India’s stand on emissions has been that the country is on a path to development and is taking millions out of poverty. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming has sounded a final wake up call to countries. Coming ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) this year in Glasgow where India is facing heat to take the “net zero” pledge. The report stated that the increase in earth’s temperature by 1.5 degrees is certain and inevitable. India continues to be the third largest emitter of carbon in the world and has been holding out on making any commitment stating that the country is on a path to development and is taking millions out of poverty. However, as pressure mounts, where does India stand on the debate and for how long it can hold on to this argument while it makes a faster, bigger push towards fossil fuels and continues to maintain lack of clarity on its goals? About 110 countries have updated their NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), but not China, India, or South Africa. Net zero emissions refer to carbon neutrality, which means that a region’s aggregate emissions should reach zero in a specific time. If a country emits a certain amount of carbon every year it will have to offset it through carbon capturing, afforestation or buying carbon credits. At our current rate of global emissions – 40 gigatonnes of CO2 is generated annually – countries are projected to generate 500 gigatonnes in 10 more years, which will lead to a catastrophic 1.5 degree increase in global temperatures. The fallout from this is severe weather events that are being witnessed across the globe – flash floods, forest fires and melting glaciers. To ensure this carbon budget doesn’t spill over, ‘net zero’ requires the world to urgently reduce emissions by afforestation and capturing this carbon. Net zero, therefore, does not mean “zero” emissions, but how a country can compensate for the generation of emissions and how much can it cut down its emissions. India has consistently held that its position is unique, owing to it entering industrialisation at a later stage. However, “Over the next two to three decades, India’s emissions are likely to grow at the fastest pace in the world, as it presses for higher growth to pull hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. No amount of afforestation or reforestation would be able to compensate for the increased emissions. Most of the carbon removal technologies right now are either unreliable or very expensive,” an Indian Express report pointed out earlier this year. However, the key question is how long the country can use this argument to bail itself out of emissions in the face of a looming climate emergency. NewsClick spoke to some activists and experts to get an insight into the challenges ahead for India. Vinuta Gopal, CEO of Asar Social Impact Advisors, a climate consultancy firm, told NewsClick: "It is absolutely clear from the latest IPCC report that science is unequivocal in issuing a 'code red' and setting alarm bells ringing. The impact of a two degree world are going to be brutal, especially in countries like India. This is an emergency of immense proportions; it is in this context that we need to discuss climate action and emission reductions. So, it is essential for India to start planning its pathway to 'net zero'. The question is not if, but when. India needs to think of how its going to plan this transition in a way that is just and ambitious at the same time." India has stated that the latest report on climate change vindicated the stand that India has taken since 2015 – that the developed world should pay for the damage caused by its industrialisation and not commit poorer countries to similar targets on reducing carbon emissions. Moreover, the Environment Ministry has said that reaching the goal of net zero carbon emissions is not enough since “it is the cumulative emissions up to net zero that determine the temperature that is reached”. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav also said the report was “a clarion call for the developed countries to undertake immediate, deep emission cuts and decarbonisation of their economies”. Avantika Goswami, Deputy Programme Manager, Climate Change and Renewable Energy, Centre for Science and Environment, (CSE) disgarees with this stance. She told Newsclick: “We cannot shield ourselves from domestic action by continuously pushing the argument of our minimal historical contribution to carbon emissions. India's climate goals need to be built in addressing energy poverty and malnourishment, the development of green livelihoods that are not dependent on coal, and the preservation of land rights of forest and tribal communities. We need to rapidly reduce our dependence on coal and other fossil fuels, and divert new investments towards decentralised renewable energy. Our cities need to urgently incorporate climate-resilient design, cheap and frequent public transit options, and walkable, green public spaces for all.” If India were to accept the net zero targets, it would mean that India’s coal push is likely to take a hit. As much as 25% of India’s revenue comes from fossil fuels while coal-fired power output is set to double by 2040. Concessional tax benefits continue to be the largest subsidy to the coal sector, newer acts and amendments continue to make a big push towards coal, making it the centerpiece of India’s energy system, despite the higher financial and social costs in play. A major issue is also the financing of cleaner technology and renewables. “Government subsidies to the renewable sector have fallen by nearly 45 percent since their peak in (financial year) 2017, says a study, which states that support for the sector needs a revival,” Mongabay reported. Also, a study titled 'Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy', by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water found that subsidies to renewable energy fell from Rs 15,470 crore in FY 2017 to Rs 8,577 crore in FY 2020. “The earlier targets that India set have still not been achieved – our INDC’s are not targeted and are very vague. On one hand, India states that it is already doing enough, on the other we see a major push for both coal and thermal plants. We are approving not just standalone thermal power plants but also increasing our dependence on it. The roadmap is vague, the climate policy misses out on key calculations on the greenhouse gas emissions in relation with the industry," said environment lawyer Rahul Choudhary. India’s plans of generation of carbon sink and compensatory reforestation also remain in a limbo. Six years ago, the country had pledged to generate an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 ,as part of the NDC target under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Initial trends suggest that the targets may be met only halfway. India carries out compensatory afforestation under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), an institutional mechanism to receive and manage funds for compensatory afforestation. Experts have questioned CAMPA’s ability to compensate for the lost, old-growth carbon-rich forests. They say that the complex biodiversity of a forest can never be compensated for by a monoculture plantation.
National Mission for Clean Ganga hosted second Meet & Mingle session on ‘Developing River Sensitive Cities’ on the Third Day of Stockholm World Water Week 2021. Prof. Mona Aiyer from CEPT University moderated the session. She started the session by welcoming all speakers and participants and explained that the session is planned for practitioners and other stakeholders with the aim to mainstream river in city planning. The Director General, NMCG, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra shared his thoughts on developing river sensitive cities in India and the importance of water sources and its linkage with human habitation. He informed that GRBMP which is developed by IIT consortium has also highlighted the need to focus on city or urban planning with integration of rivers and complete water cycle. He mentioned that river rejuvenation is directly related to urban development and rivers can be kept clean if our cities are kept clean and to achieve that we need river sensitive cities. The DG, NMCG stated that we need to focus on developing sustainable ways and methods while planning a city and to develop management plans integrating rivers and cities. He emphasized on assessment and understanding of different water bodies in a city and to integrate water cycle of a city in its built environment. Mr. Mishra went on to say that NMCG is working with NIUA and other line departments to develop Urban River Management Framework and River Sensitive Master plan. According to him the key points that need to be inculcated is zone level planning and knowledge of what are the challenges experienced at the banks of the river. He talked about climate change leading to increased heat sensitive problems in urban areas and by river sensitive planning along with basin management, the problem can be resolved. Mr. Mishra concluded by informing that the NMCG has conceptualized the “River City Alliance” with the aim to provide a unique platform to collaborate for achieving river rejuvenation through sustainable development and capacity building. He also informed about the NMCG’s initiative to support river sensitive cities planning by sponsoring 3 best research thesis by planning and architecture college students through national level competition and creating awareness among youth in this direction. Prof. Mona Aiyer then invited Mr. Victor Shinde from NIUA to elaborate on the Urban River Management Plan (URMP) Framework. He informed that the framework is designed to support cities for river management and to operationalize the concept of IRBM at city level. The major challenge faced till now is with implementation of the concept and translating the philosophy into practice. He said that to overcome these challenges there is need to integrate IRBM in urban development and planning. The URMP framework is drafted keeping sustainability on priority which has comprised both environment, economic and social benefits. He also said that for each city there is choice of selecting 10 objectives given in the URMP framework. He concluded by informing that the URMP framework is city wise management plan which brings interconnectivity and can benefit at larger scale. With this background, Prof. Mona Aiyer invited Mr. R. Srinivas from Town and Country Planning Organisation, MoHUA to talk about River Centric Urban Guidelines. He mentioned that we have 53 million plus cities and around 42 cities are located on the banks of rivers. The location of cities along the river signifies the provision of water, natural resources and biodiversity which are vital for cities. He mentioned that the guidelines are prepared to be circulated in states and UTs and it is important have delineated river zones. He informed about the components of guidelines such as it defines no development zone, restricted zones and so on. The guidelines are drafted to support river zones in cities and develop strong city images along with development of water resources. Lastly, he said we need to integrate blue and green infrastructure and need to recharge groundwater resources as well. Continuing the discussion on guidelines, Prof. Mona Aiyer invited Dr. S. Rohilla from Centre for Science and Environment to talk on how to operationalize the guidelines. He said that the Ganga Basin is a complex issue and there are around 2000 urban centres with 600 big centres along the stretches of river Ganga. Talking about the small and medium towns he said that they are swiftly increasing in size and we will lose opportunity if we will not be able to develop and implement the river centric urban planning. He said that it can be converged with other on-going schemes and missions such as Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) and so on to bring the decentralization of planning by focusing on individual building and neighbourhood levels. He closed his remarks by reiterating the fact that water sensitive designs need to be integrated with urban development designs. Prof. Mona Aiyer invited various professionals from among the participants to share their views on the topic of discussion. Prof. Vinod Tare from IIT Kanpur talked about developing the additional wetlands, decentralized water management designs and optimal utilization of man-made and natural ways to bring rivers sensitivity in city planning. He primarily focused on utilising nature-based solutions and understanding the concept of one water system comprising all forms of water bodies in planning. Following him, Dr. Anitha Kumari Sharma from Royal Dutch Embassy talked about the need of long-term planning and involving all the stakeholders in planning the cities with focus on conserving river’s overall health. Prof. S. Chary gave two important points to focus on which involve development of urban centric governance framework at chief secretary level as several departments beyond city level also do have jurisdiction and creating a platform for innovation and startups to support in making cities river sensitive. Ms. Panchali from SIWI mentioned case studies of Cape Town, Miami and other international regions which can be referred for developing river sensitive cities in India. She talked about cooperation and integration at regulatory levels. Lastly, Mr. Suresh Babu said that to bring citizen engagement we need to mainstream urban governance at different levels and create a forum to often engage in discussions to find relevant solutions with the focus on making cities river sensitive. Concluding the session, Prof. Mona Aiyer summarized the discussions and deliberations and DG, NMCG, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra thanked everyone for their contribution and suggestions.
Il Centro Agroalimentare di Bologna (CAAB) e Fondazione FICO annunciano l’avvio del bando per i progetti di sostenibilità agroalimentare attivi in Italia e nel mondo. C’è tempo fino al 15 settembre 2021 per inviare la propria candidatura. Promuovere i progetti, le ricerche e le iniziative in ambito agricolo e agro-alimentare realizzate da persone, istituzioni e imprese nel segno dello sviluppo sostenibile e durevole: questo l’obiettivo di Bologna Award, il Premio Internazionale per la sostenibilità agroalimentare che riparte con il bando della sua 6^ edizione, in programma a Bologna in occasione della Giornata mondiale dell’alimentazione, il 15 e 16 ottobre 2021. Ideato e promosso da CAAB Centro Agroalimentare di Bologna e dalla Fondazione FICO per l’Educazione alimentare e alla Sostenibilità, Bologna Award concorre da cinque anni al raggiungimento degli obiettivi dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite attraverso l’individuazione di idee e buone pratiche efficaci in direzione della sostenibilità agroalimentare dalla produzione al consumo, dai campi agli allevamenti, alle tavole di tutto il pianeta. “Con un’attenzione particolare – spiega il presidente CAAB Andrea Segrè, presidente di Giuria – ai progetti impegnati per fronteggiare le crescenti povertà, la malnutrizione e le diseguaglianze aggravate dalla crisi pandemica: al momento circa 2.37 miliardi di persone non hanno un accesso adeguato al cibo, e le stime attuali prevedono che nel 2030 ben 660 milioni di persone soffriranno ancora la fame, anche in ragione degli effetti a lungo termine della pandemia covid-19 sulla sicurezza alimentare“. Sarà infatti “Sharing. Condivisione è sostenibilità” il filo rosso dell’edizione 2021: con la consapevolezza che per raggiungere gli Obiettivi dell’Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite sarà necessario un impegno collettivo insieme alla condivisione delle conoscenze, delle competenze, delle esperienze legate ai progetti, alle buone pratiche, agli strumenti utili allo sviluppo sostenibile. Una considerazione tanto più valida per l’agricoltura di ultima generazione, la smart farming alla quale è richiesta alta precisione tecnologica per ottimizzare la produzione di cibo aumentandone l’efficienza, riducendo al minimo gli sprechi e l’impatto ambientale. La 6^ edizione di Bologna Award è promossa con il patrocinio del Comune di Bologna, della Camera di Commercio di Bologna, della Regione Emilia-Romagna e della FAO (Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l’alimentazione e l’agricoltura). Le candidature e segnalazioni per l’edizione 2021 di Bologna Award potranno essere inoltrate alla email info@bolognaaward.it entro il 15 settembre, subito dopo la Giuria si riunirà per selezionare una short list con la cinquina finalista, che sarà annunciata entro la prima settimana del mese di ottobre. Seguirà la proclamazione dei vincitori, la cerimonia di Premiazione come sempre a Bologna, in occasione del World Food Day 2021, 16 ottobre. Info, bando e aggiornamenti sui siti bolognaaward.com e caab.it. Aspetto peculiare del Bologna Award – International Sustainability and Food Award è che i vincitori, sin dal momento dell’accettazione, si impegnano a donare il valore del premio in favore di progetti e iniziative di settore sostenibili, durevoli e/o solidali, affinché la ricerca possa ulteriormente progredire e moltiplicare circoli virtuosi nell’ambito agro-alimentare e agro-ambientale sul pianeta. Vincitori delle prime cinque edizioni di Bologna Award sono stati: nel 2015 lo scienziato genetista italiano Salvatore Ceccarelli, che ha prestato la sua opera e il suo ingegno in Paesi e aree arretrate e in guerra, come il Centro ICARDA di Aleppo – Siria oggi distrutto dall’ISIS, ex aequo con l’organizzazione statunitense no profit NAMA – Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, fondata da pescatori della costa Nord Est degli Stati Uniti per promuovere il patrimonio marino come bene comune del pianeta; nel 2017 il ricercatore e genetista italiano Matteo Dell’Acqua, che ha lavorato assieme agli agricoltori etiopi delle comunità di Melfa e Workaye, con uno straordinario progetto che ha incrociato la più avanzata ricerca genomica agli antichi saperi rurali. Nel 2018 l’attivista indiana Sunita Narain, che dirige il CSE – Centro Scienza e Ambiente di New Delhi, riconosciuto a livello mondiale come riferimento guida per i Paesi in via di Sviluppo. Nel 2019 l’economista Raj Patel, scrittore accademico e attivista, in prima linea sui temi dell’accesso al cibo e dello sviluppo sostenibile e del ‘Green New Deal’. Nel 2020 il ricercatore italiano Giacomo Grassi, operativo presso il Joint Research Centre della Commissione Europea a Ispra: per aver condotto le sue ricerche in un ruolo chiave di interfaccia fra monitoraggio scientifico e attuazione normativa e politica degli obiettivi di sostenibilità. Per aver testimoniato che le foreste svolgono un ruolo chiave nella mitigazione del cambiamento climatico attraverso l’assorbimento di CO2 e per il supporto nella progettazione delle strategie utili al raggiungimento degli obiettivi climatici dell’accordo di Parigi. Una menzione speciale è andata all’attivista statunitense Leah Penniman, leader del movimento per la giustizia alimentare.
Plans by India to curb pollution from plastic waste have come under fire by environmentalists for not going far enough in cracking down on single-use items. A ban on single-use plastic, or SUP, proposed from July 2022 is also raising the hackles of smaller producers of common items. They say the rules will leave the bigger manufacturers largely unscathed. The ban takes aim at the manufacturing, importation, distribution, sale and use of certain single-use plastic items with "low utility and high littering potential", as set out by India's environment ministry. A government committee has identified single-use items based on an index of their utility and environmental impact. The first category of items proposed to be phased out are plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candy, ice cream and earbuds, and a substance known as thermocol that is used in decorations, according to rules released on Aug 13. Plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives and straws, among other items, of less than 100 microns thick will be removed in the second phase of the ban. The third category is for nonwoven bags of less than 240 microns thick that are widely used as shopping bags. Junior Environment Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey told Parliament recently that "a national-level task force has been constituted by the ministry for taking coordinated efforts to eliminate identified SUP by 2022". With the announcement, India has joined a growing number of countries cracking down on single-use plastic. But environmental activists complain that many items low on the utility index and high on environmental impact have been left out from the ban. As for the opposition from industry, smaller enterprises that manufacture plastic items ranging from plastic cutlery to straws and earbuds claim that the rules are biased in favor of big manufacturers. Some of these businesses will go under, the ban's opponents say. Questions have been raised as to why items such as milk packets, shampoo sachets and small PET(polyethylene terephthalate) bottles have been excluded from the ban. Rajesh Mittal, of the plastic manufacturers and traders association in New Delhi, said the rules will benefit the big producers and that all types of single-use plastic should be targeted. Incentives recommended The government should help the industry switch to alternative products by offering incentives, the smaller manufacturers say. The rules will only push the smaller firms further into debt and result in job losses. The list of plastic items banned from July 1, 2022, is dominated by articles that are manufactured and sold by small and medium-sized manufacturers and traders, said Atin Biswas, program director of municipal solid waste, at the Centre for Science and Environment, a think tank in New Delhi. Biswas said large companies are responsible for nearly 45 to 50 percent of the single-use items that end up as waste. The UN Environment Programme defines grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws and containers as single-use plastic. But those items have been left out of the Indian ban. Avinash Tiwari, a shopkeeper who sells single-use plastic bags in New Delhi, said the ban on these items constitutes an attack on the middle class. "Any alternative to plastic bags costs twice as much to customers," Tiwari said. India generates 26,000 metric tons of plastic waste every day and 9.46 million tons a year, according to a government agency.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday launched its new Inspection and Audit Manual that will aid its mandate of ensuring compliance to the protection of the environment. The Manual discusses how inspections and audits are planned, implemented, reported on and followed up by the EPA. Mr Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, Executive Director, Technical Services EPA, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the manual would help ensure that inspections and audits were done most systematically while ensuring transparency and standardisation of operations among officials of the Agency across the country. He said the manual contained both the general guidance and sector-specific rules that would guide EPA officers and clientele on what to look out for during environmental inspections and auditing sessions. “Industries can take the manual and do their self-assessment and inspections even before EPA officials go to their facilities to inspect and audit,” Mr Appah-Sampong said. He explained that the manual was developed with inputs from the EPA, the Centre for Science and Environment in India and the Norwegian Environment Agency in Norway. Mr Kojo Agbenor Eunam, Acting Director in charge of Petroleum, EPA, on his part, said facilities that operate with environmental permits, including oil and gas operations, steel works, and other business operators would be given copies of the manuals, to study and to guide their operations with regards to the environment. He mentioned that facilities could also access the manual on EPA’s website www.epa.gov.gh or www.epaoilandgas.org and at the regional offices and the Agency’s library.
In spite of assurances from the Prime Minister, India’s issue with land degradation seems to only continue to worsen. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), land degradation affects approximately 29.7 percent of the country’s total geographical area. During the 2018-19 period, an estimated 97.85 million hectares of India’s land underwent degradation per the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, published by the Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre which falls under the ambit of ISRO. The 29.7 percent figure is versus 29.32 percent in the 2011-13 period and 28.76 percent in the 2005-06 percent. This is despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating in June that the country is on course to meet its targets of land degradation neutrality. The data indicates that the states and union territories of Gujarat, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana account for 23.79 percent of the total land degradation of India’s total geographical area. India has long weathered issues linked to land degradation, such as desertification and deforestation. In 2019, the Atlas estimated that desertification – “a change in soil properties, vegetation or climate, which results in a persistent loss of ecosystem services that are fundamental to sustaining life” as a ScienceDirect article from 2013 explains – approximately thirty percent of the country’s area is undergoing degradation equating to some 96.40 million hectares. In the case of deforestation, India is behind on its targets. As previously reported by Health Issues India, “India has pledged to maintain forest cover of 33 percent but…the figure continues to hover in the 22 percent range as of the 2017 State of Forest report. As to the causes of deforestation, economic development looms large.” Industry-led projects appear to lead the drive. Per a report published by The Logical Indian, “the central government is working on a plan to rejuvenate 26 million acres of barren land by 2030, which will help prevent about three billion tones [sic] of carbon emissions in the environment.” Yet it is clear that the problem of land degradation is not dissipating any time soon. Preserving biodiversity carries with it a raft of public health benefits, such as preventing the emergence of new zoonotic diseases. Even the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins and the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus can be linked back to land degradation and the loss of wildlife, an area where the world is backsliding.
Global leaders and experts today called for a significant and urgent reduction in the amounts of antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics, used in food systems recognizing this as critical to combatting rising levels of drug resistance. The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance- today called upon all countries to significantly reduce the levels of antimicrobial drugs used in global food systems. This includes stopping the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs to promote growth in healthy animals and using antimicrobial drugs more responsibly overall. The call comes ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit which takes place in New York on 23 September 2021 where countries will discuss ways to transform global food systems. The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance includes heads of state, government ministers, and leaders from private sector and civil society. The group was established in November 2020 to accelerate global political momentum, leadership and action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and is co-chaired by their Excellencies Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Reducing the use of antimicrobials in food systems is key to conserving their effectiveness The Global Leaders Group’s statement calls for bold action from all countries and leaders across sectors to tackle drug resistance. A top priority call to action is to use antimicrobial drugs more responsibily in food systems and markedly reduce the use of drugs that are of greatest importance to treating diseases in humans, animals and plants. Other key calls to action for all countries include: Ending the use of antimicrobial drugs that are of critical importance to human medicine to promote growth in animals. Limiting the amount of antimicrobial drugs administered to prevent infection in healthy animals and plants and ensuring that ll use is performed with regulatory oversight. Eliminating or significantly reducing over-the-counter sales of antimicrobial drugs that are important for medical or veterinary purposes. Reducing the overall need for antimicrobial drugs by improving infection prevention and control, hygiene, biosecurity and vaccination programmes in agriculture and aquaculture. Ensuring access to quality and affordable antimicrobials for animal and human health and promoting innovation of evidence based and sustainable alternatives to antimicrobials in food systems. Inaction will have dire consequences for human, animal, plant and environmental health Antimicrobial drugs- (including antibiotics, antifungals and antiparasitics)- are used in food production all over the world. Antimicrobial drugs are administered to animals not only for veterinary purposes (to treat and prevent disease), but also to promote growth in healthy animals. Antimicrobial pesticides are also used in agriculture to treat and prevent diseases in plants. Sometimes antimicrobials used in food systems are the same as or similar to those used to treat humans. Current usage in humans, animals and plants is leading to a concerning rise in drug-resistance and making infections harder to treat. Climate change may also be contributing to an increase in antimicrobial resistance. Drug-resistant diseases already cause at least 700,000 human deaths globally every year. Whilst there have been substantial reductions in antibiotic use in animals globally, further reductions are needed. Without immediate and drastic action to significantly reduce levels of antimicrobial use in food systems, the world is rapidly heading towards a tipping point where the antimicrobials relied on to treat infections in humans, animals and plants will no longer be effective. The impact on local and global health systems, economies, food security and food systems will be devastating. “We cannot tackle rising levels of antimicrobial resistance without using antimicrobial drugs more sparingly across all sectors” says co-chair of the Global Leader Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, Her Excellency Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados. “The world is in a race against antimicrobial resistance, and it’s one that we cannot afford to lose.’ Reducing the use of antimicrobial drugs in food systems must be a priority for all countries “Using antimicrobial drugs more responsibly in food systems needs to be a top priority for all countries” says Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance co-chair Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. “Collective action across all relevant sectors is crucial to protect our most precious medicines, for the benefit of everyone, everywhere.” Consumers in all countries can play a key role by choosing food products from producers that use antimicrobial drugs responsibly. Investors can also contribute by investing in sustainable food systems. Investment is also urgently needed to develop effective alternatives to antimicrobial use in food systems, such as vaccines and alternative drugs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes to Editors: For interviews with members of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance and further information please contact: Email: borgonhaa@who.int Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance statement on Antimicrobial Use in Food Systems Antimicrobial use in food systems[1] is common and has an influence on antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals, plants and the environment. Applying a One Health approach, there is a critical need to transform food systems to optimize animal, plant and environmental health, ensure responsible and sustainable antimicrobial use and most importantly, reduce the need to use antimicrobials and promote innovation for evidence-based and sustainable alternatives. Antimicrobials are important for animal health and welfare and plant production and access to quality and affordable antimicrobials needs to be ensured. However, changes to the current situation are urgently required. While there have been significant reductions in antimicrobial use in animals globally, further improvements to reduce their use and ensure responsible and sustainable use in food systems are both of the utmost importance and attainable. Although challenging in some situations, this must be prioritized by all countries, sectors and organizations. To promote the responsible and sustainable use of antimicrobials in food systems, the Global Leaders Group calls for the following: 1. Infection prevention and control All countries should prioritize infection prevention and control, including water, sanitation and hygiene, biosecurity and vaccination programmes as interventions to prevent and mitigate infectious disease risk and AMR across all sectors; and International technical, financing and research and development organizations and partners should support countries to improve access to and use of existing and new affordable diagnostic testing, disease prediction tools, vaccines, safe and efficacious non-antimicrobial alternatives and appropriate nutrition for infection prevention, control and treatment in terrestrial and aquatic animals, and where applicable for plants 2. Reducing antimicrobial use All countries should: Recognize the importance of antimicrobials for animal health and welfare and plant production in their national policies and regulatory frameworks and eliminate the use of antimicrobials to compensate for inadequate infection prevention and control, management and other modifiable deficiencies in management of animal and plant health; Markedly reduce the overall use of antimicrobials, particularly the Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials for terrestrial and aquatic animals and plants; End the use of medically important antimicrobials for growth promotion, starting immediately with the Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials, then continuing to other categories; and Limit antimicrobial prophylaxis and metaphylaxis in animals and plants to well-defined situations, with a goal of markedly reducing use and ensuring that all use is performed with regulatory oversight and under the direction of an authorized prescriber. 3. Oversight and governance All countries should: Ensure effective governance and professional oversight of the sales and use of antimicrobials and stewardship of antimicrobials in all sectors, including the development and implementation of evidence-based guidelines for treatment, control and prevention; and Eliminate or markedly reduce over-the-counter sales of antimicrobials that are important for medical or veterinary purposes and implement stringent rules to strengthen and increase professional oversight for terrestrial and aquatic animal and plant use. International technical, financing and research and development organizations and partners should: Establish mechanisms to improve and broaden appropriate access to good quality antimicrobials worldwide; and Encourage and support the development and improvement of comparable national and international surveillance systems to enable countries to establish antimicrobial use and resistance baselines and set progressive, ambitious, science-based and nationally relevant targets for responsible and sustainable antimicrobial use across all sectors. Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance background The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance was established in November 2020 and performs an independent global advisory and advocacy role with the primary objective of maintaining urgency, public support, political momentum and visibility of the AMR challenge on the global agenda. The mission of the group is to collaborate globally with governments, agencies, civil society and the private sector through a One Health approach to advise on and advocate for political action for the mitigation of drug-resistant infections through responsible and sustainable access to and use of antimicrobials. The group is co-chaired by Their Excellencies Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and is composed of heads of state, serving or former ministers and/or senior government officials acting in their individual capacities, together with senior representatives of foundations, civil society organizations and the private sector. It also includes principals of the Tripartite organizations - the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) - in an ex-officio capacity. The Tripartite Joint Secretariat (TJS) on Antimicrobial Resistance, a joint effort by FAO, OIE and WHO, provides Secretariat support for the Group. Members of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance Co-chairs: H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister, BANGLADESH H.E. Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister, BARBADOS Members: Dr Hamad A. Al-Batshan, Deputy Minister for Innovation and Modern Technologies, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, SAUDI ARABIA Dr Hasan Mohammed Abbas Al-Temimi, Minister of Health and Environment, IRAQ Ms Inger Anderson, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme Ms Tamara van Ark, Minister for Medical Care and Sport, THE NETHERLANDS Prof António Correia de Campos, Former Minister of Health, Professor Emeritus of Health Economics, National School of Public Health, New University of Lisbon, PORTUGAL Prof C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Former Minister of Health, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike, NIGERIA Dr Guilherme Antônio da Costa Júnior, Senior Agricultural Attaché, Mission of Brazil to the European Union, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, BRAZIL Prof Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, UNITED KINGDOM Dr Maggie De Block, Former Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, and Asylum and Migration, Member of Parliament, BELGIUM Dr QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Dr Monique Eloit, Director General, World Organisation for Animal Health Prof Sir Jeremy James Farrar, Director, Wellcome Trust, UNITED KINGDOM Dr Christopher Fearne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Member of Parliament, MALTA Mr Jean-Christophe Flatin, President of Innovation, Science, Technology & Mars Edge, Mars, Inc., UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Member of Parliament, SINGAPORE Dr Julie Gerberding, Chief Patient Officer and Executive Vice President, Population Health & Sustainability, Merck & Co., Inc., UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization Ms Lena Hallengren, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, SWEDEN Ms Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Member of Parliament, AUSTRALIA Ms Sunita Narain, Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment, INDIA Ms Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye, Former Minister of Livestock and Animal Production, Former Minister of Fisheries and the Maritime Economy, President of the High Council of Territorial Collectivities , SENEGAL Prof Anna Y. Popova, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being (Rospotrebnadzor), Chief Sanitary Physician of the Russian Federation, RUSSIAN FEDERATION Mr Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, Member of the House of Representatives, JAPAN Ms Dechen Wangmo, Minister of Health, BHUTAN Dr Jeffrey Scott Weese, Professor at the University of Guelph, Director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, Chief of Infection Control at Ontario Veterinary College, CANADA Prof Lothar H. Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute, GERMANY Member biographies can be found at the link here. Headshots of members can be found at the link here. [1] FAO defines food systems as encompassing the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded. The food system is composed of sub-systems (e.g. farming system, waste management system, input supply system, etc.) and interacts with other key systems (e.g. energy system, trade system, health system, etc.)
Estimated at a cost of Rs 20 crore, the experimental set up is supposed to purify air within a radius of 1 km around the structure at a rate of about 1,000 cubic metres of air per second. In a bid to combat the rising air pollution in the national capital, Delhi, on Monday, 23rd August, got its own 'smog tower' at Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place. The tower was inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the infamous smog season resulting due to the burning of crop residue by farmers. Estimated at a cost of ₹ 20 crore, the experimental set-up is supposed to purify air within a radius of 1 km around the structure at a rate of about 1,000 cubic metres of air per second. Inaugurating the much-anticipated facility, Kejriwal said that the state government would develop more such towers if it remains successful. What Is Smog Tower? Smog towers are defined as large-scale air purifiers to minimise the levels of air pollution. Multiple layers of air filters are fitted at the base to suck the air. After the filters suck the polluted air, it gets purified before being circulated again in the atmosphere. They work on the principle of HEPA filtration technology to weed out PM2.5 particles. Such methods are proven to be well established scientifically and used widely for purifying indoor oxygen where the exchange with the outdoor air is more petite. Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde built the first prototype of smog tower in 2017 in China's Beijing. It was built as a demonstration that converts the carbon in filtered particles into diamonds. Components Of Delhi's Smog Tower The height of the structure is 24 m, which is almost equivalent to an 8-storey building. It is an 18-metre concrete structure, topped by a 6-metre-high canopy. It has 40 fans on its base, 10 on each side. Each fan has the capacity to discharge 25 cubic metres per second of air, so the whole tower can discharge up to 1,000 cubic metres per second. There are 5,000 filters inside the tower in two layers, which have been imported from the United States. How Does It Function? The 'downdraft air cleaning system' is used by the experimental structure. The system is developed by the University of Minnesota," Anwar Ali Khan, senior environmental engineer, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, said while speaking to The Indian Express. Khan is also in charge of the much-anticipated project. Both American university and IIT-Bombay have collaborated with each other to replicate the technology. The commercial arm of Tata Projects Limited has implemented it. At the height of 24 m, the polluted air is sucked and filtered air is released at the bottom of the structure, which is almost 10 m high from the ground level. After the fans at the bottom of the structure operate, the air is sucked due to the negative pressure from the top. The macro layer then traps particles of 10 microns or larger, whereas the microlayer filters out those having size of about 0.3 microns. The air quality will be monitored by an automated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system installed in the tower. Besides temperature and humidity, it will also measure levels of PM2.5 and PM10, which will be displayed on a board on top of the tower. Project In Compliance With The Supreme Court Order In 2019, the apex court had directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Arvind Kejriwal led the government to come up with smog towers in the city to keep air pollution at bay. The court was hearing about air pollution in Delhi that resulted from stubble-burning in Punjab and adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The proposal was then submitted by IIT-Bombay to the CPCB. The Supreme Court then in January last year asked the concerned bodies to install two such towers by April as a pilot project in the national capital. Besides the one in Connaught Place, the second tower is being constructed at Anand Vihar and is in its final phase. Are The Smog Towers Effective? According to the experts, there isn't much evidence suggesting that the smog towers are very effective. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, believes that there is no precise data available yet that stresses that these structures have helped combat the rising air pollution levels of an entire city. "How do you filter air in a dynamic scenario, when it is not a confined area?" The Indian Express quoted her as saying. Other Countries To Use It The Netherlands and South Korea are currently using smog towers but on a small scale. However, the only operational smog tower across the globe is a 60-metre high tower in Xian, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province. The experts and national media have slammed the tower and have termed it as an eyewash and ineffective. The researchers at the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are currently testing the structure and said that the average reduction in PM2.5-the fine particles in smog deemed most harmful to health — fell 15 percent during heavy pollution. That's a spoonful from a periphery of not more than 100 metres. In India, the downdraft method used in the tower is different from the one used in China, where they use an 'updraft' method in a 60-metre smog tower in Xian city. In the updraft method, air is sucked in from near the ground and is pushed in the upward direction by heating and convection. Filtered air is released at the top of the structure.
To prepare for the future, India must start by investing in a robust infrastructure of EV charging docks and promoting alliances between civic bodies and private companies to reach the masses. Every day nowadays is a reminder to adopt sustainable and greener lifestyles. According to studies, India is the third most polluting country in the world, and twenty-two of the world’s 30 most polluted cities based on the Air Quality Index (AQI) are Indian. Diesel vehicles are responsible for 66% (1) of air pollution-related deaths in India. Another report said that 40% (2) of air pollution in India is attributed to vehicular emissions. The multiplying number of gasoline and diesel-powered automobiles is a double-edged sword that exploits our natural resources on one side and contributes awfully to global warming on the other. India, as a country of examples, must ‘grow responsibly’. We are facing the dichotomy of being tagged as the fastest growing economy and being a member of the Paris agreement with a commitment towards environment conservation. How can we do this? To start with, we could all switch our mobility choice to an environmentally safe one since air pollution is arguably the most chronic with an immediate genetic effect on human health and biodiversity as a whole. EV is the Key Automobiles are an integral part of our lifestyle but traditionally we have encouraged vehicles that exploit fossil fuel. Hence, they have a high carbon footprint. But, today and the future demand more sustainable ways of transportation. The future of mobility is Shared, Smart, Sustainable, Small and Safe. 1. Shared- Fewer vehicles needed per capita as a cheaper mode of mobility. 2. Smart- Convenient real-time availability with instant planning and execution. 3. Sustainable- Green solutions with real positive impact on the environment which is economically justifiable. 4. Small- Practical solutions to reduce traffic congestion in small towns to big cities. 5. Safe- Solo ridership with natural social distancing especially needed during the Pandemic. Electric Vehicles come here as a blessing as they are an eco-friendly mode of mobility with less carbon footprint that reduces dependency on fossil fuels. In the recent past, EVs have gained popularity in India. This is primarily fuelled by public-private partnerships that are making electric vehicles accessible to customers. There is also a shift in customer preferences due to the rising fuel prices making it relatively more affordable for the Indian economy in the long run. Traditionally, India has been a two-wheeler country. Even amongst car owners, two-wheelers are popular in traffic congestion. Thus, we need to scooterise the trajectory towards the electric mobility alternatives in India. Compared to cars, scooters are lightweight and hence EV scooters run efficiently on cost-effective batteries. An easy-to-use solution, two-wheeler EVs can be charged using existing plug points in the Indian houses and have less engine sound due to the small electrified engine. The Indian government has been promoting EVs and has reduced GST from 12% to 5% on EVs, and the future is bright especially with smart city planning and its transformational objective. One of the biggest challenges for EV adoption in India would be its affordability to the larger customer base. A strategic way to make EVs more affordable would be to promote “shared EV mobility alternatives”. This would not only help India meet its environmental goals but also make EVs affordable for the masses. To prepare for that future, India must start today by investing in a robust infrastructure of charging docks and promoting alliances between civic bodies and private companies to reach the masses. The companies need to create a unique battery-swapping network that is low cost and highly scalable. This framework should be accessible to its users and operate with a skillful team to keep the process running in place in the viable areas. Indian cities are still developing the infrastructure for parking shared vehicles. The service providers must work with cities in a collaborative manner that can give access to prime real estate to create sustainable models for EVs. You for Nature Today, mobility is transforming the way we get ready for a convalescing future. The shift towards EV will not be instant, but metamorphic. History is a living example that only socially cognizant and insightful people can bring about a radical change in society. Even the Wright brothers were laughed at for their idea of a flying automobile. (Sources) 1 – Study by International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), Milken Institute School of Public Health from George Washington University, and the University of Colorado Boulder 2 – Mint interview with Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director (Research & Advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
The toxic residue left over from burning coal could end up damaging the country’s farmlands, water bodies and fragile habitats, say environmentalists. The latest government attempt to ensure the safe and sustainable disposal of fly ash – a toxic residue left over from burning coal – could end up damaging India’s farmlands, water bodies and fragile habitats, say researchers and activists. Fly ash is known to cause air and water pollution. Coal and lignite-based thermal power plants should “ensure 100% utilisation of ash generated by it in an eco-friendly manner”, said an April 22 notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Over the last two decades, the Indian government has been issuing similar notifications on the disposal and utilisation of fly ash. Its recommendations have varied: use it to manufacture building material and in construction work and apply it as soil conditioner in farms and use it to reclaim low-lying areas and empty mines. However, over 50% of industries remain non-compliant, mostly dumping the ash in the open, in water bodies and in unlined and uncovered pits. There have been eight major incidents involving coal ash in India between August 2019 and May this year, as per a status report by Fly Ash Watch Group, a collective of activist individuals and organisations across India. The Singrauli region spread across Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh accounted for half of these. In 2019-’20, 197 thermal plants in India generated 226 million tonnes of fly ash. And nearly 1.6 billion tonnes of it are scattered over 65,000 acres of land, as of 2019. Accidents happen mostly when fly ash overflows or breaks through the embankment of ash ponds where it has been dumped. An ash pond is designed with an embankment all around and an internal and external drainage system. It needs to be constantly monitored for safety and spillage. Environmentalists have been urging the government to delete “filling of low lying area” as an accepted use of fly ash. “There are no clear guidelines on what constitutes a ‘low-lying area’,” said Rahul Choudhary, Supreme Court advocate and founding member of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment. Even riverine stretches and wetlands can be considered low-lying, he pointed out. Little action has been taken against erring units, as we detail later. We reached out to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for comments on fly ash mismanagement. This article will be updated as and when we receive a response. Coal-based power plants are among the most polluting industries in India, significantly responsible for its dire air pollution levels, studies have shown. Coal-based thermal power plants are water-intensive, using more water than permitted, IndiaSpend has reported in September 2019. Rules diluted Over 76 fly ash accidents have been reported in mainstream English media in the last decade, killing people and extensively damaging water sources, air and soil, said a joint 2020 study by the Healthy Energy Initiative and Community Environmental Monitoring, a clean energy advocacy. Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have the highest number of coal-based thermal power plants and report the most fly ash accidents, according to the study. Fly ash spillage is hard to fix and polluters and authorities have shown no interest in cleaning up, observed experts. “Once water is contaminated there is no undoing [the contamination], but even for the visible spots of ash spillage there is no clean-up undertaken by plant authorities,” said Shripad Dharmadhikary, an analyst at the research organisation Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, who also co-authored the Fly Ash Watch report. “The eight major incidents [August 2019 - May 2021] do not take into account the ash spill that happens routinely.” The government has been attempting to tackle the problem since 1999. The first official notification on the subject came in 1999 and it outlined some methods for the constructive use of fly ash – to manufacture cement, concrete blocks and bricks and in the construction of roads and embankments within a 100-km radius of thermal power plants. However, subsequent notifications – in 2003, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and the latest, in 2021 –diluted the definition of and deadline for ash utilisation by polluters. They allowed the reclamation of low-lying areas and abandoned mines using ash, extended deadlines for polluters, raised the distance over which fly ash can be transported and did away with the ash content cap in coal. In 2019-’20, the power sector consumed 678 million tons of coal and generated 226 million tonnes of ash. Of this, only 187 million tonnes (82%) was put to use in various ways. The remaining waste piled up, damaging the environment. The Centre for Science and Environment analysed state wise-data on ash generation and utilisation between 2010 and 2019 and found Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh had accumulated the most ash during this period. And Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha have huge ash backlogs. In order to minimise this pollution, urgent measures are needed, said experts. On the draft notification, the Manthan Adhyayan Kendra commented that it “appears to prioritise full disposal of fly ash without adequate considerations of the safety of health and environment”. The think-tank Centre for Policy Research also noted the need to take into account “non-compliance induced breaches of ash dykes and ponds and present preventive and restitutive measures for the same”. Apart from legal issues, it pointed to “serious impacts such as contamination of farmlands, common use areas, water bodies and air, for years”. Periodic disasters “In the last two decades since the notification was first introduced, the problem of fly ash has escalated,” said Shweta Narayan, an environmental justice activist and campaigner for climate and health with Health Care Without Harm in India. “The subsequent notifications have allowed violations which have led to fly ash breach accidents and the regulatory authorities are clueless on how to handle it.” In June, a fly ash breach accident was reported in Chhattisgarh’s Korba thermal power plant, said Savita Rath, a local activist and lawyer. “Only three plants – Jindal’s Raigarh power plant, Korba West plant and DB power plant – have ponds to dispose of ash,” said Rath. “So many other plants in Chhattisgarh do not have any mechanism in place. And, even in these ponds, ash is piled up like small hills. Is there no limit to how much one can accumulate in the ponds?” Earlier, in April 2020, the wall of the Reliance Thermal Plant’s ash pond in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh collapsed claiming at least two lives, destroying agricultural land and contaminating groundwater. The Singrauli region houses 10 thermal power plants. It is a preferred industrial location because it offers easy access to coal and water from the nearby Rihand reservoir. In the last two years alone, four of the eight major ash pond breach incidents took place in the region. Note: *This is different from one-time breaches at other power plants. A continuous overflow of ash slurry from the plant’s ash pond directly into Rihand reservoir has been reported over many years. “Around six months before the collapse of the [ash pond] wall, local villagers and gram panchayat members had protested and warned that the wall of the pond could collapse anytime,” said Sandeep Sahu, a local activist, on the Reliance Plant accident. “This was [the result of] long-term negligence.” The district collector’s office had also warned plant officials about the precariousness of the ash dyke but no action was taken, said a Newsclick report. Truant units undeterred Since 2013, Supreme Court advocate and environmentalist Ashwani Kumar Dubey has filed several petitions in the National Green Tribunal on fly ash disposal in the Rihand reservoir. All the thermal plants in the region are located on the banks of the reservoir, he told IndiaSpend. “The reservoir is the only source of drinking water for the people of Singrauli and Sonbhadra districts and the entire water body has been contaminated, making it unfit for consumption,” Dubey said. In several cases, the NGT has reprimanded plant authorities but that does not appear to work as a deterrent. Advertisement The North Chennai Thermal Power Plant is a case in point. The litigation on ash slurry leaks has been going on for years. In 2017, the NGT had warned the plant of total closure if it failed to contain the discharge. In January 2020, the tribunal even imposed a penalty of Rs 8.34 crore. Despite this, the pollution continues. Fly ash transportation is also hazardous. India exports large quantities of fly ash to Bangladesh, where it is used to make cement and it is transported through the Sundarbans by barges. Five incidents of capsizing of such barges occurred in 2020, according to the reply to a Right-to-Information request filed by the Manthan Adhyayan Kendra. “Containing the spread of pollutants is more difficult in the water and when combined with heavy rains or cyclones, it is dispersed to a longer and wider stretch of the water bodies,” Avli Verma, an analyst at the Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, told IndiaSpend. There are no studies in the public domain to assess the damage caused by fly ash to water bodies in various accidents. IndiaSpend reached out to the Inland Waterways Authority of India on whether any damage assessment is undertaken when fly ash barrages capsize, but did not get a response by the time of publishing this piece. Advertisement Deemed non-hazardous In 2000, the ministry reclassified fly ash as solid waste from “hazardous industrial waste”, and put it in the same category as household waste. As solid waste, fly ash is subject to different and far less stringent regulations on how it should be handled unlike hazardous waste, said Narayan of Health Care Without Harm. Since 2009, the Expert Appraisal Committee – which assesses the environmental impact of a project for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change – has been directing plant authorities to not dispose of ash in low-lying areas in their environment clearance conditions (see here, here and here). However, the 2019 office memorandum by the ministry deleted this condition with retrospective effect. In the case of Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd Plant in Ghatampur, Kanpur Nagar, the environment clearance directed the plant authorities to put in place mechanisms for the continuous monitoring of radioactivity and heavy metals in fly ash. “None of the orders have been complied [with]. The state agencies are also in denial mode,” said SC advocate Dubey. He approached the Supreme Court on non-compliance in the Rihand reservoir case, but the matter is pending because of the ongoing pandemic. Advertisement The National Green Tribunal has been imposing penalties on erring plants in several cases but it does not factor in the ongoing contamination and the damage this causes to the lives and livelihoods of those living in the vicinity and to its long-term ecological impact, Choudhary said. Increased coal production Over the years, with an increase in power generation, India has been seeing an increase in coal ash generation. As the amount of fly ash increased, the environment ministry brought in, as we said, several notifications and amendments to the notifications aiming to achieve 100% utilisation of fly ash within a specified deadline. “Utilisation targets are difficult to achieve,” said Dharmadhikary of the Manthan Adhyayan Kendra. Legacy ash – unused over years – and the freshly generated ash piles up in ash ponds or open fields. Without adequate legal action against violators and weak compliance, breaches will continue undeterred, said activists.
As the emerging water crisis is staring us in our face, Odisha’s rainwater harvesting model offers a simple but efficient solution Urbanisation poses a threat to our natural environment: It leads to water scarcity, disasters, loss of biodiversity and more. Urbanisation, when carried out optimally and sustainably, can offer a solution for emerging urban problems. The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department, Government of Odisha has presented a great model. It involves 'catching the rain'. The rapid growth of urban areas has adversely affected the natural recharge of groundwater aquifers. With this, surface water runoff has increased, thereby limiting its infiltration into the ground and causing water scarcity. Rainwater harvesting can offer a great solution in such situations. Observing the irregularity in rainfall and increased flood frequency, many states have already adopted such steps to install a rainwater harvesting system in their cities to reduce surface water runoff. Odisha leads by example. Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment is its knowledge partner. The state has developed 12,000 rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) to facilitate water conservation and groundwater recharge in 2,035 wards of 114 urban local bodies. This happened in less than three months' time, before the onset of the southwest monsoon. Rainwater harvesting comprises collecting run-off from a structure or other impervious surface to store it for use. The process is used to conserve rainwater that runs off from rooftops, parks, roads and open grounds by collecting, storing, conveying and purifying it. he state had selected sites to have these structures to address the state-wide campaign Catch the Rain: Where it Falls and When it Falls. This was completed under Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan (MUKTA), an urban wage employment scheme for migrant workers. Most Indian states in the last one decade have observed irregularity in rainfall patterns leading to a water crisis and a drought-like situation in some places while heavy rainfall led to floods in others. Odisha is no exception: It is a water surplus state owing to its annual rainfall which varies from 1200 millimetres to 1800 mm, but its spatial distribution is uneven and erratic. The state receives 76 per cent rainfall between mid-June and mid-September and the remaining throughout the year. Considering the uneven rainfall pattern, the only way to use the surplus rains received is by storing it. The state government wanted to develop a mechanism that would be cost-effective, need a simple technology to operate and would require the least maintenance. The rainwater harvesting system type they developed was pit and burrow that cost Rs 35,000 per unit, involved no complex technologies and required less maintenance. It was completed in 7-10 days. The Odisha government aims to conserve both rooftop runoff from schools, hospitals, community halls and other government and private-aided institutions as well as stormwater runoff from parks, playgrounds, open space, vacant lands and roads. The spacing and number of recharge pits will be based on the porosity and permeability of the soil below 1.8 metres, annual average rainfall, intensity and duration of rainfall in that particular region. For average conditions, one recharge pit of 1.2 metres diameter and 1.8 m depth with 15 m leading channel is adequate for 250 sq m of the catchment area. The recharge mechanism is also simple. Partial recharge of rainwater from the catchment happens through the loading channel. Surplus rainwater received from the loading channel and stormwater from the area surrounding the pit is recharged through filled media. The sand layer acts as conventional surface water filter media. To support it, broken granite chips are provided underneath the sand layer. The sand layer filters out and retains the suspended solids thereby providing a base for the grey / black blanket formed over the sand due to the filtering of clay, silt and colloidal particles. The filter media in the leading channel and recharge pits act like a porous membrane that allows the partially filtered rainwater to reach the soil media interface. The underneath soil layer acts as a natural filter, which facilitates the micro-filtration of rainwater before it reaches the groundwater table. Over a period, the top layer turns grey or black which reduces the recharge efficiency. So, the top layered sand can be replaced periodically with new sand layers. The removed layer is rich in organic nutrients that can be utilised for filling the plantation sites in the park and open space area. The Odisha government recommended mandatory construction of 5 RWHS/ward in a notified area council; 10 RWHS/ward in a municipality and 20 RWHS/ward in a municipal corporation of the 114 urban local bodies. Daspalla, one of the NAC in Odisha, has completed 80 RWH structures with 138 pits in 16 wards of ULBs. According to Sasmita Pradhan, programme coordinator of MUKTA (a scheme to decrease the unemployment rate in the state), in Daspalla, 40 self-help groups and 2,898 people have been employed for this initiative as one pit required three people. To strengthen transparency and accountability, the HUD, Odisha, has made it mandatory for the sites to be geo-tagged. It also directed district collectors to monitor the progress accordingly. Rainwater harvesting is a go-to solution for the emerging water crisis. The anthropogenic activities have played a major role in furthering the climate crisis leading to overconsumption of underground water and depletion of the groundwater table. Aquifers, which were used as a primary source of fresh water in several places, are not recharged efficiently, which leads to a decrease in the groundwater level. DTE
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated on Monday the country's first 'smog tower', an experimental set up worth Rs 20 crore to purify air in a 1-km radius around the structure. How does it work, and what is its likely impact? Ahead of its infamous smog season, Delhi on Monday got a ‘smog tower’, a technological aid to help combat air pollution. How does a ‘smog tower’ like the one inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind Shivaji Stadium Metro station work? Components of smog tower The structure is 24 m high, about as much as an 8-storey building — an 18-metre concrete tower, topped by a 6-metre-high canopy. At its base are 40 fans, 10 on each side. Each fan can discharge 25 cubic metres per second of air, adding up to 1,000 cubic metres per second for the tower as a whole. Inside the tower in two layers are 5,000 filters. The filters and fans have been imported from the United States. Smog tower: How it works The tower uses a ‘downdraft air cleaning system’ developed by the University of Minnesota, said Anwar Ali Khan, senior environmental engineer, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, who was in charge of the project. IIT-Bombay has collaborated with the American university to replicate the technology, which has been implemented by the commercial arm of Tata Projects Limited. Polluted air is sucked in at a height of 24 m, and filtered air is released at the bottom of the tower, at a height of about 10 m from the ground. When the fans at the bottom of the tower operate, the negative pressure created sucks in air from the top. The ‘macro’ layer in the filter traps particles of 10 microns and larger, while the ‘micro’ layer filters smaller particles of around 0.3 microns. The downdraft method is different from the system used in China, where a 60-metre smog tower in Xian city uses an ‘updraft’ system — air is sucked in from near the ground, and is propelled upwards by heating and convection. Filtered air is released at the top of the tower. Computational fluid dynamics modelling by IIT-Bombay suggests the tower could have an impact on the air quality up to 1 km from the tower. The actual impact will be assessed by IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi in a two-year pilot study that will also determine how the tower functions under different weather conditions, and how levels of PM2.5 vary with the flow of air. An automated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in the tower will monitor air quality. Levls of PM2.5 and PM10, besides temperature and humidity, will be measured constantly, and will be displayed on a board atop the tower. Monitors will soon be installed at various distances from the tower to determine its impact at these distances. The project aims to provide purified air in a “localised” area, officials said. Supreme Court order In 2019, the Supreme Court directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Delhi government to come up with a plan to install smog towers to combat air pollution. The court was hearing a matter related to air pollution in the national capital due to stubble-burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. IIT-Bombay then submitted a proposal for the towers to the CPCB. In January 2020, the Supreme Court directed that two towers should be installed by April as a pilot project. The smog tower at Connaught Place is the first of these towers. The second tower, being constructed at Anand Vihar in east Delhi with CPCB as the nodal agency, is nearing completion. Since 2009, an increase of 258% to 335% had been observed in the concentration of PM10 in Delhi, a 2016 report by the CPCB noted. But the most prominent pollutant in Delhi and neighbouring areas is PM2.5, the report said. No evidence so far This is the first experiment with a large-scale outdoor air-purification system in India. Small smog towers have been raised in Netherlands and South Korea; larger ones have been set up in China. Experts said there isn’t enough evidence that smog towers work. “We haven’t come across any clear data that has shown that smog towers have helped to improve the outdoor ambient air quality of a city, either in India or other parts of the world. How do you filter air in a dynamic scenario, when it is not a confined area?” Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said. Dipankar Saha, former additional director, CPCB, and former head of the air quality monitoring division in Delhi, too said there were no proven efficiency calculations on such installations. “We would have to control emissions at the ground level, not create emissions and then try to clean it,” he said. Delhi has three smaller air purifiers (about 12 feet tall) installed by the Gautam Gambhir Foundation in Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, and Lajpat Nagar — essentially big versions of indoor air purifiers.
As droughts, floods and other erratic weather events continue to be on the rise, there will be an increased burden on women holding responsibility for their families’ food water and energy needs. The U.N. climate panel recently released its most comprehensive assessment of climate change yet. The report underscores that every corner of the world is affected by the climate crisis, and we have reached a time when we will need to make drastic decisions and take actions today to save generations to come. Already, we have seen climate change fuel a rise in natural disasters, forced migration, loss of livelihood, rising food prices and regional conflicts over scarce resources such as water or fertile land. We’re also witnessing an accelerated loss of biodiversity, the contamination of soils, food and water, and conflicts driven by extractive industries. However, what many overlook is the disproportionately catastrophic loss already endured by the Global South, especially in regard to the health and safety of women. Countries that are the least responsible for causing climate change are the ones most exposed to and already suffering from its effects, particularly when it comes to food insecurity and nutrient deficiencies, reports show. For example, the second most food insecure country in the world, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has the second smallest carbon footprint. The Climate and Food Vulnerability Index found that the 10 most food-insecure countries in the world generate less than half a ton of CO2 per person. Collectively, they generate just 0.08% of total global CO2. Indigenous women, Black women, women from low-income communities, women with disabilities and women from the Global South bear a significantly heavier burden from the impacts of climate change because of the historic and continued impacts of inequality; and, because they are more reliant upon natural resources for their survival and/or live in areas that have poor infrastructure. Globally, women are responsible for half of the world’s food production. In most Global South countries, that figure goes up to 80 percent, with women also serving as the central stewards of seeds and agricultural biodiversity. As droughts, floods and other erratic weather events continue to be on the rise, there will be an increased burden on these women holding responsibility for their families’ food water and energy needs. And while women are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change, female leaders in climate activism receive only 3 percent of total climate funding today and represent less than a third of those in decision-making roles under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Women and girls must be included in the solution. They have long led climate action and environmental movements on the ground and driven stronger outcomes when involved in conservation efforts and natural resource management. In fact, studies show that their participation at all levels often results in improved responsiveness to citizens’ needs and cooperation across divided groups. Climate Strike in Toronto, 2019. (Piqsels / Creative Commons) The Generation Equality Forum, a global event hosted by U.N. Women in Paris, recently convened women, girls and activists from across the world to catalyze support for the future of social and environmental sustainability and justice, with gender equality at its core. The Forum’s Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice pushed forth a set of actions to facilitate inclusive and tangible progress over the next five years. The coalition’s priority actions include increasing direct access to financing for gender-just climate solutions, in particular for organizations led by women and girls at the grassroots and rural level. Funding efforts led by Indigenous women, Black women, women from low-income communities, women with disabilities and women from the Global South will also be extremely important—a vision already set forth by the Black Feminist Fund, which recently became the first global fund addressing key issues facing Black women. The coalition also advocates for equal and meaningful participation in decision-making processes at all levels to develop climate responses that prioritize human rights. There is a direct relationship between gender equality, women’s empowerment and climate change. Women, including Sunita Narain, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim and Vanessa Nakate, have been at the forefront of climate action and environmental movements for years, and their involvement in conservation efforts and natural resource management has led to significant outcomes. A new wave of feminist movements calling for climate and environmental justice has emerged to carry on the work of generations of women activists. As the environmental crisis intensifies, it is imperative that we continue to amplify and empower these movements.
Die indische Hauptstadt hat eine der schlimmsten Luftverschmutzungen der Welt. Nun soll ein 24 Meter hoher Turm den starken Smog in Neu Delhi bekämpfen. Experten kritisieren das Projekt allerdings als große Geldverschwendung. Der umgerechnet rund 2,3 Millionen Euro (200 Mio Rupien) teure Turm habe 40 große Lüfterräder sowie 5000 Filter und könne 1000 Kubikmeter Luft pro Sekunde reinigen, sagte Neu Delhis Regierungschef Arvind Kejriwal bei der Einweihung am Montag. Der Turm sei ein Experiment und falls es gute Resultate gebe, würden mehr davon eingesetzt. Etliche Expertinnen und Experten kritisieren das Projekt jedoch als große Geldverschwendung ohne wissenschaftliche Grundlage. Stattdessen müsse bei den Gründen der Luftverschmutzung angesetzt werden, sagte Wissenschaftlerin Anumita Roychowdhury vom Centre for Science and Environment. Die Regierung sollte gegen das viele Verbrennen von Müll vorgehen und Elektrofahrzeuge sowie den Einsatz sauberer Brennstoffe fördern. Die indische Hauptstadt hat eine der schlimmsten Luftverschmutzungen der Welt - besonders giftig ist der Smog im Herbst, wenn er immer wieder stark stinkt und Grenzwerte der Weltgesundheitsorganisation um ein 20-faches übersteigt. Zu den Abgasen der vielen Autos, der Industrie, dem Staub von Baustellen, Müllverbrennung und Feuerwerk bei Festen kommt hinzu, dass im Herbst viele Bauern aus der Umgebung ihre Ernte-Reste auf den Feldern verbrennen.
Neu Delhi hat eine der schlimmsten Luftverschmutzungen weltweit. Ein Turm soll künftig 1000 Kubikmeter Luft pro Sekunde in Indiens Hauptstadt reinigen. Experten kritisieren das Projekt. Neu Delhi - Indien will mit einem 24 Meter hohen Turm die starke Luftverschmutzung in der Hauptstadt Neu Delhi bekämpfen. Der umgerechnet rund 2,3 Millionen Euro (200 Mio Rupien) teure Turm habe 40 große Lüfterräder sowie 5000 Filter und könne 1000 Kubikmeter Luft pro Sekunde reinigen, sagte Neu Delhis Regierungschef Arvind Kejriwal bei der Einweihung. Der Turm sei ein Experiment und falls es gute Resultate gebe, würden mehr davon eingesetzt. Etliche Expertinnen und Experten kritisieren das Projekt jedoch als große Geldverschwendung ohne wissenschaftliche Grundlage. Stattdessen müsse bei den Gründen der Luftverschmutzung angesetzt werden, sagte Wissenschaftlerin Anumita Roychowdhury vom Centre for Science and Environment. Die Regierung sollte gegen das viele Verbrennen von Müll vorgehen und Elektrofahrzeuge sowie den Einsatz sauberer Brennstoffe fördern. Die indische Hauptstadt hat eine der schlimmsten Luftverschmutzungen der Welt - besonders giftig ist der Smog im Herbst, wenn er immer wieder stark stinkt und Grenzwerte der Weltgesundheitsorganisation um ein 20-faches übersteigt. Zu den Abgasen der vielen Autos, der Industrie, dem Staub von Baustellen, Müllverbrennung und Feuerwerk bei Festen kommt hinzu, dass im Herbst viele Bauern aus der Umgebung ihre Ernte-Reste auf den Feldern verbrennen. dpa