Centre for Science and Environment masthead Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Donate

Cse In News

Cse In News

Why Delhi needs to renew focus on tapping solar energy

New Delhi: The capital, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world, still has a long way to go to achieve its clean energy goals and increase its dependency on renewable sources to reduce emissions. Data showed that Delhi saw some increase in the installed capacity last year, but it was a fraction of the ambitious targets set by Delhi government’s solar power policy. As of December 2021, the installed capacity through rooftop solar plants was 221.5 MW against the target of 1,000 MW by 2020 and 2,762 MW by 2022. “Solar energy has a lot of potential in Delhi. The goal is to reduce the dependence on coal-fired electricity and, thus, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” said a government report. According to clean energy consulting firm Mercom India, the cumulative rooftop solar power installations as of July 31, 2021 was 184 MW. The installations rose to 201 MW by September 2021. Delhi’s discoms have a renewable power purchase obligation of 10.25% for 2021-22 and 10.5% for 2022-23. While Delhi government is promoting rooftop solar power to promote clean energy and reduce the carbon footprint, the endeavour seems to be lagging due to a slew of reasons. “Residential rooftop solar power is not picking up pace, but booming in the commercial and industrial segment because of the cost implications. Since residential users in Delhi get 200 units free, people are not very interested in solar power. This is a major roadblock,” said Binit Das, deputy programme manager, renewables, Centre for Science and Environment. Das added that higher power purchase agreements were also a roadblock as the city bought clean energy from elsewhere, thereby affecting local targets. “The existing purchase models are not fit for residential purposes in Delhi. Capital expenditure needs large investments. Another model, renewable energy service company, installs the entire setup on rooftops for free and charges for per unit of consumption. But it is done on a large scale (200 KW limit), while normal households are of 3-5KW,” he said. Ashwani Ashok from Power for All, an NGO that works in the energy and renewables sector, said, “Solar power is not doing well across the country, but there is a huge potential. The issues include rise in project cost after Covid-19, higher operational and maintenance cost and lack of funding. There is also dependence on non-indigenous panels. Also, the targets in all cities are ambitious.” Experts, however, stated that while Delhi had issues like limited land resources, during the pandemic many group housing societies were reluctant to let vendors enter their areas. “BSES Rajdhani and Yamuna have been aggressively promoting rooftop solar power in south, west, east and central Delhi. They have energised a record 4,000-plus installations with a connected load of over 120 MW. To realise its full potential, BSES is accelerating rooftop installations, besides adoption of solar power. This is a win-win proposition for both consumers and the discoms. The outreach programme is also educating consumers about the benefits of solar energy,” said a discom official.

Wildlife crimes on the rise, fund allocation on the decline

Even when poaching and other threats to wildlife remain rampant NEW DELHI: Even when poaching and other threats to wildlife remain rampant, the Centre has eaten into the funds released under three of its flagship schemes for wildlife conservation, and analysis from the State of India's Environment 2022 has said. On the one hand, as many as 2,639 leopards and 579 tigers were killed in the last 15 years; on the other, the funding for three of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) schemes for wildlife conservation has shown a decline ranging between 16 and 47 per cent, the 'State of India's Environment 2022' released by the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) on March 1 has found out. Funding for the development of wildlife habitat, being implemented in 34 states and UTs, went down from Rs 165 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 124 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 87 crore in 2020-21. Similarly, funding for Project Tiger – implemented in 19 states with tiger ranges – went down from Rs 323.2 crore in 2018-19 281.8 crores in 2019-20 to Rs 194.5 crore in 2020-21. Even the Project Elephant – being implemented in 22 states – saw a similar slashing of funds from Rs 29.1 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 28 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 24 crore in 2020-21. The 'State of India's Environment 2022' report also stated that there has been a 78 per cent increase in the number of environmental crimes in the country between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, the courts are disposing of cases at a rate much lower than that of new cases recorded, leading to pile-ups and delays. Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 90 per cent of the environmental crimes. Another cause of worry for wildlife lovers is the increasing instances of human-elephant conflicts that have continued to remain high year after year. As per data from the MoEF&CC from 2014-15 till 2020-2021 (till August 9, 2021), 696 elephants were killed in those seven years. Although the number of human deaths is far more than elephants, the cause of worry about elephants is more for obvious reasons that there are roughly 3,000 elephants left in the wild in India.

Strengthen environmental clearances

First, we need to accept that the system has become unnecessarily convoluted and must be streamlined I wrote in my previous column last fortnight that the bogey of green clearances feeds the false narrative of environment versus development, whereas the reality is these clearances are meant to put a check on mindless and senseless development. Let me explain. A few years ago I was member of a high-level committee, set up to examine the environmental clearances given to hydroelectric projects on the upper course of the Ganga. You could argue that the projects were held up because of forest and environmental clearances, and thus the clearances were an impediment to development. But soon it became apparent that all projects had environmental clearance, albeit with some delay. Once built, these countless, back-to-back projects would not only re-engineer the mighty Ganga, but also dry it up in several seasons. This would make the fragile Himalayas, already at risk because of climate change, more vulnerable to landslides and devastations. The problem was not with hydropower — in fact, this is a clean source of energy, renewable, and a huge resource of the Himalayas — but the mindless way these projects were being planned and given clearance, without paying attention to how many should be allowed and in what condition. So, is this a case of environment versus development, or just wilfully bad development? environment I write this also to reiterate the need for a robust, credible system of environmental scrutiny to find the balance between the environment and development, and to mitigate harm. An effective system, working for environmental integrity, would ensure these happen, both in design and implementation. So, what will make this system more effective? First, we need to accept that the system has become unnecessarily convoluted and must be streamlined. There is a need to consolidate all clearances — environment, forests, wildlife, and coastal — so that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is comprehensive. In the Budget 2022-23, the finance minister announced a single-window clearance system. But because it is aimed solely at the ease of doing business, it will further dilute this broken system. Therefore, the clearance system needs to be part of a package that simultaneously strengthens systems of public participation and monitoring. Second, the process of public assessment must be deepened. I say this knowing that the task of listening to the community and its objections to the project can become as corrupt and compromised as the other parts of the system. Today, public hearings are held, not heard. We need to see this as a critical process; risks from projects get mitigated when community concerns are heeded and efforts are made to remediate and mitigate fallouts. So, the mandatory videography of any public hearing should be livestreamed. The committee assessing the project must be held to account that it has taken these concerns on board. To enable this, the monitoring and compliance conditions must be put in the public domain, and relayed back to the community. Third, it is necessary to review the role of the environmental assessment committees — at the Centre and in states. These committees are the weakest link in this process because they are faceless and are not responsible for the compliance of the project or its monitoring. It is a farce to say that the experts are independent. In fact, these committees make the government less accountable for the decisions that are taken during the scrutiny of the project. It is time these committees were disbanded and assessment and monitoring were done by the Central and state environment departments, which, in turn, need to be strengthened in terms of expertise. But with this, the list of projects cleared or rejected and their conditions should be made public. Then, the fourth and most critical agenda is to greatly strengthen the process of monitoring the project after clearance. For this, there is a need to integrate the functioning of all agencies — from state pollution control boards to coastal- and forest-related institutions. Currently, there are many agencies and yet enforcement is weak. The focus must be on monitoring for compliance. Otherwise, there is no point in this effort of assessing the impacts of projects. But all this will not work unless the baseline data about the project is credible and, again, publicly available. For this, the process of collecting updated information on different environmental parameters and on the ecological importance of the project site must be strengthened. This data needs to be publicly accessible so that when it is used in the EIA report, its credibility and scientific rigour can be gauged. All this, and more, is possible only if we believe that the process of project scrutiny has a value. Otherwise, these clearances will remain an exercise in futility, and government after government will take it down bit by bit to maintain the charade of environmental protection. The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment sunita@cseindia.org Twitter: @sunitanar

International Women's Day: six female climate activists that are making a big change.

March 8th 2022 is International Women's Day, and this year the main focus is #BreakTheBias, ending discrimination against women. International Women's Day is a day of protest and activism promoting women's rights, but is also a celebration of women's achievements. To mark the event, we're looking at some inspirational female climate activists who have dedicated their lives to help fight against climate change. Greta Thunberg Over the past four years, Greta Thunberg has become a household name and is possibly one of the most influential climate activists from recent years. At only 15 years old, she started the school strikes for climate by sitting outside the Swedish parliament building every day during school hours for three weeks. This gradually grew as she was joined by more and more people, encouraging students from around the world to strike on Fridays. "The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases." - taken from her Davos speech, as quoted in The Guardian. Christiana Figueres Christiana Figueres is the daughter of Costa Rican President Jose Figueres Ferrer, and she's a Costa Rican diplomat. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate (UNFCC) from 2010-2016. Throughout her varied career, she has worked in roles related to climate change, sustainable development, green energy and sustainable land usage. She has received a number of recognitions, honours and awards including the 2019 Dan David Prize for combatting climate change. Figueres has also written a book about tackling the climate crisis, called The Future We Choose, which shows us how we can all help to prevent further devastating changes to the climate. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim People in the Southern Hemisphere are more likely to be negatively affected by climate change, despite not producing as many emissions, than those in the Northern Hemisphere. Activists such as Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim advocate for the inclusion of indigenous peoples in international climate change discussions and agreements, as many indigenous peoples are directly involved in preserving their traditional lands and protecting biodiversity. Ibrahim comes from Chad, which is seeing the effects of climate change first-hand, as Lake Chad has lost around 90% of its surface area over the past 40 years. This is having devastating consequences for the more than 40 million people who rely on the water from the lake. "Every culture has a science. So it's really important for the indigenous voice to be there." BBC's 100 Women Indigenous climate protesters at COP26 Ibrahim has worked with UNESCO and the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee to create a 3D map of the Sahel desert region in Chad which will help to sustainably manage the environment. Sunita Narain Sunita Narain is an Indian environmentalist and political activist who studies the relationship between sustainable development and the environment. As director general of the research institute for the Centre for Science and Environment, she exposed brands such as Coca Cola and Pepsi for having high levels of pesticides in their drinks. She was named as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2016, as well as receiving numerous other accolades and awards. Yugratna Srivastava "The fact that due to the climate crisis, people are losing their homes and their lives, every moment makes me question the basic principles of justice and drives me to do everything I can." - Go For Climate Despite only being 23 years old, Yugratna Srivastava has been working towards climate justice on an international level for the past 12 years. She was the youngest person to speak before the UN at the age of 13 and demanded immediate action in response to the climate crisis. Srivastava has also served on the global youth board for Plant-for-the-Planet, an organisation which has planted around 14 billion trees globally. Yamide Dagnet Yamide Dagnet is the Director for Climate Justice at the Open Society Foundation and has more than 18 years of experience working in environmental awareness, including being the UK policy lead and negotiator for the UNFCC. She was recognised by the Ecologist as one of the 25 most influential women climate leaders of 2019 for her climate negotiation work. She began her career in chemical engineering, working with BASF, one of the biggest chemical companies in Brazil, where she began a project with local communities to restore unused land. Why tackling the climate crisis is a gender equality issue Women and girls around the world are disproportionately affected by climate change. In many countries, they are often responsible for gathering resources like water and fuel, which have become scarcer due to the climate crisis. At COP26, only two out of the UK's 12 leaders were women, with many other countries following a similar pattern. Despite this, various countries set out gender equality action plans as part of COP26's 'gender day', including the UK vowing to put £165 million of funding into addressing gender inequality and climate change. Organisations such as She Changes Climate are working to make sure all climate negotiations are gender balanced and diverse at the top levels. They held a panel event at COP26, and Good Energy was a supporting partner. Our Founder, Juliet Davenport, was also a signatory to their open letter to the UK government calling for male/female parity among the UK's COP26 leadership team, which kickstarted the campaign. To coincide with International Women's Day 2022, She Changes Climate are releasing a short documentary looking at the work of female climate activists. The short film, also titled She Changes Climate, features a range of activists including Joycelyn Longdon, founder of Climate in Colour, who has previously written a guest blog for us. You can watch the film on Waterbear Network, which is a streaming service for documentaries focused on supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Share this

IPCC report shows nations need to act

About half of the world is vulnerable to the climate crisis, which will hurt the poor disproportionately. Governments must act at the scale and speed that is necessary We know that the world is running out of carbon space, time and options to avert the catastrophic impacts of a warming climate. But what we must also realise is the United Nations (UN) and its scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are also running out of words to convey their desperate messages to us.

India Slips by three Ranks in Sustainable Development Goals From Last Year: Report

According to a new report, India has dropped three ranks from last year’s 117 to 120 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals announced as part of the 2030 agenda by 192 UN member states in 2015. With the most recent rankings, India has fallen behind all other South Asian countries, with the exception of Pakistan, which is ranked 129th. Bhutan is ranked 75th, Sri Lanka is 87th, Nepal is 96th, and Bangladesh is 109th in South Asia. The total score for India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was 66 out of 100. According to the State of India’s Environment Report, 2022, India’s ranking has declined due to substantial issues in 11 SDGs, including zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, gender equality, and sustainable cities and communities. In this context, let us have a look at the key findings of the State of India’s Environment Report 2022. What is State of India’s Environment Report 2022? State of India’s Environment Report is the annual publication of the Centre for Science and Environment, and Down To Earth (magazine). The report focuses on climate change, migration, health and food systems. It also covers biodiversity, forest and wildlife, energy, industry, habitat, pollution, waste, agriculture and rural development. India’s Current standing in meeting its National Targets India had set up a target to grow its GDP to at least $4 trillion by 2022-23. The report states that as of 2020, the economic growth is valued at only $2.48 trillion. It also states that the economy is likely shrunk in the last couple of years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Foe employment, India targeted to increase the rate of its female labour force participation to at least 30 per cent by 2022-23. It stood at 17.3 per cent in January – March 2020. It was a national target of India to construct 29.5 million housing units under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-Rural and 12 million units under PMAY-Urban. Only about 46.8% and 38% respectively of the targets under ‘Housing for All’ have been achieved. With regards to the target of providing safe piped drinking water to all by 2022-23, only 45 per cent of it has been achieved so far. One of the ambitious targets of the Indian administration was to double farmers’ income by 2022. While an agricultural household’s average monthly income has risen to Rs 10,218 from Rs 6,426, this rise is mostly owing to increases in wages and income from farming animals. In reality, the share of crop production income in an agricultural household’s average monthly income has decreased, from 48 per cent in 2012-13 to 37.2 per cent in 2018-19. With regards to air pollution, the target was to bring down Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 levels in Indian cities to less than 50 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3). In 2020, when vehicular movement was restricted due to the pandemic, 23 of the 121 cities monitored for PM2.5 exceeded 50 µg/m3. For Solid waste management, the target is to achieve 100% source segregation in all households. The overall progress of this is 78%; and while states like Kerala and Union territories like Puducherry have achieved the target, others like West Bengal and Delhi are woefully behind. Additionally, manual scavenging is targeted for eradication, but India still has 66,692 manual scavengers. India’s target with respect to forest cover was to increase it to 33.3% of the geographical area, as envisaged in the National Forest Policy, 1988. By 2019, 21.6% of India was under forest cover. With regards to energy, India’s target is to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2022. Only 56% of this target has been achieved thus far. Performance of the States of India The report has highlighted that Jharkhand and Bihar are the least prepared to meet the SDGs by the target year 2030. Kerala ranked first, followed by Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh in the second position. The third position was shared by Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh was ranked first, followed by Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry in the second place and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the third.

Expert Avantika Goswami dissects IPCC's latest report: 'Every new piece of hard science about climate change is crucial'

'The mention of mental health being affected by climate change, and the confirmation that the poor are hurt the most, are very positive developments in this report,' says Avantika Goswami. Nations body that takes responsibility for advancing public knowledge about climate change – its causes, potential impacts, and response options. This knowledge is shared through reports that are freely available but the language used is often inaccessible to non-experts. The IPCC has finalised the second part of the Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, the Working Group II contribution to this report. The Government of India has welcomed this report, stating that it reflects its own calls for justice and equity at the UN Climate Change Conference [COP26] in Glasgow in 2021. We bring you an interview with climate specialist Avantika Goswami to understand the key takeaways from the latest IPCC report. Goswami is the Deputy Programme Manager, Climate Change and Renewable Energy, at the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi. She has an interdisciplinary background in climate and economic research, sustainability programme management, and management consulting. She studied at Columbia University in New York. She has worked on projects in India, the US, the UK, Ireland, and the Maldives. Her interests lie at the intersection of climate science and political economy. She focuses on transformative solutions to rapidly reduce carbon emissions while centering climate justice and equity. Excerpts from the interview: What, according to you, are five key takeaways from the newly released IPCC report? The report clearly highlights that about half the world's population is highly vulnerable to climate change. The global hotspots for climate risks are all regions in the Global South — West, Central and East Africa, South Asia, Central and South America and Small Islands Developing States. In fact, the poor are and will continue to be hurt the most in general by climate change. Low-income populations face the largest gap in adaptation action, in terms of what is happening versus what is needed. Every small degree of rise in warming will increase risks. Up to 14 percent of species face a very high risk of extinction at global warming of 1.5C, and this rises to 29 percent at 3C, and 39 percent at 4C. Some of the losses that have been incurred are irreversible — such as retreat of glaciers, and thawing of permafrost, mainly in the Arctic region. Financing for climate change adaptation, and political commitment towards adaptation action are both inadequate, and need to be galvanized urgently so as not to miss the brief window of opportunity available to protect human and planetary health. Could you point out some of the important aspects that have emerged in relation to India and, more broadly, Asia? Broadly, the report reiterates what we already know – that hotter summers are occurring due to climate change and impacts such as loss of food crops, floods, and water scarcity will worsen unless we act now. Agro-based economies like India are particularly vulnerable to threatened food security. The report also mentions that, by the mid-21st century, the international transboundary river basins of Ganges and inter-state Sabarmati river basin "could face severe water scarcity challenges with climate change acting as a stress multiplier." Rice production in India could be affected, potentially decreasing from 10 percent to 30 percent whereas maize production can decrease from 25 percent to 70 percent, for a range of 1-4 degrees C temperature rise. And climate-induced migration is likely to worsen. Already, India saw more than 4 million disaster displacements in 2019 alone. What are some of the points that you were surprised to see in the report? The mention of mental health being affected by climate change, and the confirmation that the poor are hurt the most, are very positive developments in this report. To what extent is this report likely to change things at the policy level, and on the ground in terms of implementation? IPCC publications are extremely valuable since they are collaborative efforts of the leading climate scientists across the world, and are published through multilateral engagements with country governments as well. It's hard to say what kind of change this report will galvanize, since the IPCC has been conducting this process for over 30 years, and we have still failed to rein in runaway climate change. But every new piece of hard science that spreads knowledge about climate change and its impacts is crucial to educate laypeople, and the increasing media attention that these reports are getting these days is a welcome development. India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has claimed that this report reaffirms India's call for equity and climate justice at COP26. What do you think, especially since you were representing CSE at COP26, and must have seen some of the robust debates between people from various countries? The argument for loss and damage finance is getting stronger, and this report has helped. That was a key failure of COP26. But it is getting harder for developed countries to shun their responsibility towards the world's poor who are suffering harsh impacts today. Expert Avantika Goswami dissects IPCCs latest report Every new piece of hard science about climate change is crucial Representational image What are some of the solutions and ways forward that the IPCC report recommends? Some of the broad solutions proposed focus on strengthening health systems to reduce the impacts of infectious diseases and heat stress. Harnessing the adaptive strengths of nature, the report recommends measures like agroforestry, the conservation, protection, and restoration of natural forests, and the planting of diverse tree species to withstand climate impacts. Groundwater depletion in agriculture can be combatted by adopting rainwater storage and other water-saving technologies, while food security can be enhanced by adopting stress-tolerant crops and livestock, promoting community-based adaptation that is locally driven, and respecting local and indigenous knowledge systems. All of this brings co-benefits for nutrition, health, and wellbeing. Cities can use nature-based engineering approaches like establishing parks, green corridors, and urban agriculture. Most of these solutions are known, and they obviously point to developing a more compassionate, less extractive relationship with nature, rooted in indigenous knowledge and collective resource management. But it's up to governments to stand up to capital and industry, and harness the political will to make these solutions a reality.

Wildlife crimes on rise in India, fund allocation on decline

Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 90% of the environmental crimes. Even when poaching and other threats to wildlife remain rampant, the Centre has eaten into the funds released under three of its flagship schemes for wildlife conservation, an analysis from the State of India's Environment 2022 has said. On the one hand, as many as 2,639 leopards and 579 tigers were killed in last 15 years; on the other, the funding for three of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) schemes for wildlife conservation has shown decline ranging between 16-47 per cent, the 'State of India's Environment 2022' released by the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) on March 1 has found out. Funding for the development of wildlife habitat, being implemented in 34 states and UTs, went down from Rs 165 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 124 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 87 crore in 2020-21. Similarly, funding for Project Tiger- implemented in 19 states with tiger ranges- went down from Rs 323.2 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 281.8 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 194.5 crore in 2020-21. Even the Project Elephant- being implemented in 22 states- saw a similar slashing of funds from Rs 29.1 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 28 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 24 crore in 2020-21. The 'State of India's Environment 2022' report also stated that there has been a 78 per cent increase in the number of environmental crimes in the country between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, the courts are disposing of cases at a rate much lower than that of new cases recorded, leading to pile ups and delays. Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 90 per cent of the environmental crimes. Human wildlife conflict Another cause of worry for the wildlife lovers is the increasing instances of human-elephant conflicts that have continued to remain high year after year. As per data from the MoEF&CC from 2014-15 till 2020-2021 (till August 9, 2021), 696 elephants were killed in those seven years. Although the number of human deaths is far more than elephants, the cause of worry about elephants is more for obvious reasons that there are roughly 3,000 elephants left in the wild in India. There are 30 elephant reserves across India encompassing 55,000 sq kms area. But 80 per cent of the elephants are outside the protected areas. Elephants, the national heritage animal, are large mammals and need long areas, they need to cross from one habitat to another. "With most of the elephants outside the elephant reserves, they come in contact with human beings and that gives rise to the human-elephant conflict cases," said an official from the Ministry. According to the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India. The human-elephant conflict had 83 elephant deaths while 418 deaths in 2014-15; followed by 113 elephants deaths and 469 human deaths in 2015-16; 94 elephant deaths with 516 human casualties in 2016-17 and 105 elephants were killed while 516 humans lost their life in 2017-18. Similarly, in 2018-19, as many as 115 elephants died while it was 457 humans who paid for within the humans in 2019-2020, it was merely 99 elephant deaths as against 585 humans. And last was 87 elephant deaths followed by 359 human deaths. Budget 2022-23 shows higher allocation: The budget announcements this year, however, painted a little different picture. The MoEF&CC received a total of Rs 3,030.00 crore in the budget 2022-23 compared to Rs 2,869.9 crore in 2021-22 and much higher than Rs 2,630.2 crore in 2013-14. The Ministry received Rs 300 crore for 2022-23, increased from Rs 220 crore in 2021-22 for tiger conservation. The allocation is higher from Rs 195 crore in 2020-21, which, in turn was higher from Rs 175 crore in 2014-15.

Delhi adds 690 tonnes plastic waste daily

NEW DELHI: A new report titled ‘State of India’s Environment 2022’ released by Centre for Science and Environment says Delhi generates 689.8 tonnes of plastic waste daily — the highest among India’s metropolitan cities. The NGO analysed data from the Central Pollution Control Board and found the country generated 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste every day. According to the report, Kolkata and Chennai occupy the second and third spot among metropolitan cities for daily plastic waste generation with 429.5 TPD and 429.4 TPD, respectively. Explaining why Delhi generates the biggest volume of plastic waste among the metros, Atin Biswas, programme director, municipal solid waste unit, CSE, said, “The main reason is population density. Delhi’s population has risen over 200% between 1951 and 2001, according to data sourced from NCR Planning Board, government of India. Besides, the municipal solid waste is disposed of with hardly any segregation.” Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, deputy programme manager, municipal solid waste unit, CSE, said the data on plastic waste generation in metropolitan cities was compiled after analysing CPCB’s latest report published in 2021 pertaining to 2019-20. Singh said, “Waste segregation in Delhi is not as good as in certain pockets of other metropolitan cities. The level of awareness is higher among residents in Mumbai and Bengaluru.” According to the report, India produced 17 million tonnes of plastic in 2018-19 and consumed 18.5 million tonnes in the same period as per industry estimates. “In the last 28 years, our plastic consumption has increased by more than 20 times. As per the industry, the country’s per capita plastic consumption was 13.6kg in 2018-19. With the pandemic prolonging its stay, our per capita plastic consumption is set to witness considerable growth due to the increased use of plastic and single-use products,” said the report. The report said that going by India’s plastic consumption of 18. 5 million tonnes in 2018-19, close to 11 million tonnes (60%) was single-use plastic used primarily by the packaging sector, of which 3.1 million tonnes was taken care of due to its rigid nature and high monetary value and recyclability. The remaining 7.8 million tonnes of plastic waste was what caused the ecological problem and this volume is what needs to be focused on, the report said. The central government has banned 19 single-use plastic items from July 1, including plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candies, ice cream and ear buds. Also prohibited is thermocol used for decoration, items such as plates, cups, glasses and cutlery, wrapping and packing films used in sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, stirrers and plastic banners less than 100 microns in thickness. In its recommendations, the report suggested a uniformity in guidelines on single-use plastic across the states and Union territories. It emphasised that there was a need to push the producers, importers and brand owners (PIBOs) to invest in R&D collectively and come up with sustainable packaging and alternatives to single-use plastic. It also suggested implementation of extended producer responsibility, to not just collect and recycle plastic waste, but also reduce use of plastics in market products.

Delhi: Rain in excess, but Yamuna pollution still rises, says report

NEW DELHI: The record rainfall this January and February did nothing to dilute the pollution in the Yamuna, reveals the monthly status report. In fact, the analysis by Delhi Pollution Control Committee found the water quality worsened from December to February. In January, the city received 88.2mm of rainfall against the normal average of 21.7mm and in February, the precipitation measured 29.7mm, 65% higher than normal. Though the excess rain was expected to result in better flow and dilution of the pollutants, the river actually deteriorated in terms of parameters such as biological oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and faecal coliform. Faecal coliform is found in human excreta contaminating the water. Higher the level higher the presence of disease-causing pathogens in the water. DO measures the presence of life in the water, while BOD is the minimum oxygen required by the river to break and manage the organic matter in the water. While BOD, which should not exceed 3 mg/l, ranged from 2.5 mg/l to 62 in the Yamuna in December, it was worse in January measuring 2-68 and in February at 1.5-70 mg/l. The faecal coliform level also worsened, indicating that sewage and effluent continued to be being discharged into the river. The February analysis showed, as in the previous months, that at the spot where the Yamuna entered the city, DO, BOD and faecal coliform were within permissible limits but were very high at the exit spot. The faecal coliform level at the entry point at Palla was 1,000 MPN/100ml, but when the Yamuna left the city limits at Asgarpur, the faecal level was 2,520 times higher than the maximum permissible limit of 2500 MPN/100ml. The faecal level at Asgarpur in January was 8,40,000 MPN/100ml and in December, 14,00,000 MPN/100 ml. The DO level at Palla was 9.1mg/l at the start of February, but at Asgarpur, it was nil against the minimum requirement of 5mg/l. BOD at the entry was 1.5mg/l and at the exit, 65mg/l against the maximum limit of 3mg/l. Experts feel unabated raw sewage flow into the river is the reason behind the low dilution of the pollutants despite rains in January and February. “Rain should have diluted the pollutants but if it didn’t, it means that a lot of raw sewage made its way into the river. This also explains the high faecal coliform reading,” said Sushmita Sengupta, senior programme manager (water), Centre for Science and Environment. “Only 50% of Delhi’s households are linked to sewage lines, while the sewage from the rest flows through the drains into the Yamuna without being treated. Also, the sewage treatment plants are running at just 60% of their capacity. This needs to be addressed if the Yamuna is to become clean.”

Wildlife crimes on the rise, fund allocation on decline

<p>New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) Even when poaching and other threats to wildlife remain rampant, the Centre has eaten into the funds released under three of its flagship schemes for wildlife conservation, an analysis from the State of India's Environment 2022 has said.</p> <p><br><br><br>On the one hand, as many as 2,639 leopards and 579 tigers were killed in last 15 years; on the other, the funding for three of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC) schemes for wildlife conservation has shown decline ranging between 16-47 per cent, the 'State of India's Environment 2022' released by the Centre for Science &amp; Environment (CSE) on March 1 has found out.<br><br>Funding for development of wildlife habitat, being implemented in 34 states and UTs, went down from Rs 165 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 124 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 87 crore in 2020-21. Similarly, funding for Project Tiger -- implemented in 19 states with tiger ranges -- went down from Rs 323.2 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 281.8 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 194.5 crore in 2020-21. Even the Project Elephant -- being implemented in 22 states -- saw similar slashing of funds from Rs 29.1 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 28 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 24 crore in 2020-21.<br><br>The 'State of India's Environment 2022' report also stated that there has been a 78 per cent increase in the number of environmental crimes in the country between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, the courts are disposing of cases at a rate much lower than that of new cases recorded, leading to pile ups and delays. <br><br>Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 90 per cent of the environmental crimes.<br><br>Human wildlife conflict<br><br>Another cause of worry for the wildlife lovers is the increasing instances of human-elephant conflicts that have continued to remain high year after year. As per data from the MoEF&amp;CC from 2014-15 till 2020-2021 (till August 9, 2021), 696 elephants were killed in those seven years.<br><br>Although the number of human deaths is far more than elephants, the cause of worry about elephants is more for obvious reasons that there are roughly 3,000 elephants left in the wild in India.<br><br>There are 30 elephant reserves across India encompassing 55,000 sq kms area. But 80 per cent of the elephants are outside the protected areas. Elephants, the national heritage animal, are large mammals and need long areas, they need to cross from one habitat to another. "With most of the elephants outside the elephant reserves, they come in contact with human beings and that gives rise to the human-elephant conflict cases," said an official from the Ministry.<br><br>According to the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India. The human-elephant conflict had 83 elephant deaths while 418 deaths in 2014-15; followed by 113 elephants deaths and 469 human deaths in 2015-16; 94 elephant deaths with 516 human casualties in 2016-17 and 105 elephants were killed while 516 humans lost their life in 2017-18.<br><br>Similarly, in 2018-19, as many as 115 elephants died while it was 457 humans who paid for within the humans in 2019-2020, it was merely 99 elephant deaths as against 585 humans. And last was 87 elephant deaths followed by 359 human deaths.<br><br>Budget 2022-23 shows higher allocation<br><br>The budget announcements this year, however, painted a little different picture. The MoEF&amp;CC received a total of Rs 3,030.00 crore in the budget 2022-23 compared to Rs 2,869.9 crore in 2021-22 and much higher than Rs 2,630.2 crore in 2013-14.<br><br>The Ministry received Rs 300 crore for 2022-23, increased from Rs 220 crore in 2021-22 for tiger conservation. The allocation is higher from Rs 195 crore in 2020-21, which, in turn was higher from Rs 175 crore in 2014-15.<br><br>(Nivedita Khandekar can be reached at nivedita.k@ians.in)<br><br>--IANS<br>niv/dpb<br><br> <br></p>

Wildlife crimes on the rise, fund allocation on decline

New Delhi, Mar 6 (IANS): Even when poaching and other threats to wildlife remain rampant, the Centre has eaten into the funds released under three of its flagship schemes for wildlife conservation, an analysis from the State of India's Environment 2022 has said. On the one hand, as many as 2,639 leopards and 579 tigers were killed in last 15 years; on the other, the funding for three of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) schemes for wildlife conservation has shown decline ranging between 16-47 per cent, the 'State of India's Environment 2022' released by the Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) on March 1 has found out. Funding for development of wildlife habitat, being implemented in 34 states and UTs, went down from Rs 165 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 124 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 87 crore in 2020-21. Similarly, funding for Project Tiger -- implemented in 19 states with tiger ranges -- went down from Rs 323.2 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 281.8 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 194.5 crore in 2020-21. Even the Project Elephant -- being implemented in 22 states -- saw similar slashing of funds from Rs 29.1 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 28 crore in 2019-2020 to Rs 24 crore in 2020-21. The 'State of India's Environment 2022' report also stated that there has been a 78 per cent increase in the number of environmental crimes in the country between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, the courts are disposing of cases at a rate much lower than that of new cases recorded, leading to pile ups and delays. Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 90 per cent of the environmental crimes. Human wildlife conflict Another cause of worry for the wildlife lovers is the increasing instances of human-elephant conflicts that have continued to remain high year after year. As per data from the MoEF&CC from 2014-15 till 2020-2021 (till August 9, 2021), 696 elephants were killed in those seven years. Although the number of human deaths is far more than elephants, the cause of worry about elephants is more for obvious reasons that there are roughly 3,000 elephants left in the wild in India. There are 30 elephant reserves across India encompassing 55,000 sq kms area. But 80 per cent of the elephants are outside the protected areas. Elephants, the national heritage animal, are large mammals and need long areas, they need to cross from one habitat to another. "With most of the elephants outside the elephant reserves, they come in contact with human beings and that gives rise to the human-elephant conflict cases," said an official from the Ministry. According to the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India. The human-elephant conflict had 83 elephant deaths while 418 deaths in 2014-15; followed by 113 elephants deaths and 469 human deaths in 2015-16; 94 elephant deaths with 516 human casualties in 2016-17 and 105 elephants were killed while 516 humans lost their life in 2017-18. Similarly, in 2018-19, as many as 115 elephants died while it was 457 humans who paid for within the humans in 2019-2020, it was merely 99 elephant deaths as against 585 humans. And last was 87 elephant deaths followed by 359 human deaths. Budget 2022-23 shows higher allocation The budget announcements this year, however, painted a little different picture. The MoEF&CC received a total of Rs 3,030.00 crore in the budget 2022-23 compared to Rs 2,869.9 crore in 2021-22 and much higher than Rs 2,630.2 crore in 2013-14. The Ministry received Rs 300 crore for 2022-23, increased from Rs 220 crore in 2021-22 for tiger conservation. The allocation is higher from Rs 195 crore in 2020-21, which, in turn was higher from Rs 175 crore in 2014-15.

Karnataka lags behind Tamil Nadu and Kerala in tackling hunger

MYSURU: India has set herself the target of eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030, in addition to increasing use of clean and affordable energy. All the states have been tasked with working towards the realisation of these objectives, referred to collectively as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A survey conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment, which released the Annual State of India’s Environment 2022 report, has found that, while Karnataka is faring well in pushing clean and affordable energy initiatives, it is lagging considerably behind its neighbours Tamil Nadu and Kerala in tackling hunger and malnutrition. Karnataka brings up the rear of the table that lists states against the ‘zero hunger’ indicator, assessing steps taken to end hunger. Against 100, Karnataka scored a mere 53 out of 100. Among other categories, the indicator looks at efforts taken to feed all sections of the population, particularly the children, besides looking into efforts made to promote agriculture, support extended to small-scale farmers, access to land, et al. Karnataka has slotted in 10th when it comes to its performance in steps taken towards eradication of poverty, with a score of 68, standing sixth in its ability to offer quality education and gender equality. Although the state comes in 11th when it comes to supplying clean water and sanitation, it has scored an impressive 85 out of 100 on that count. Karnataka has come in 12th in the category that ranks states on steps taken to reduce socio-economic inequality. The state has achieved the same rank in the ‘life on the land’ category, wherein initiatives undertaken to promote more sustainable techniques aimed at the use of terrestrial ecosystem, preservation of forests, halting and reversing land degradation, among others. DC Nanjunda, associate professor at the Centre for Social Exclusion, University of Mysore, said, “Sustainable development appears to have found more favour in Tamil Nadu and Kerala than in Karnataka. Inequality in income is particularly high in Karnataka, as is deprivation. The infrastructure for healthcare and education is very good in both the states. As far back as the 1980s and 90s, the Kerala model of development was a talking point.” Programme director for environment resources’ unit at the Centre for Science and Environment, Kiran Pandey said that Karnataka had achieved an overall rank of sixth in its preparedness to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030. However, the state’s poor performance in seven key areas, particularly those concerned with pushing socio-economic growth, remains a matter of concern, she said. “Karnataka has also fared poorly when it comes to protecting forests, preventing desertification of land, and protecting biodiversity,” Pandey said.

M’laya bests others in reducing income inequalities

AGARTALA, March 5: In the initiative towards reducing income inequalities and inequalities-of-outcome, Meghalaya took the top slot followed by Tripura in the country by ensuring access to equal opportunities and promoting social, economic and political inclusion of all irrespective of age, sex disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic condition, according to a the State of Environment Report 2022 of Centre for Science and Environment report. All Northeastern states except Sikkim were found to perform poorly in the development of sustainable cities and communities while all states of the region excluding Tripura achieved better than national standards in integrating climate change measures, disaster risk mitigation and sustainable natural resource management, the report underlined. According to the report, Tripura has bagged the top-most position among Northeastern states for its initiatives to eradicate poverty, not only in monetary terms but also by increasing basic resources and services to the communities affected by conflict and climate-related disasters. The report has analysed that in no-poverty indicators of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Tripura’s performance in a number of parameters was best in the region and fourth in the country after Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala. Such parameters include the coverage of health insurance schemes, employment under MGNREGA on demand, receiving social protection benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matu Vandana Yojana and households living in kutcha houses. However, Tripura was placed below the national average alongside Meghalaya and Assam in the zero-hunger index that aims to evaluate the measures for ending all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure people especially children have sufficient and nutritious food. It involves promoting sustainable agriculture, small farming and equal access to land, technology and market and also focuses on doubling agricultural productivity by maintaining the genetic diversity of seeds, plants, farmed animals and adaptation of climate-resilient agriculture, the report explained. Although performing poorly in many other economic indicators, Tripura secured the top slot in the country with respect to the responsible consumption index. The parameters included per capita fossil fuel consumption, use of nitrogenous fertiliser, generation of hazardous waste and plastic waste and treatment of bio-medical waste. In the North East, Tripura was followed by Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim. The ranking looked at the progress made by the state in promoting resource efficiency, green economics and sustainable infrastructure. The assessment also focused on reducing degradation, pollution and minimising waste by efficient management of shared natural resources, the report said. The CSE report found all Northeastern states except Mizoram was below the national average in good health and wellbeing index. Other than Manipur and Sikkim, all other states of the region including Meghalaya were below the national average in quality education. Mizoram and Nagaland scored above the national average in clean water and sanitation, Assam scored 98 in affordable and clean energy along with Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur. (UNI)

Environment: India is Identifying and Defining Forests Wrongly, Say Experts

Contrary to the claims made in the official report about increased forest cover in India, experts revealed that data was manipulated to create a different picture than reality. Amid increasing challenges of climate change, it may surprise many that India is manipulating data to show increasing forest cover and misrepresenting what forest in the real sense should be. Experts have questioned it and raised the issue of how the forest should be defined. Contrary to the official reports of increasing forest cover in the country, MD Madhusudan, Obaid Siddiqi Chair in the History and Culture of Science at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, said, "While the India State of Forest Report (ISFR 2021) says forest cover has increased, a study of the Forest Survey of India maps shows otherwise." While speaking at the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) four-day national conclave, the Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2022, Madhusudan said this was a question of erroneous identification, categorisation and definition. "Tea estates, coconut plantations and housing colonies in cities have been classified as forests -- even desert areas have been classified as open forests. There are no technical constraints in classifying forests – we have the technical capacity to differentiate between different kinds of forests and plantations. I believe it has been an active choice to call coconuts and tea plantations forests.". He elaborates further, "In 2001, efforts were made to ensure accuracy of data, but the opposite happened – due to the definition used, forest cover was shown to rise steeply, while there was no change or negative change in the forest cover on the ground!" According to Madhusudan, forests are a living landscape, and natural forests are incomparable to any plantation for biodiversity. "If you cut down a forest and grow tea, it can't be called deforestation anymore because it was forest earlier and is forest later. We have lost the vocabulary to describe this change – this is why it is essential that these categories be differentiated." He stressed that forests are public resources, and tea by an individual or a private firm cannot be termed forest cover. The assessment of Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, focused on investigating why the India State of Forest Report 2021 does not explain what is happening to this huge tract of forest land – equal in size to the state of Uttar Pradesh. As per Narain, "There are states where over 30-50% of the land classified as forests is 'missing' from the government's assessment. Madhya Pradesh, for instance, has 'lost' nearly three million ha. This is the real story of forest loss in our country – and it should worry us enormously." Narain said, "The definition of 'forest area' outside recorded forests includes non-forest plantations. As the definition of a forest includes any hectare of land with a tree cover of 10% or more, these areas would include plantations of all kinds, ranging from coconut to even tea. In fact, between the assessment 2019 and 2021, India's forest cover has grown by a mere 0.2%, and most of this 'growth' has been in 'open forests' (with a canopy cover of 10-40%), on lands outside recorded forest areas." She says that "the urgent agenda today is to reinvent forest management for the future; so that we build a wood-based future, but still protect the ecologically fragile areas." Earlier, Narain said that "huge areas of forests under the control of the forest department are 'missing' and unaccounted for -- possibly degraded to the point that they are not even classified as scrubs. In fact, one can say that the forest cover is growing in spite of the government, not because of it." She said this is the difference between what is 'recorded' as forest area and the actual forest cover that exists on that recorded area. As per the ISFR 2021, the recorded forest area is 77.53 million ha (hectare). But the forest cover on these lands is said to be 51.66 million ha. This means as much as 34% of the area classified as forests – 25.87 million ha -- is missing in the assessment! The India State of Forest Report 2021 does not explain what is happening to this huge tract of forest land – equal in size to the state of Uttar Pradesh." According to her analysis, there are states where over 30-50% of the land classified as forests is 'missing' from the government's assessment. Madhya Pradesh, for instance, has 'lost' nearly three million ha. Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2022, as the conclave is called, is an annual event. This year, it has brought together about 70 journalists from across the country to discuss some of India's critical environmental challenges. The dialogue was inaugurated on March 1 by the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav, who also released CSE and Down To Earth magazine's Annual State of India's Environment 2022 report on the occasion.

What is Delhi’s Air pollution challenge? Sunita Narain and Anumita Roychowdhury explain

The number of days with good air quality in Delhi has increased while the number of days with poor to extremely severe air quality has decreased Delhi’s fight for clean air started in the 1990s. Numerous reforms have been initiated over the years including shifting to cleaner fuels and enhanced fuel efficiency norms. But as winters approach, Delhi’s air quality takes a dip. What are the reasons? According to the Center of Science and Environment’s Sunita Narain and Anumita Roychowdhury, Delhi’s captive air pollution from vehicles, industry, construction activities, etc are already very high. When Punjab and Haryana farmers start burning rice stubble in the beginning of the winter season, the smoke from their fields add to the captive pollution of Delhi. This increases air pollution in Delhi taking it beyond the severe level. But there have been substantial gains that have been made since the air pollution reforms began. The number of days with good air quality in Delhi has increased while the number of days with poor to extremely severe air quality has decreased. Currently, Delhi enjoys nearly 151 days of good air quality up from about 81 six years ago. But Delhi’s air quality needs to improve substantially to meet the health standards. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.