• Down To Earth

The villagers with no option but to drink toxic water

River pollution is plaguing India, and experts warn it is causing a deadly crisis that threatens the country’s health and prosperity The Damodar river darkens as it snakes through lush forest, tall maize fields and thatched villages. The rain water that first falls on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in central India has turned a viscous black by the time it is scooped up into Tuklal Mahto’s bucket. Containing swirling ashes, household waste and animal carcasses, the river might seem an unlikely place for Mr Mahto to source his drinking water. Living in Jarangdih, a village in central Jharkhand, he has no choice. “We have used this water for drinking and bathing since I was a small child,” the 60-year-old told the Telegraph. “But the numbers of people getting sick from using the water are increasing and we don’t have any other alternative. We have lived in this area for generations, our homes are here.” Mr Mahto and his family are far from alone. Across the country, hundreds of millions of people are exposed to river pollution, in a largely silent crisis that experts say is a threat to the country’s health and prosperity. Tuklal Mehto, 60, contracted typhoid after drinking water from the polluted Damodar river and still suffers debilitating stomach pain every day Tuklal Mehto, 60, contracted typhoid after drinking water from the polluted Damodar river Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph The rivers have become “a toxic cocktail that is proving increasingly deadly,” Anshuman, director for Water Resources at the Energy and Resources Institute, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, told the Telegraph. In Jarangdih, smoke billows in the distance. Mr Mahto’s state is the most mineral rich in India, home to one third of the country’s coal reserves, and several of India’s largest coal-fed power plants are just a few miles away. But many of the factories thronging the Damodar river bank still dispose of untreated liquid waste from manufacturing in poorly concealed pipes, which run directly into the river’s channel. Experts say river pollution poses a grave threat to India’s health and prosperity Experts say river pollution poses a grave threat to India’s health and prosperity Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph Large mountains of ash – a byproduct of local power stations and mining companies that illegally extract sand from the river beds to use in construction – are also dumped into the river to save money. These issues are not unique to Jharkhand, and contamination is not only generated by power plants and factories. India’s population has soared from around 870 million in 1990 to 1.38 billion, and successive governments have struggled to scale up infrastructure to meet growing demands. A child plays near the Damodar river A child plays near the Damodar river Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph In June 2022, a study from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found at least one heavy metal in quantities toxic to human health in three quarters of 764 monitoring stations, across 117 of India’s major rivers. Meanwhile, half of the stations also detected levels of coliform bacteria hazardous to human life, indicating the presence of untreated human sewage in rivers. This is unsurprising; at least 50 per cent of sewage generated is still not treated and is directly discharged into waterways. “Every country in the world faces challenges with pollution but India is a huge country, with a high population density and a high rate of urbanisation,” said Nitin Bassi, programme lead for the water team at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based think tank. “Of course, therefore, the scale of the problem in India is much bigger than other nations.” Locals wash, fish and play in the shadow of the Bokaro Thermal Power Plant on the Konar river, a tributary of the Damodar Locals wash, fish and play in the shadow of the Bokaro Thermal Power Plant on the Konar river, a tributary of the Damodar Credit: Simon Townsley Mounting evidence has laid bare a huge hit to the country’s health and economy. The United Nations estimates more Indians die prematurely due to the impacts of environmental pollution annually than in any other country. According to Niti Aayog, an Indian government public policy think tank, roughly 200,000 Indians lose their lives every year due to health problems caused by drinking polluted water, but experts say this is likely a significant underestimate. “I suspect the official figures are just the tip of the iceberg and sickness caused by river pollution is much, much bigger than we realise,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, the Director of the One Health Trust, a leading global public health think tank. At least 50 per cent of India's sewage is untreated and discharged into waterways At least 50 per cent of India's sewage is untreated and discharged into waterways Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph “Villages alongside rivers are often populated by tribal communities and these are not vocal communities that can stand up for themselves,” he added. Studies have repeatedly shown that prolonged exposure to heavy metals in drinking water, like arsenic or cadmium, significantly increase the chances of developing a type of cancer, including gastric. It also heightens the probability of developing liver and kidney disease, as well as pregnant women suffering a miscarriage or the unborn baby developing a neurological condition. A cremation is carried out on the banks of the Damodar river, Jharkhand, in accordance with Hindu tradition A cremation is carried out on the banks of the Damodar river, Jharkhand, in accordance with Hindu tradition Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph “In Jharkhand, and across many parts of India, we see the dumping of solid waste into rivers which mixes with industrial effluents and residual pesticides from farming to create a toxic cocktail that is proving increasingly deadly,” said Mr Anshuman. “The levels of pollution in some stretches of Indian rivers are many times higher than the recommended levels. “We have already seen a rise in the number of people suffering from cancers who live close to heavily polluted water sources areas in certain parts of the country, and this may increase unless an integrated approach to water pollution management is timely adopted,” he added. A Jarangdih villager washes in heavily polluted river water A Jarangdih villager washes in heavily polluted river water Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph Consuming polluted water also means India’s affected citizens will take more regular sick days and are less productive at work when they do return. The health costs relating to water pollution cost the country’s economy up to £7.5 billion per year, according to a World Bank study in 2013, while the release of pollution upstream reduces GDP growth in downstream settlements by a third. “We have to understand that data on worsening river pollution in India does not support the fact that existing waste disposal or river clean up is working,” said Mr Bassi. In Jarangdih, Mr Mahto is well aware of the risks posed by drinking the river water, but says residents have no choice as successive politicians have reneged on a promise to install a drinking water pipeline. Last year, Mr Mahto contracted typhoid and was lucky to survive after the infection left him bed bound for weeks and he still endures debilitating stomach pains every day. “The pain still wakes me up before dawn every day and I feel completely weak. I feel hopeless when I think about my future,” he said. The rivers have become “a toxic cocktail that is proving increasingly deadly The rivers have become ‘a toxic cocktail that is proving increasingly deadly’ Credit: Simon Townsley He’s not alone. Everywhere you look in Jarangdih it appears there is a health crisis that could be linked to unclean water. Most households contain at least one resident stricken from a gastrointestinal issue and each morning, the village’s inhabitants coat their skin in talcum powder – otherwise, they will suffer from itching all day, blamed on washing in the river. Several miles downstream from Jarangdih is the small village of Jaridih Bazar Basti, where the economy has taken a hit due pollution. Wiping sweat from his brow as he dismounts his tractor, Vijay Matho, 38, laments another poor harvest. This year, his wheat crop turned red. He used river water to irrigate his crops but it contained high levels of arsenic – and he was forced to discard 25 per cent of his yield. Fisherman Maula Mistry says he can no longer afford to buy essential food and medicines Fisherman Maula Mistry says he can no longer afford to buy essential food and medicines Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph Several houses down, Maula Mistry struggles to untangle a net. A fisherman, he can no longer afford to treat the chronic weakness he says he developed following a previous malaria infection as increasing river pollution means there is usually no catch to sell. “The river has become much more yellow and black since I was young and most of the animals have died,” he said. “I used to eat mutton once every week and now I haven’t eaten it in over a year. I have also had to withdraw my two grandchildren from their private school because our family can’t afford the fees.” India has already implemented a succession of policies aimed at curbing water pollution, but the problem lies in their enforcement. Factories and power plants, for example, are banned from emitting or discharging pollutants in excess of Indian government limitations or their owners can face a prison term of up to five years. Increasing river pollution means fewer catch to sell Increasing river pollution means fewer catch to sell Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph But, in a country the size of India, enforcement and monitoring are sporadic. “Factories pretend to be following the rules when inspectors come to visit or ahead of local elections but then carry on polluting the rest of the time,” said an environmental activist in Jharkhand, who did not wish to be named for fear of reprisals. “It is difficult to say exactly but I would estimate that around 90 percent of factories here are dumping their waste in the rivers.” Few fish survive in the polluted waters Few fish survive in the polluted waters Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph Corruption is also endemic in Jharkhand. Local politicians often own factories themselves or face enormous pressure from big business, sometimes with links to organised crime, not to punish organisations for breaking pollution rules. Public sector salaries remain low across India and this means many officials are known to take lucrative bribes to turn a blind eye to polluters. Mr Bassi sympathises with the scale of the clean up that the Indian government faces, but he said tighter penalties must be implemented for polluters and a priority must be placed on scaling up sewage treatment facilities, particularly outside of India’s major cities. An ongoing £2.6 billion clean-up of the River Ganges, which was made a policy priority by the government in 2014 and expected to be completed in 2023, could also provide a potential blueprint for other heavily polluted rivers in the country. A farmer who used river water to irrigate his crops was forced to discard 25 per cent of his yield A farmer who used river water to irrigate his crops was forced to discard 25 per cent of his yield Credit: Simon Townsley/The Telegraph The Ganges is considered sacred to India’s majority Hindu population and the river basin is home to 400 million people. Back in Jarangdih, residents are calling for action now – fearful of what worsening river pollution will do to the village’s next generation. “The river has definitely gotten dirtier in recent years. The water is so dusty and polluted that it is making all of the children sick,” said Mr Mahto. “We don’t have any money to migrate so we are stuck here drinking this garbage water.”

• Industrial Pollution

To Price or not to Price? Making a Case for a Carbon Pricing Mechanism for India

The 2021 Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) propelled nations to ramp up their climate targets and the concomitant Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the updated NDCs and the announced pledges for 2030 remain insufficient and poorly aligned with the targets of the Paris Agreement. The reduction in projected 2030 emissions is estimated to be 7.5 percent—far lower than the 30 percent required to limit warming to 2°C, and the 55 percent which is ideal to remain within the 1.5°C target. Many analysts had posited that the COVID-19 pandemic was a unique opportunity to conflate the recovery process with the green agenda and accelerate the decarbonisation process. Yet, the resulting emission reduction in 2020 was transient in its effects, and the urgency and scale of the impending climate crises demands increased ambition and cooperation to drive the green transition imperative. This paper explores the role of carbon pricing as an effective instrument in the domestic and international climate policy architecture. There is a broad consensus among economists that climate change is a product of both market and policy failure.[1] That the cost of emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) is not reflected in the price of goods and services, and allows ‘free-riding’ on climate as an input for economic activity is indicative of an egregious market failure.[2] It perpetuates the linkage between fossil fuel consumption and economic growth.[3] Further, poor incentives for potential innovators and the inadequacy of public infrastructure, energy networks, and finance have impeded investments in research, development and deployment of clean technology. Among public policy failures, fossil fuel subsidies and a distortionary tax system are most consequential.[4] Effective climate change policies will be instrumental in reversing the trend. Carbon pricing is considered a cost-effective measure to internalise the externalities associated with CO2 emissions and maximise emission reduction per dollar at the lowest possible cost to producers, consumers, and taxpayers.[5] Putting a price on carbon internalises the social cost of carbon, and compels companies to adjust their investment portfolio and production methods while encouraging consumers to alter behavioural patterns.[6] It embodies a laissez faire ideology offering a market-friendly mechanism that allows firms and consumers the flexibility to choose between the costs of cutting emissions and the benefits accrued from continuing to emit—and this ensures maximisation of environmental benefit at the least cost.[7] The idea of a price internalising externalities dates back to a century ago when the economist Arthur Pigou argued in ‘The Economics of Welfare’ (1920), that individuals (and firms) will continue to take actions with little regard to the costs imposed or benefits conferred on others, unless the cost to individuals incorporate a social cost of an act. A Pigouvian tax on carbon, therefore, ensures that the cost of emitting GHGs is reflected in the price of the commodity or service.[8] A carbon price is deemed as an effective tool to incentivise future investment, consumption and innovation towards sustainable and climate-friendly pathways, and support a sustainable pandemic recovery. In 2021, approximately USD 84 billion was recorded in carbon pricing revenue, almost 60-percent higher than in 2020, as a result of higher carbon prices, increased auctioning from emissions trading, and revenue from new instruments. Moreover, carbon pricing can be a useful fiscal tool and a prominent source of augmenting government revenues.[9] Typical carbon pricing policies allocate government revenues in three ways: investment in climate-related clean technologies, general budget, and income tax cuts or rebates.[10] Estimates suggest that investments in sustainable industries can generate jobs three times of the full-time jobs from government spending in fossil fuels.[11] In the context of developing economies, these investments become particularly critical for supporting vulnerable sectors and communities to adapt to climate change and achieve just transitions.[12] Pre-emptively, designing effective domestic climate policies inclusive of carbon pricing mechanisms—such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism—can also help offset the implications of border tariffs. This idea is increasingly being considered among developed nations as a protectionist strategy to avoid carbon leakage. This paper seeks to explore the increasing role of carbon pricing as an effective instrument in climate policy. Carbon pricing, within an integrated policy mix, has been propounded as a cost-effective and efficient tool to achieve both economic and environmental benefits. In the case of India, the relevance of carbon markets has been underlined by the recent Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which is momentous in its scope, empowering the government to establish a carbon credit trading scheme and laying the ground for a formal carbon market that can be instrumental in India’s pathway towards a net-zero economy by 2070.[13] The paper aims to understand the landscape of global carbon pricing mechanisms, primarily carbon tax and emission trading systems, and draw on the global knowledge and experience to arrive at a suitable decarbonisation strategy for India using national carbon markets. The rest of the paper delineates the different approaches to pricing carbon; reviews the current global carbon pricing landscape; and outlines the measures undertaken by India to put an implicit price on carbon. It concludes with a proposed approach to a carbon pricing framework that would be most favourable to India. I. Approaches to Carbon Pricing There are different approaches to determine the most appropriate rate of carbon tax and is often based on the policy objectives and goals of the tax regime in a given jurisdiction. The tax rate could be determined using an abatement approach—which is the level of carbon emission reduction the country hopes to achieve—or the social cost of carbon approach which translates into the dollar value of damages incurred from emitting each additional metric ton of greenhouse gases. It could also be determined using the revenue approach, where the tax rate is based on the revenue considerations of the regulating authority or by simply following a benchmarking approach where the tax rate is linked with the rate in neighbouring jurisdictions, among trading partners or competitors.[14] Carbon pricing mechanisms are predicated on the basis that profit-making firms will continue to cut emissions to the point where the marginal abatement cost is lower than the social cost of carbon. To put this into perspective, the marginal abatement cost for an entity is the marginal cost of reducing each additional unit of emission and is contingent on various factors including the pace of low carbon technological innovation, cost of compliance, as well as the ability of firms and consumers to substitute low-carbon products for high-carbon ones.[15] The social cost of carbon for an entity is the marginal damage cost of a unit of emissions and presents the economic value associated with one extra unit of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.[16] A range of policy instruments, market or valuation based, can be leveraged to price carbon which can effectively lead to a carbon reduction pathway. These can be classified as an explicit or an implicit carbon pricing strategy, and include carbon tax, cap-and-trade scheme, emission reduction credits, clean energy standards, and fossil fuel subsidy reduction. Figure 1.[17] Source: The World Bank: State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021 1. Explicit Carbon Pricing Explicit carbon pricing is usually mandated by the government and imposes a price on the carbon content. It acts as a market signal for producers and consumers to move towards cleaner sources of production and consumption and encourage a more cost-effective carbon mitigation pathway. These can be achieved through carbon taxes and/or an ETS (emission trading system or cap-and-trade) which holds emitters responsible for their actions; carbon credits which creates a reward-like system for reducing carbon emissions; or via internal shadow pricing leveraged by companies to guide decision-making on investment. Contingent on the design, they render various benefits such as augmenting government revenues, creating green industries and jobs, encouraging low-carbon investment, enhancing energy efficiency and security, and improving air quality.[18] a. Carbon Tax A carbon tax imposes a fixed price on carbon (CO2 equivalent on GHG emissions) while the quantity of emission reduction is left to the market forces. The objective is to increase the cost of fossil fuel and provide an incentive for investments in fuel-switching strategies and energy-efficient technologies.[19] It can be applied at different points in the product cycle of fossil fuels, upstream (point of production/extraction), mid-stream (point of distribution), or downstream (point of consumption).[20] Considerations across price, emission coverage, point of taxation, allocation of revenue generated from the tax towards general public spending or specific emissions-reducing activities, and harmonisation across boundaries beyond the jurisdiction of the tax should be built into the design and reviewed periodically.[21] However, it is important to note that the market response to the price signal in the form of emission reductions is difficult to determine and estimate.[22] Carbon taxes have the potential to generate substantial fiscal revenues and the effectiveness of the instrument depends on the amount and use of the tax revenue. By reducing the existing distortionary taxes on labour and capital, it can help cushion the blow for low-income households and offset some of the policy’s social costs. Part of the revenue should also be channelled to fund research and development of climate-friendly technologies and desirable sustainability-linked programs.[23] b. Emission Trading System (ETS) In a cap-and-trade model, the government sets a limit (cap) on permissible emissions for different sectors in a particular compliance period and allowances are either auctioned or allocated as per criteria.[24] A hybrid approach of freely allocating emission allowances and auctioning is common in ETS markets. While the quantity/volume of emissions is regulated, the price is determined by the market supply and demand. During the compliance period, firms with lower abatement costs can sell their allowances in secondary markets to firms with higher abatement costs.[25] This allows emissions reductions at the least possible cost. Eventually, at the end of the compliance period, the allowances are to be surrendered to the government. Various factors should be considered in the design: the size and level of the emission cap, sectoral coverage, the scope of the cap’s coverage, point of taxation, whether to freely distribute or sell (auction) allowances, revenue distribution and management, monitoring, measurement and verification of emissions and allowances, cost containment measures, and impact on international competitiveness.[26] Similar to the carbon tax, the revenues generated from selling allowance certificates will augment fiscal revenues and can be used to reduce distortionary taxes or finance investments in clean-tech programs. Free allocation of allowances, on the other hand, allows the risk of potential “grandfathering” i.e., transferring the wealth, equivalent to the value of the allowance, to existing firms instead.[27] In an ETS, high or volatile allowance prices can undermine the efficacy of the policy. Therefore, certain cost containment measures are often undertaken by the government to prevent emission costs from overshooting or dipping beyond a threshold to avoid cost uncertainly and ensure economic stability and the competitiveness of firms. These include: offsets, allowance banking (reserve units to use in a future compliance period) and borrowing (using units allocated for a future compliance period), safety valves, price collars, and market stability reserves. An offset provision allows regulated entities to offset their own emission reduction with credits from emission reduction measures outside the scope of ETS coverage and can link the cap-and-trade system with an emission-reduction-credit system. Banking and Borrowing allows firms to trade their emissions across time horizons by allowing transfer of allowances to a future period (banking) or permitting future period allowances to be utilised pre-maturely. This allows firms the flexibility to prioritise across time frames to create the most cost-effective path to carbon reduction. Banking and borrowing define caps on cumulative emissions rather than on an annual basis. A safety valve is a price ceiling that puts an upper limit on the cost of tradable allowance with the government offering additional allowance at a predetermined trigger price. However, this measure can lead to aggregate emissions overshooting the emission cap. A price collar combines the ceiling of the safety valve with the price floor which sets minimum price for auctions or with the government agreeing to purchase allowance at a predetermined price. Cost Containment Reserve (CCR), a volume-based measure, transfers unallocated allowances to a reserve and these are removed or injected into the market if the number of total allowances in circulation is over or under a predetermined threshold. However, without careful planning, increasing certainty of mitigation cost through these containment measures can reduce certainty of the quantity of emissions abated.[28] Table 1. Carbon tax Vs. the ETS Note: Both systems internalise the cost of carbon by setting a price on emissions but differ in their approaches. Source: Author’s own. c. International Crediting Mechanisms/ Baseline and Credit system According to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol), industrialised countries with emission reduction targets (Annex B Party) can purchase certified emission reduction (CER) credits from developing countries, each credit equivalent to one tonne of CO2, to provide offsets if they are unable to comply with their Kyoto targets.[29] Emission credits are available to emitters who successfully reduce emissions below the designated limit; they can then trade and sell these credits in the international market. This is also referred to as the baseline and credit system which offers flexibility for an international cap-and-trade mechanism.[30] The Clean Development Mechanism is the international standardised emissions offset instrument governed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to facilitate the trade on the global scale. However, given the growing popularity of the carbon credit market, many independent (such as the Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard) and domestic standards (California Compliance Offset Program, Australia Emissions Reduction Fund, Republic of Korea Offset Credit Mechanism) have gained prominence and are dominating the market.[31] d. Internal Carbon Prices Corporations worldwide have started to acknowledge the critical role of incorporating climate risks and opportunities in their risk assessment frameworks and consider carbon price to be an effective instrument in guiding capital allocation and investment decision-making. Therefore, internal carbon pricing is being used voluntarily by companies and organisations as a pre-emptive move to safeguard against future shocks, measure exposure associated with climate related physical and transition risks, as well as prospective government regulations pertaining to carbon pricing. It is commonly done via shadow carbon pricing where a hypothetical carbon cost is associated with each ton of CO2 emissions. This helps identify and integrate climate-related risks and opportunities in the broad long-term strategies of a company and dictate capital allocation and investment decision-making processes by relying on an implicit price which is based on the offsets required to achieve internal carbon neutrality objectives.[32] 2. Implicit Carbon Pricing There are certain mandates or government policies that do not directly put a price on emitting carbon but set uniform performance standards for GHG abatement. They seek to address climate objectives of reducing GHG emissions by setting technology and performance-based standards as well as gradually eliminating fossil fuel subsidies to make energy-intensive products more expensive compared to their sustainable/renewable counterparts. a. Command-and-Control Regulations Conventional environmental policy employs technology and performance-based standards to control emission levels and protect environment quality. Technology-based standards require firms to use certain energy-efficient processes, equipment or procedures with no fixed targets on the volume of emission reduction. Meanwhile, performance-based standards specify permissible levels of pollutant emissions or allowable emission rates and leave the processes of emission reduction at the discretion of regulated entities.[33] By the very nature of such standard-based policy, given higher costs as well as poor incentives for the development and adoption of environmentally and economically superior technologies, the approach is limiting in its scope and impact. Incorporating market-based instruments within its fold can thus help overcome non-cost-effective outcomes. b. Clean Energy Standards A clean energy standard (CES) is a market-based and technology-neutral approach to encourage the power sector to switch to non- or low-emitting sources of energy. The industrial and commercial power consumers are mandated to meet a certain percentage of their power requirements from clean energy sources as a means to phase down dependence on fossil fuels. Given the challenging politics around pricing carbon, clean energy standards are often viewed as a cost-effective and politically palatable alternative to pricing carbon in the electricity sector. Firms that overachieve the clean energy standard targets or thresholds can receive energy saving certificates which can be traded in the energy exchange. This system is analogous to an ETS and relies on the market principles to reduce the energy intensity of high-carbon-emitting sectors in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.[34] c. Eliminating Fossil Fuel Subsidies Many countries provide heavy subsidies to fossil fuels to support their growth and development objectives. This becomes particularly critical for nations where innovation and growth in the renewable sector has yet to pick up pace. However, gradual elimination of fossil fuel subsidies can be an effective way to achieve an optimal price for the fuel as well as provide incentives for energy efficiency and fuel-switching technologies (comparable to implementing an explicit carbon price).[35] Fossil fuel subsidies are often termed as a “government failure”, exacerbating the conditions of a market failure. For some years now there has been a significant degree of agreement on phasing out these subsidies, while targeting support for the poor. A G20 Leaders’ summit in 2009 noted, “The economic and climate benefits of fossil fuel subsidy reform could be significant. Inefficient fossil fuel subsidies encourage wasteful consumption, reduce our energy security, impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change.”[36] II. Global Carbon Pricing Mechanisms: A Review Globally, 68 carbon pricing instruments (CPIs), including taxes and emissions trading systems (ETSs), are operating while three more are scheduled for implementation in the short term.[37] As this paper’s objective is to inform a national carbon pricing mechanism for India, the scope is limited to reviewing only carbon tax and ETS mechanisms. The selection of global carbon pricing mechanisms for review is purposeful to ensure representation from diverse geographies and varying timeframes of implementation to help identify best practices and learning opportunities. Tables 2 and 3 present a tabular comparison of supranational, national, and subnational level ETS systems of the European Union, China, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and China’s seven provinces- Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Guangdong, and Hubei. Table 4 presents a tabular comparison of international carbon tax systems of Argentina, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Mexico and Norway. Countries were selected to cover carbon pricing policies that varied in their sectoral coverage, point of taxation, allocation approaches, price containment measures, revenue redistribution and exemption mandates. Data for all three tables were sourced from the World Bank Carbon Pricing Dashboard. Table 2. Review of Global Emission Trading Systems (Supranational and National)[38] Note: tCO2e = ton (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e); GHG = Greenhouse gas emissions; N20 = Nitrous oxide PFCs = Perfluorochemicals; MtCO2e = Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; CH4 = Methane; NF3 = Nitrogen Trifluoride SF6 = Sulphur Hexafluoride; HFCs = Hydrofluorocarbons Source: World Bank Carbon Pricing Dashboard Table 3. Emission Trading System (Sub-National) Note: tCO2e = ton (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e); GHG = Greenhouse gas emissions; MtCO2e = Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent Source: World Bank Carbon Pricing Dashboard Table 4. Review of Global Carbon Tax Mechanisms Note: tCO2e = ton (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e); GHG = Greenhouse gas emissions; MtCO2e = Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; ktCO2e = kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent Source: World Bank Carbon Pricing Dashboard III. Implicit Carbon Pricing in India India does not impose an explicit carbon pricing mechanism but puts an implicit price on carbon through a series of measures and schemes that will be described in the following paragraphs: 1. Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme The PAT scheme (Perform, Achieve and Trade), introduced in 2012, is the flagship programme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India. The scheme holds some degree of resemblance with the market-based emission trading system (ETS) where certain energy-intensive industrial production units, identified as designated consumers (DC), with threshold energy consumption are allotted Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) reduction targets over a cycle of three years.[39] The units that exceed the targets are awarded Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts), each equal to one metric tonne of oil (MTOe),[40] as an incentive to implement energy-efficient technologies and overachieve these targets. DCs that are unable to meet these targets can purchase the difference in ESCerts from the units that have exceeded their targets. The ESCerts can be traded on two power exchanges, namely, Power Exchange Indian Limited (PXIL) and Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Failure to comply, either by their own actions or by buying the energy saving certificates, would result in the imposition of a prescribed penalty linked to the degree of non-compliance. The BEE has rolled out six PAT cycles as of 31 March, 2020 covering 1,073 DCs across 13 sectors including energy-intensive sectors of Aluminium, Cement, Chlor-Alkali, Fertiliser, Iron and Steel, Paper and Pulp, Thermal Power Plant, Textile, Railways, Refineries, and Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOMs), Petrochemicals, and Buildings.[41] In the financial year 2018-2019, the PAT scheme was responsible for nearly 63 percent of all energy efficiency savings and is projected to avoid almost 70 million tonnes of CO2 by March 2023.[42] However, the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) framework under PAT is not directly geared towards reducing CO2 but the potential unit of energy saved (expressed in tonnes of oil equivalent).[43] The ambition and long-term effectiveness of the PAT scheme has been questioned over issues of equity, leniency in targets, high transaction costs, low trading prices of EScerts, and rising energy prices which would have incentivised energy savings even in the absence of the PAT scheme.[44] The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in an analysis of the PAT scheme for thermal power plants, noted that the value of one ESCert was approximately INR 700 while INR 4,020 in investment was necessary for reducing energy equal to one TOE.[45] 2. Emission trading scheme on an air pollutant, i.e., respiratory solid particulate matter (RSPM) This is an innovative emission trading scheme on respiratory solid particulate matter, the first particulate trading system in the world. The scheme has been piloted in industrial clusters of three polluting states of Gujrat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. It is an attempt to shift away from the conventional command and control regulation. It mimics the EU-ETS model where pollution targets are set for areas based on ambient air quality standards and permits are allocated which can be traded, after verification, based on the gains and shortfalls from compliance. The scheme relies on a continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) for setting the baseline and verification purposes. CEMs is an intrinsic element in the scheme’s design as it provides real-time information and helps avoid issues pertaining to spot checking and/or spurious reporting by third party auditors.[46] For example, the Surat ETS began with two months of mock-trading, before its official launch in September 2019, to gain stakeholder support and allow capacity building. Eighty percent of the permits were allocated for free and the balance of 20 percent was auctioned via the Gujrat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) through the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange Limited e-market.[47] Similar to the PAT Scheme, industries have the financial incentive to invest in pollution-curbing technology. Over-achieving targets provides the opportunity to earn profits through the trading of emission permits at the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange.[48] A preliminary analysis of the pilot program found a 29-percent reduction in particulate matter from current levels, an increase in average industry profits, and fall in costs of reducing particulate emissions.[49] However, the long-term benefits of the pilot program are yet to be seen. 3. Carbon Cess In 2010, India introduced a carbon cess to be levied on coal, lignite, and peat in the form of an excise duty. The revenue from the cess was intended to feed into a National Clean Energy Fund to finance clean-energy projects and research. From 2010–11 to 2017–18, only 35 percent of the money collected from the cess was transferred to the Fund, of which almost half remained unutilised.[50] In 2017, with the introduction of the GST Compensation Cess, the carbon cess was abolished and the money collected through this new mechanism was instead reserved for compensating states for any revenue losses under GST. CO2 emitting products such as coal, kerosene, naphtha, lubes and LPG are included in GST with exceptions for five petroleum products, i.e., petrol, diesel, natural gas, ATF and crude oil. These are instead subjected to excise duties and VAT. While the cess on the consumption of coal and high level of excise and value added taxes on petrol and diesel are not referred to as carbon taxes, they are considered and expected to perform the role of implicit carbon taxes. However, the tax rates do not correspond with the carbon footprint of the fuels and thus fail to provide the right price signals to producers and consumers to reduce consumption and switch to low carbon-emitting sources of energy.[51] 4. Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) and Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) In India, certain obligated entities such as electricity DISCOMS, open access consumers and captive power producers have to purchase a percentage of their electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources. These are termed as renewable purchase obligations (RPO) and are mandated by the Electricity Act (2003). The State Electricity Regulatory Commission is responsible for fixing the minimum RPO for each state. Due to the variable nature of RE sources, obligated entities may find it difficult to procure green power to meet their RPO targets. They can instead purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) on the national energy exchanges such as Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange of India Limited (PXIL) to meet their RPO targets without actual procurement of RE-generated power.[52] The RECs is a useful instrument in overcoming the geographical disparity in renewable energy production and incentivising electricity generation from RE sources beyond the RPO state limits.[53] However, the enforcement and compliance with RPO remains weak and is a persisting obstacle to India’s ambitions of expanding renewable energy production and procurement. 5. Excise taxes on Diesel and Petrol Over the years, India has moved from a carbon subsidisation regime to a significant carbon taxation regime.[54] Even though India does not have an explicit carbon tax on fuels including petrol and diesel, these products are subjected to steep excise duties and VAT. As of May 2020, India had the highest taxes on petrol and diesel in the world which comprised over 69 percent of the pump price for the two fuels.[55] However, the high taxes on petrol and diesel are on account of the Centre’s revenue requirements as opposed to environmental considerations and do not account for the carbon footprint of the fuels. As a result, distorted price signals have failed to incentivise users of diesel and petrol to switch to low carbon-emitting sources of energy.[56] IV. The Case for an Explicit Carbon Pricing Mechanism in India Despite the ambitious commitments made by India on climate action at COP26, its growing economy will continue to demand higher levels of fossil fuel consumption and, consequently, the country could see a corresponding rise in GHG emissions. India’s energy and industry-related CO2 emissions are projected to more than double from 2020 to 2050, with the share of fossil fuels in primary energy declining from 72 percent to only 69 percent in the same period. Without additional policies and disruptive technological changes, GHG emission intensity will not be reduced relative to their current levels due to growth in output.[57] Well-designed policies, such as carbon pricing, if adapted to suit India’s unique emerging and development identity framework, can be a useful lever in the portfolio of instruments and strategies adopted to mitigate and adapt to climate change. However, its popularity remains weak, given the ‘Pigouvian’ nature of carbon pricing (as explained in the first section of this paper). There are various challenges in pricing carbon which are a combination of political, economic and cultural dynamics. Given that carbon pricing posits “diffused benefits and concentrated costs”, with costs incurred in the short-term and benefits accrued in the longer run, citizens are often sceptical of environmental policies.[58] This makes it difficult to garner the necessary political support essential to engender systemic changes to conventional policy frameworks. In addition, carbon-intensive industries will continue to oppose lest their profits reduce as a result; households will do too, to safeguard their disposable incomes.[59] Policies that are formulated according to specific contexts and are effectively implemented can help offset these challenges, as can a rigorous communication strategy. India has undertaken various approaches for pricing fuels such as subsidies, and administered and market pricing (as discussed in the previous section). However, weak enforcement and primarily low prices undermine the effectiveness of the policy instruments. Moreover, while the focus has been on energy efficiency, expanding renewable capacity and making coal consumption expensive, none of the instruments are carbon-denominated and do not bear a direct link to CO2 equivalent. Therefore, carbon pricing can be a useful mechanism to build a common carbon currency for establishing a clear price signal, creating fungibility of credits across schemes, and developing strong incentives for decarbonisation.[60] In light of the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the following section outlines the near-term carbon pricing strategies that India can adopt with regards to a carbon tax and an emission trading mechanism. These strategies can help the country realise its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and the 2030 climate commitments made in Glasgow in 2021. 1. Carbon Taxes India does not follow a uniform approach in pricing fuels and the tax rate and its coverage under the GST are not determined by the carbon content or emission rate but instead by social, political and revenue considerations. As an example, the price of imported natural gas is different from that prescribed for domestically produced natural gas. The tax rate is lower for fuels such as coal which have a larger carbon footprint in comparison to natural gas, for example, which has a far lower carbon footprint. While coal is included in the GST base, other high-polluting fossil fuels such as petrol, diesel and crude are excluded from its purview.[61] Nearly INR 52,000 crore of GST compensation was due to the states as of September 2021, which is telling of the Centre’s tardy disbursement record and states’ apprehension to exclude these fuels from the GST base in order to maintain their revenue stream.[62] These fuels are, however, subject to a significantly high excise duty and the VAT, both of which vary across states. However, the taxes are not linked to the degree of carbon emissions nor the carbon content in the fuels.[63] India’s legislative framework under the GST regime lays a strong ground to address these anomalies and incorporate all fossil fuels under its ambit by setting a uniform tax rate and an additional levy contingent on the quantum of carbon emissions instead of usage. International practice, as discussed in the previous sections, dictates the same premise with certain exemptions depending on the sector and trade exposure. The tax should be upstream, implying an imposition only at source for producers and importers of fossils fuels. Similar to experiences of other countries as depicted in Table 4 exemptions should be granted for fuel usage in the farm/agriculture sector and remote off-grid communities (as done in Japan and Canada), companies or sectors that have a strong trade exposure (such as in South Africa), units with installations below a certain threshold (such as in Chile) and also where carbon-emitting fuels are used as a feedstock for manufacturing, e.g. fertilisers (such as in Argentina). Since diesel and petrol already suffer a heavy tax burden, limiting government’s ability to impose additional taxes will result in the burden being borne by coal and other fuels. In a study by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and Ernst & Young LLP, the price of carbon tax should reach USD 35 per tonne of CO2 emissions to achieve 33- to 35-percent reduction in emission intensity by 2030.[64] Given India’s COP 26 commitment to reduce the carbon intensity of the nation’s economy by 45 percent by 2030, the price on carbon will have to be even higher. Availability of substitute clean fuels and green technologies as well as increase in capacity and deployment of renewable sources of power are critical factors for compliance and effectiveness of the carbon tax. The carbon price will have to be gradually increased and aligned with the maturity of decarbonisation technologies. Indeed, government funding for R&D in India remains weak and investment in technologies like carbon, capture and storage (CCS), and green hydrogen are important to develop viable and economically competitive alternatives.[65] A carbon tax that is incremental in nature will help augment fiscal revenues, improve the tax-GDP ratio, and generate additional funds which can be utilised for offsetting the burden of the tax on low-income groups as well as facilitate greater investments in green and environmental projects. Revenue recycling is another critical aspect for generating greater acceptability and adoption as well as ensuring effectiveness of the tax mechanism. The following are some examples: Japan reserves its carbon revenues for climate mitigation projects and to boost renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies; Ireland transfers revenues to the general budget to reduce payroll taxes and alleviate fuel poverty; Singapore uses its revenues to support schemes such as the Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy, Investment Allowances for Emissions Reduction and Energy Efficiency Fund; Colombia uses 50 percent of the revenues from the tax towards adaptation projects in coastal erosion management, conservation of water sources, and the protection of ecosystems; Mexico has a strong focus on improving public transportation in addition to boosting energy efficient technology; and Denmark uses its revenues to both subsidise energy efficient investments as well as reduce taxes on labour. In addition, a tier of the revenue transfer from the Centre to the States can be linked to measurable and traceable metrics such as the area expanded under forest cover, share of renewables in the energy mix, fossil fuel replacement strategies including e-mobility, increased ethanol blending, and use of biofuels, amongst others, to ensure greater compliance and enforcement. With efficiency and equity considerations built into the tax design, political communication becomes an important lever to enhance wider acceptability and drive compliance, the lack of which, as seen in the experience of Australia, led to the abolition of the carbon tax two years after introduction in 2012.[66] 2. Emissions Trading System (ETS) India’s PAT Scheme—given its functional mechanism with DC (designated consumers)-specific targets, issuance, normalisation factor, trading, among other design features—lays a solid foundation to evolve into a full-fledged emissions-based cap-and-trade system. A phased approach to expand its aperture into a more functional ETS market could prove useful using simulations (a mock carbon market) or pilots (a small-scale carbon market). Mexico conducted simulation exercises among certain enterprises before entering the operational phase of its three-year pilot in 2020. China presents a befitting example: it piloted ETS models in eight provinces, allowing learnings and best practices from these programs to inform the design of its national ETS market that was eventually launched in 2021. In the past, India has demonstrated serious commitment to explore cap-and-trade schemes to achieve its ambitious NDCs and signed up to the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) to pilot new market-based mechanisms (MBMs) in Waste and MSME sectors. It also set up an integrated data management and registry for GHG emissions.[67] A part of the funding was apportioned to expand and strengthen the scale and scope of existing market-based approaches including the PAT mechanism and the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) scheme.[68] The World Resource Institute’s carbon market simulation covering about 50-60 percent of India’s total industry-related emissions across 30 to 40 large businesses as well as the emission trading scheme on RSPM in India are laudable attempts and could set a precedence for scaling and implementing more ambitious ETS pilot programs in India.[69] India’s federal structure provides an ideal framework to develop ETS pilot programs across states with inter-state trading built into its design to enhance cost-competitiveness and efficiency gains. Such pilot projects are ideal to engage with relevant stakeholders and build readiness among industries, develop a bottom-up approach to designing and testing different models, and identifying and understanding operational challenges during the post-pilot phase.[70] In its current form, the PAT Scheme covers 1,072 designated consumers, consuming 50 percent of primary energy, in 13 sectors.[71] The ETS should aim at a wider coverage, including more sectors and industries above a certain threshold, to maximise potential gains from trade and reduce overall transaction costs. The cap should aim to set reasonably ambitious targets on absolute ambitions or intensity of emissions per unit of GDP, subject to growth rate of the economy. Defining targets over time frames can be useful for industries to undertake transition planning pre-emptively. As an example, the EU ETS has already declared that its emission cap will decrease annually by 2.2 percent between 2021 and 2030.[72] Emission allowances can be freely allocated with a small portion earmarked for auctioning to set the stage for increasing the latter’s percentage over the years. Many emerging economies follow a similar template, such as Korea, where 90 percent or less allowances are freely allocated to entities in sub-sectors that are subject to auctioning and 100 percent for EITE sectors (emission-intensive and/or trade exposed sectors at risk of carbon leakage receive free allowances up to 100% of the benchmark or historical emission level). For trading purposes, the ESCerts should be converted into carbon-denominated allowances based on carbon intensity benchmarks.[73] Deploying price containment measures in the ETS design can help incorporate greater flexibility and price predictability. These include establishing a price corridor, i.e. introducing a price floor and a price ceiling, as done by countries like the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. Another popular measure to contain price volatility is to have a Cost Containment Reserve (CCR) which allows the regulator to release a fixed additional supply of allowances if the sale of CO2 allowance prices exceeds a certain price threshold, also called the trigger price, as practiced in the ETS markets of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Republic of Korea and the European Union. Banking and borrowing unused emissions as well as the use of offsets which allows regulated businesses to buy emissions reduction credits from outside the market, can help provide greater flexibility to business owners, again a measure which finds its place in the Korea ETS with certain control features.[74] While useful, these cost containment measures can result in trade-offs such as failure to realise the overall carbon emissions targets, lower overall efficiency gains from trade, and reduced predictability in the timing of achievement of emissions reduction targets. Therefore, careful planning is essential using rigorous quantitative modelling and analysis from the data collected via the pilot projects. Establishing a GHG emissions inventory and a strong MRV (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) system is a pre-requisite for the success of the ETS scheme and therefore capacity building efforts should be deployed by governments for this purpose.[75] Conclusion The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 underscores the willingness of the Indian government to explore the imperative of a formal carbon market to achieve carbon neutrality. Both the GST regime and the PAT scheme provide a well-functioning machinery which India can leverage to build upon a strong carbon pricing framework using a combination of both a carbon tax and an emission trading system. To be sure, carbon pricing in itself is not a silver bullet; complementary measures along with carbon pricing will help accelerate the path to carbon reduction. An optimal portfolio of policy instruments which includes carbon pricing, fossil fuel taxes, renewable energy subsidies and technology and performance-based standards along with investment in green technologies and revenue recycling to protect vulnerable communities should form the basis of a cost-effective and equitable carbon pricing policy design.[76] While India should not feel compelled to imitate or adopt western policy frameworks given the country’s unique economic and social pre-conditions, carbon pricing has proven to be an effective mechanism for many developing economies, including Republic of Korea, China and South Africa, to achieve significant carbon reduction and realise their national climate targets. In the context of India, it can help meet its ambitious current and future climate goals, offer emission reduction at the lowest possible cost, and accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[77] Global climate policy groups have been debating the inception of a Climate Club, popularised by William Nordhaus in his 2015 paper ‘Climate Clubs: Overcoming Free-riding in International Climate Policy’, seeking to establish an international target carbon price (incremental in nature), amongst other mandates, to which all member countries must comply.[78] While the world is a long way to institutionalising a framework of such scale and scope, there is broad consensus to include carbon pricing as a prominent tool in the international climate policy architecture. The current G20 Troika, led by three developing countries – Indonesia, India and Brazil, presents a unique and apposite moment to push forward a global carbon pricing framework built with a redistributive mechanism[79] and aligned with the principles of Common but Differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and the Just Transition Declaration. It is clear that carbon pricing is primed to become and remain the mainstay of the global climate policy architecture and designing domestic carbon policies and pre-emptive strategies that align with global policy trends will hold India in good stead in an increasingly decarbonising future. Mannat Jaspal is an Associate Fellow with ORF’s Geoeconomics Studies Programme. Endnotes [1] Alex Bowen, “The case for carbon pricing”, Grantham Research Institute, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, January 1, 2011 [2] Rob Jackson, Pierre Friedlingstein, Corinne Le Quéré, Robbie Andrew, Pep Canadell, Glen Peters, Sam Abernethy, “Global Emissions Rebound to Pre-COVID Levels”, Scientific America, November 11, 2021. [3] Virender Kumar Duggal, “Carbon Pricing”, Asian Development Outlook 2021: Financing a Green and Inclusive Recovery, 2021 [4] Alex Bowen, “The case for carbon pricing”, Grantham Research Institute, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, January 1, 2011 [5] Maria Hofbauer Pérez and Carla Rhode, “Carbon Pricing: International Comparison”, ifo DICE Report, 2020 [6] Virender Kumar Duggal, “Carbon Pricing”, Asian Development Bank [7] Michael Greenstone and Ishan Nath, “Put a Price on It: The How and Why of Pricing Carbon”, U.S. Energy & Climate Roadmap, EPIC University of Chicago [8] Michael Greenstone, “Put a Price on It: The How and Why of Pricing Carbon” [9] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022” [10] Michael Greenstone, “Put a Price on It: The How and Why of Pricing Carbon” [11] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021” [12] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022” [13] Muskaan Malhotra and Dhruvak Aggarwal, “Decoding the New Amendments to the Energy Conservation Act”, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, 23 August, 2022. [14] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [15] Alex Bowen, “The case for carbon pricing”, Grantham Research Institute, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, January1, 2011 [16] J. Stiglitz et Al., “A Social Cost of Carbon Consistent with a net-zero Climate Goal”, Roosevelt Institute, The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment [17] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021” [18] Maria Hofbauer Pérez and Carla Rhode, “Carbon Pricing: International Comparison” [19] Virender Kumar Duggal, “Carbon Pricing”, Asian Development Bank [20] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development, 2012 [21] E. Narassimhan et al., “Carbon Pricing in Practice: A review of the Evidence”, The Center for International Environment & Resource Policy, Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School Tufts University, 2017 [22] Virender Kumar Duggal, “Carbon Pricing”, Asian Development Outlook 2021: Financing a Green and Inclusive Recovery, 2021 [23] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development,2012 [24] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development,2012 [25] E. Narassimhan et al., “Carbon Pricing in Practice: A review of the Evidence”, The Center for International Environment & Resource Policy, Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School Tufts University, 2017 [26] E. Narassimhan et al., “Carbon Pricing in Practice: A review of the Evidence”, The Center for International Environment & Resource Policy, Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School Tufts University, 2017 [27] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development,2012 [28] The FASTER Principles for Successful Carbon Pricing: An approach based on initial experience, OECD and the World Bank Group,2015 [29] United Nations Climate Change, Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. [30] Virender Kumar Duggal, “Carbon Pricing”, Asian Development Outlook 2021: Financing a Green and Inclusive Recovery, 2021 [31] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021” [32] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021” [33] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development,2012 [34] Kathryne Cleary, Karen Palmer and Kevin Rennert, “Clean Energy Standards”, Resources for the Future, 2019. [35] Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, “The Promise and Problems of Pricing Carbon: Theory and Experience”, Journal of Environment & Development,2012 [36] G20 Leaders Statement: The Pittsburgh Summit. [37] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022” [38] The World Bank, “Carbon Pricing Dashboard”. [39] Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, “Emission Trading in India: A Study of Two Schemes”, Asian Growth Research Institute,2016 [40] Tanushree Chandra, “Pricing carbon: Trade-offs and opportunities for India”, ORF, 2021 [41] Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India. [42] Muskaan Malhotra and Dhruvak Aggarwal, “Decoding the New Amendments to the Energy Conservation Act”, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, 23 August, 2022. [43] Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, “Emission Trading in India: A Study of Two Schemes”, Asian Growth Research Institute,2016 [44] Tanushree Chandra, “Pricing carbon: Trade-offs and opportunities for India”, ORF, 2021 [45] Parth Kumar, “Energy Conservation Amendment Bill 2022: It all boils down to targets for industries”, DownToEarth, August 10, 2022. [46] Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, “Emission Trading in India: A Study of Two Schemes”, Asian Growth Research Institute,2016 [47] M. Greenstone et al., “The Surat Emissions Trading Scheme”, Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago [48] Nikhil Ghanekar, “Explained: How Surat’s Emissions Trading Scheme Works To Reduce Air Pollution”, IndiaSpend, July 26, 2021. [49] M. Greenstone et al., “The Surat Emissions Trading Scheme”, Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago [50] Tanushree Chandra, “Pricing carbon: Trade-offs and opportunities for India”, ORF, 2021 [51] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [52] CEEW Centre for Energy Finance, “What are RPOs and RECs?”, March 23, 2021. [53] Tanushree Chandra, “Pricing carbon: Trade-offs and opportunities for India”, ORF, 2021 [54] The Economic Survey of India 2014-15, “From Carbon Subsidy to Carbon Tax: India’s Green Actions”, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. [55] Sumant Banerji, “69%! India now has highest taxes on petrol and diesel in the world”, Business Today, May 6, 2020. [56] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [57] S. Paltsev et Al., “Economic Analysis of the Hard-to-Abate Sectors in India”, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, September, 2021. [58] C. Hepburn and D. Klenert, “How can we make carbon pricing work?”, World Economic Forum, August 3, 2018. [59] Tanushree Chandra, “Pricing carbon: Trade-offs and opportunities for India”, ORF,2021 [60] J. Cornillie et Al., “Towards more reliance on carbon pricing in India”, European University Institute, School of Transnational Governance, January, 2021 [61] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [62] Mannat Jaspal, Promit Mookherjee, “Budget 2022: Enabling finance for green growth and innovation”, Observer Research Foundation, January 28, 2022. [63] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [64] Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation & EY, “Discussion Paper on Carbon Tax Structure for India” [65] J. Cornillie et Al., “Towards more reliance on carbon pricing in India”, European University Institute, School of Transnational Governance, January, 2021 [66] C. Hepburn and D. Klenert, “How can we make carbon pricing work?”, World Economic Forum, August 3, 2018 [67] Shubhangi Gupta and Ashwini Hingne, “From Theory to Practice: How a carbon market simulation can help design a successful carbon market in India”, WRI India, May 6, 2021. [68] Partnership for Market Readiness, “India to Pilot Carbon Pricing Instruments with $8 Million PMR Support”, March 27, 2017. [69] Shubhangi Gupta and Ashwini Hingne, “From Theory to Practice: How a carbon market simulation can help design a successful carbon market in India”, WRI India, May 6, 2021. [70] Shubhangi Gupta and Ashwini Hingne, “From Theory to Practice: How a carbon market simulation can help design a successful carbon market in India”, WRI India, May 6, 2021. [71] “National Carbon Market” Report,Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India [72] Varun Agarwal and Ashwini Hingne, “Five Key Design Decisions for an Effective Carbon Market in India”, WRI India, June 8, 2021. [73] “National Carbon Market” Report,Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India [74] Varun Agarwal and Ashwini Hingne, “Five Key Design Decisions for an Effective Carbon Market in India”, WRI India, June 8, 2021. [75] “National Carbon Market” Report,Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India [76] The World Bank, “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2021” [77] Tejaswini Kulkarni and Ashwini Hingne, “Five ways in which Carbon Markets can boost India’s climate efforts”, WRI India, April 23, 2021. [78] William Nordhaus, “Climate Clubs: Overcoming Free-riding in International Climate Policy”, American Economic Review, 2015. [79] Mannat Jaspal, “Green Multilateralism: Partnerships, Finance, and Innovation: 2021 India-Germany-EU Dialogue”, Observer Research Foundation, February 17, 2022.

• Down To Earth

Heavy rains, lightning kill at least 36 in northern India

Hazardous weather has killed at least 36 people in northern India over the past 24 hours, including 12 who who were struck by lightning, officials said as they warned of more heavy downpours in the coming days. Across the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, at least 24 people died after their homes collapsed amid unrelenting rains, Relief Commissioner Ranvir Prasad said. Mohamed Usman, 15, was on his friend’s roof in the city of Prayagraj when lightning struck Friday evening, killing him instantly. His friend Aznan, who goes by one name, was injured and is being treated in a hospital. “As soon as they set foot on the roof, they were hit by lightning and my son died,” said Mohammad Ayub, Usman’s father. Officials said 39 people in the state have died from lightning in the last five days, prompting authorities to issue new guidelines for how people can protect themselves during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes are common during India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Col. Sanjay Srivastava, whose organization Lightning Resilient India Campaign works with the Indian Meteorological Department, said that deforestation, the depletion of bodies of water, and pollution all contribute to climate change, which leads to more lightning. Global warming has also increased the frequency of lightning, said Sunita Narain, director general at the Center for Science and Environment. A 1-degree-Celsius (1.8-degree-Fahrenheit) rise in temperature increases lightning by 12 times. There has been a 34% rise in lightning strikes across India over the past year, which has caused deaths to also jump. India recorded 1,489 deaths due to lightning in 2016, and the number grew to 2,869 in 2021, according to Srivastava.

• Down To Earth

Hujan Deras dan Petir Tewaskan 36 Orang di India Utara. Begini Kronologinya.

Cuaca buruk tengah melanda India Utara yang menewaskan puluhan orang selama 24 jam terakhir. Pejabat wilayah Uttar Pradesh, Ranvir Prasad, memperingatkan hujan lebat masih akan mengguyur India dalam beberapa hari ke depan. Tercatat ada 36 orang tewas di India Utara akibat cuaca buruk pada Sabtu 24 September 2022. sedikitnya 12 orang tersambar petir dan 24 orang lainnya tewas setelah rumah mereka ambruk di tengah hujan deras yang terus mengguyur. Salah satu korban tewas adalah Mohamed Usman yang berusia 15 tahun. Dia diketahui berada di atap rumah temannya di kota Prayagraj saat petir menyambar pada Jumat 23 September 2022. Teman Mohamed Usman yakni Aznan terluka setelah tersambar petir dan masih dirawat di rumah sakit. “Ketika mereka menginjakkan kaki di atap, mereka disambar petir dan anak saya meninggal,” tutur Mohammad Ayub, ayah Usman dikutip Megatrust.co.id dari The Guardian. Tidak dijelaskan lebih detail alasan mengapa Usman dan Aznan berada di atap rumah saat cuaca buruk. Disisi lain, pejabat setempat menyatakan 39 orang tewas tersambar petir selama 5 hari terakhir. Hal itu mendorong pemerintah mengumumkan panduan baru agar warganya melindungi diri mereka sendiri selama badai petir terjadi. Sambaran petir umumnya terjadi selama musim hujan di India pada bulan Juni hingga September. Sunita Narain, direktur jenderal Pusat Sains dan Lingkungan menyatakan pemanasan global semakin meningkatkan frekuensi petir sebanyak 12 kali dengan kenaikan suhu 1 derajat celsius. Sementara itu, sambaran petir di seluruh India mengalami peningkatan sebesar 34% selama setahun terakhir, yang telah menyebabkan kematian meningkat. Tercatat 1.489 kematian akibat sambaran petir pada tahun 2016 dan meningkat menjadi 2.869 kematian tahun 2021.

• DTE - Web

Feature: Model shift: Climate change forces Zim to finally take up irrigation

fter deficit rainfall led to a poor maize harvest in the summer cropping season of November-March, Tinashe Kubara has another chance. The 31-year-old farmer from Stoneridge area on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital city Harare set up a borehole-based irrigation facility on his farm towards the end of March by spending US$2 500 and planted maize again. “With rain-fed farming, it would not have been possible to plant again after a crop failure,” Kubara said. He has also set aside two-thirds of his 1,2 hectares (ha) for growing vegetables. Kubara is one of the tens of thousands of Zimbabwean farmers who are embracing irrigation for the first time. Irrigation has remained largely alien to Zimbabwe’s 1,5 million smallholder farmers (farms under 10ha), who make up to 70% of the country’s farmers and produce more than 50% of the country’s food, an agronomist in the country said, requesting anonymity. In the 1960s, when government introduced irrigation schemes, few farmers opted for them since rains were dependable, he added. Until 1999, the country was a net exporter of grains. Erratic rains have severely affected Zimbabwe’s traditionally rain-fed farming system with disastrous results for the landlocked nation’s agro-based economy, which now struggles to produce even half of the country’s food requirements. Different parts of Zimbabwe have experienced three to six bad rainfall seasons between 2014 and 2019, states a Famine Early Warning System Network Southern Africa report for 2021. According to the Meteorological Services Department, daily minimum temperatures have risen by 2.6°C over the last century while daily maximum temperatures have risen by 2°C. The number of cold days has decreased while hot days have become more common. Rainfall has decreased by some 20%, while the frequency of droughts has increased from once a decade to about once every three years. “Floods and droughts are occurring back-to-back within the same season. Mid-season dry spells have also become more frequent now,” professor Desmond Manatsa, executive dean in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the Bindura University of Science Education in Zimbabwe, told Down To Earth (DTE). Bonn-based non-profit Germanwatch’s Global Climate Risk Index ranked Zimbabwe among the top 20 countries most affected by the impacts of extreme weather events in 2000-19. The changing climate has also prompted government to act. In April 2021, it announced the National Accelerated Irrigation Rehabilitation Programme to reduce farmers’ dependence on rain. Government aims to climate-proof 350 000 ha of cropped area by 2025. While announcing the programme, dubbed Vision 30 Accelerator, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuku said the strategy involves bringing at least 200ha crop area in every district under irrigation and then revitalising and rehabilitating the land. The government is also constructing 12 big dams at a cost of US$1,1 billion and restoring existing dams and irrigation schemes as part of the programme. Zimbabwe is the most dammed country in southern Africa — the country is home to nearly 10 000 of the 12 600 dams in the region (excluding South Africa), most of which were constructed during the colonial days (1890-1980) for irrigation and have been lying neglected. “There was denial on the part of politicians of what we agronomists were telling them, until now, when the effects of climate change are there for all to see. This explains why irrigation projects were neglected and the dams were not utilised,” the agronomist said. In May, Lands and Agriculture permanent secretary John Basera told journalists in Harare that half of the targeted 350 000ha had been covered under Vision 30 Accelerator. The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA), a State-owned enterprise under the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development ministry, responsible for the advancement of agricultural production and rural development, is one of the primary implementing agency of this programme. ARDA runs 450 smallholder irrigation schemes across the country. The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), the utility that manages all the country’s water resources, is the other major agency implementing the scheme. Zinwa spokesperson Marjorie Munyonga told DTE that more than 4 000ha have so far been rehabilitated as part of the programme. Zinwa is also tapping into the country’s vast groundwater reserves for domestic and agricultural purposes. It has already started drilling the 35 000 boreholes that the government has earmarked to be installed in rural schools, rural service centres and remote rural communities over the next five years. Resourceful farmers like Kubara who can spend up to US$2 500 are also installing boreholes. Irrigation can change another pattern in the country. About seven months a year, between the end of one rainy season and the start of another, most rural farmers practically do nothing. “With irrigation, you can choose how many times you want to cultivate,” 47-year-old Naome Mutize, a farmer who had come to Harare from Mutoko, some 200km northeast of the capital, to buy material to expand her irrigation scheme, said.

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

How discarded hygiene items pose environmental hazard

NEW DELHI: Beneath the public gaze, India is struggling with a peculiar problem. The country annually generates an estimated 1,37,483 tonnes of discarded hygiene items, but disposal is unscientific, causing environmental and health hazards. The report titled ‘Sanitary waste management in India: Challenges and Agenda’, brought out by the Centre for Science and Environment, points out that the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs has no data on sanitary waste generation and, barring a few cities such as, Jamshedpur, Panaji and Pune where segregation systems have been installed, discarded sanitary pads mostly reach landfills or are dumped elsewhere. The report says that such sanitary waste management gets limited attention due to societal and cultural taboos. Sanitary napkins and baby diapers account for 0.65% of total solid waste, while other sanitary wastes — adult diapers, tampons, condoms, incontinence sheets, etc. — constitute 3-4% of the total waste. There are, however, no official record on the actual generation of sanitary waste, and the figures are estimates based on the items' use and expected weight. The study says only a fraction of the sanitary napkin waste is treated properly, which is through managed incineration. Delhi has only two such incinerators, the report stated. “In rural areas, where waste collection is less common, sanitary waste is disposed of by burning or through shallow burial, which pollutes waterbodies and air and potentially impacts both the environment and human health,” the report says. “In urban areas, where a waste collection system is in place, sanitary waste is disposed of in a landfill or, if segregated, disposed of by means of centralised or decentralised incinerators.” “Though the percentage (of sanitary waste) may not seem much, but it is voluminous and infectious in nature, with plastic a primary material used in the manufacture of disposable sanitary products, underlining the need for sanitary waste management in India,” says the report. “Due to unorganised sanitary waste management in cities and villages, poor source segregation and inadequate collection, transportation and disposal networks, most sanitary waste ends up in landfills mixed with solid waste or dumped openly.” CSE says in the report that it was critical to consider all aspects of sanitary waste management, including information, education and communication, source segregation, proper collection and transportation and disposal. It also noted the flaws in the existing guidelines. Against CPCB’s prescription of burning at a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius, sanitary waste, especially napkins, must be incinerated at 800 degrees, it said, adding that the ash generated during the incineration must be disposed of in a secure or sanitary landfill with limited contact with the environment.

• Down To Earth

Heavy rains, lightning kill at least 36 in U.P.

According to sources, as many as 12 people were struck by lightning Hazardous weather has killed at least 36 people in northern India over the past 24 hours, including 12 who who were struck by lightning, officials said as they warned of more heavy downpours in the coming days. At least 24 people died after their homes collapsed amid unrelenting rains across Uttar Pradesh, Relief Commissioner Ranvir Prasad said. Mohamed Usman, 15, was on his friend's roof in the city of Prayagraj when lightning struck Friday evening, killing him instantly. His friend Aznan was injured and is being treated in a hospital. “As soon as they set foot on the roof, they were hit by lightning and my son died,” said Mohammad Ayub, Usman's father. Officials said 39 people in the State have died from lightning in the last five days, prompting the authorities to issue new guidelines as to how people can protect themselves during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes are common during India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Col. Sanjay Srivastava, whose organisation Lightning Resilient India Campaign works with the Indian Meteorological Department, said that deforestation, the depletion of water bodies, and pollution contributed to climate change, which led to more lightning. Global warming has also increased the frequency of lightning, said Sunita Narain, director general at the Center for Science and Environment. A one degree-Celsius (1.8-degree-Fahrenheit) rise in temperature increases lightning by 12 times. There has been a 34% rise in lightning strikes across India over the past year, which has caused the number of deaths also to increase. India recorded 1,489 deaths due to lightning in 2016, and the number grew to 2,869 in 2021, according to Col. Srivastava.

• Down To Earth

Lightning, heavy rains kill at least 36 in India

Hazardous weather has killed at least 36 people in northern India over the past 24 hours, including 12 who died after being struck by lightning. Across the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 24 people died after their homes collapsed during unrelenting rains, Relief Commissioner Ranvir Prasad said. Mohamed Usman, 15, was on his friend's roof in the city of Prayagraj when lightning struck on Friday evening, killing him instantly. His friend Aznan, who goes by one name, was injured and is being treated in a hospital. "As soon as they set foot on the roof they were hit by lightning and my son died," said Mohammad Ayub, Usman's father. Officials said 39 people in the state have died from lightning in the last five days, prompting the state government to issue new guidelines for how people can protect themselves during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes are common during India's monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Colonel Sanjay Srivastava, whose organisation Lightning Resilient India Campaign works with the Indian Meteorological Department, said deforestation, depletion of bodies of water, and pollution all contribute to climate change, which leads to more lightning. Global warming has also increased the frequency of lightning, said Sunita Narain, director general at the Centre for Science and Environment. A 1-degree-Celsius (1.8-degree-Fahrenheit) rise in temperature increases lightning by 12 times. Thunderbolts contain as much as a billion volts of electricity and can cause immense damage to buildings when they hit. There has been a 34-percent rise in lightning strikes across India over the past year, which has caused deaths to increase. About 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year, according to government figures, compared with just 45 in the United States. Last year, a herd of 18 wild Asiatic elephants was found dead in India's northeastern state of Assam, possibly because of a huge lightning strike. Evidence suggests lightning strikes are also becoming more common in urban areas – a particular concern in India, where the city population is forecast to rise dramatically in the coming years.

• Down To Earth

Cuaca Ekstrem Landa India Utara, Puluhan Orang Tewas Tersambar Petir

Artikel ini telah diterbitkan di halaman SINDOnews.com pada Minggu, 25 September 2022 - 22:30 WIB oleh Esnoe Faqih Wardhana dengan judul "Cuaca Ekstrem Landa India Utara, Puluhan Orang Tewas Tersambar Petir". Untuk selengkapnya kunjungi: https://international.sindonews.com/read/895051/40/cuaca-ekstrem-landa-india-utara-puluhan-orang-tewas-tersambar-petir-1664118562 Untuk membaca berita lebih mudah, nyaman, dan tanpa banyak iklan, silahkan download aplikasi SINDOnews. - Android: https://sin.do/u/android - iOS: https://sin.do/u/ios Cuaca berbahaya telah menewaskan sedikitnya 36 orang di India utara selama 24 jam terakhir, termasuk 12 orang yang tersambar petir . Para pejabat memperingatkan, hujan lebat yang lebih deras akan terjadi dalam beberapa hari mendatang. “Di seluruh negara bagian utara Uttar Pradesh, sedikitnya 24 orang tewas setelah rumah mereka runtuh di tengah hujan yang tak henti-hentinya,” kata Komisaris Bantuan Ranvir Prasad, seperti dikutip dari AP. Artikel ini telah diterbitkan di halaman SINDOnews.com pada Minggu, 25 September 2022 - 22:30 WIB oleh Esnoe Faqih Wardhana dengan judul "Cuaca Ekstrem Landa India Utara, Puluhan Orang Tewas Tersambar Petir". Untuk selengkapnya kunjungi: https://international.sindonews.com/read/895051/40/cuaca-ekstrem-landa-india-utara-puluhan-orang-tewas-tersambar-petir-1664118562 Untuk membaca berita lebih mudah, nyaman, dan tanpa banyak iklan, silahkan download aplikasi SINDOnews. - Android: https://sin.do/u/android - iOS: https://sin.do/u/ios

• Down To Earth

50 साल से बचा रही थी जंगल ..

50 साल से बचा रही थी जंगल .. For details please see the attachment..

• Sustainable Food Systems

Instant Food Like Chips & Noodles To Come With Health Warning Label; Know Why It’s A Must

With the increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases and nearly no control over the fad of eating packaged food, India’s apex food regulator has released a draft notification that will make it mandatory for pre-packaged food items to carry a star rating to discourage people from consuming foods high in sugar, salt and fats. It will be just like energy-efficiency ratings on electronic goods – to discourage people from consuming foods high in sugar, salt and fats. Preventing or reducing the consumption of foods high in salts, sugars, and fats could help check the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases in the country, with around 60 per cent of all deaths in the country attributable to it. According to the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPHG), more than 5.8 million Indians die every year from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Although hard to treat, many of these deadly diseases can be prevented by mentioning the harmful elements in Packaged food. The rating can provide simplified nutritional information to consumers, helping them make split-second decisions on which foods to buy. The aim of such labels is to aid consumers to make an informed choice, even if they choose to buy high-calorie chips or beverages. According to experts, such labelling can help in reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods that are high in sugars, salts, and fats. A position paper by organisations such as the Public Health Foundation of India, Centre for Science and Environment and Indian Academy of Paediatrics earlier this year found how Chile witnessed a 24 per cent drop in sugary drink consumption with a warning label. “Although it is mandatory for food packages to carry the nutrition content, it is printed in a very small font at the back of the pack, with most people not even reading it. A front-of-pack label is less likely to be ignored,” Dr Jugal Kishore, Head of the Department of Community Medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, told The New Indian Express. “Parents will be less likely to give their children Maggie and chips if they see a red warning label on the pack. At present, childhood obesity is a big concern for us as it leads to the early onset of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart attacks. We see people dying at a younger age, in the prime of their lives, because of these diseases in India,” Dr Suneela Garg, Professor of Community Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College and advisor to the FOPL groups at AIIMS and National Academy of Medical Sciences, was quoted as saying to TNIE. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed a star rating system called the ‘Indian Nutrition Rating (INR)’ where the unhealthiest foods will carry a 0-star rating and the healthiest carry a five-star rating, according to the recently released draft notification.

• Down To Earth

Lightning, heavy rains kill at least 36 in India

At least 12 people were struck by lightning while 24 others died after their homes collapsed during unrelenting rains. Hazardous weather has killed at least 36 people in northern India over the past 24 hours, including 12 who died after being struck by lightning. Across the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 24 people died after their homes collapsed during unrelenting rains, Relief Commissioner Ranvir Prasad said. Mohamed Usman, 15, was on his friend’s roof in the city of Prayagraj when lightning struck on Friday evening, killing him instantly. His friend Aznan, who goes by one name, was injured and is being treated in a hospital. “As soon as they set foot on the roof they were hit by lightning and my son died,” said Mohammad Ayub, Usman’s father. Officials said 39 people in the state have died from lightning in the last five days, prompting the state government to issue new guidelines for how people can protect themselves during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes are common during India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Colonel Sanjay Srivastava, whose organisation Lightning Resilient India Campaign works with the Indian Meteorological Department, said deforestation, depletion of bodies of water, and pollution all contribute to climate change, which leads to more lightning. Global warming has also increased the frequency of lightning, said Sunita Narain, director general at the Centre for Science and Environment. A 1-degree-Celsius (1.8-degree-Fahrenheit) rise in temperature increases lightning by 12 times. Thunderbolts contain as much as a billion volts of electricity and can cause immense damage to buildings when they hit. There has been a 34-percent rise in lightning strikes across India over the past year, which has caused deaths to increase. About 2,500 people die in lightning strikes around India each year, according to government figures, compared with just 45 in the United States. Last year, a herd of 18 wild Asiatic elephants was found dead in India’s northeastern state of Assam, possibly because of a huge lightning strike. Evidence suggests lightning strikes are also becoming more common in urban areas – a particular concern in India, where the city population is forecast to rise dramatically in the coming years.

• Down To Earth

Lightning deaths increasing in India

Lightning deaths increasing in India.. https://thewest.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/lightning-strikes-increasing-in-india-c-8344994

• Down To Earth

ओडिशा: नयागढ़ जिले की महिलाओं ने वन अधिकारों के लिए मुहिम का नेतृत्व किया

भुवनेश्वर, 24 सितंबर (भाषा) ओडिशा में नयागढ़ जिले की महिलाओं ने एक दशक लंबे संघर्ष के बाद, वन अधिकारों के लिए अग्रिम मोर्चे पर अभियान का नेतृत्व किया और 24 गांवों में वन संसाधनों के अधिकार हासिल किए। वनों का संरक्षण करने के संघर्ष के बारे में रणपुर में प्रखंड स्तरीय महिला महासंघ की अध्यक्ष, शशि प्रधान ने कहा कि नयागढ़ जिले की महिलाएं वनों को ‘‘अपनी आजीविका के स्रोत’’ मानती हैं और 1984 से वनों का संरक्षण कर रही हैं। शशि ने कहा, ‘‘महिलाएं 1984 से इन वनों का संरक्षण करती आ रही हैं। गांवों में रहने वाले लोगों को इन अधिकारों के बारे में कोई जानकारी नहीं थी। महिलाओं ने लोगों के बीच वन अधिकार अधिनियम के बारे में जागरूकता अभियान चलाने का फैसला किया।’’ कोडालपल्ली और सिंदूरिया गांव को सामुदायिक और वन संसाधन अधिकार एक साथ दिए गए क्योंकि उन्होंने इन अधिकारों को हासिल करने के लिये संयुक्त रूप से अभियान का नेतृत्व किया था। नयागढ़ जिले में वनों का प्रबंधन ज्यादातर महिलाओं द्वारा किये जाने के बारे में पूछे जाने पर उन्होंने कहा कि पुरुषों द्वारा वनों की देखभाल करने पर ‘कुप्रबंधन’ की समस्या पैदा हो रही थी। उन्होंने कहा कि इसलिए महिलाओं ने यह जिम्मेदारी संभाली और अधिकारों के लिए मुहिम का नेतृत्व किया। रणपुर की एक अन्य वनवासी, अनीता प्रधान ने ‘पीटीआई-भाषा’ को बताया, ‘‘इन गांवों की महिलाओं ने हमेशा अपने हक के लिए लड़ाई लड़ी है। वनों पर अवैध कब्जा करने आये लोगों के वाहनों को भी महिलाओं ने जब्त कर लिया था।’’ जिले के 24 गांवों में दो नवंबर, 2021 को 14 सामुदायिक अधिकार (सीआर) और सामुदायिक वन संसाधन अधिकार (सीएफआरआर) प्रदान किये गये थे। अनुसूचित जनजाति और अन्य मूल वनवासी (वन अधिकार मान्यता अधिनियम) के तहत इन गांवों को ये अधिकार दिये गए। इससे पहले, पर्यावरणविद् सुनीता नारायण ने कहा कि वनों को ‘‘आदिवासी समुदायों के आवास’’ के तौर पर देखते हुए वन संरक्षण को ‘‘स्थानीय आजीविका बनाने का तरीका’’ माना जाना चाहिए। ‘सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट’ (सीएसई) की महानिदेशक नारायण ने कहा, ‘‘जलवायु परिवर्तन के प्रश्न का जवाब देने के लिए वृक्ष अहम हैं और प्रदूषण को कम करने के लिए वन बहुत महत्वपूर्ण हैं।’’ भाषा फाल्गुनी सुभाष

• Down To Earth

Hujan lebat, petir di India ragut 36 nyawa dalam tempoh 24 jam

Cuaca berbahaya telah membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 36 orang di utara India sejak 24 jam lalu, termasuk 12 yang disambar petir, kata pegawai sambil memberi amaran hujan lebat yang lebih lebat dalam beberapa hari akan datang. Di seluruh negeri utara, Uttar Pradesh, sekurang-kurangnya 24 orang maut selepas rumah mereka runtuh di tengah-tengah hujan yang tidak henti-henti, kata Pesuruhjaya Bantuan, Ranvir Prasad. Mohamed Usman, 15, berada di atas bumbung rumah rakannya di bandar Prayagraj apabila petir menyambar pada malam Jumaat, membunuhnya serta-merta. Rakannya Aznan, cedera dan sedang dirawat di hospital. “Sebaik menjejakkan kaki ke atas bumbung, mereka dipanah petir dan anak saya meninggal dunia,” kata Mohammad Ayub, bapa Usman. Pegawai berkata 39 orang di negeri itu telah maut akibat kilat dalam tempoh lima hari lalu, mendorong pihak berkuasa mengeluarkan garis panduan baharu tentang cara orang ramai boleh melindungi diri mereka semasa ribut petir. Sambaran petir adalah perkara biasa semasa musim tengkujuh di India, yang berlangsung dari Jun hingga September. Pengerusi Lightning Resilient India Campaign, Kolonel Sanjay Srivastava yang bekerjasama dengan Jabatan Meteorologi India, berkata penebangan hutan dan pencemaran semuanya menyumbang kepada perubahan iklim, yang membawa kepada lebih banyak petir. Pemanasan global juga telah meningkatkan kekerapan kilat, kata Sunita Narain, Ketua Pengarah di Pusat Sains dan Alam Sekitar. Peningkatan suhu 1 darjah Celcius (1.8 darjah Fahrenheit) meningkatkan kilat sebanyak 12 kali ganda. Terdapat peningkatan 34 peratus dalam serangan kilat di seluruh India sepanjang tahun lalu, yang menyebabkan jumlah kematian meningkat. Negara Asia Selatan itu merekodkan 1,489 kematian akibat petir pada 2016, dan jumlah itu meningkat kepada 2,869 pada 2021, menurut Srivastava. – Agensi

• Down To Earth

ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ଅଧିକାର ଆଇନ ପରିଚାଳନା ଉପରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା; ନୟାଗଡ଼ରେ କ୍ଷେତ୍ର ଅନୁଧ୍ୟାନ କଲେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ରାଜ୍ୟର ପ୍ରତିନିଧି

ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର: ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ଅଧିକାର ଆଇନ ପରିଚାଳନା ଉପରେ ଏକ ଦୁଇ ଦିନିଆ ମିଡିଆ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଆୟୋଜନ କରାଯାଇଛି। ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର୍‍ ସାଇନ୍ସ ଏଣ୍ଡ ଏନଭାଇରନମେଣ୍ଟ ଓ ବସୁନ୍ଧରା ପକ୍ଷରୁ ଆୟୋଜିତ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମରେ ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ସୁରକ୍ଷା ଓ ସଂରକ୍ଷଣ ଦିଗରେ ବ୍ୟାପକ ଆଲୋଚନା କରାଯାଇଛି। ଶୁକ୍ରବାର ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାର ଦ୍ୱିତୀୟ ଦିନରେ ଅଂଶଗ୍ରହଣକାରୀମାନେ ନୟାଗଡ଼ ଯାଇ ସେଠାକାର ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସହିତ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିବା ସହିତ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ଅଧିକାର ବିଷୟରେ ଆଲୋକପାତ କରାଇଛନ୍ତି। ବିଶେଷ କରି ଜଙ୍ଗଲରେ ରହୁଥିବା ଲୋକମାନଙ୍କ ଅଧିକାର ଓ କେଉଁ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟ କରି ହେବ ଓ କରି ନ ହେବ ସେ ସମ୍ପର୍କରେ ସଚେତନ କରାଯାଇଛି। ମୁଖ୍ୟତଃ ଜଙ୍ଗଲର ଜୈବ ବିବିଦ୍ଧତା ରକ୍ଷା କରି କେମିତି ଅଧିବାସୀମାନେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ଜୀବନ ଜୀବିକା ନିର୍ବାହ କରିବେ ତାହା ଉପରେ ସଂଗଠନର ସଦସ୍ୟମାନେ ଗୁରୁତ୍ୱ ଦେଇଛନ୍ତି। ପ୍ରଥମ ଦିନରେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରଠାରେ ଆୟୋଜିତ ଏହି କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମରେ ସିଏସଇ ମିଡିଆ ମୁଖ୍ୟ ସୁପୋର୍ଣ୍ଣ ବାନାର୍ଜୀ, ସିଏସଇ ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦେଶିକା ପଦ୍ମଶ୍ରୀ ସୁନିତା ନାରାୟଣନ୍‍ ଏହା ଉପରେ ଅଧିକାର ଓ ସରକାରଙ୍କ ଆଭିମୁଖ୍ୟ ଆଦି ସମ୍ପର୍କରେ ଆଲୋକପାତ କରାଇଥିଲେ। ଡାଉନ ଟୁ ଆର୍ଥର ପରିଚାଳନା ସମ୍ପାଦକ ରିଚାର୍ଡ ମହାପାତ୍ର ଦେଶର ବିଭିନ୍ନ ରାଜ୍ୟରେ କାର୍ଯକାରୀ ହେଉଥିବା ଜଙ୍ଗଲ ଆଇନ ଓ ଏଥିରୁ ଗ୍ରାମବାସୀମାନେ ପାଉଥିବା ଫାଇଦା ସମ୍ପର୍କରେ ସୂଚନା ଦେଇଥିଲେ।