countries. In anticipation of the December 2015 Paris Climate Conference, last fall India had announced its intention to scale back the trajectory of its projected growth in carbon emissions — now slated to swell “only” three-fold instead of seven-fold in the decades ahead as the economy and population surge. Currently, the average Indian is responsible for just 1.6 tons of CO2 per year — one-tenth the average for Americans (16.4 tons), and one-third the global average of 4.9 tons. India expects coal use will continue to increase, but its appeal has now been limited by a steeper tax. Emissions standards for both new and existing coal-powered plants have been toughened. Ambitious plans for solar power and reforestation have been announced. This is encouraging. Both in the Delhi region and beyond, enormous challenges remain — from trash and toilet sanitation to air pollution and water scarcity. Still, increased attention to those problems is palpable in India. Coincidentally, our flight home was on April 22, Earth Day, and on the flight I read that day’s Times of India. Though no mention was made of Earth Day, a remarkable number of news stories addressed issues such as urban traffic, air quality, and the water supply. One article described how the Haryana government had “forwarded the final draft of the demarcation of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) on its side” of a wildlife sanctuary. Construction would be banned one kilometer from the sanctuary’s boundaries in Faridabad and Delhi, and the ESZ would cover a grove of trees off the Gurgaon-Faridabad Highway. (Gurgaon is another booming city in the metropolitan region.) Air Quality Multiple reports addressed the return of an “odd-even” plan (first introduced in January) by Kejriwal’s Delhi government to limit driving of certain vehicles, depending on their license plate numbers. Ostensibly intended to limit air pollution, the effort seems to have had a more tangible effect on traffic (as problematic as it remains in many sections of Delhi, during much of the day). Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment expressed skepticism about the impact of the “odd-even scheme,” arguing: “We need to make car restraint a way of life. That can be done with high charges for parking and road use and augmentation of public transport on a massive scale.” Reinforcing her doubts, according to the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), there are no data suggesting the “odd-even scheme has led to a decline in vehicular pollution in the capital.” Another article discussed mysterious landfill fires that some officials in the Delhi government think were set by municipal corporations sympathetic to the rival BJP, to undermine the odd-even plan to improve air quality. Yet according to a different article, “the spontaneous fires occur mainly due to decomposing organic material releasing methane,” which is flammable. Though organic wastes are supposed to be composted, they are often dumped at landfills. There, said one environmental critic, “Toxic wastes like mercury” and “lead are also dumped”; fires “burn these toxic wastes along with plastics, releasing dioxins and monoxides into the air that then enter the food chain.” There is more consciousness of the hazards of burning materials, but it’s still widely done. Yet another article described “a slight decrease in levels of nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide in Gurgaon’s atmosphere” in the previous 10 days. In addition, a “Daily Pollution Watch” tracked particulate matter (PM) 2.5, ozone, and the air quality index (AQI) in various locations around the metropolitan area. Among the worst was the Noida border inside Delhi. “Good wind speed” was cited as a potential factor in PM 2.5 levels that had “dipped” in recent days. (2)

Climate finance is not going where it is needed the most: CSE

“We know that current climate finance is inadequate. We agree that the US $100 billion a year pledged in 2009 is too little, too late. But what we do not know and rarely discuss is that whatever is being given in the name of climate finance is not concessional – in the period 2011-20, only about 5 per cent was given as grants and the rest were loans or equity. It is then no surprise that what is termed as climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most,” says Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Narain was speaking at a recently organised webinar where CSE launched its latest report – Beyond climate finance. The webinar, addressed by global experts, and the report, preceded the two-day Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, which will kick off in Paris, France from tomorrow (June 22, 2023). Besides Narain, the speakers at the webinar included Anoopa S Nair, director, department of economic affairs, ministry of finance, Government of India; Pepukaye Bardouille, director, Bridgetown Initiative Unit and special advisor on climate resilience, Prime Minister’s office, Government of Barbados; Lola Vallejo, climate lead, IDDRI and UNFCCC co-chair of Mitigation Work Programme; and Rishikesh Bhandary, assistant director, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston university. Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE says: “Developing countries are the places where losses and damage due to climate change are concentrated. These are also the countries that need finance for the climate transition to help them develop, without adding significantly to the stock of greenhouse emissions.” Goswami will be attending the Paris summit and reporting live from there for Down To Earth (see her contact details below). Goswami elaborates further on what Narain said: “Only 16 per cent of total climate finance can be termed as concessional – money given on favourable terms such as grants or low interest loans. The money that is flowing towards climate projects is heavily concentrated in North America, Western EU and East Asia (predominantly China). This is where most of the growth in clean energy investment has been concentrated as well. So, the money is not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries.” Goswami says emerging economies and developing countries (other than China) will need US $1 trillion in external finance by 2030. The CSE report points out that developing countries face other financial handicaps that hinder their climate ambition — such as a growing debt crisis. Data from Debt Justice, an UK-based non-profit, shows that in 2023, 91 of the poorest countries made external debt-service payments averaging 16.3 per cent of their government revenues. CSE’s analysis shows many low and middle-income countries pay more in annual debt servicing costs than what they would need to spend annually to achieve their NDC goals. Says Goswami: “Developing countries also face prohibitively high costs of capital, particularly for green technologies, which hinders the economic attractiveness of clean energy investment in these countries, even if they possess rich renewable resources.” Multilateral development banks (MDBs), an important source of concessional finance, are risk-averse and provide 80 per cent of the climate finance as loans, which worsens the debt crisis. There is also limited eligibility for middle-income countries to access concessional finance. To add to this, MDBs’ mandate is being expanded to make financial flows “Paris-aligned”; this could be paternalistic and impose top-down criteria that may narrow funding streams to developing countries, says the CSE report. Says Narain: “Now, when we view the pressure to decarbonise within the context of larger systemic financial barriers, it looks like the walls are closing in from all sides for the Global South. It is unacceptable that it is being said at UNFCCC forums that developing countries do not want to take on climate ambition. The reality is that most of them simply cannot afford it. This system is broken and needs urgent reform. Climate ambition cannot be unlocked whilst operating in a financial system that is inequitable by design.” The way ahead The Global South needs additional and concessional finance flows for climate mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage. ‘Additionality’ is crucial — existing funding pools cannot be repackaged via creative accounting. There is a need to stop the ‘divide and conquer tactic’ against the poor. Middle-income countries should be allowed to access more concessional finance and debt-relief. Paris alignment of global finance cannot dilute national sovereignty and reduce crucial funding flows for development. We need a multilateral, rules-based approach to solving the debt crisis, and we must stop the creation of new debt. We cannot rely on the private sector to solve climate change—climate action is a public good. Says Goswami: “2023 must be the year in which civil society and scholars build pressure and scale up demands for the urgent systemic reforms that the Global South needs.”

CSE Report: Climate Finance fails to reach countries in greatest need. Urgent reforms required for Global South's climate ambition

Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), highlighted the inadequacy of current climate finance during a recent webinar where the CSE launched its report titled "Beyond climate finance." The webinar, attended by global experts, took place ahead of the two-day Summit for a New Global Financial Pact scheduled to begin in Paris, France on June 22, 2023. Narain emphasized that the promised US $100 billion per year in climate finance, made in 2009, falls short and arrives too late. Moreover, she pointed out that the funds provided under the guise of climate finance are predominantly in the form of loans or equity, with only around 5% being given as grants between 2011 and 2020. Consequently, it is not surprising that the countries most in need of climate finance are not receiving adequate support. Avantika Goswami, the Climate Change Program Manager at CSE, echoed Narain's concerns, stating that developing countries bear the brunt of climate change impacts and require financial assistance for their climate transition while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. However, she noted that only 16% of total climate finance can be considered concessional, meaning it is provided on favorable terms such as grants or low-interest loans. Furthermore, climate project funding is heavily concentrated in North America, Western Europe, and East Asia, particularly China, rather than reaching the poorest and most vulnerable nations. Goswami highlighted the need for emerging economies and developing countries, excluding China, to secure $1 trillion in external finance by 2030. The CSE report also addressed other financial challenges hindering developing countries' climate ambitions, including a growing debt crisis. Data from Debt Justice, a UK-based non-profit organization, revealed that in 2023, 91 of the poorest countries spent an average of 16.3% of their government revenues on external debt service payments. CSE's analysis indicated that many low and middle-income countries spend more on annual debt servicing costs than what they would require to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) goals. Goswami further explained that developing countries face exorbitantly high capital costs, particularly for green technologies, which undermine the economic attractiveness of clean energy investments. Multilateral development banks (MDBs), a significant source of concessional finance, contribute 80% of climate finance in the form of loans, exacerbating the debt crisis. Moreover, limited eligibility for middle-income countries to access concessional finance adds to the challenges. The CSE report cautioned against the expansion of MDBs' mandates to align financial flows with the Paris Agreement, which could impose top-down criteria and restrict funding to developing countries. Narain emphasized that the pressure to decarbonize, when combined with existing financial barriers, puts immense strain on the Global South. She rejected claims made at UNFCCC forums that developing countries lack climate ambition, stating that most simply cannot afford it. Urgent reform of the broken financial system is necessary to unlock climate ambition. Narain called for additional and concessional finance flows for climate mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage in the Global South, highlighting the importance of "additionality" and the need to avoid repackaging existing funds through creative accounting. Goswami outlined key steps moving forward, including the cessation of the "divide and conquer tactic" against the poor, allowing middle-income countries increased access to concessional finance and debt relief, ensuring that Paris-aligned global finance does not undermine national sovereignty and development funding, adopting a multilateral, rules-based approach to address the debt crisis, and acknowledging that climate action is a public good that cannot be solely reliant on the private sector. Goswami stressed the importance of civil society and scholars intensifying their efforts in 2023 to exert pressure and demand urgent systemic reforms for the benefit of the Global South.

Money to fight climate crisis not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries: CSE

NEW DELHI: At a time when the rich nations continue to be defaulters in terms of their collective pledge to extend financial support to developing countries to fight the menace of climate change, a new report from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday said climate ambition in the Global South cannot be unlocked without financial system reforms. It flagged that the multilateral development banks, an important source of concessional finance, are risk-averse and provide 80% of the climate finance as loans, which worsens the debt crisis. The report - Beyond Climate Finance - comes just before the international summit on New Global Financial Pact which will be kicked off in Paris from Thursday. Flagging the report, the New Delhi-based environmental think tank CSE said, "Climate finance is not going where it is needed the most". Elaborating it further, Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, said, "We know that current climate finance is inadequate. We agree that the US $100 billion a year pledged in 2009 is too little, too late. But what we do not know and rarely discuss is that whatever is being given in the name of climate finance is not concessional – in the period 2011-20, only about 5% was given as grants and the rest were loans or equity." Developing countries need climate finance not just to adapt themselves from the climate crisis but also for transition towards a low carbon emission growth path. But most of the amount which they received was not concessional -- money given on favourable terms such as grants or low interest loans. The CSE report underlined that only 16% of total climate finance can be termed as concessional even as emerging economies and developing countries (other than China) will need US $1 trillion in external finance by 2030 to meet their respective climate action goals. "The money that is flowing towards climate projects is heavily concentrated in North America, Western EU and East Asia (predominantly China). This is where most of the growth in clean energy investment has been concentrated as well. So, the money is not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries," said Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE. The report pointed out that developing countries face other financial handicaps that hinder their climate ambition -- such as a growing debt crisis. "Data from Debt Justice, an UK-based non-profit, shows that in 2023, 91 of the poorest countries made external debt-service payments averaging 16.3% of their government revenues," said the CSE, noting that many low and middle-income countries pay more in annual debt servicing costs than what they would need to spend annually to achieve their goals.

Money to fight climate crisis not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries: CSE

NEW DELHI: At a time when the rich nations continue to be defaulters in terms of their collective pledge to extend financial support to developing countries to fight the menace of climate change, a new report from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday said climate ambition in the Global South cannot be unlocked without financial system reforms. It flagged that the multilateral development banks, an important source of concessional finance, are risk-averse and provide 80% of the climate finance as loans, which worsens the debt crisis. The report - Beyond Climate Finance - comes just before the international summit on New Global Financial Pact which will be kicked off in Paris from Thursday. Flagging the report, the New Delhi-based environmental think tank CSE said, "Climate finance is not going where it is needed the most". Elaborating it further, Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, said, "We know that current climate finance is inadequate. We agree that the US $100 billion a year pledged in 2009 is too little, too late. But what we do not know and rarely discuss is that whatever is being given in the name of climate finance is not concessional – in the period 2011-20, only about 5% was given as grants and the rest were loans or equity." Developing countries need climate finance not just to adapt themselves from the climate crisis but also for transition towards a low carbon emission growth path. But most of the amount which they received was not concessional -- money given on favourable terms such as grants or low interest loans. The CSE report underlined that only 16% of total climate finance can be termed as concessional even as emerging economies and developing countries (other than China) will need US $1 trillion in external finance by 2030 to meet their respective climate action goals. "The money that is flowing towards climate projects is heavily concentrated in North America, Western EU and East Asia (predominantly China). This is where most of the growth in clean energy investment has been concentrated as well. So, the money is not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries," said Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE. The report pointed out that developing countries face other financial handicaps that hinder their climate ambition -- such as a growing debt crisis. "Data from Debt Justice, an UK-based non-profit, shows that in 2023, 91 of the poorest countries made external debt-service payments averaging 16.3% of their government revenues," said the CSE, noting that many low and middle-income countries pay more in annual debt servicing costs than what they would need to spend annually to achieve their goals.

Debt crises in Global South debilitating fight against climate change: Report

These are also the countries that need finance for the climate transition to help them develop, without adding significantly to the stock of greenhouse emissions. Sunita Narain, director general, CSE said most of the money given is not free or cheap - its given as loans or investments instead of grants, which means countries have to pay it back. Many low and middle-income countries are spending more money on debt payments than on meeting their climate goals, delaying their transition to green economies, a new report says. The report by environmental think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) comes as world leaders gather in Paris for a two-day summit to discuss reforms of the international financial system to better tackle poverty and climate change. The report titled 'Beyond climate finance' argues that historical inequalities have made developing countries dependent on imports of food, energy, and goods. High debts have limited their capabilities to spend on development and climate. Floods in Pakistan in 2022 and cyclone Pam in Vanuatu in 2015 caused damages worth 9 per cent and 64 per cent of their respective GDPs. Developing nations often lack sufficient funds for social and environmental projects, and rely on foreign debt to support essential activities. The report said debt payments for low-income countries are at their highest since 1998, with an average external debt service payment of 16.3 per cent of government revenue in 2023. ''Debt burden exceeds the annual cost of achieving the NDC for many low and middle-income countries; it is plausible that their climate ambition is being hindered by debt obligations,'' it said. Avantika Goswami, programme manager, climate change, CSE, said losses and damage due to climate change are mostly concentrated in developing countries. ''These are also the countries that need finance for the climate transition to help them develop, without adding significantly to the stock of greenhouse emissions.'' Sunita Narain, director general, CSE said most of the money given is not free or cheap - it's given as loans or investments instead of grants, which means countries have to pay it back. This is a problem because the countries that need the money the most can't afford to pay it back. ''In the 2011-20 period, only about 5 per cent was given as grants and the rest were loans or equity. It is then no surprise that what is termed as climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most,'' she said. Seventy-five per cent of all the climate finance in the decade 2011–2020 was concentrated in North America, western Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, primarily led by China. Regions where the majority of low and middle-income countries are located received less than 25 per cent of climate finance flows, the CSE report says, citing data from Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a San Francisco-based independent climate policy organisation. Shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic have stretched domestic spending capabilities of developing countries. For gas-dependent developing countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the energy crisis driven by the Russian war on Ukraine left them unable to afford the LNG supplies needed to keep the power running, and hindered the industry's aspiration to switch from coal to gas in countries like India, the CSE said. According to CPI, only 16 per cent of the total climate finance that flowed in the 2011-2020 period can be termed as concessional – money given on favourable terms such as grants or low-interest loans. This means the rest 84 per cent of climate finance was provided as loans on market rates which poor and developing countries clearly cannot afford. The CSE report said accessing money for climate investments is costlier for developing countries because they are perceived to have a more ''high-risk environment'' due to socio-economic challenges and limited resources. This means higher interest rates on loans and higher expected returns on equity. This makes deployment of green technologies -- which are newer and require more upfront capital investment -- up to seven times costlier in emerging and developing countries than in Europe and the United States, reducing its economic attractiveness. Goswami said multilateral development banks (MDBs), an important source of concessional finance, are risk-averse and provide 80 per cent of the climate finance as loans, which worsens the debt crisis. Also, MDBs' mandate is being expanded to make financial flows ''Paris-aligned'', which could be paternalistic and may narrow funding streams to developing countries, she said. ''Now, when we view the pressure to decarbonise within the context of larger systemic financial barriers, it looks like the walls are closing in from all sides for the Global South. It is unacceptable that it is being said at UNFCCC forums that developing countries do not want to take on climate ambition. ''The reality is that most of them simply cannot afford it. This system is broken and needs urgent reform. Climate ambition cannot be unlocked whilst operating in a financial system that is inequitable by design,'' Narain said. The report suggests some solutions. One is that developing countries need more money that they don't have to pay back, and that this money should be easier to get. They also say that the rules for lending money should be fairer to middle-income countries. The CSE said that decisions about who gets the money should be made together, instead of being decided by a few powerful countries and that it's important to stop creating more debt and to find ways to solve the existing debt problems.

Climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most – report

India-based Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) latest report has revealed that the US $100 billion a year pledged in 2009 is too little, too late and inadequate to address issues of climate change. The report said, what is rarely discussed is that whatever is offered in the name of climate money is not concessional, with just around 5% distributed as grants and the rest as loans or equity from 2011 to 2020. “It is then no surprise that what is termed as climate finance is not going to the countries where it is needed the most,” said Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). According to a new CSE analysis, climate ambition in the Global South cannot be realized without financial sector reforms. The report comes only days before the international summit on the New Global Financial Pact begins in Paris. Narain was speaking at a recent webinar when CSE released its latest research, Beyond climate financing. The webinar, which featured worldwide experts, and the research preceded the two-day summit for a new worldwide financial pact, which will begin today, June 22, 2023, in Paris, France. The CSE report stated that developing countries confront additional financial challenges that impede their climate ambitions, such as a growing debt crisis. According to data from Debt Justice, a UK-based non-profit, 91 of the poorest countries made external debt-service payments average 16.3 percent of their government revenues in 2023. According to the analysis, many low and middle-income nations pay more in annual debt servicing costs than they would need to spend to meet their NDC targets. Avantika Goswami, CSE’s project manager for climate change said, poor countries are the places where losses and harm from climate change are concentrated. “These are also the countries that need finance for the climate transition to help them develop, without adding significantly to the stock of greenhouse emissions.” Goswami expanded on Narain’s statement that just 16% of overall climate finance is concessional – money offered on favorable terms such as grants or low-interest loans. “The money that is flowing towards climate projects is heavily concentrated in North America, Western EU and East Asia predominantly China. This is where most of the growth in clean energy investment has been concentrated as well. So, the money is not going to the poorest, most vulnerable countries.” Goswami also indicated that, emerging economies and developing countries other than China will require $1 trillion in foreign credit by 2030. According to Goswami, developing countries suffer excessively high capital costs, particularly for green technologies, which reduces the economic viability of clean energy investment in these countries, despite the fact that they have abundant renewable resources. The report also talked about multilateral development banks (MDBs), a major source of concessional finance, and that they are risk-averse and deliver 80% of climate finance as loans, exacerbating the debt crisis. “There is also limited eligibility for middle-income countries to access concessional finance. To add to this, MDBs’ mandate is being expanded to make financial flows ‘Paris-aligned’; this could be paternalistic and impose top-down criteria that may narrow funding streams to developing countries,” said the CSE report. Concerning the pressure to decarbonize, Narain stated that, in the context of larger systemic financial barriers, it appears that the walls are closing in on the Global South from all sides, adding that it is unacceptable to say at UNFCCC forums that developing countries do not want to take on climate ambition. “The reality is that most of them simply cannot afford it. This system is broken and needs urgent reform. Climate ambition cannot be unlocked whilst operating in a financial system that is inequitable by design.” According to the report, the Global South requires extra and concessional financing flows for climate mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. Existing financing pools cannot be repackaged by clever accounting, hence ‘additionality’ is critical. The ‘divide and conquer technique’ against the poor must be abandoned. Middle-income countries should have greater access to concessional financing and debt relief. It said that the Paris Agreement on Global Finance cannot be used to undermine national sovereignty and reduce critical funding flows for development. “We need a multilateral, rules-based approach to solving the debt crisis, and we must stop the creation of new debt. We cannot rely on the private sector to solve climate change—climate action is a public good.” Experts at CSE are looking forward to 2023, a year in which civil society and scholars will increase pressure and demand urgent systemic reforms for the Global South.

Heat Waves in India unleash deadly contaminant

India is no stranger to pollution, with consistent warnings being given to the population by experts globally, regarding the tight living quarters in cities such as Delhi, and the overwhelming levels of toxins being released from various vehicles in the busy streets. A lesser-known, but incredibly deadly contaminant is often overlooked by professionals when discussing pollution in the country – ozone. Ozone is created when small particles or droplets of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds such as benzene – which is found in gasoline – react under high heat and sunlight. Recent Heat Waves sweeping across India and its crowded cities have led to an increase in the formation of Ozone, demanding a response from health professionals in the area. “Even an hour of exposure can give you very poor health outcomes,” says Avikal Somvanshi, a researcher at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi. A 2022 study estimates that ozone killed more than 400,000 people worldwide in 2019, up 46 per cent since 2000. And according to the State of Global Air Report 2020, it is in India where the number of ozone deaths has increased the most over the past decade. Fire & Safety teams in the region must be prepared for individuals to require immediate respiratory recovery and be aware themselves of pollutants in the air affecting their ability to operate.

शहर मेंजल्द संचालित होगा एफएसटीपी

मंगलवार को नगर पालिका परिसर मेंअमृत योजना के तहत बनाए गए एफएसटीपी प्लांट संचालन के लिए बैठक आयोजित की गई। बैठक मेंपालिकाध्यक्ष नेप्लांट संचालन मंगलवार को नगर पालिका परिसर मेंअमृत योजना के तहत बनाए गए एफएसटीपी प्लांट संचालन के लिए बैठक आयोजित की गई। बैठक में पालिकाध्यक्ष नेप्लांट संचालन को गंभीरता सेलेतेहुए जनता को जागरूक करनेके लिए रूपरेखा तैयार की। शहर के देवहा नदी के किनारेबनेमल एवं गाद प्रबंधन के बारेमेंपालिकाध्यक्ष डा.आस्था अग्रवाल और कर्मियों के बारेमेंसेंटर फॉर साइंस एंडएं एनवायरनमेंट के कार्यक्रम अधिकारी इंजीनियर मनीष मिश्रा नेविस्तार पूर्वक जानकारी दी। उन्होंनेबताया घरों मेबनेसेप्टिक टैंक को हर तीन साल मे साफ करना जरूरी होता है। वरना यह पानी को प्रदूषित करता है। उन्होंनेबताया प्लांट संचालक सेमशीन के माध्यम सेसेप्टिक टैंक साफ करा जाएगा और प्लांट मेंलेजाकर खाद बनाई जाएगी। पालिकाध्यक्ष डॉ.आस्था अग्रवाल मेंकर्मियों को निर्देश दिए कि लोगों मेंजागरूकता लानेके लिए स्कूल, कॉलेज और कोचिंग सेंटर मेंकार्यक्रम आयोजित किए जाएंगे एं । ताकि लोग सेप्टिक टैंक साफ करनेके लिए जागरूक हो सके। बैठक मेपालिका ईओ व देवेंद्र सिंह, जल निगल के एई प्रवीण, सफाई निरीक्षक सहित पालिका का अन्य स्टाफ मौजूद रहा।

Heat Waves Are Unleashing a Deadly but Overlooked Pollutant

Indian cities, afflicted by rising temperatures and poor air quality, are becoming hot spots of ozone pollution, which has proven a difficult problem to fix. LUTYENS’ DELHI IS one of the most iconic neighborhoods of India’s capital. Home to the country’s parliament, numerous embassies, and a lush, 90-acre Mughal-era park, it’s an architectural paradise, connected by tree-lined streets and roundabouts with mini-gardens. Yet despite being one of the city’s most refined districts, this clean, green neighborhood is home to something sinister. It is a hot spot for a dangerous and overlooked air pollutant: ozone. India is no stranger to pollution, with many of its cities reporting some of the worst air quality in the world. Every winter, New Delhi gets shrouded in smog for days. But discussions about air pollution and policies to mitigate it mostly focus on particulate matter: PM2.5 and PM10—small particles or droplets that are only a few microns in diameter. However, scientists are increasingly raising the alarm about surface ozone. It’s a secondary pollutant that isn’t released from any source, forming naturally when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds—such as benzene, which is found in gasoline, or methane—react under high heat and sunlight. This makes ozone a particularly ugly modern threat—a problem that arises where pollution and climate change coincide. “Even an hour of exposure can give you very poor health outcomes,” says Avikal Somvanshi, a researcher at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi. While ozone is beneficial in the high atmosphere, where it absorbs ultraviolet radiation, down on Earth’s surface, concentrations of it can be deadly. Data on its impacts is patchy, but a 2022 study estimates that ozone killed more than 400,000 people worldwide in 2019, up 46 percent since 2000. And according to the State of Global Air Report 2020, it is in India where the number of ozone deaths has increased the most over the past decade. Ozone wreaks havoc in the respiratory tract. The gas can “inflame and damage airways” and “aggravate lung diseases like asthma,” warns the US Environmental Protection Agency. It does this by affecting the cilia, the microscopic hair-like structures that line the airways to help protect them, explains Karthik Balajee, a clinician and community medicine specialist based in Karaikal, India. After exposure “we are more prone to respiratory infections,” he says, adding that inhaling ozone also affects lung capacity. Studies show that long-term exposure is associated with an increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe, and increases the risk of dying from other cardiovascular or respiratory conditions. Even short-term exposure can land you in the emergency room. “One or two days following a peak in ozone, there have been increases in hospital admissions due to respiratory problems,” says Balajee. Delhi and other major Indian cities see spikes in ozone throughout the year, but particularly during summer heat waves, which have become increasingly common due to climate change. The World Health Organization says that exposure to ozone in the air, across an eight-hour period, shouldn’t exceed 50 parts per billion; India’s air quality standard says this WHO limit shouldn’t be broken on more than eight days a year, and not on two consecutive days. But analysis by Somvanshi and his colleagues has found that ozone has already exceeded limits in Delhi and its surrounding areas on 87 days between March and May this year. And they’ve seen similar results over the past three summers. And while the number of monitoring stations recording a breach of the ozone threshold was fewer this year than in previous years, the duration of the exceedance was higher. “We are not even close to compliance with the standard,” says Somvanshi. Part of what’s driving this problem is ozone’s complicated relationship with other air pollutants. Ozone formation is a cyclic reaction, meaning that after it’s generated by reactions between air pollutants, ozone gets converted back to oxygen when it reacts again with pollutants in the air, such as oxides of nitrogen. But if those pollutants are not present after ozone has formed, it lingers. That’s why ozone levels shot up during India’s Covid-19 lockdown in the summer of 2020, when traffic screeched to a halt—the air pollutants needed to convert it back to oxygen weren’t being produced. It’s also why ozone is often found in green neighborhoods like Lutyens’ Delhi—because their air is cleaner, reactions that get rid of the ozone don’t take place. FEATURED VIDEO Climate Scientist Answers Earth Questions From Twitter MOST POPULAR The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online GEAR The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online MARTIN CIZMAR The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) GEAR The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) MEDEA GIORDANO Humans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’ SECURITY Humans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’ THOR BENSON What the Truck, Elon? GEAR What the Truck, Elon? LAUREN GOODE ADVERTISEMENT Controlling particulate pollution is relatively simple—you just regulate its sources, such as vehicles and crop burning. Reducing ozone levels is harder. “Our prediction of how ozone might respond to pollutant changes or emission changes is complicated by environmental factors,” says Steve Arnold, professor of atmospheric composition at the University of Leeds. When trying to drive levels down, everything depends on the exact mixture of the different precursor pollutants in the air, he says. Reducing precursor gasses is one way to reduce ozone formation. But bring them down too much and you won’t have any left to neutralize the ozone that’s already present. This is exactly what has happened in China, says Arnold, where stringent policies have reduced PM2.5 pollution in recent decades but the ozone problem has worsened. “There’s a delicate balance that needs to be made,” says Somvanshi. At present, particulate matter is India’s focus, and rightly so—it’s a bigger problem. According to Arnold’s research, 900,000 deaths in India each year are linked to PM2.5, with 374,000 linked to ozone. But in the future, we should worry more about ozone, Arnold says. He has modeled how ozone pollution in India might look in the coming years. “If you go to 2050, then the health impacts from particulate matter and the health impacts from ozone pollution become much more similar in magnitude,” he says. One reason is that researchers believe pollution control policies in the future will be more successful in mitigating particulate matter than ozone. Arnold’s study estimated that by 2050, India could see more than a million premature deaths a year linked to ozone exposure if there is no change in emissions. Even under a strict pollution control policy, premature deaths due to ozone were estimated to be 791,000—more than twice as many as in 2015. While the gas is a problem in other countries, it is India’s poor air quality and increasingly common heat waves that makes ozone a particularly grave threat there. And for Arnold, how the country will evolve is concerning: India will have both a growing and aging population in the coming decades—meaning more people will be exposed to ozone, and in particular, more who are vulnerable. And it’s not just human health that is damaged. Ozone also threatens food security by causing plant yields to “reduce drastically,” says Madhoolika Agrawal, a professor in the department of botany at Banaras Hindu University. Ozone enters plants through small pores on their leaves, explains Agrawal, and then kills cells by oxidizing them. Leaves then start yellowing and the plant is unable to photosynthesize. India’s wheat crop is particularly vulnerable. The country is a major producer and aspires to be a top exporter—yet studies show it loses millions of tons of wheat and rice annually to ozone. In fact, a 2021 paper shows that ozone affects the yield and seed quality of all major crops in India. Current policies are “insufficient in reducing crop loss to ozone,” its authors write. MOST POPULAR The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online GEAR The 17 Best (and Worst) Mattresses You Can Buy Online MARTIN CIZMAR The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) GEAR The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work (and Life) MEDEA GIORDANO Humans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’ SECURITY Humans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’ THOR BENSON What the Truck, Elon? GEAR What the Truck, Elon? LAUREN GOODE ADVERTISEMENT At present, Somvanshi says India is “not doing anything” about ozone, and that the way the country’s Central Pollution Control Board monitors the toxic gas is flawed. The CPCB caps ozone pollution measurement at 200 micrograms per cubic meter—above that, the measurement software just records a blank cell in the data sheet. “We don’t really know exactly how severe the problem gets,” says Somvanshi, comparing the situation to checking someone’s fever using a thermometer that can only go up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The CPCB also reports ozone levels after averaging values at all the monitoring stations in a city, which Somvanshi calls a “disaster” because ozone is a hyperlocal pollutant. “Within the city, there is a massive variation and if you average it out, it will always be below the standard,” he says. WIRED reached out to the CPCB for comment but did not receive any response. And while ozone monitoring infrastructure is robust in the capital region—Delhi and its five satellite cities have nearly 60 stations—more than 200 Indian cities don’t monitor ozone at all. The rest only have one or two ozone monitoring stations, which is basically “useless” says Somvanshi, because of the localized nature of the gas. A quick way to mitigate the problem would be to issue targeted local ozone alerts, he says. In the US, for example, health advisories during periods of high ozone pollution warn residents to not go to refuel their cars when it is sunny outside, because petrol or diesel can evaporate to form volatile organic compounds that can further increase ozone formation. India could do something similar. Somvanshi suggests that factories could also be directed to operate during the evening or nighttime. That way, any nitrogen oxides they release wouldn’t be converted into ozone because there’s no sunlight. To reduce the precursor gasses, Arnold says the government should encourage “policies that can limit motor vehicle emissions in cities.” As for addressing the threat to food security, Agrawal says farmers could choose crop varieties that are less susceptible to ozone. Some plants show resilience, she says, and by cross-breeding we could get crops that are less affected by it. Another solution could be to plant crops during seasons when ozone levels are low, like during the monsoon, but that’s not possible for all plants. Above all, Arnold says, the Indian government should “take the time to understand the potential consequences of emission reductions” and learn from what happened in China. Use “modeling to try and predict the response you might get to emission control policies,” he advises. Ozone pollution, he says, cannot be ignored anymore. https://www.cseindia.org/delhi-ncr-hit-by-summer-ozone-once-again-but-levels-lower-than-previous-summers-cse-analysis-11745