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India Development Debate Cop26

EP1319 - India’s role at the crucial climate conference - CoP26 Glasgow | India Development Debate All eyes on COP 26 summit in U.K's Glasgow, where top world leaders will discuss climate emergency. On agenda are contentious issues like carbon emission, global temperatures, financing the fight against climate change and fixing responsibility. This time around, there are high expectations from India as well which has exceeded the targets set by world in mitigating climate change. To discuss what India's stance is going to be and what the significance of this conference, watch ET NOW's Tamanna Inamdar Speak with Sunita Narain, Director, CSE, & Environmentalist on the India Development Debate.

COP26: The order of our times

COP26's top agenda should be to reclaim its leadership and voice to rebuild the trust of people - both rich and poor It’s a make-or-break moment for the world. Today, when leaders gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26th conference of the parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), they meet with the recognition that time has run out. Science has already spoken about the dire emergency that stares us in the face; the UN chief has sounded “Code Red for humanity”, based on the findings of climate scientists. But we no longer need scientists to tell us this. We can see the devastation in our world — every day there is news about another region that has faced an extreme weather catastrophe. COP 26 — delayed by a year due to Covid-19 — has the task to rework its own agenda and functioning. Over the past few decades, climate negotiations have been ossified to such an extent that they have kind of lost their purpose. A myriad of committees, institutions, and funds have been set up purportedly to manage climate change — but this maze is just full of papers and wordage. COP26’s top agenda should be to reclaim its leadership and voice to rebuild the trust of people — both rich and poor. This means making the agenda for action clearer and much more focused on what needs to be done — now, not even tomorrow. First, there is a desperate need to front-load action on mitigation — to plan for 2030, and to ensure that China, which will occupy 30 per cent of the already shrunk carbon budget between 2020 and 2030, is in the spotlight. China is yesterday’s USA and it is important to speak truth to this power. Then there is a need to discuss the remaining carbon budget, necessary to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C, and how it should be allocated — not just appropriated. We cannot have an ambitious agreement unless it is equitable. So, COP26 must not repeat the mistakes of the past by trying to erase equity and climate justice. Roughly 70 per cent of the world need to exercise their right to development and in the process will exceed the available budget. This means, all will be at risk in an interdependent world. We know countries like India must not make the same mistakes that the already rich have made. The world needs to secure pathways for low-carbon growth and to pay for this transformation in the still developing world. Finger-pointing and shaming the emerging world for future and inevitable emissions will cut no ice with them. At COP26, we need to confront the reality of this inequity and ensure that it is addressed. Third is the agenda of “how” this will happen. Availability of finance must be made transparent and measurable — it will help overcome the trust deficit. So, it is not just the scale of finance that has to be discussed and agreed upon, its rules must also be made so that this fund transfer can be counted and verified. The “how” agenda is also connected to the discussions on markets — Article 6 of the Paris Agreement — which is on the table at COP26. The current effort is to find smart and cheap ways to build a market instrument that will reduce the cost of carbon purchase from the developing world. A repeat of the complicated, convoluted, and cheap Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) must not be allowed again. Instead, the market should be used for transformational action so that projects that will bring “big bang” carbon reductions can be paid through this instrument. The market must be driven by public policy and intent, and not left to discover new scams in the name of carbon offsets. This is also where discussions on nature-based solutions must be firmly rooted. We must not miss the wood for the trees — literally in this case. There is an opportunity to use the ecological wealth of poor countries and communities for mitigation as trees and natural ecosystems sequester carbon dioxide. So, this should not be viewed as carbon sticks but as opportunities for livelihoods and the economic well-being of the poor. The rules for carbon offsets for forests must be developed with this in mind — deliberately and with statecraft. All this then brings the world to the discussions on adaptation and loss and damage — completely lost in the multiplicity of institutions, committees, funds, and all without any money or impact in the real world. The elephant in the room (that we would like not to discuss) is finance — this is where the discussions must be on adaptation and on loss and damage. We do not need rocket science to calculate the crippling losses being suffered by countries and communities because of climate change-induced extreme weather events. This is why COP26 must not be lost to prevarication in negotiations and to pusillanimous leaders. Let’s hope that this COP stands out and is counted as different. It is the order of our times.

Flooding destroyed his home four times in three years. This is the reality of climate change for India's poor

New Delhi (CNN)Anish Yadav was sleeping in his home, a fragile hut made of wood and plastic, when the water rushed in. A concrete retaining wall that had previously held back monsoon floodwaters had collapsed, sending a deluge through Yadav's slum in Malad, a northern suburb in India's financial hub Mumbai. "We woke up to people screaming for help," said Yadav, 26, of that night in July 2019. "The water had risen to our heads ... and I saw people being swept away with the water with my own eyes." For his entire life, the wall had protected Yadav and his neighbors from increasingly severe monsoon storms. His house had never been damaged before -- but with the wall now gone, he has had to rebuild his home four times in three years. Every year, thousands of people die in India from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season, which drenches the country from June to September. The monsoon is a natural weather phenomenon caused by warm, moist air moving across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia as the seasons change. But the climate crisis has caused the event to become more extreme and unpredictable. India's poor, like Yadav, are among the most vulnerable. "The irony of it is that the poor of the world are actually victims of climate change," even if they aren't the ones who "created the problem," said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment and veteran Indian environmentalist. This weekend, world leaders are gathering in Glasgow for the COP26 climate talks as they seek to reduce carbon emissions and avoid a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. Yet for millions of Indians, pledges on paper won't save their homes. The climate crisis is already at their front door -- and it's knocking down the frame. Four homes lost in three years Mumbai, the country's most populous city, boasts glittering skyscrapers and glitzy luxury hotels. It's also a city of widespread poverty and wealth inequality, where about 65% of its 12 million residents live in shacks of tarp and tin in crowded slums. Yadav and his mother were evacuated to a school after their home was first swept away in 2019. The flood had killed 32 people, and authorities said the slum was too dangerous to live in -- but when an offer of new housing didn't materialize, Yadav and his mother returned to the slum to rebuild. "My house is about 10 by 15 feet and the floor is made of dirt," Yadav said. "In that soil, we have hammered down wooden poles. We tie them together and then cover it with plastic sheets. If there is a cyclone or a strong wind, it will be uprooted entirely." Family members started keeping what scarce valuables they had in plastic bags, so they could evacuate quickly. But there's only so much you can protect. During the 2020 monsoon season, Yadav and his mother once again lost their home, clothing and precious food items to rain and flooding. It happened again in May this year, when a massive cyclone hit India's west coast -- an unusual event, since they typically strike the east coast. Yadav said at that point, people were fed up with authorities and the constant cycle of destruction, evacuation and rebuilding. "How can we live this way?" he said. The most recent disaster came in September, at the tail end of this year's monsoon season, when debris from past flooding swept toward the slum. "It was around 1:30 in the (morning) and debris started flowing down," Yadav said. "It was raining heavily and we heard it moving." Residents were again evacuated to the school, where they remain to this day with little clean water or electricity and no toilets. "We have no idea when we will go back or get another home," Yadav said. "(Authorities) are just saying that we will get housing in three to four days, but nothing is being done. People have lost their jobs and they don't have money for food. The system is to blame here." The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mumbai's governing body, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Places are becoming unlivable As the climate crisis worsens, floods pose a particular danger to the 35% of India's population -- roughly 472 million people -- who live in urban slums, according to the World Bank. Muralee Thummarukudy, acting head of the UN Environment Program's Resilience to Disasters and Conflicts Global Support Branch, said slum dwellers tend to live in flimsy structures on the outskirts of cities where land is less stable and more exposed to natural disasters. They also often don't have any kind of insurance that allows them to rebuild or relocate. These residents are also more vulnerable to the secondary effects of flooding, including the spread of waterborne diseases, groundwater contamination, and the loss of food supplies. Rajan Samuel, managing director in India for Habitat for Humanity, says disasters wipe out livelihoods as well as homes. "The trend I am seeing is that livelihood gets disrupted with every disaster, and then there is shelter which goes as well," he said. "We need to mitigate both." Some states have taken action -- like Odisha, which built stormwater drains in its slums, or Kerala, which offers financial incentives for residents in climate-vulnerable places to relocate. Yet on a national level, progress has been slow. Several ambitious initiatives to improve slums and retrofit cities have flailed over the past two decades, stymied by a lack of funding, insufficient participation, poor planning or the red tape of Indian bureaucracy, according to a number of international organizations, researchers and local media. And though the government is now training cities across India to become "climate smart," experts say there are many other measures that need to be taken -- like improving evacuation processes and redesigning water systems and other urban infrastructure. Narain, from the Centre for Science and Environment, said existing systems were built "at a time when disasters were still once in 10 years, once in five years. Now, it is 10 disasters a year." Recent floods, droughts and other devastating climate events are "all showing us very clearly what will the future be," she added. Climate migrants For years, climate experts and scientists have warned the climate crisis could displace more than a billion people in the coming decades -- potentially forming a class of "climate migrants" and refugees. Flooding is one of the major dangers, with record rainfall causing devastation in Germany and China this summer. In India, people are already on the move. Natural disasters forced more than 5 million Indians to leave their homes in 2019, according to a study conducted by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace. And that number is expected to rise as the climate crisis worsens. Many of those displaced Indians, like Yadav, have no means to relocate and no choice but to continually rebuild their homes in disaster-prone locations. Yadav and his family are reluctant to move from their patch of land in the slum, unless the government provides an alternative. He and his mother are now surviving off their meager savings, money borrowed from relatives, and cash earned from pawning their jewelry. Right now, he's losing hope and dreading the thought of having to rebuild -- yet again. "It has been going on for so long," Yadav said. "You never know if the water will flood the house and destroy the house."

Young environmental activists petition for climate education in Delhi schools

Aniket Gupta, a young Delhi-based environment activist who started the petition, said introducing climate literacy in the school curriculum has become a necessity, considering the fast degradation of the environment globally and the extreme weather events that are being reported worldwide New Delhi: A group of young environmental activists have started an online petition, requesting the Delhi and central governments to include climate education in Delhi schools to sensitise youngsters about the impact of the global climate crisis. Aniket Gupta, a young Delhi-based environment activist, who started the petition, said introducing climate literacy in the school curriculum has become a necessity, considering the fast degradation of the environment globally and the extreme weather events that are being reported worldwide. “I think awareness of climate change isn’t enough. We need to sensitise children too from an early age. Record-breaking heat waves, changing rainfall patterns, dust storms and increasing air pollution scares me about my future and the future of generations to come. If as children we are not taught about the climate crisis, and what we can do to stop this cycle of permanent damage to our planet in even the smallest of ways we can, there is no way we will live to see a green planet again,” Gupta said. He added, “Just a few loose mentions of global warming and deforestation in school textbooks will not help. We need a comprehensive curriculum that not only creates awareness among kids about their natural world but also sensitises them towards the beings that they share this planet with.” Gupta is supported by three other co-petitioners, Aditya Dubey, Seher Taneja and Dwishojoyee Banerjee, who are also students and have been regularly raising their voice against various aspects of environment degradation in the national capital. Ever since the petition was started on Change.org late September, they have also met Aam Aadmi Party legislators, and senior leaders from the BJP, who have agreed to support their demands and raise it before their respective governments for consideration. “We are in touch with our area (Krishna Nagar) MLA, SK Bagga. He has agreed to hear our proposal. We are also presenting our proposal to the vice-chairperson of Dialogue and Development Commission, Jasmine Shah. Charu Pragya, lawyer and BJP spokesperson, has also accepted our proposal and promised to present it to education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan,” Gupta said. A Delhi government spokesperson said that they will consider the proposal once it comes before them. Experts said that such a proposal by the young generation should be taken seriously by the political representatives. “In the times that we are in, environment has to be the centre of all discussions. One of the ways by which we can make masses sensitive towards the environmental crisis is to catch them early. It will be a good idea to have young children know about what is happening around them and how they can make things better,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment.

Exclusive Cyclothon For Transgenders In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: In order to promote non-motorised transport and cycling across the Smart City, the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) today organised an exclusive cyclothon of transgenders between Ekamra Kshetra Plaza near Sishu Bhawan Square and Temple Plaza near Ram Mandir Square. This was perhaps the first of its kind all-transgender cyclothon in the city, organised for a cause. Participated by more than 50 people from the transgender community, the event was sponsored by Khimji Foundation. Members of SAKHA, a community-based organisation of transgenders actively participated in the event with great enthusiasm under the leadership of Meera Parida. Well-known Odia TV actor and social worker Russy Patnaik also joined as a guest and encouraged the participants. It can be mentioned here that the Temple City, as part of its citizen-centric planning based on the Smart City Proposal, has developed a quality city-wide facility for cycles and pedestrian ways so that the emissions are less and citizens enjoy a healthy and livable environment to breath in fresh air with minimal load of pollutants and particulate matters in the neighborhood air. The city has relied on its NMT planning to make it more citizen-friendly. Managing Director and CEO of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh said “we always believe in inclusiveness and for a better city we include all communities into the mainstream. While the self-help groups (SHGs) of transgender communities are given the responsibilities of manning the parking spaces, their participation today in the cyclothon has again proved that we are going to include all socially disadvantageous groups in our citizen-centric activities and planning.’’ In July this year the Temple City bagged India Cycles4Change Challenge Stage-1 Award as it was adjudged among the top 11 Cycling Pioneers of the nation. All the 11 cities are going to receive an award of Rs 1 crore each to scaleup their cycling events in their respective cities. Speaking on the occasion, leading transgender leader of Odisha and organizer Meera Parida said “in the past we have always participated in the pan-city events for the city administration. Under the Smart City mandates we want to have more activities in future and we are ready to participate in them. We had a memorable participation during the Patha Utsav days along the Janpath on every Sunday, promoting NMT philosophy.’’ In fact, under the India Cycles4Change Challenge the Bhubaneswar Smart City has planned a series of activities in the coming days to promote cycling among all age groups and communities. This would, in a way could be a catalyst for change to make cycling a popular alternative and promote NMT to make the Capital city a clean and green city on every aspect. This year Smart City Bhubaneswar had come as the fourth ranked city among the top 10 Livable Capital Cities in India. Interestingly, the Temple City had topped in the Citizen Perception Survey with the highest score of 94.8 out of 100 as per the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE’s) Ease of Living Index Report, 2020.

Will the High Level segment make difference to COP26's outcome?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, on Monday, join 120 heads of states/governments from around the world, including US President Joe Biden, at the high-level segment of the COP26, the crucial negotiation platform for countries to work out their emission plans to collectively restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Like this year's 'World Leaders' Summit' (WLS), it is not every year that heads of the states visit the COP and/or take part in the deliberations that in turn decide their respective country's policy for climate action. The last time they were at the COP in large numbers was at Paris in 2015 when the major document of Paris Agreement 2015 took shape. Starting Sunday, the 26th edition of Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place at the UK's Glasgow. This COP26 is deemed critical because, as warned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), every additional 0.5 degree of warming will increase heat extremes, extreme precipitation, and droughts and for coastal areas, sea level rise will be a threat to their very existence. India has a target to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, and it has already achieved 24 per cent by 2016. "World leaders need to come together in person and put climate change on the world agenda. The WLS before the COP is a good thing because they need to set the tone for the COP to discuss," said Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) Sunita Narain. "However, will they actually call out the need for transformational action, will they call out the need for looking at climate justice as the bedrock of climate negotiations moving ahead, I am not sure," she quickly added during a pre-COP media consultation. Modi, before departing for the G20 and COP26 summits, had said: "In line with our tradition of living in harmony with nature and culture of deep respect for the planet, we are taking ambitious action on expanding clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and bio-diversity." He had also made clear what are the stakes for India when he declared: "I will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilisation of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth." As has been maintained by India, there is no mention of net zero targets. Most of the western world has been pressuring India for declaring net zero goal, which India - and all the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) - has already termed as shifting the goal from 2030 as per the Paris Agreement to a future date. India has said it will announce its stance at an appropriate time. Rich countries are favouring 2050 as the net zero goal. The updated synthesis report of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) showed that for all available NDCs of all 192 parties taken together, there would be a sizable increase, of about 16 per cent, in global GHG emissions in 2030 compared to 2010. The country-wise updates had clearly shown how inadequate the action on part of rich nations was, a point that the developing nations have been harping on. Net zero is absorbing or removing as much carbon as a given unit consumes. Carbon emissions are responsible for global warming and the COP is a platform to negotiate and bring the emissions considerably low to prevent that temperature rise. Scientists, however, have a word of caution about the concept of net zero. "There is no clarity on what the rich nations are saying when they talk of net zero targets. Is it net zero CO2 or is it net zero greenhouse gases (GHG)?" asked visiting Researcher at the Jadavpur University, Shreya Some. The major push for net zero was given by the September's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the IPCC. "But, the IPCC report is very clear that it is net zero carbon," she said. Net zero or not, what will matter ultimately will be domestic actions and it is where the government has not evoked much trust. As if to showcase the glimpse of the future, the years 2020 and 2021 have witnessed more frequent and high intensity climate catastrophic events across the globe, India was no exception. In such situations, question remains as to what is the accountability expected from the state and how should India tackle the twin challenges of climate and growing inequality? Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said: "The equity conundrum provides an opportunity to design our future actions in a way that tackles the issues together. Both inequality and climate change are in fact symptoms of a deeper malaise - a flawed, overconsumption-based economic system that is predatory and exploitative by nature. So, the only way we are getting out of this quicksand is by fundamentally reimagining progress and development." With rich countries insisting on net zero pledges and many from the developing nations, including India, insisting on delivery of promises first -- and both parties refusing to budge from their position, will there be a consensus at the end of the two week meeting? Will net zero 2050 be the bone of contention? Will this COP be a failure? "What you do in 2050 does not matter, what you are actually doing now and in the next 10 years is crucial. What do you do about adaptation and finance? There is no debate that goals by developed countries are highly inadequate," pointed out Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Tejal Kanitkar. "In fact, the global stock taking is in 2023, so why do you suddenly want to push that timeline to 2050. What the rich nations did - rather not do - by 2020 is out in the open now. So, now, this COP and the target of net zero by 2050 is an attempt at green washing that failure." "COP failing means what?" Kanitkar said. "Whatever the outcome, it does not mean that the Paris Agreement will go away."

India highlights north-south divide in emissions on day 1 of COP 26

The Climate Equity Monitor has a stark map of carbon credit/ debt which shows all the northern countries have exceeded their fair share of the global carbon budget On the first day of the Glasgow climate change conference (COP 26), India highlighted the large disparity in historical emissions of rich or developed countries and developing countries like India. The Climate Change Group at MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) launched a Climate Equity Monitor, an online dashboard for assessing equity in climate change mitigation. Union environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, said the monitor will encourage discussion on issues related to equity and justice at the ongoing climate negotiations. “Welcome the scientific initiative, Climate Equity Monitor, (https://t.co/KzqShJ1Ggt) which went live today. Its focus on equity & climate action from a data and evidence-based perspective will encourage vigorous discussion on the crucial issue and engage experts from all nations,” he tweeted on Sunday. PM Narendra Modi is likely to address COP 26 and over 120 world leaders on India’s actions to mitigate climate change during the World Leaders Summit scheduled on November 1. The Climate Equity Monitor has a stark map of carbon credit/ debt which shows all the northern countries, including the United States, Russia, Australia, most European countries, have exceeded their fair share of the global carbon budget. Carbon debt, according to the monitor, is the difference between the actual cumulative emissions for a country and its fair share of the global carbon budget already consumed. The values for developed countries clearly indicate their responsibility and the massive carbon debt they owe the world, it states. On the other hand, the southern countries including India, China, Africa, South America and others highlighted in blue indicating that they have generated credits by consuming less than their fair share. A fair share of the carbon budget is defined as the share of the cumulative emissions based on the share in the global population. The monitor also has an interactive graph on historical emissions which indicates China, followed by the US and the EU, have the highest historical greenhouse gas emissions, the monitor was jointly developed with the Natural Sciences and Engineering department at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) Bengaluru. “The Climate Equity Monitor is aimed at monitoring the performance of Annex-I Parties (developed countries) based on the foundational principles of the Climate Convention, namely equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). The performance and policies of the Non-Annex-I Parties (developing countries) will be also provided for comparison,” a statement by the union environment ministry welcoming the launch of the monitor said. CBDR RC is a principle under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which acknowledges different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change based on their social and economic conditions. “In keeping with the latest scientific results of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that have underlined the importance of cumulative emissions and carbon budgets, the analysis will be anchored in these two concepts. The equitable sharing of the global carbon budget is the fundamental equity principle that will underpin the assessments that will progressively appear on the website. Existing “tracking” websites on climate policies are based in the global North and routinely do not address the crucial aspects of equity and differentiation. Other websites, according to the researchers, bury the key issues in complexities that are not transparently dealt with,” the ministry further said in its statement. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had recently flagged that China is currently the world’s biggest emitter – it has increased its share of global CO2 emissions from 5.11% in 1990 to almost 21% in 2019. According to a recent analysis by CSE, in the coming ten years, China will take up 33% of the remaining carbon budget of 409 GtCO2 and India may occupy only 9.54% of the budget. Between 1870 and 2019 China occupied 13.4% of the global carbon budget; India 3.16% and the seven historical polluters— United Kingdom, United States, European Union-27, Russia, Japan, Australia, and Canada occupied 60.53% of the carbon budget. The share changed quite a bit between 1990 and 2019 when China occupied nearly 21% of the carbon budget. This means China went through a very intense phase of development mainly dependent on fossil fuels during those 20 odd years. “We cannot compare India and China. It’s time we de-hyphenated the two,” Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment, said during a recent briefing to climate journalists. Meanwhile, the Climate Action Tracker also released an analysis on India’s role in climate change mitigation on Sunday. It suggested that coal should be phased out globally, and in India by 2040, to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C. Early retirement of older coal power plants and re-evaluation of the coal pipeline – would align India with the level of policies and action consistent with its own “fair share” contribution to the Paris Agreement. Such measures in India would very likely result in a 1.5 degree C compatible rating by CAT, it said. “We estimate that this reduction in coal-fired capacity, in the absence of additional efficiency measures, would require 160–320 GW of additional renewable capacity to India’s previously communicated 450 GW by 2030 goal. India is likely to achieve, and may even over-achieve, the 450 GW goal, including hydro, under current policies,” the CAT said. HT reported on September 17 that India’s nationally determined contribution (NDC), which was rated as 2 degrees compatible or “almost sufficient” by the Climate Action Tracker until August, had rated India as “highly insufficient” in its action and policies on climate change in September. This is because Climate Action Tracker had updated its rating system. CAT is supported by several foundations and governments including the European Climate Foundation and the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) etc.

Smart City Bhubaneswar organises exclusive cyclothon with transgender community to promote NMT

Bhubaneswar, October 31: In order to promote non-motorised transport and cycling across the Smart City, the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) today organised an exclusive cyclothon of transgenders between Ekamra Kshetra Plaza near Sishu Bhawan Square and Temple Plaza near Ram Mandir Square. This was perhaps the first of its kind all-transgender cyclothon in the city, organised for a cause. Participated by more than 50 people from the transgender community, the event was sponsored by Khimji Foundation. Members of SAKHA, a community-based organisation of transgenders actively participated in the event with great enthusiasm under the leadership of Meera Parida. Well-known Odia TV actor and social worker Russy Patnaik also joined as a guest and encouraged the participants. It can be mentioned here that the Temple City, as part of its citizen-centric planning based on the Smart City Proposal, has developed a quality city-wide facility for cycles and pedestrian ways so that the emissions are less and citizens enjoy a healthy and livable environment to breath in fresh air with minimal load of pollutants and particulate matters in the neighborhood air. The city has relied on its NMT planning to make it more citizen-friendly. Managing Director and CEO of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh said “we always believe in inclusiveness and for a better city we include all communities into the mainstream. While the self-help groups (SHGs) of transgender communities are given the responsibilities of manning the parking spaces, their participation today in the cyclothon has again proved that we are going to include all socially disadvantageous groups in our citizen-centric activities and planning.’’ In July this year the Temple City bagged India Cycles4Change Challenge Stage-1 Award as it was adjudged among the top 11 Cycling Pioneers of the nation. All the 11 cities are going to receive an award of Rs 1 crore each to scaleup their cycling events in their respective cities. Speaking on the occasion, leading transgender leader of Odisha and organizer Meera Parida said “in the past we have always participated in the pan-city events for the city administration. Under the Smart City mandates we want to have more activities in future and we are ready to participate in them. We had a memorable participation during the Patha Utsav days along the Janpath on every Sunday, promoting NMT philosophy.’’ In fact, under the India Cycles4Change Challenge the Bhubaneswar Smart City has planned a series of activities in the coming days to promote cycling among all age groups and communities. This would, in a way could be a catalyst for change to make cycling a popular alternative and promote NMT to make the Capital city a clean and green city on every aspect. This year Smart City Bhubaneswar had come as the fourth ranked city among the top 10 Livable Capital Cities in India. Interestingly, the Temple City had topped in the Citizen Perception Survey with the highest score of 94.8 out of 100 as per the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE’s) Ease of Living Index Report, 2020.

Climate finance, carbon markets to top India’s agenda at COP26

Scientists, activists and environmentalists believe that the Glasgow summit, also known as COP26, could be the last opportunity to keep global warming to agreed upon limits. The United Nations climate summit that begins in Glasgow on Sunday could be the last chance for humanity to tackle the catastrophic changes due to unrestrained global warming, scientists and activists have said. Under current national climate commitments, the world is on track for a temperature increase of 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the United Nations Environment Programme warned on October 25, which is much above the goal of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement to keep it below 2 degrees compared with the beginning of the industrial era. Unless countries agree to steeply cut carbon emissions, global temperatures will rise beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next 10 to 20 years compared with pre-industrial times, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s largest group of climate experts, had said in its scientific assessment in August. Scientists, activists and environmentalists believe that the Glasgow summit, also known as COP26, could be the last opportunity to keep global warming to agreed upon limits. Over 25,000 delegates are expected to gather in Glasgow for the climate talks. While one of the main agenda is keeping the 1.5 degrees goal alive, countries will have to negotiate and agree on several critical issues like carbon markets, loss and damage and long-term climate finance. In the previous conference held in Madrid in 2019, countries were unable to reach an agreement on new market mechanisms. Several other issues were left unresolved as well, including common time frames for implementation of voluntary national pledges, long-term climate finance and transparency on climate action, all of which will have to be resolved at COP26. COP26 begins with the World Leaders’ Summit on November 1 and 2, which will be attended by over 120 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Usually, the leaders’ summit is held in the second week of the annual talks. The world leaders are this time expected to set the tone for COP26 and declare their intent of containing global warming even before negotiations start. At the Rome summit of the G20 nations, the climate crisis featured high on the agenda. G20 leaders, including Modi, are expected to reach a consensus on how to deal with the crisis and transition to a low-carbon economy. “This time, world leaders will set the agenda for COP26, which is a positive development,” Sunita Narain, director general of advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment, said at a media briefing. “Over the past few decades, climate negotiations were going nowhere. COP26 must reclaim its leadership and the trust of people from across the world, both rich and poor. It must not be lost to the usual prevarication in negotiations and the tantrums and posturings of pusillanimous leaders.” For India, the two critical issues are climate finance and carbon markets. India seeks a level playing field for all countries by pushing for climate finance and technology transfer, environment minister Bhupender Yadav, who is the leader of India’s delegation, had told HT in an interview on October 29. Carbon markets are critical for India because trading can lead to both a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and can generate climate finance, he said. Carbon markets are touted to be one of the most efficient tools to keep mean global temperature rise to under 2 degrees by capping global emissions globally after 2020. Simply put, when a country limits carbon emissions through a project, it creates carbon credits, which can be sold to another nation that fails to meet its target. Under the Paris Agreement, nations will have to come out with a new market mechanism, but there are logjams over various issues. For example, India wants unused carbon credits from the Kyoto Protocol era to be recognised and traded, while experts from the developed world have raised concerns that these credits could flood and ruin the new market even before it starts. Climate finance is the other contentious issue expected to feature prominently in the summit. According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s standing committee on Finance, developing countries need almost $6 trillion up to 2030 to implement their national commitments. The highly anticipated climate finance delivery plan released last week said developed countries will likely be able to mobilise the promised $100 billion a year only in 2023, a delay of three years from the 2020 deadline originally promised. “A successful outcome at COP26 will be a balanced package of measures to cut emissions rapidly in this decade and urgently scale up finance to adapt to climate impacts. Developed countries need to reassure developing countries that they will make up the shortfall in climate finance and set an ambitious new goal. Finalising the rules for carbon trading will help create a common currency that enables Indian industry to link its efforts to international markets and reduce the cost of emission reduction,” said Ulka Kelkar, economist and director, climate at World Resources Institute.

Air quality in Noida, Ghaziabad worsens

The air quality is, however, likely to improve over the next two days due to the change in the wind direction from northwesterly -- which carries smoke from stubble burning -- to the cleaner southerly, according to the air pollution monitoring agencies The air quality in Noida worsened on Sunday, but remained in the ‘poor’ category. The air quality is, however, likely to improve over the next two days due to the change in the wind direction from northwesterly -- which carries smoke from stubble burning -- to the cleaner southerly, according to the air pollution monitoring agencies. “The festival rush or increase in traffic movement, and dropping temperatures or wind speed, are the reasons behind the spike in the pollution levels over the past 24 hours,” said Shambhavi Shukla, deputy programme manager (air pollution), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) reading, on a scale of zero to 500, for Noida on Sunday was at 292 against 260 a day earlier. The AQI in Ghaziabad was at 342 against 273 on Saturday, and 292 in Greater Noida against 273 a day earlier. An AQI reading between 101 and 200 is considered ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and above 400 ‘severe’. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), the fire count has reduced slightly over the past 24 hours, and the air quality is likely to improve in the coming days. “The air quality is likely to improve to the upper end of the ‘poor’ category in the next two days due to an expected change in the wind direction to westerly or southwesterly, reducing the transport of emissions from stubble burning. Isolated rainfall is likely in the upwind region which would improve the air quality. Share of crop residue burning emissions in PM2.5 is about 8% at present. Prevailing shallow mixing layer height reduces dispersion of pollutants,” according to a statement by the SAFAR on Sunday. According to the Safar, the effective fire count (stubble burning) on Sunday was recorded at 1,734 against 1,826 a day earlier. Meanwhile, the daytime temperatures recorded a slight drop in Noida. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum and minimum temperatures in Noida on Sunday were recorded at 29.2 degrees Celsius and 17.1 degrees Celsius, respectively, against 29.2 degrees Celsius and 14.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, a day earlier. “Maximum and minimum temperatures will hover around 30 degrees Celsius and 17 degrees Celsius on Monday,” said an IMD official.

Flooding destroyed his home four times in three years. This is the reality of climate change for India's poor

Anish Yadav was sleeping in his home, a fragile hut made of wood and plastic, when the water rushed in. A concrete retaining wall that had previously held back monsoon floodwaters had collapsed, sending a deluge through Yadav's slum in Malad, a northern suburb in India's financial hub Mumbai. "We woke up to people screaming for help," said Yadav, 26, of that night in July 2019. "The water had risen to our heads ... and I saw people being swept away with the water with my own eyes." For his entire life, the wall had protected Yadav and his neighbors from increasingly severe monsoon storms. His house had never been damaged before -- but with the wall now gone, he has had to rebuild his home four times in three years. Every year, thousands of people die in India from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season, which drenches the country from June to September. The monsoon is a natural weather phenomenon caused by warm, moist air moving across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia as the seasons change. But the climate crisis has caused the event to become more extreme and unpredictable. India's poor, like Yadav, are among the most vulnerable. "The irony of it is that the poor of the world are actually victims of climate change," even if they aren't the ones who "created the problem," said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment and veteran Indian environmentalist. This weekend, world leaders are gathering in Glasgow for the COP26 climate talks as they seek to reduce carbon emissions and avoid a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. Yet for millions of Indians, pledges on paper won't save their homes. The climate crisis is already at their front door -- and it's knocking down the frame. Four homes lost in three years Mumbai, the country's most populous city, boasts glittering skyscrapers and glitzy luxury hotels. It's also a city of widespread poverty and wealth inequality, where about 65% of its 12 million residents live in shacks of tarp and tin in crowded slums. Yadav and his mother were evacuated to a school after their home was first swept away in 2019. The flood had killed 32 people, and authorities said the slum was too dangerous to live in -- but when an offer of new housing didn't materialize, Yadav and his mother returned to the slum to rebuild. "My house is about 10 by 15 feet and the floor is made of dirt," Yadav said. "In that soil, we have hammered down wooden poles. We tie them together and then cover it with plastic sheets. If there is a cyclone or a strong wind, it will be uprooted entirely." Family members started keeping what scarce valuables they had in plastic bags, so they could evacuate quickly. But there's only so much you can protect. During the 2020 monsoon season, Yadav and his mother once again lost their home, clothing and precious food items to rain and flooding. It happened again in May this year, when a massive cyclone hit India's west coast -- an unusual event, since they typically strike the east coast. Yadav said at that point, people were fed up with authorities and the constant cycle of destruction, evacuation and rebuilding. "How can we live this way?" he said. The most recent disaster came in September, at the tail end of this year's monsoon season, when debris from past flooding swept toward the slum. "It was around 1:30 in the (morning) and debris started flowing down," Yadav said. "It was raining heavily and we heard it moving." Residents were again evacuated to the school, where they remain to this day with little clean water or electricity and no toilets. "We have no idea when we will go back or get another home," Yadav said. "(Authorities) are just saying that we will get housing in three to four days, but nothing is being done. People have lost their jobs and they don't have money for food. The system is to blame here." The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mumbai's governing body, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Places are becoming unlivable As the climate crisis worsens, floods pose a particular danger to the 35% of India's population -- roughly 472 million people -- who live in urban slums, according to the World Bank. Muralee Thummarukudy, acting head of the UN Environment Program's Resilience to Disasters and Conflicts Global Support Branch, said slum dwellers tend to live in flimsy structures on the outskirts of cities where land is less stable and more exposed to natural disasters. They also often don't have any kind of insurance that allows them to rebuild or relocate. These residents are also more vulnerable to the secondary effects of flooding, including the spread of waterborne diseases, groundwater contamination, and the loss of food supplies. Rajan Samuel, managing director in India for Habitat for Humanity, says disasters wipe out livelihoods as well as homes. "The trend I am seeing is that livelihood gets disrupted with every disaster, and then there is shelter which goes as well," he said. "We need to mitigate both." Some states have taken action -- like Odisha, which built stormwater drains in its slums, or Kerala, which offers financial incentives for residents in climate-vulnerable places to relocate. Yet on a national level, progress has been slow. Several ambitious initiatives to improve slums and retrofit cities have flailed over the past two decades, stymied by a lack of funding, insufficient participation, poor planning or the red tape of Indian bureaucracy, according to a number of international organizations, researchers and local media. And though the government is now training cities across India to become "climate smart," experts say there are many other measures that need to be taken -- like improving evacuation processes and redesigning water systems and other urban infrastructure. Narain, from the Centre for Science and Environment, said existing systems were built "at a time when disasters were still once in 10 years, once in five years. Now, it is 10 disasters a year." Recent floods, droughts and other devastating climate events are "all showing us very clearly what will the future be," she added. Climate migrants For years, climate experts and scientists have warned the climate crisis could displace more than a billion people in the coming decades -- potentially forming a class of "climate migrants" and refugees. Flooding is one of the major dangers, with record rainfall causing devastation in Germany and China this summer. In India, people are already on the move. Natural disasters forced more than 5 million Indians to leave their homes in 2019, according to a study conducted by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace. And that number is expected to rise as the climate crisis worsens. Many of those displaced Indians, like Yadav, have no means to relocate and no choice but to continually rebuild their homes in disaster-prone locations. Yadav and his family are reluctant to move from their patch of land in the slum, unless the government provides an alternative. He and his mother are now surviving off their meager savings, money borrowed from relatives, and cash earned from pawning their jewelry. Right now, he's losing hope and dreading the thought of having to rebuild -- yet again. "It has been going on for so long," Yadav said. "You never know if the water will flood the house and destroy the house."

Flooding destroyed his home four times in three years. This is the reality of climate change for India’s poor

Anish Yadav was sleeping in his home, a fragile hut made of wood and plastic, when the water rushed in. A concrete retaining wall that had previously held back monsoon floodwaters had collapsed, sending a deluge through Yadav’s slum in Malad, a northern suburb in India’s financial hub Mumbai. “We woke up to people screaming for help,” said Yadav, 26, of that night in July 2019. “The water had risen to our heads … and I saw people being swept away with the water with my own eyes.” For his entire life, the wall had protected Yadav and his neighbors from increasingly severe monsoon storms. His house had never been damaged before — but with the wall now gone, he has had to rebuild his home four times in three years. Every year, thousands of people die in India from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season, which drenches the country from June to September. The monsoon is a natural weather phenomenon caused by warm, moist air moving across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia as the seasons change. But the climate crisis has caused the event to become more extreme and unpredictable. India’s poor, like Yadav, are among the most vulnerable. “The irony of it is that the poor of the world are actually victims of climate change,” even if they aren’t the ones who “created the problem,” said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment and veteran Indian environmentalist. This weekend, world leaders are gathering in Glasgow for the COP26 climate talks as they seek to reduce carbon emissions and avoid a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. Yet for millions of Indians, pledges on paper won’t save their homes. The climate crisis is already at their front door — and it’s knocking down the frame. Four homes lost in three years Mumbai, the country’s most populous city, boasts glittering skyscrapers and glitzy luxury hotels. It’s also a city of widespread poverty and wealth inequality, where about 65% of its 12 million residents live in shacks of tarp and tin in crowded slums. Yadav and his mother were evacuated to a school after their home was first swept away in 2019. The flood had killed 32 people, and authorities said the slum was too dangerous to live in — but when an offer of new housing didn’t materialize, Yadav and his mother returned to the slum to rebuild. “My house is about 10 by 15 feet and the floor is made of dirt,” Yadav said. “In that soil, we have hammered down wooden poles. We tie them together and then cover it with plastic sheets. If there is a cyclone or a strong wind, it will be uprooted entirely.” Family members started keeping what scarce valuables they had in plastic bags, so they could evacuate quickly. But there’s only so much you can protect. During the 2020 monsoon season, Yadav and his mother once again lost their home, clothing and precious food items to rain and flooding. It happened again in May this year, when a massive cyclone hit India’s west coast — an unusual event, since they typically strike the east coast. Yadav said at that point, people were fed up with authorities and the constant cycle of destruction, evacuation and rebuilding. “How can we live this way?” he said. The most recent disaster came in September, at the tail end of this year’s monsoon season, when debris from past flooding swept toward the slum. “It was around 1:30 in the (morning) and debris started flowing down,” Yadav said. “It was raining heavily and we heard it moving.” Residents were again evacuated to the school, where they remain to this day with little clean water or electricity and no toilets. “We have no idea when we will go back or get another home,” Yadav said. “(Authorities) are just saying that we will get housing in three to four days, but nothing is being done. People have lost their jobs and they don’t have money for food. The system is to blame here.” The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mumbai’s governing body, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Places are becoming unlivable As the climate crisis worsens, floods pose a particular danger to the 35% of India’s population — roughly 472 million people — who live in urban slums, according to the World Bank. Muralee Thummarukudy, acting head of the UN Environment Program’s Resilience to Disasters and Conflicts Global Support Branch, said slum dwellers tend to live in flimsy structures on the outskirts of cities where land is less stable and more exposed to natural disasters. They also often don’t have any kind of insurance that allows them to rebuild or relocate. These residents are also more vulnerable to the secondary effects of flooding, including the spread of waterborne diseases, groundwater contamination, and the loss of food supplies. Rajan Samuel, managing director in India for Habitat for Humanity, says disasters wipe out livelihoods as well as homes. “The trend I am seeing is that livelihood gets disrupted with every disaster, and then there is shelter which goes as well,” he said. “We need to mitigate both.” Some states have taken action — like Odisha, which built stormwater drains in its slums, or Kerala, which offers financial incentives for residents in climate-vulnerable places to relocate. Yet on a national level, progress has been slow. Several ambitious initiatives to improve slums and retrofit cities have flailed over the past two decades, stymied by a lack of funding, insufficient participation, poor planning or the red tape of Indian bureaucracy, according to a number of international organizations, researchers and local media. And though the government is now training cities across India to become “climate smart,” experts say there are many other measures that need to be taken — like improving evacuation processes and redesigning water systems and other urban infrastructure. Narain, from the Centre for Science and Environment, said existing systems were built “at a time when disasters were still once in 10 years, once in five years. Now, it is 10 disasters a year.” Recent floods, droughts and other devastating climate events are “all showing us very clearly what will the future be,” she added. Climate migrants For years, climate experts and scientists have warned the climate crisis could displace more than a billion people in the coming decades — potentially forming a class of “climate migrants” and refugees. Flooding is one of the major dangers, with record rainfall causing devastation in Germany and China this summer. In India, people are already on the move. Natural disasters forced more than 5 million Indians to leave their homes in 2019, according to a study conducted by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace. And that number is expected to rise as the climate crisis worsens. Many of those displaced Indians, like Yadav, have no means to relocate and no choice but to continually rebuild their homes in disaster-prone locations. Yadav and his family are reluctant to move from their patch of land in the slum, unless the government provides an alternative. He and his mother are now surviving off their meager savings, money borrowed from relatives, and cash earned from pawning their jewelry. Right now, he’s losing hope and dreading the thought of having to rebuild — yet again. “It has been going on for so long,” Yadav said. “You never know if the water will flood the house and destroy the house.”

COP-26 kicks off today; India to stress on climate tech, funds

The summit aims at reviewing and amending promises by countries and companies worldwide to contribute to mitigation efforts The much-awaited United Nations’ COP-26 will kick off in Glasgow on Sunday even as host British PM Boris Johnson reportedly estimated the chances of a successful outcome to the climate summit at “about six out of 10”. India has assured full support to the UK COP presidency for the meaningful outcome of COP-26 with Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav stating that the summit should be about “action and implementation”. More needed to limit temp rise to 1.5°C Britain hopes the summit will adopt plans to help achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 CSE’s Sunita Narain says even that is enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C However, since combating climate change is a universal challenge, India wants global climate action to be guided by principles and values of climate justice and equity. In those terms, technology transfer and climate finance — the two factors essential for a level playing field between developed and developing countries — will form the basis of India’s pitch at the summit. The country will pitch for the $100 billion per year climate financing by developed nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will participate in the high-level segment of COP-26, titled “World Leaders’ Summit (WLS)” along with 120 heads of states/governments from around the world on November 1-2, will highlight “the need to comprehensively address climate change issues, including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilisation of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth”. There are huge expectations from COP-26, including arriving at a consensus on unresolved issues of the Paris Agreement Rule Book, long-term climate finance and market-based mechanisms, etc. The summit (October 31 to November 12) aims at reviewing and amending promises by countries and companies worldwide to contribute to mitigation efforts.

COP-26 kicks off on October 31; climate technology, finance to be India’s main focus

Hosts Britain hopes the summit helps the world move closer to limiting global warming, but experts say even enhanced NDCs are not nearly enough to limit rising temperature rise to 1.5°C With host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly estimating the chances of a successful outcome to the United Nations COP 26 at “about six out of 10”, the much-awaited climate summit kicks off on October 31 in Glasgow. India has assured the UK COP Presidency of full support for the meaningful outcome of COP-26 with Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav stating that the upcoming climate summit should be of “action and implementation”. However, since combating climate change is a universal challenge, India wants global climate action to be guided by principles and values of climate justice and equity. In those terms, technology transfer and climate finance—the two factors essential for a “level playing field between developed and developing countries”—will form the basis of India’s pitch at the summit. The country will pitch for the $100 billion per year climate financing by developed nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will participate in the high-level segment of COP-26 titled ‘World Leaders’ Summit (WLS) along with 120 heads of states/governments from around the world on November 1-2, will highlight “the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience-building measures, mobilisation of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth”. There are huge expectations from COP 26 including arriving at a consensus on unresolved issues of the Paris Agreement Rule Book, long-term climate finance, market-based mechanisms, etc. The summit (October 31 to November 12) aims to review and amend promises by countries and companies worldwide to contribute to mitigation efforts. Amid a growing number of extreme climate events, there is tremendous pressure on developing nations like India to revise nationally determined commitments (NDCs), cut-off coal/fossil fuels, and declare a Net Zero target. But with per capita carbon emissions per year “far less than countries like the USA, EU, and China”, India’s stance is that it is doing what is required to tackle climate change and is willing to contribute “constructively” to further efforts. But “fossil fuels are essential for its growth plans and targets” and “what is happening today is due to historic actions of developed nations”. India’s INDC pitch includes approximately 450-Gigawatt renewable energy by 2030, and other mitigation efforts. Indian negotiators are expected to move to establish a mechanism for ‘loss and damage’ due to climate change-related events and compensating regions most vulnerable and help them prevent and manage mishaps in the future. According to reports, Britain hopes the summit will adopt plans to help move closer to the target of limiting the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. While the Paris Agreement of 2015 pledged to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the world has already warmed by 1.1°C since then. CSE’s Sunita Narain says even enhanced NDCs are not nearly enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. “Many poor countries, with low annual emissions, have pledged higher targets than rich countries, which is a mockery of the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and a human rights concern,” she says.