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COP26 Failed in Climate Justice, Says CSE

Meanwhile, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said COP26 did not deliver in the area of climate justice. “Has the Glasgow Climate Pact succeeded in going far enough to keep the world below a 1.5°C temperature rise – necessary to ensure that our world can avoid the worst and catastrophic impacts of a changing climate? The answer is a resounding ‘no’,” said CSE Director General, Sunita Narain. CSE researchers said while COP26 acknowledged that the threat of climate change is real and that urgent actions are needed, it did nothing to raise the commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions; instead, it highlighted the deep distrust between the already rich and the emerging world, and did little to acknowledge that combatting climate change requires cooperation at a scale never seen before. Says Narain, “The Pact’s fundamental and fatal flaw is in the very first page – where it says, rather dismissively, that “it notes the importance for some of the concept of climate justice” (italics are ours). We cannot erase the fact that certain countries – the US, EU-27, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and Russia and joined now by China – have consumed roughly 70 per cent of the carbon budget, the space in the atmosphere that is available to keep the world below the 1.5°C temperature rise. The challenge is that the world has run out carbon budget, but some 70 per cent of the world’s people still need the right to development. As these countries grow, they will add emissions and take the world to catastrophic levels of temperature rise. It is for this reason, climate justice is not an add-on concept for some, but the pre-requisite for an effective and ambitious agreement. This lack of understanding is at the core of the problem.” She adds: “The Glasgow Climate Pact’s only achievement – if you can call it that – is that it acknowledges and reiterates the need for financial support for adaptation – but it does nothing more than this.” In CSE’s COP26 report card it said in “Agenda 1: Climate justice — failed.” CoP26 should have acknowledged historical emissions and not diluted or erased them. Climate justice has to be the bedrock of action. About 70 per cent of the world’s population needs access to carbon space for development; they cannot be told not to develop. CoP26 needed to confront this inequity and ensure that it is addressed while securing low-carbon pathways for the world. It is a mockery of the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) that poor nations with miniscule per capita carbon footprint are asked to constrain their developmental health in trying to abide by the Paris Agreement. CoP26 should have ensured that the burden of emissions reduction was shouldered by the historical polluters who currently play a small role.

Down’ but not ‘out’: Growth needs fuel India’s coal addiction

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Even as its capital was blanketed by toxic smog, India led the charge to weaken anti-coal pledges at the COP26 summit, with experts saying it is prioritising its economic growth over the planet’s future. The world’s third-largest emitter teamed up with China to water down language on fossil fuels at the Glasgow conference, forcing a compromise: a climate deal that bound countries to “phase down” but not “phase out” coal use. India’s resistance to more ambitious curbs on dirty energy is driven by its need for cheap fuel to power a booming economy and lift hundreds of millions of its citizens out of entrenched poverty. “We have a huge population which has still not reached a basic minimum standard of living,” climate change expert with the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment Samrat Sengupta told AFP. Coal consumption has nearly doubled in the last decade – only China burns more – and the fuel still powers 70 per cent of India’s electricity grid. The government has dragged its feet on tougher regulations for coal plants and just last year announced a series of commercial mining auctions to boost domestic production. Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to weaning his country off coal, but told Glasgow delegates India would only aim to be carbon-neutral by 2070 – a decade after China and 20 years after the world’s other big emitters. But without decisive action sooner, experts warn India’s emissions will soar in coming years and scuttle worldwide efforts to rein in global warming. The effects of India’s fossil fuel addiction are already keenly felt, with a shroud of thick grey haze enveloping New Delhi each winter. Coal plant emissions and vehicle exhaust fumes combine with smoke from farm fires to choke the megacity’s 20 million residents. On the same day that COP26 delegates were finalising the global climate accord, Delhi shut its schools for a week to keep children inside. Smog is blamed for more than a million deaths in India annually, and a recent University of Chicago study found that air pollution was likely to reduce life expectancy by more than nine years for four in every 10 Indians. Modi’s government aims to mitigate the problem by scaling up renewables, pledging to make solar power as big a share of the energy mix as coal by the end of the decade. But India lacks the high-tech capacity to meet demand for solar panels and relies heavily on expensive components from abroad. It has tried to spur domestic manufacturing of solar tech by hiking import duties, raising the cost of renewable energy. The 2030 solar goal “is a huge and a very stiff target to meet”, said Sengupta of the Centre for Science and Environment. “It requires a lot of cheap finance and technologies to be made available.” India has long argued that historical polluters such as the United States (US) and Europe are obligated to provide the technical expertise and funding for climate mitigation. Its environment minister told COP26 delegates on Saturday that developing countries were “entitled to the responsible use of fossil fuels”. Bhupender Yadav said nations with little historical responsibility for climate change should not be held to the same standards as the world’s biggest per-capita emitters. “In such a situation, how can anyone expect developing countries to make promises of phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies?” he asked. The weakened COP26 commitment was adopted with deep reluctance by other nations, which were anxious to get the deal over the line after two weeks of marathon negotiations. Other developing nations – including Pacific island countries facing the existential threat of rising sea levels as a result of global warming – bristled at the suggestion that India’s last-minute intervention was done on their behalf. Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum expressed “not just our astonishment, but immense disappointment in the manner in which this has been introduced”.

Innovative packaging solutions in view of single use plastic ban

On India’s 73rd Independence Day and even in “Mann ki Baat” on 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation, the Prime Minister appealed to every citizen of the country to make the country free from single use of plastics and work towards it with full dedication. He urged technocrats to provide smarter solutions for reusing and recycling of plastic. Shop owners were fined to give out plastic carry bags in order to bring more awareness and make people more conscious. According to the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, India has defined single-use plastic as ‘disposable plastics that are commonly used for packaging and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled’. The items which are included in the list are carry bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups, and cutlery. India generated an annual waste of 34,69,780 tons of plastic waste in 2018-2019 and 23.83.469 tons in 2017-2018. According to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, out of the total plastic generated, approximately 60% is contributed by plastic packaging. Plastic can emit hazardous chemicals into the soil, which can eventually seep into groundwater or other nearby water sources, affecting the global ecology. The species that drink the water may suffer catastrophic consequences as a result of this. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Government notifies the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, prohibiting identified single use plastic items by 2022 with effect from July 1, 2022: The manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of the following single use plastic commodities, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, will be prohibited. The India Plastic Challenge – Hackathon 2021 has been organized for students of Higher Educational Institutions and start-ups recognised under the Start-up India Initiative to encourage innovations in the development of alternatives to identified single-use plastic items and digital solutions to plastic waste management. Plastic packaging waste is not listed for being phased out. Rather, it was proposed through the extended producer responsibility (EPR), of the producer, importer, and brand owner (PIBO), that it should be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way. From September 30, 2021, thickness of plastic carry bags increased from 50 to 75 microns and to 120 microns with effect from December 31, 2022. Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals conducted the assessment by comparing two pillars: the utility index of a specific type of SUP and its environmental impact. To mitigate the problem of accumulating plastic waste in the environment, there is a need to make/develop a substitute for single-use plastic. Best alternatives to plastic packaging are: Glass: Glass is non-biodegradable, but it is inert and can be recycled infinitely. Upcycling of packaged food jars into food storage is the best way to give food packaging a new life. They can also be repurposed to store homemade food or can be decorated and turned into homemade gifts. Consumer good companies which are providing processed foods or beverages have started to explore alternatives for plastic packaging and include glass, tin cans, and tetra packs to mitigate the mounting concerns over plastic waste. Processed food makers such as Cremica have reduced plastic consumption by reducing laminate in packaging. The company has also considered glass as an alternative but will also have to balance cost, which is increased due to glass packaging. Biodegradable Bags: Similarly, the new packaging snack bag developed by PepsiCo is biobased and is 100% compostable and made from plant-based material. 60% fewer greenhouse gases are emitted from the production of material used in theses bags as compared to traditional packaging material. Paper Bottle: Another alternative used by PepsiCo to reduce plastic waste is a paper bottle (Pulpex), which is made from sustainably sourced pulp and is designed in such a manner that it is fully recyclable in standard paper streams and has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Pulpex has been successful in overcoming the challenge of holding liquids in it. ECO-Box: Proctor & Gamble’s (P&G) laundry detergent brand Tide is known for packaging detergent in plastic bottles. However, to reduce plastic waste, P&G collaborated with amazon and came up with ECO boxes to promote waste reduction and environmental conservation. This box has 60% less plastic and 30% less water as compared to the company’s previous plastic packaging. Bioplastic/Compostable Shrink Wrap: It is a bioplastic made up of Mater-Bi, a plantbased resin and can be used as a replacement for single-use shrink wraps for fruits and vegetables mostly found in supermarkets and grocery stores. Palm Leaves: Areca Palm tree is used to produce palm leaf packaging for food such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Arekapak - a functional and aesthetic alternative to conventional packaging is used to produce casserole dishes or lunch boxes. Production of Arekapak takes place locally in India. Apart from being sustainable and biodegradable, palm leaves also impart a unique earthy flavour to the packaged food. Bagasse: It is made from renewable sugarcane and is 100% biodegradable, compostable and a chlorine free alternative compared to styrene alternatives. It is mainly suitable for hot and cold food and can be microwaved or stored in freezers. Today the world produces around 300 million tons of plastic every year which is somewhat equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. Research is still going on to counter plastic pollution and limiting the use of single use plastic as it contributes to over 60% of total plastic pollution. IIT Bombay has developed plastic like films for the packaging industry which are made from edible sugar-based or fat-based biopolymers, non-toxic and gets degraded in about a week or month. Scaling up the manufacturing of biodegradable films has been started by a Chennai based company, and more such innovations with government support and banning the use of plastic will help the world to tackle the issue of plastic pollution.

Glasgow Disappointed, But It Inched the World Forward on Climate

The UN climate agreement reached in Glasgow fell far short of what scientists say is needed, angering activists and many delegates. But the pact achieved progress, agreeing to toughen emissions targets by next year and to compensate developing nations for “loss and damage.” The movie version of the final hours of the UN climate conference in Glasgow is surely already in storyboard. As India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav prepares to use his veto power to force the removal of a call to accelerate the “phase out” of coal burning from the Glasgow Climate Pact, the scene cuts to what is going on in his country, where people are choking in a Delhi smog, as city authorities in the world’s most polluted capital shut schools “so that children don’t have to breathe polluted air.” Fade back to Yadav in a conference-hall huddle with China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, whose influence over other delegations allowed the Indians to engineer their coup. And from there back to an announcement in Beijing earlier in the week by China’s National Development and Reform Commission that the country’s coal output had just reached the highest daily figure ever — almost 12 million tons — as the nation stoked boilers to revive its economy from the pandemic downturn. In a dramatic conference maneuver, the world’s two largest coal-burning nations had insisted that the Glasgow delegates replace “phase out” coal with “phase down.” This change, which watered down a central element of the agreement that negotiators thought had been settled, introduced a bitter note to the end of the conference. Of course, conference declarations are just bits of paper. They don’t themselves change anything. Governments and investors do that. And many delegates headed home heartened by a series of gains from their two weeks of deliberations. Almost unnoticed, the conference moved the goalposts for climate action, says Piers Forster, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Leeds and long-time author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “1.5 degrees Celsius rather than ‘well below 2 degrees’ [the wording in the Paris Agreement] is clearly recognised as the main aim,” he said. While the world is a long way off from limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C, the pact at least recognized that fact. And, while the world is a long way from being on track to meet that aspiration, the pact text at least recognized that fact. Nations agreed they should up their game in time for the next meeting, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, this time next year. They agreed by then to “revisit and strengthen the 2030 [emissions] targets in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs)” and to make sure those targets are consistent with the pledges made by many of them to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. By the time they meet in Egypt, governments should also have met their decade-old target for providing $100 billion annually in climate finance for developing nations and begun a “dialogue” to create a UN facility to manage a separate fund making payments of recompense for loss and damage caused by climate change. This was a second issue that, along with the proposed coal phaseout, came close to derailing the conference in its final hours. But on this, China held its fire. NEVER MISS AN ARTICLE Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up. Activists in Glasgow were divided between those pleased to applaud the advances made and those angry at what was left undone. Even some senior international figures were appalled. The result was “a failure of leadership and a failure of diplomacy,” said The Elders, a grouping chaired by former Irish President Mary Robinson that also includes former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. Scientists were similarly split in their public reactions. The outcome was “a big step forward,” said Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia, co-author of the authoritative Global Carbon Budget published in the first week. “We are still on the road to hell, but Glasgow has at least created an exit lane,” said David Reay of the University of Edinburgh. Jeffrey Kargel, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, cautioned that, with or without an end to coal burning, we are likely to be victims of time lags in the world’s climate system. “There is some pent-up warming that is yet to take place … locked in due to the heat capacity of the oceans,” he told Yale Environment 360. “I am pessimistic that a 1.5-degree threshold will hold.” Glasgow was the 26th UN Conference of Parties (COP) on climate change. Many question the value of these great annual events, with their huge carbon footprints as thousands of delegates descend on some apparently arbitrary city to deliver much less than they promised on the most pressing issue of our time. Some argue that the complex bureaucracy and requirement for consensus agreements among the almost 200 nations present slow down the necessary action, rather than speeding it up. The hijack of the language on coal would be a case in point. The alternative was also on display in Glasgow. Most of the two weeks, as we reported here, were dominated by public pledges made by ad hoc groups of nations that were not tied to the UN process. Glasgow was just a convenient place to announce them. These coalitions of the willing — ranging in size from a dozen or so to more than 100 — promised to cut methane emissions, end deforestation, banish coal, end exploration for new oil and gas, switch auto production to electric and other low-carbon vehicles, and develop new technologies for low-carbon steel and concrete to decarbonize construction. Big emitters such as the United States and China joined some, but not others. Similarly adrift from the UN climate process were last Wednesday’s U.S.-China joint statement on taking climate action and the series of the announcements just before the conference that most of the world’s leading nations would no longer fund fossil fuel plants outside their own borders. India and China may have misjudged the reaction when they unleashed their last-minute choke hold on the agreement. The likely impact of many of these unilateral pledges on emissions is hard to assess. Some are vaguely or ambiguously expressed; and others, including the much-discussed U.S. commitment on methane, are already at least partly accounted for in existing nationally declared contributions (NDCs), the formal declarations given to the UN by nations on their plans for cutting emissions. Still, these unilateral pledges may turn out to have made more difference to the global climate outlook than anything submitted to the UN system during the conference. Despite this proliferation of independent initiatives, those watching the conference’s final hours — and prevented by mask from lip-reading the wheeler-dealing huddles on the conference floor — could not doubt that these events matter. They apply pressure on recalcitrant nations. India and China may have misjudged the reaction in the final plenary session when they unleashed their last-minute choke hold on the pact. The anger did not come just from rich developed nations already phasing out their coal. A succession of developing-world nations that the two superpowers would normally count as their allies also joined in. They included Pacific Island states such as Fiji, and Caribbean nations such as Antigua and Barbuda, who thought the lifeline for coal might consign their nations to the history books. In interviews after the close, conference President Alok Sharma said “China and India will have to explain themselves and what they did to the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.” That could prove uncomfortable. They may be wary of attempting the same trick in future. But others said the 11th hour maneuver would not halt the inevitable demise of coal. “The last-minute watering down is unfortunate, but is unlikely to slow down a strong momentum past coal, a dirty fuel of an earlier era,” said environmental economist Nicholas Stern, of the London School of Economics. That momentum will be strengthened if another landmark conference decision, which called on nations to end “inefficient” subsidies for other fossil fuels, is adhered to. UN agreements operate through rule books, where every word has to be agreed by every nation. This is why, six years after the Paris Agreement, the Glasgow conference still had to resolve two important parts of the Paris rule book. Both reached a conclusion. Rules were agreed on transparency — the details of how countries report their NDC pledges — and on what became known as Article 6 — how countries can collaborate on meeting their targets, including through carbon trading. ALSO ON YALE E360 Why the world’s rich nations must pay for climate damage. Read more. The latter has proved controversial. Environmental groups disagree strongly about carbon markets, under which schemes to reduce emissions can generate carbon credits for purchase by countries or companies who want to “offset” their emissions. Some say the trade can provide the necessary finance for nature-based solutions, emphasized in the Glasgow Climate Pact’s declaration of “the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring nature and ecosystems to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal, including through forests and other terrestrial and marine ecosystems acting as sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases.” These nature-based solutions could help the world to net-zero emissions. Others see carbon markets as little more than an accounting trick, open to fraud and designed to allow fossil fuel companies and their customers to stay addicted to carbon-based fuels. If Brazil cracks down on deforestation to gain carbon credits, ranchers may just cross the border and ravage Paraguay. The route to unlocking private cash lies in allowing the booming market in “voluntary” offsets set up by corporations seeking to “green” their businesses to also be used to help countries deliver on their national emissions pledges. The new rules allow governments to buy carbon credits generated by “voluntary” projects, such as forest protection or installing solar panels, and use them to offset emissions they declare to the UN in their NDCs. Some call this double-counting, if the companies also continue to claim those same offsets reduce their emissions. Other say that doesn’t matter, so long as two countries don’t claim the same carbon offset at the UN. There is a big appetite for this loosening of offsetting rules. Brazil wants to claim credits for restoring 12 million hectares of former forests by 2030 — an area almost the size of England — even as deforestation continues elsewhere in the country. In Glasgow, Brazil’s representative hailed the agreement as providing the private finance to achieve this. Australia wants to buy carbon credits generated in other countries to offset continued fossil fuel emissions. The problem is that the voluntary market has a bad reputation for probity and accountability. Forest and other projects that generate carbon credits should be able to show that, without the intervention, there would be more carbon dioxide in the air. But this requires a counterfactual narrative that can be hard to prove. Would the forest really have been chopped down without the conservation project, for instance? And if deforestation was genuinely prevented within the project area, did the clearing of forest just happen somewhere nearby? Would a forest company or NGO have planted a woodland even if there had been no credits to sell? There have been widespread claims that cheap credits in the voluntary markets sold to polluting companies such as oil giants or airlines do nothing for the climate. So allowing the credits to be used as part of national emissions pledges at the UN rings alarm bells. The hope is that the Article 6 deal, which includes a central hub for approving trading, will raise standards rather than unleash carbon fraud. There is hope among some carbon-credit practitioners that the agreement in Glasgow will achieve that. The text in the Glasgow pact allows “voluntary carbon markets that also supports emissions reductions in countries hosting carbon market activities,” says Kelley Kizzier, a vice-president at the Environmental Defense Fund. By doing so, the agreement has cleared “a path to get private capital flowing to developing countries,” and would create a “robust, transparent and accountable carbon market to promote more and faster climate ambition.” Others are more cautious. “The worst and biggest loopholes were closed, but there is still scope for countries and companies to game the system,” according to Mark Maslin of University College London. Charlotte Streck of Climate Focus, a Germany-based international consultancy involved in climate finance, says it will be hard to prevent deforestation crossing borders. If Brazil cracks down on domestic deforestation to gain carbon credits, ranchers may just ravage neighboring Paraguay. One concern is that the rush to turn forests into tradeable carbon will damage the rights of those who live there. Controversially, the Glasgow deal allows carbon credits created under a largely discredited carbon-trading system developed under the Kyoto Protocol to continue being traded under the new regime, provided they are no more than eight years old. Guy Turner, of the consultancy Trove Research, reckons that more than 60 percent of these old credits had, at best, questionable climate benefits. He believes their inclusion will be a cash “windfall” for holders of such credits, which could be used to offset some 500 million ton of emissions. Another concern is that a rush to turn forests into tradeable carbon will damage the rights of those who live in and depend on them. Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and the Environment in India, which campaigns on such issues, was pleased that “human rights have been mentioned in the text,” with an independent body to address grievances. But she was upset that Indigenous peoples’ rights to free, prior, and informed consent to allowing others to use natural resources on their land, which is enshrined in other UN law, had not been extended in the Glasgow deal to cover the value of their carbon.

Parking Rate: क्या आप दिल्ली में पब्लिक ट्रांसपोर्ट की बजाए अपनी निजी गाड़ी का इस्तेमाल करते हैं? बढ़ सकते हैं पार्किंग रेट

Delhi Air Pollution Action Plan : दिल्ली में हवा की गुणवत्ता बिगड़ने के कारण और ग्रेडेड रिस्पांस एक्शन प्लान में पार्किंग दरों को बढ़ाने का सुझाव दिया गया है. एमसीडी को फैसला करना है. Delhi Pollution and Parking Rate: दिल्ली में बढ़े हुए प्रदूषण के कारण ग्रेडेड रिस्पांस एक्शन प्लान में पार्किंग दरों को बढ़ाने का सुझाव दिया गया है. फिलहाल एमसीडी अधिकारियों का कहना है कि मामला विचाराधीन है. वहीं सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट के एक विश्लेषण के अनुसार, प्रदूषण के स्थानीय स्रोतों के मामले में दिल्ली के पीएम 2.5 के स्तर में वाहनों के उत्सर्जन का योगदान सबसे अधिक है. ऐसे में अगर पार्किंग के रेट्स बढ़ाए जाते हैं तो लोग महंगे पार्किंग रेट की वजह से गाड़ियां कम निकालेंगे और प्रदूषण को नियंत्रित करने में मदद मिलेगी. पार्किंग दरों में बढ़ोतरी पर, दक्षिण एमसीडी के एक अधिकारी ने इंडियन एक्सप्रेस अखबार से कहा कि, "इसे अभी तक लागू नहीं किया गया है और इस पर विचार किया जा रहा है. इसे 2017 में लागू किया गया था लेकिन इसका रिस्पांस अच्छा नहीं रहा था. हमने तत्कालीन पर्यावरण प्रदूषण (रोकथाम और नियंत्रण) प्राधिकरण को भी सूचित किया था, तब परिणाम संतोषजनक नहीं थे." 2017 में प्रदूषण बढ़ने के दौरान, साउथ सिविक बॉडी ने पार्किंग की संशोधित दरें 80 रुपये प्रति घंटे कर दी थीं. अधिकारी ने कहा कि ग्रेटर कैलाश 1 और 2 जैसे बाजार क्षेत्रों में, लोगों ने बढ़ी हुई दरों से बचने के लिए अपने वाहन मुख्य सड़कों और गलियों में पार्क करना शुरू कर दिया था. साथ ही जिन्हें अपनी कारों को बाहर निकालना पड़ता है, वे इसकी बिना परवाह किए निकालते हैं और पैसे बचाने के लिए वे सड़कों पर पार्किंग जैसे अन्य विकल्पों की तलाश करते थे. यह प्रणाली तभी काम करेगी जब सड़कों पर खड़े वाहनों को हटाने की उपाय बेहतर हों. फिलहाल अधिकारी ने कहा कि वे इस मामले पर आगे चर्चा करेंगे. फिलहाल दिल्ली में प्रदूषण का स्तर बेहद खराब स्थिति में है और सुप्रीम कोर्ट इस मसले पर केंद्र और दिल्ली, दोनों सरकारों को फटकार लगा चुकी है.

प्रदूषण की रोकथाम पर राजनीति की छाया

दिल्ली में हर साल सर्दियों में वायु प्रदूषण का स्तर बढ़ जाता है लेकिन इसकी रोकथाम के लिए स्थायी कदम नदारद हैं. प्रदूषण जैसे विषय पर भी राजनीति हावी है और सरकारें अपनी अपनी राजनीतिक रोटियां सेकने में व्यस्त हैं. 13 नवंबर को जब सुप्रीम कोर्ट के मुख्य न्यायाधीश एन वी रमना ने कहा कि वो अपने घर के अंदर भी सांस नहीं ले पा रहे हैं तब दिल्ली में प्रदूषण का स्तर पहली बार खतरनाक रूप से नीचे नहीं गिरा था. अक्टूबर-नवंबर में ऐसा हर साल होता है. लेकिन इसके बावजूद न दिल्ली सरकार हर साल इस स्थिति को दोहराने से रोक पा रही है और न केंद्र सरकार. यहां तक कि प्रदूषण के कारणों को लेकर भी दोनों सरकारों का नजरिया अलग है. प्रदूषण का असली कारण क्या यह बात एक बार फिर खुल कर सुप्रीम कोर्ट में 15 नवंबर को सामने आई जब केंद्र सरकार ने अदालत को बताया कि दिल्ली के प्रदूषण के लिए शहर के अंदर के कारण ज्यादा जिम्मेदार हैं और पड़ोसी राज्यों में जलाई जाने वाली फसल की पराली के धुएं के असर का सिर्फ 10 प्रतिशत योगदान है. दिल्ली सरकार इस बात से सहमत नहीं है और वो लगातार प्रदूषण में पराली के धुएं के योगदान को 30-40 प्रतिशत तक बताती है. बल्कि अदालत के दरवाजे खटखटाने वाले याचिकाकर्ताओं में से एक के वकील विकास सिंह ने भी कहा कि केंद्र ने इससे पहले अपनी ही एक बैठक में कहा था कि पराली के धुएं का 35 प्रतिशत योगदान है. केंद्र सरकार इससे पहले भी पराली जलाने के योगदान को 10 प्रतिशत से भी कम बता चुकी है, लेकिन दिल्ली सरकार का कहना है कि एक ही एफिडेविट में केंद्र सरकार ने चार प्रतिशत और 35-40 प्रतिशत दोनों आंकड़े दिए हैं. इसका मतलब आज तक यह भी स्पष्ट नहीं हो पाया है कि दिल्ली में प्रदूषण के मुख्य कारण क्या हैं. ऐसे में प्रदूषण के रोकथाम की एक कारगर नीति कैसे बन पाएगी? साल भर प्रदूषण पर नहीं जाता ध्यान अलग अलग संस्थानों के अध्ययनों में भी यह विरोधाभास नजर आता है. दिल्ली स्थित थिंक टैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) का कहना है कि इस साल पराली के धुएं का दिल्ली के प्रदूषण में 12 प्रतिशत योगदान रहा है. हां, दिवाली की तीन दिनों बाद यानी सात नवंबर को यह बढ़ कर 48 प्रतिशत हो गया था. सीएसई के मुताबिक 2020 में इसका पूरे साल का औसत था 17 प्रतिशत, 2019 में 14 प्रतिशत और 2018 में 16 प्रतिशत. एक और संस्था द एनर्जी एंड रिसोर्सेज इंस्टिट्यूट (टेरी) के मुताबिक पराली का योगदान सिर्फ छह प्रतिशत है. इसका मतलब आज तक स्पष्ट रूप से यह भी साबित नहीं हो पाया है कि दिल्ली के प्रदूषण के लिए कौन कौन से कारण कितने जिम्मेदार हैं. यह पता लगाना समाधान ढूंढने की पहली सीढ़ी है और अगर सरकार अभी पहली सीढ़ी ही नहीं चढ़ पाई है तो समझ लेना चाहिए कि मंजिल अभी दूर है.

Lack of understanding of climate justice was the problem at Glasgow, says Sunita Narain

The 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow ended on a disappointing note with the developed world refusing to cut down their own emissions while putting pressure on India to stop using coal, restricting India’s developmental goals. The bitter negotiations created a fissure between the developed and developing blocks, making things complicated for future negotiations. Sunita Narain, the director of Centre for Science and Environment, assesses the CoP26 in an interview with DH's Kalyan Ray. Excerpts: What’s your assessment of CoP26? Has the Glasgow Climate Pact succeeded in going far enough to keep the world below a 1.5C temperature rise necessary to ensure that our world can avoid the worst and catastrophic impacts of a changing climate? The answer is a resounding ‘no’. The Pact’s fundamental and fatal flaw is in the very first page — where it says, rather dismissively, that “it notes the importance for some of the concepts of climate justice”. We cannot erase the fact that certain countries — the US, EU-27, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and Russia and now joined by China — have consumed roughly 70 per cent of the carbon budget, the space in the atmosphere that is available to keep the world below the 1.5C temperature rise. The challenge is that the world has run out of carbon budget, but some 70 per cent of the world’s people still need the right to develop. As these countries grow, they will add emissions and take the world to catastrophic levels of temperature rise. It is for this reason, climate justice is not an add-on concept for some, but the prerequisite for an effective and ambitious agreement. This lack of understanding is at the core of the problem. Do you think Glasgow has made some progress to whatever was promised in Paris? I find that the CoP discussions have become so ossified that they just seem to talk to each other without a sense of the crisis and reality around them. The developed world’s promise of climate funding didn’t materialise so far — what do you have to say? The Paris Agreement says rich nations must transfer US $100 billion annually through 2025 to developing and poor countries. But the flow of real money is still illusionary; only Germany, Norway and Sweden are paying their share. The final text acknowledges the needs of developing countries for climate finance, and sets out a process to deliver on those needs. The agreed text commits developed countries to double the collective share of adaptation finance within the $100 billion annual target for 2021-2025, and to reach the $100 billion goal as soon as possible. But developed countries resisted defining climate finance, and adding specific language that would communicate an increased contribution over and above the US $100 billion. What’s your assessment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement at Glasgow? It's a very bold and ambitious announcement. India didn’t have to take on a commitment on emission reduction — the one billion tonne reduction between now and 2030. Also we have put out a road map for renewable energy and non-fossil fuel energy. It's a clear indication that we want to transform our energy system, limit coal and expand cleaner sources. The net-zero target is 50 years away, but the PM announced four short term targets to be reached by 2030. Are these achievable realistically? The intent is there, but to achieve, we have to be serious about limiting our coal. The energy required for our growth will have to come from cleaner sources. There is no doubt renewable energy is still much more expensive. Currently 80 per cent of India’s electricity is coal based, but we are projecting that with the growth of the energy options, we will limit coal use to 50-60 per cent. Which means that the doubling of energy that is going to happen between now and 2030, will have to happen on alternate sources. The strategy has to be such that we get clean and affordable energy. We have to be serious and determined in managing the Discoms and production of cleaner electricity. We will have to get rid of our old plants and modernise the current fleet. We will have to move the vehicles to electric and public transport. It requires a kind of obsession and game plan. We can think out of the box today as we haven’t built all our energy sources. This is not an option to the rest of the world. Out of the four targets that the PM had set, which one is the most challenging: The most challenging would be energy transformation. That’s the key to everything. All over the world, it's the energy that is the cause of global warming. If you transform your energy system, your manufacturing becomes cleaner. What are the other industrial sectors that need to change? Bulk of India’s emission comes from the power sector along with steel, cement, aluminium and fertiliser. The number of industries in each of these sectors is limited. Aluminum has four players, cement has ten players, but they all require a system. That’s where the government will have to say, here is the plan going forward, there are the things that you will do at your cost, these are the things that we will do and these are things we will raise a bill abroad. But we need a clear plan to go ahead. Do we have adequate resources to transform these sectors? The first thing is to make a plan on how we get there, what kind of resources are needed, what’s the pathway to get to cleaner energy and industrial sectors and what would it cost. We need to demand from the western countries not only the low hanging fruits, but also the more cost for transformation in more expensive projects, which we can’t afford. The bottom line, however, is that we need to come up with a plan.

Delhi: Farm fire share in PM2.5 close to 50 per cent in peak season

NEW DELHI: The daily percentage of emissions from harvest-stubble burning in the PM2.5 pollutants in Delhi varied from 25 per cent to 48 per cent between November 4 and November 13, the highest on a single day being 48 per cent on November 7, according to SAFAR data. Though the central government informed the Supreme Court that farm fire pollutants comprised 10 per cent of the city’s bad air, experts said the magnitude of stubble burning in the pollution crisis should not be diminished because farm fires were not a year-round phenomenon and registered high impact figures only in October-November. Data from different studies over the years brings out the varying nature of farm fires' share in the pollutants in Delhi’s air. A study by IIT-Kanpur in 2016 stated the contribution of biomass burning to the city’s PM2.5 was 26 per cent in winter and 12 per cent in summer. Another by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) titled ‘Bending Delhi’s Air Pollution Curve’ said the relative contribution from farm fires was the highest (31.4 per cent) between October 15 and November 15, 2020, reducing then to 8.6 per cent between November 15 and December 15, 2020 and 4.1 per cent between December 15, 2020 and January 15, 2021. TImesView Delhi is choking again and it is undeniable that stubble burning has played a role. Exactly how large that role is might differ from one study or report to another, depending on the month and other factors, but there is little doubt that only a sustained and concerted effort can stamp out the menace. According to data shared with TOI by the Union earth ministry body, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), in the past, the average share of stubble fire emissions between October 1 and November 30 was 16 per cent in 2020, 13.5 per cent in 2019 and 12 per cent in 2018. Chandra Bhushan, CEO, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest), said, “The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution might be 4-10 per cent annually, but it goes up to 40 per cent on some weeks. The right way to present facts is to highlight that harvest stubble is not burnt for 365 days, only for a few weeks in a year. During the stubble burning season, it causes high levels of pollution.” # Advocate Ritwick Dutta, founder and managing trustee, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, similarly noted, “The important point here is that the monthly contribution of stubble burning may be around 10 per cent, but we have to look at the 15-20 days when the share is highest. Average monthly or seasonal contributions do not signify the daily impact.” Explaining this, he said, “If there were five heavy rainfall days in a month, the mean rainfall of the year would still be low if we were to include data of other months.” Dutta added, “Meteorology ensures that stubble burning adds a dangerous dimension to Delhi’s pollution in the winter months. If the base load of pollution (other components like emissions from vehicles, industries and dust) is high, even a 10 per cent addition from the farm fires can be significant.” A Delhi government official also asserted, “If we include only the stubble burning period, the percentage of the farm fires’ share in pollution will be quite high. But if we include September, December and January in the calculations, when the farm fires are negligible, the average contribution is shown as low.” Pointing out how the measured taken by the central and state governments in the past few years, such as in-situ and ex-situ methods to discourage farmers from burning stubble and an attempt at banning stubble burning, hadn’t yielded the desired results, L S Kurinji, programme associate, CEEW, said, “While these existing measures need to be scaled up and improved, the governments should also come up with farmer-friendly plans to manage the harvest stubble in the upcoming season. The focus should be on promoting short-duration crop varieties and diversifying from paddy.” Some experts said efforts should be intensified to curb other sources of pollution too. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment, said, “SAFAR data shows that the average contribution to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels varies widely and is not consistently high as it depends on wind direction, wind speed and intensity of stubble burning.” Given this, she said, “So, while stubble burning requires urgent attention, Delhi and NCR’s multi-sector action has to be more stringent in addressing local pollution.” #

A traffic lockdown may be what Delhi requires

Now that the Supreme Court has asked for action against toxic NCR air, let’s try keeping streets free of vehicular exhaust for a bit. Data on the effects could sharpen India’s response On Monday, India’s Supreme Court described air pollution in and around Delhi city as a “crisis" and asked the Centre and Delhi administration to take action. With air quality index (AQI) readings in a toxic zone for over a week, this is imperative. Suffocation anxiety being expressed and hands being wrung over smog at this time of the year had attained such ritual regularity that a push for solutions was at risk of getting smothered by resignation to this fate. By making suggestions, our apex court has placed the issue upfront again. On Saturday, it had asked our authorities to consider a “lockdown", among other measures. In response, Delhi has for a few days closed schools, banned construction, let state employees work from home and advised private employers to follow. It was ready for a “complete lockdown", the Delhi government told the court, but added this would not be effective unless adjoining states did likewise in the rest of the urban sprawl that makes up the national capital region (NCR). The top court advised the Centre to call an emergency meeting and work out specific ways to tackle the identified “culprits": construction activity, industry, transport, power and vehicular traffic, apart from stubble burning. Various attempts have been made in the past. Building projects, for example, are frequently brought to a halt in this season with little noticeable impact on the NCR’s air quality. Curbs on firecrackers, diesel gen-sets and so on have also been tried. Momentary restrictions on industrial exhaust and sweet deals for farmers to stop setting their post-harvest waste on fire have not had much to show either. As for local-area initiatives, smog towers and water spraying have revealed themselves to be too little up against too much. The most controversial of ideas so far has been the road-rationing that Delhi tested five years ago, when only vehicles with odd number-plates were allowed on streets one day and even numbers the next. The results of that experiment ran into a data fog with conflicting interpretations, but the fact that an odd-even road policy was not deployed again sums up its problem: It did not prove helpful enough to justify the disruption caused. Yet, hardened by stiff lockdowns to contain covid last summer, we might find that a worthy purpose is served by a full traffic lockdown of the NCR as we confront our pollution season. Street emissions have always been held up as Delhi’s chief suffocator. By the analysis of the Centre for Science and Environment, vehicular exhaust accounts for about half the seasonal rise in the capital’s levels of pollutant particles no larger than 2.5 microns across, the worst kind. If so, then a traffic freeze for about a week or so, depending on the smoke dispersal of winds, should effect a notable reduction. If industrial sources of fumes are gagged too (with stop-gap supplies in place), and we still have worse air than expected, then we would at least have data from a real-life test to sharpen our search for solutions. The extent to which farm fires are to blame remains contested. In court, solicitor general Tushar Mehta cited a 10% estimate for stubble burning’s share of bad emissions as an average over the year, a figure that should evoke consternation because almost all of it occurs within the span of just a few weeks. Whatever the reality, a smokescreen thrown over the issue by divergent political interests must not keep us from acting both broadly and accurately against the menace of toxic air.

Stubble burning contributes just 10% to Delhi's pollution: Centre tells SC

Toxic air shrouded Delhi Monday morning, making it the fourth most polluted city on the planet. Delhi's air pollution was a "crisis situation", the Supreme Court said on Monday as it pulled up the city government for "lame excuses" and "passing the buck", and insisted on immediate steps. Delhi’s government told the court it is ready to lock down the city to control air pollution, but the step will have a limited impact without similar measures in places nearby. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the central government, told the court that farm waste burning was found to be accounting just 10 per cent of the emissions on average through the year. A lockdown is needed in neighbouring areas comprising the National Capital Region (NCR), the Arvind Kejriwal government said in its affidavit, according to NDTV.com. "The Delhi government is ready to take steps like complete lock down to control local emissions. However, such a step would be meaningful if it is implemented across the NCR areas in neighbouring states. Given Delhi's compact size, a lock down would have limited impact on the air quality regime," said the affidavit. Toxic air shrouded Delhi Monday morning, making it the fourth most polluted city on the planet. Kejriwal on Saturday closed schools for a week and construction sites for four days, as the city tries to protect people in a worsening air pollution crisis. Earlier that day, the chief justice of India asked the central and Delhi governments to come up with an emergency plan to tackle the dangerous smog, calling the situation "very serious". IQAir, a website which monitors air pollution around the world, had Delhi ranked fourth in its list of 10 most-polluted cities a little before 11 am. Residents of Delhi endured this year's worst air on November 5, a day after revellers burnt firecrackers during Diwali, as Air Quality Index levels surged to 463 on a scale of 500. Vehicular emissions contributed more than half of Delhi's particulate pollution between October 24-November 8, the Centre for Science and Environment think tank said in its report published on Thursday.

Delhi Air Quality Will Continue To Remain Bad In Coming Winters: 5 Key Reasons

Centre For Science and Environment (CSE) tells Outlook, unless the government builds infrastructure, winter Delhi Air Quality Will Continue To Remain Bad In Coming Winters: 5 Key Reasons pollution issue in Delhi will remain a constant, annual problem. Even as the Delhi government has pushed emergency notifications to tackle its current ‘Hazardous’ AQI which has breached 900, Delhi’s winter air pollution may continue to remain an annual event. Despite all efforts to introduce clean fuel and smog towers, the Arvind Kejriwal government may still have a lot to clean up and enforce. The state governments of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan too may have to pitch in. Anumita Roy Chowdhury. Executive Director Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment elaborated on areas where work is still left when it comes to dealing with Delhi’s AQI pollution problem and why emergency action may be far from enough; and in fact may back-fire. Five key reasons: 1. Weather: Delhi, its neighbouring cities and entire northern India experiences a phenomenon called winter inversion. A typical weather phenomenon which results in low wind speed combined with a dip in temperature which leads to a ‘low mixing height’ and brings down the pollutants closer to ground. The pollutants become ‘trapped’ and as regular, day-to-day pollutants continue to pile, the pollution levels spike. “There’s nothing new about the winter pollution situation of Delhi, NCR and the entire northern India at this time because North India is land-locked and every year this mix of weather condition and pollution results in smog. Emergency action may not work as well and may backfire in other ways. If vehicles are stopped, people will be stranded and the situation could actually work against normal functioning of the city. The issue requires long-term infrastructure development,” said Roy Chowdhury. 2. Garbage: Waste management in Delhi and its neighbouring cities is not carried out in adequate measure. Roy Chowdhury says that industrial pockets of Delhi still have a considerable about of garbage burning in progress, even as the pollution levels are high. “Delhi and its surrounding cities still are grappling with the issue of waste management. Unless industrial waste and horticulture waste is processed properly, garbage burning will continue to remain a major contributor to the pollution markers of the region,” she said. 3. Cars: Delhi still does not have a mass transport system to support the requirements of its population. Besides, it has a high concentration of private vehicles. Unless the private vehicle users shift to mass transport, a long-term solution to the city’s vehicular pollution is not going to take place anytime soon. “Delhi and its surrounding cities need a heavy network of public transport. Delhi has 1.3 crore cars. The contributors to Delhi’s pollution are industry, vehicles and construction, but cars continue to be a big factor” said Roy Chowdhury. 4. Industry: While Delhi has shut down its coal-based power plants, neighbouring cities still continue to operate coal-based power plants. Additionally, industrial areas like Sonepat and Ghaziabad continue to remain problem areas. “Delhi’s pollution can’t be seen as an isolation, as long as its neighbouring industrial regions don’t clean up – long term solution of Delhi’s pollution problem is a pipe-dream,” said Roy Chowdhury. 5. Crop burning: Construction activity is at peak in the NCR with development and housing projects concentrated in its fringe cites which contributes to the PM10 component of the Air Quality through the year. But seasonal crop burning in Haryana and Punjab contributes to PM 2.5 levels and is a hazard every winter for the city. “This year, there was not much problem from crop burning initially because in October it rained. But the crop burning issue peaked in early November. On November 6, crop-burning contributed to 48% of the pollutant mix of Delhi air. The 20 days of annual crop burning continue to add to the local pollution problems at this time and unless long term solutions are found, emergency measures may not led to solutions. The measures taken by the government in terms of clean fuel and more has helped reduce the annual air pollution average of Delhi, but the winter problem needs more focused action,” said Roy Chowdhury.

Delhi's neighbours must impose curbs too: Air panel

NEW DELHI: The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas (CAQM), which conducted a meeting on Sunday on the deteriorating air quality, has advised Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to consider similar restrictions as implemented by Delhi government, including closure of schools till November 20 and a ban on construction activities till November 17.The "emergency" measures under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) are enforced when PM10 and PM2.5 levels remain above 500 and 300 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively, for 48 hours or more. The other two measures include implementation of the odd-even scheme and stopping entry of trucks into Delhi, except essential commodities. As Delhi's air did not remain in the "emergency" category for 48 hours, experts said taking such stringent actions were not solutions to the problem as they would not help in improving the air quality. The restrictions would impact the vulnerable group badly hit due to the pandemic. They added that efforts should be taken round the year to curb the major sources of pollution. Congratulations! You have successfully cast your vote Chandra Bhushan, CEO, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, said, "Schools should be closed when the air quality is in the emergency category of GRAP as toxic air can be harmful for children. The decision should be taken considering the predictive model on air quality. However, Delhi government ordering closure of schools for a week when the air quality is not in the emergency category is undermining the entire process and other institutions." "Banning construction activities, installing smog towers and sprinkling water on roads are knee-jerk reactions as they play a minor role in reduction of air pollution. The main sources of pollution are stubble burning, solid fuel burning and emissions from vehicles and industries. The blame-game is an annual ritual that begins now and continues till March. However, Delhi is unable to meet the national ambient air quality standards throughout the year. Air pollution needs year-round work," added Bhushan. Karthik Ganesan, fellow, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, said, "When we implement emergency measures of GRAP, it may not improve air quality significantly, but prevents its further deterioration. Such measures reduce emissions, but the concentration of particulate matter remains high due to unfavourable meteorological factors. If we limit some outdoor activities, a safety net should be provided to vulnerable groups, like ensuring warm meals to daily-wage labourers or minimum income support." Aarti Khosla, director, Climate Trends, said, "The annual recurrence of this air pollution emergency clearly shows that policy efforts like smog towers, water sprinklers, etc have been totally ineffective. There was renewed hope this year that IARI's biodecomposer would reduce stubble burning, but fire counts show that the solution hasn't reached the farmers. The lockdown is our living lesson that pollution clears up within a short period if emitting sources are controlled. Unless the solutions are employed through the year, the efforts are nothing but tokenism and pollution levels will peak again next winter." Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said stringent action was needed last week when Delhi was in the grip of a severe smog episode. "Delhi should take more preemptive and preventive action. But it is also necessary to have a safety net for the vulnerable groups whose livelihoods are affected by the emergency restrictions on economic activities," she added. Anju Goel, fellow, earth science and climate change, The Energy and Resources Institute, said online classes should be conducted as children should not be exposed to such high levels of pollution.

Smog chokes Indian capital as air pollution levels soar

NEW DELHI: Sky obscured by thick, gray smog. Monuments and high-rise buildings swallowed by a blanket of haze. People struggling to breathe. In the Indian capital, it is that time of the year again. The city’s air quality index fell into the very poor category on Sunday, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency, and in many areas levels of the deadly particulate matter reached around six times the global safety threshold. Nasa satellite imagery also showed most of India’s northern plains covered by thick haze. Among the many Indian cities gasping for breath, New Delhi tops the list every year. The crisis deepens particularly in the winter when the burning of crop residues in neighbouring states coincides with cooler temperatures that trap deadly smoke. That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution in the city of more than 20 million people and exacerbating what is already a public health crisis. The New Delhi government on Saturday ordered the closing of schools for a week and construction sites for four days beginning on Monday. Government offices were also told to shift to work from home for a week to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The capital’s top elected leader, Arvind Kejriwal, said a complete lockdown of the city was likely but the decision would be taken after consultation with the federal government. India’s pollution problems are not limited to the capital. Emissions from industries with no pollution control technology and coal, which helps produce most of the country’s electricity, have been linked to the bad air quality in other urban areas. India’s energy needs are expected to grow faster in the coming decades than in any other country. A part of that demand is expected to be met by dirty coal power, a key source of carbon emissions that pollute the air. That’s why on Saturday, India asked for a last-minute change to the final agreement at crucial climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, calling for the phase down not the phase out of coal power. Indian Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav argued against a provision on phasing out coal, saying that developing countries were entitled to the responsible use of fossil fuels. Many experts criticised this move. They worry it has weakened the final agreement and could also hamper India’s fight against climate change and worsening air quality. It is not at all desirable, said Samrat Sengupta, the programme director for climate change and energy at the Centre for Science and Environment think tank. But he also said India needed enough carbon space in the atmosphere for its developmental needs to coexist with the global ambition of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. Phasing out coal is technically impossible at the moment. None of the scenarios can project India will be having zero dependencies on coal by 2050, Sengupta said. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country would aim to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2070 two decades after the US, and at least 10 years later than China.

Delhi’s pollution action plan stuck in fine print and protocol, needs relook

Experts said these protocols need a relook to make pollution control measures pre-emptive and not reactive as they are now. Delhi’s ordeal in the grip of severe-plus air pollution extended over 30 consecutive hours Saturday morning, when the Supreme Court stepped in, suggesting a two-day lockdown for the choking city. While a call on lockdown is yet to be taken, curbs such as physically shutting schools (however, online classes will continue) and stopping construction activities that were announced by the Delhi government later on Saturday are already mandated in the Supreme Court-approved Graded Response Action Plan (Grap). But the administrative intervention remained stuck in protocols and the fine print. Delhi has been experiencing another seasonal chokehold since Diwali, and under the Grap protocol, authorities can declare an air emergency and impose these curbs mandated under the severe-plus band of air quality only when PM2.5 levels cross 300 µg/m3 or PM10 levels cross 500 µg/m3 (which is fivefold above the standard) and stay there for at least 48 hours. Experts said these protocols need a relook to make pollution control measures pre-emptive and not reactive as they are now. The mechanism for implementation as well as enforcement needs rapid capacity-building, not just in Delhi but also across the National Capital Region, backed equally by strong administrative and political will. RELATED STORIES Delhi air pollution: SC slams Delhi, Centre; orders emergent measures Delhi air pollution: SC slams Delhi, Centre; orders emergent measures Air pollution: Schools in Haryana’s four NCR districts shut till Nov 17 Air pollution: Schools in Haryana’s four NCR districts shut till Nov 17 Pollution: Delhi-NCR wakes up to another smoggy day, air quality remains poor Pollution: Delhi-NCR wakes up to another smoggy day, air quality remains poor Delhi govt to submit proposal on lockdown to SC today to tackle air pollution Delhi govt to submit proposal on lockdown to SC today to tackle air pollution Late intervention Officials involved in the enforcement of pollution-control measures said they have been on track with the implementation of Grap. However, they agreed that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which is tasked with implementing Grap, and other agencies calling the shots could be more sensitive to the gravity of the pollution crisis in the national capital, rather than being stuck in the technicalities of the plan. “On November 6, the PM 2.5 levels and PM 10 levels slipped into the severe-plus levels. However, the very next day, it briefly came below that threshold. So, technically, the CAQM and CPCB were not liable to introduce the severe-plus measures, even though the pollution continued to be at hazardous levels and was forecast to get worse. How is PM 2.5 exposure of 299ug/m3 any better than 300ug/m3? But we are stuck in technicalities,” said an official who asked not to be named. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said Grap is only a guiding document and the agencies responsible to implement it are allowed to take additional measures to control the rising pollution. “Since after Diwali, apart from two days, Delhi has been recording severe days. What are the authorities waiting for? Grap is a guiding document and it also explicitly mentions under the severe-plus measures that the administration can call in any steps other than that mentioned in the action plan to control the dangerous pollution levels. The administration needs to use its discretion and not use Grap as an excuse to not do anything. Grap measures should be automatically enforced,” Roychowdhury said.

What COP26 achieved and what it didn’t

The United Nations climate conference in Glasgow started on October 31 with the heads of over 140 countries scaling up expectations with impressive announcements The United Nations climate conference in Glasgow started on October 31 with the heads of over 140 countries scaling up expectations with impressive announcements. But, a fortnight later, 197 countries agreed to a political outcome dubbed the “Glasgow Climate Pact” which would, according to experts, continue to take the world down the over 2 degrees Celsius trajectory and clearly highlights the faultlines in the combative political will to tackle climate change.