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Focus on local emissions to avoid return of bad air

Rain and improved wind speed after Diwali, which cleared off much of the pollution accumulated due to heavy stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana and the cracker bursting in the city, might have given Delhi the much-needed boost going into the winters when the air quality plunges every year. However, experts cautioned that the authorities must focus on local sources to ensure that city does not slip into an air emergency again. VK Soni, head of India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) environment monitoring research centre, said the western disturbance, which started impacting the western Himalayas on Sunday brought widespread and moderate rains to Delhi-NCR, helping Delhi breathe cleaner air. “The number of stubble fires being spotted over Punjab and Haryana are nearly negligible now. With this western disturbance, two major polluting episodes have been taken care of, which means that now local pollution sources and local weather factors will be the contributors for any kind of change in air quality,” Soni said. Analysis of AQI data shows that on Tuesday for the first time since 2017, Delhi experienced a moderate air quality day between November 13 and 17. Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) on Tuesday was recorded at 171, in the moderate zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Also, the contribution of stubble fires in the city’s PM 2.5 levels (ultrafine particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) was just 3%. It had peaked to over 40% in October. Experts said that while sharing a common air shed, pollution coming in from neighbouring states contributes to the air quality deterioration in Delhi, but local factors cannot be ignored. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment) said that while Delhi has been successful in bending the pollution curve year-after-year, a lot still needs to be done to control pollution, especially in the areas of vehicular emissions and waste management. “There is no denying that work has been done in areas such as controlling industrial emissions and fumes from heavy vehicles crossing the city, etc, but there are still two primary areas where efforts are required. One is reducing vehicular emissions, for which authorities will have to go back to basics and work towards the augmentation of public transport. The situation has become a little tricky now with the limitations due to Covid-19, but this should be a long-term goal for the government,” Roychowdhury said. She added, “Another area where the government needs to concentrate is waste management. In many unauthorised areas there isn’t a proper system to dispose household waste and this waste ultimately ends up being thrown in dhaloas and set ablaze.”

Environmentalist Sunita Narain Wins Edinburgh Medal

Indian Environmentalist and Political Activist Sunita Narain, who is also the director general of New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has won this year’s Edinburgh Medal 2020, instituted by the City of Edinburgh Council. The Edinburgh Medal is an award given each year to men and women who have made significant contributions to science and technology and the understanding and well-being of humanity. Conferred by the City of Edinburgh Council in the UK, the Medal citation recognizes Narain’s “strong leadership in championing climate justice for the poor and disenfranchised.” The Medal is being awarded in recognition of the role Narain has played, and continues to play, in formulating policies on climate emergency in India as well as in the global arena. The recognition also underscores strong leadership by her, especially in championing climate justice for the poor and disenfranchised. The Acting British High Commissioner in India, Jan Thompson, will be presenting the Medal at the Indian High Commission office in New Delhi available virtually. Narain has also been named the ‘national climate leader’ from India for 2019 in the first National Climate Leader Awards published in the Global Spotlight Report #22 by Climate Scorecard. On receiving the information, Sunita Narain tweeted “I am really honoured and humbled. Thank you.”

An ecologist’s perspective on COVID-19

“The second man to die of COVID-19 in Spain was Antonio Vieria Montiero Chairman of Spain’s largest bank “Santander”. He died alone in a hospital at the age of 73. After his death his daughter stated that they are a wealthy family and her father passed away alone, suffocating and looking for something free which is Air. His money stayed at home”- Sivaram Swamy. These are revealing words of a knowledgeable Swami. The wealthy man died gasping for a breath of air which mankind has badly polluted. It reminds me of my own protected childhood in an unpolluted India of 1940’s and early 1950’s. As I grew up as an ecologist in 1970’s I realized that things were changing fast. The quality of air and water were deteriorating everywhere in the world including India. We had started to pay a price for development. In the name of development there was rampant destruction of forests, grasslands, mountains and valleys. Roads and railways were being built, concrete jungle had started coming up and black smoke was emanating from chimneys turning our skies dark. The developing world was blindly following the path chosen by the developed west. Human race was now following a self- destructive and suicidal course.There were words of caution coming from the wise and lip services paid by the capitalists and the politicians to rectify the damage that had already been done to the environment. The western world especially the Americans had already initiated damaging the environment. Dr.Barry Commoner was an American Cell Biologist and a college professor. He was a leading ecologist among the founders of modern environmental movements. He published his book, “The Closing Circle”, in 1971 which coincided with the very beginning of Earth Day on April 22, 1970. In his book he warned the Americans that a society which does not follow the basic laws of ecology and nature is courting disaster and turmoil. The world now is in an environmental crisis because the way ecosphere is being used to produce wealth is destructive of the ecosphere itself. The capitalist system of production, which the Chinese Communist Party and many others have blindly copied from the west is self-destructive and the human civilization is following a suicidal course. According to Dr. Barry Commoner “Capitalism is inherently anti-ecological.”. This line of thinking is being followed by most eco-socialists including Bernard Sanders and Naomi Klein who also believe that the capitalism is anti-ecological. India has had her own share of environmental activists notably Shivaram Karanth, Sunder Lal Bahugna, Medha Patkar, Maneka Gandhi, Sumaira Abdulali and Sunita Narain. The now-famous four Laws of Ecology enunciated by Dr. Commoner are as follows. * Everything is connected with everything else. * Everything must go somewhere. * Nature knows the Best. * There is no such thing as a free lunch. The last law is a quote that he has taken from nineteenth century Industrialist and philanthropist John Ruskin. It means there is a cost to everything and whatever appears free will be in a package(like buy one get one free). The COVID-19 pandemic, also called Corona Virus from Wuhan, China was detected in late December 2019 and has affected the human population of the whole world. At the time of writing there were 50.8 million confirmed cases worldwide: 33.1million recovered cases and 1.26 million fatalities. In India there were 8.59 million confirmed cases and 126,621 fatalities. Ironically, COVID-19 pandemic presents us with an incredible example of how Dr. Commoners all Laws of Ecology apply to this now- International health scare. As is well known now Chinese wet markets are according to Chinese scientist Zhenzlog Si (as quoted on NPR)”the predominant food outlets for fresh produce and meat in Chinese cities. There are hundreds of such markets in large Chinese cities and a large variety of plants and animal products are for sale, including live animals kept in notoriously unhealthy spaces. Their excretions and illnesses are part of the overall market arena, which is visited by thousand of shoppers every day. Wet markets are an established and ingrained part of Chinese community and culture, and thus it is no surprise that diseases are now jumping from animals to humans and humans to humans.” This is how exactly the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) appeared in 2002 in China. It spread world wide within a few months although it was quickly contained. It should have served as a notice to mankind that there is possibility that new viral diseasesare jumping from animals to humans. Surprisingly WHO did not take it seriously and the wet markets in China continued to function. According to Dr. Zenzlog Si eating wild animals is considered a symbol of wealth in China because they are rare and expensive. Wild animals are also considered more natural and nutritious compared to farm meat. If anything, Chinese wet markets are the very antithesis of Dr. Commoners laws of ecology. If “Nature knows best” then wild animals should be living wildly and not harvested en mass for consumption. “Everything must go somewhere” equates to the diseases, viruses, bacteria and blood which are produced by animals in captivity and being killed directly next to people working and shopping. “Everything is connected to everything else” sums up this whole truly unfortunate and inhumane situation resulting in illnesses, sufferings, scares, death and destruction of economies all over the world. Although there is no treatment for COVID-19 yet most infected people are developing immunity and getting well thanks to the efforts of corona warriors which includes doctors, paramedics, nurses, ward boys, safai walas, police and para military forces. However, people who were already suffering from some comorbidities are finding it difficult to fight the infection effectively. Progress has been made in managing the disease since it was declared as a pandemic by WHO. The only hope to fight COVID-19 successfully is a vaccine. Efforts all over the world are on and it is hoped that a viable vaccine will be available in the first quarter of the next year. Till then we have not to lower our guard and will have to continue wearing masks, washing hands frequently and maintain social distance strictly. Most importantly as the festival season is arriving, we must abstain from using fire crackers and explosives etc which will further pollute the air. Our mega cities like Delhi are already heavily polluted. Air pollution from an ecologist’s perspective is seriously impeding to fight the pandemic. According to Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health high levels of air pollution result in premature death of seven million people every year. Air pollution increases susceptibility and vulnerability to COVID-19 infections. Exposure to air pollution of the people already suffering from chronic lung diseases, lung cancer, cardio-vascular diseases, kidney and liver diseases increases their chances of getting infected by COVID-19. There are lessons to be learnt from our experiences and the whole world must unite to reduce pollution levels, follow laws of ecology and fight against diseases like COVID-19, SARS, MERS, Bird flu and many other diseases unknown till recently. We have to find ways and means to stop viruses and bacteria from jumping from wild life to humans. COVID-19 is an awful example how easy it is to go off the rails when humans don’t think and act like mother nature.

Delhi: Worst air quality on Deepavali in four years

Despite the blanket ban on firecrackers in the NCR, the air quality in Delhi on Deepavali and a day after the festival was in the ‘severe’ category. The readings were the worst in the last four years, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The prime reasons were Delhiites bursting firecrackers, violating the ban, and Deepavali being in mid-November, which is late in the year (compared to the other three years), when the meteorological conditions are unfavourable. The air quality index (AQI) of Delhi, a day after Deepavali was 435, while it was 297 in 2019, 390 in 2018 and 403 in 2017, as per CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. The AQI on Deepavali day this year was 414, while it was 312 in 2019, 281 in 2018 and 319 in 2017. The level of PM2.5, a deadly pollutant, in Delhi-NCR was 469.3 ug/m3 at 6 a.m. on Sunday, which is about eight times the safe limit (60ug/m3) as per Indian standards. According to government-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), this year’s Deepavali day had the worst air quality in the past five years. But as per SAFAR, the air quality a day after Deepavali was the best in past five years, which is different from CPCB data. “SAFAR uses data from fewer monitoring stations to arrive at the data compared to the CPCB and they take the value at a different time. This might have led to the difference,” a CPCB official said. Explaining the high pollution this year, Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a research and advocacy organisation in Delhi, said: “Deepavali usually happens earlier in the year and since it was late this year, the winter inversion condition was much severe. The wind speed and the mixing depth was less this year. Due to it, pollutants do not get dispersed easily. Last year, Deepavali was in October-end when conditions are not that bad. Certainly, this is one of the reasons for the high pollution this year.” Due to these reasons, pollution on the days leading to Deepavali this year was also higher than last year. “Effect of crop burning was also higher in Delhi till yesterday [Deepavali day]. With bursting of firecrackers, these two have contributed to the pollution,” Ms. Roychowdhury said. SAFAR also said that there was a peak in levels of PM2.5 during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, probably due to bursting of crackers. “The magnitude of PM2.5 within the severe category is found to be more than predicted which tend to suggest that significant local additional emissions (probably firecracker related) during Saturday night... hourly average concentrations touched more than 1000ug/m3 at midnight,” SAFAR said. The expert said that with data currently available, it is not possible to say whether the effect of firecrackers was more this year. “The restrictions on firecrackers is very difficult to implement because we make that decision only a few days before Deepavali and there is no long-term planning. By that time, people have already manufactured crackers and it is available in the market. If the next Deepavali has to be different, then we should have a strategy and proper roadmap now itself, so that everyone can understand it, prepare better and it will be impactful in controlling pollution,” Ms. Roychowdhury added.

Delhi: Why knee-jerk bans won’t solve problem

NEW DELHI: With people failing to adhere to the ban on firecrackers on Diwali, experts on Sunday said that long-term preparedness was needed for the prohibition to be successful. It was necessary to make the public understand the problem along with strict vigilance for compliance with the ban, they added. Delhi government had imposed the ban on sale, purchase and use of firecrackers on November 5, while National Green Tribunal had imposed a similar ban in the NCR on November 9. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “The ban on firecrackers is only possible when there is a long-term approach, along with systematic interventions leading up to Diwali and building sustained strategy for public support. A sudden ban doesn’t work. If a ban needs to be imposed next year, the preparations need to start now.” Karthik Ganesan, fellow, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, said, “The ban was ineffective because it was a knee-jerk reaction perceived by many to be targeting a short-lived source. No concerted action was put in place to address the year-round pollution. It is important to first go after clear sources like transport, waste burning and construction waste before addressing seasonal sources. We must look to wean away those regions dependent on manufacturing crackers to other vocations. This will decrease the availability of crackers in the market.” Prof Sagnik Dey, coordinator at Centre of Excellence for Research on Clean Air, IITDelhi, said, “It is difficult to get people to change their habits or culture overnight. Firecracker ban is one such issue. Largescale interaction and awareness among the public, along with regulatory bans, are required. Unless we take people on board, there will always be rule breakers.” “The problem cannot be resolved overnight, but in a few years with persistent effort. However, we must measure the incremental progress. For example, we should estimate whether the sale or bursting of firecrackers decreased compared with the past year. This will allow us to understand what strategy went wrong so that it can be rectified the next year,” added Dey. Aarti Khosla, director, Climate Trends, said that the ban was flouted due to lawmakers not taking timely action, apart from the very poor understanding of Delhiites who didn’t take air quality as a serious killer. Chandra Bhushan, CEO, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, said residents’ welfare associations and schools took the lead against crackers

Edinburgh Medal winner says climate change 'makes poor more marginalised'

A WARNING that human existence is in jeopardy because of climate change will be sounded on Wednesday by this year’s winner of the prestigious Edinburgh Medal. Indian environmentalist Sunita Narain will call for transformational action when she is presented with the gong in a streamed ceremony. Speaking ahead of the event Narain, who appeared alongside Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio in his climate change documentary, said she was “honoured and humbled” to be awarded the medal. “The Edinburgh Medal for 2020 is, in my view, a reminder of our tumultuous times, hit by Covid-19 and climate change and the need to make transformational changes in our world,” said Narain, who was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2016. “The urgency of the climate change threat cannot be denied. Climate change is real; it is happening and it is making the poor in our world even more marginalised and even more insecure. In an increasingly unequitable and climate-risked world, poor people find that they cannot cope anymore. We do not have the luxury of time anymore. My generation has squandered the privilege away.” She said the presentation of the medal on Wednesday signified the need for “bold action – inconvenient as it may be”. “We need to take transformational action,” said Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down To Earth. “We need to do this in ways in which we will build the resilience of the poor and the economies of all.” In her address on Wednesday, Narain will explain how the climate crisis affects the poorest areas of the globe, how the volatile politics of immigration deepen the divide between the marginalised and the rich and how the latter get distracted by trade wars, Brexit, economic crises and many other issues, not recognising it is the climate crisis that has to have priority. “I want to discuss what must be done in our world to make it less insecure, less angry and less carbon risked,” she said. “Climate change, like air pollution, is a great equaliser. Our existence is at stake. Nothing less.” In receiving the medal, Delhi-based Narain joins a recipients’ list of notable men and women of science, including Professor Jane Goodall and Sir David Attenborough, who are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and wellbeing of humanity. Wednesday’s ceremony will be hosted by the Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh, Frank Ross, and Jan Thompson, Acting British High Commissioner to India, will present Sunita Narain with the Edinburgh Medal. Dr Deborah O’Neil, founder, CEO and Scientific Officer of NovaBiotics, an Aberdeen-based leading clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class medicines for medically unmet diseases, will deliver the oration ahead of the medal address. Amanda Tyndall, Creative and Festival Director at Edinburgh Science Festival said: “That we share one world, with all of its problems and opportunities, has never been more apparent. “Pandemic aside, perhaps nothing is more important than that we act with urgency, on a global level, to address the climate crisis and to do so in a way that is sustainable for all,” said Tyndall. “It is for her invaluable work as both an environmentalist and activist that Sunita Narain is the very worthy recipient of this year’s Edinburgh Medal.” Audiences will be able to tune into this free event on Edinburgh Science’s YouTube channel at 2.30pm on Wednesday, November 18. Edinburgh Science Festival 2020 was cancelled due to the global pandemic of Covid-19 but updates on Edinburgh Science projects can be found at www.sciencefestival.co.uk

Water status | Bengaluru is faring well, despite the hiccups

Water experts time and again make it clear that human negligence is the main reason for water crisis in most cities. Almost 30 per cent of the groundwater in the country has slipped into the over-exploited categories they say, even as such trends will only witness more water bodies disappearing, mainly in urban sprawls. Add to this the rapid and disorganised real estate growth, the alarming concretisation of roads and public areas, administrative apathy of officials and irresponsible attitude of citizens, and we are into a larger mess. With such a background and unbridled real estate growth, what is the water status in Bengaluru? The Composite Water Management Index report released by Niti Aayog in 2018 that says 21 major cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, and Hyderabad, will soon reach the zero ground water level. Ask water conservation expert S. Vishwanath how, in this background, we can look at sustenance when the ecosystem in the city is disturbed, and he says, “According to the Composite Water Management Index ,Bengaluru should have run out of groundwater this year. The Groundwater Authority reports a rise in groundwater tables. It is clear that groundwater recharge methods are working to a large extent. More recharge needs to be done.” A Legislature Committee constituted to study the encroachment of lakes in and around Bengaluru sometime ago said approximately out of 60,000 acres of lake area, nearly 10,800 acres have been encroached upon. The last five decades saw Bengaluru lose more than 60 per cent of its water bodies, and the last two decades have seen the water table sink to 70 metres below ground, i.e., a seven-fold fall, according to Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). While the United Nations and Niti Ayog report that 40 per cent of India’s population will not have access to clean drinking water by 2030, the crisis gets precipitated with continued large-scale migration from villages as sectors such as agriculture, handicrafts, weaving and fishery are drying up. Will the city need better physical infrastructure for correcting distribution losses? Mr. Vishwanath says distribution losses have been substantially reduced by the BWSSB. “With district metering (to individually monitor the water supplied and consumed) and thanks to L&T contracted project, things have worked well. It needs to be reduced further. This year’s copious rain and the systems are in place for a better scene.” And how much water does Bengaluru require for its 1.2 crore population with the trend of lakes drying up and increased concretisation? “At 100 litres per capita per day (LPCD) Bengaluru needs 1,200 million litres per day. We are already getting 1450 MLD from the Cauvery plus 600 MLD from groundwater. Distribution is the key,” says Mr. Vishwanath who is also a civil engineer and urban planner by qualification. “Addressing groundwater is enough if all people harvest rainwater and recharge. One has to go along the demand management,” he adds. There should be no overall scarcity in summer, says Mr. Vishwanath who has had hands-on experience working with HUDCO before he dedicated himself to solving water issues facing urban and rural communities. “The dams that are supplying water to Bengaluru are full. Groundwater is at good levels. Pockets of distribution inefficiency will see some shortages, that’s all.” Touching on problems of gated communities in the past where RWH has had its own set of ineffective results due to negligence, he says it’s high time all apartments and gated communities understand RWH in its entirety. “Recharged water needs to be reused and the groundwater level kept down. Such basic lack of water literacy skills with communities is a problem. In no way will the water collected underground affect the foundations, and one need not go to that extent of worry.” And finally touching on better watershed management that people often refer to in the social media, Mr. Vishwanath says “Urban watershed management is a complex subject. The lakes which are being rejuvenated need to have a connection with the catchment area. By making sure that the catchment area has no uncollected sewage, and by designing for rainwater harvesting systems in the watershed much improvement can occur.”

Will Diwali again lead to a bad air spike?

For the past five Diwali nights, the bursting of firecrackers has sent the air quality, which is in any case toxic at this time of year, to emergency levels, maxing out nearly all monitors in the city. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air in Delhi remains severely polluted for a week after Diwali due to a combination of emissions from firecrackers, farm fires in neighbouring states, and adverse weather conditions. This means that the slight improvement in Delhi’s air since Wednesday — it went from “severe” to “very poor” — may be short-lived, a possibility experts have flagged in recent days, if the cracker ban is not strictly followed. “The key this year will be to enforce the cracker ban effectively. Last year, because of an early Diwali, and better enforcement, we saw our first “severe” air day only after Diwali. But this year, we have already experienced a week of severe air quality,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment.

Prestigious Edinburgh Medal to be awarded to Indian environmentalist and political activist Sunita Narain

Sunita Narain, Indian environmentalist, activist, author and Director General of Center for Science and Environment and editor of the Down to Earth magazine receives the prestigious Edinburgh Medal for her pioneering work on climate justice during a YouTube-streamed ceremony on Wednesday, 18 November at 2.30pm. This award was instituted by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1988 and is awarded to men and women of science and technology who have made significant contributions to humanity. List of previous Medallists include Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Sir David Attenborough, Prof Jane Goodall, Prof Cordelia Fine, Prof Colin Blakemore, Prof Peter Higgs and Christiana Figueres, among others. Sunita Narain plays an active role in policy formulation on issues of environment and development in India and globally. She was a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change and has been awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour. In 2005, the Centre for Science and Environment, under her leadership was also awarded the Stockholm Water Prize. In 2016, Time Magazine listed her as one of the 100 most influential in the world and she appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in his documentary on climate crisis, Before the Flood. For more information on Sunita Narain click here. In her Medal Address, Sunita Narain will focus on climate crisis and the necessity to act now as our existence is at stake. She will explain how the climate crisis affects the poorest areas of the globe, how the volatile politics of immigration deepen the divide between the marginalised and the rich and how the latter get distracted by trade wars, Brexit, economic crisis and many other issues, not recognising it is the climate crisis that has to have the priority. Dr. Deborah O’Neil, founder, CEO and Scientific Officer of NovaBiotics, leading clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class medicines for medically unmet diseases will deliver the Oration ahead of the Medal Address with Dominic Fry, Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh delivering the Vote of Thanks. The Ceremony will be hosted by Rt. Hon. Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh, Frank Ross and Jan Thompson, Acting British High Commissioner to India will present Sunita Narain with the Edinburgh Medal on behalf of Lord Provost. The event is generously supported by Artemis, a leading UK-based fund manager who specialise in investment management for individual investors, financial advisers and institutions. Of her win, Sunita Narain said: “I am honoured and humbled to accept the Edinburgh Medal for 2020. The Edinburgh Medal for 2020 is, in my view, a reminder of our tumultuous times, hit by COVID-19 and climate change and the need to make transformational changes in our world. “The urgency of the climate change threat cannot be denied. Climate change is real; it is happening and it is making the poor in our world, even more marginalized and even more insecure. In an increasingly unequitable and climate-risked world poor people find that they cannot cope anymore. We do not have the luxury of time anymore. My generation has squandered the privilege away. “So, we need to take transformational action; we need to do this in ways in which we will build the resilience of the poor and the economies of all; built not on discounting the cost of our consumption by discounting the cost of environmental protection. This then is the agenda for real change. “This is why the Medal today signifies that we must stand behind bold action; inconvenient as it may be.” Amanda Tyndall, Creative and Festival Director at Edinburgh Science Festival said: “That we share one world, with all of its problems and opportunities, has never been more apparent. Pandemic aside, perhaps nothing is more important than that we act with urgency, on a global level, to address the climate crisis and to do so in a way that is sustainable for ALL. It is for her invaluable work as both an environmentalist and activist that Sunita Narain is the very worthy recipient of this year’s Edinburgh Medal.” Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “The Edinburgh Medal is awarded to men and women of science and technology who have made significant contributions to humanity. Thus it is entirely appropriate that this year’s Medal is awarded to Sunita Narain who not only organises against environmental degradation and global warming but does so on behalf of those whose voice is rarely heard in the Boardrooms and Cabinet rooms of the world but which is vital if we are to succeed. Congratulations Sunita.” Mark Murray, Senior Partner, Artemis Investment Management LLP said: “Artemis is delighted to sponsor the Edinburgh Medal, awarded to the men and women of science whose professional achievements are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and wellbeing of humanity. Many congratulations to this year’s award winner, Sunita Narain.” Audiences will be able to tune into this free event on Edinburgh Science’s YouTube channel at 2.30pm on Wednesday, 18 November. Edinburgh Science Festival 2020 was cancelled due to the global pandemic of Covid-19. Stay up to date with Edinburgh Science projects by subscribing to the newsletter at www.sciencefestival.co.uk/.

Nigerian govt committed to ending open defecation — Minister

The minister said President Buhari signing an executive order on Open Defecation Free Nigeria 2025 shows the commitment of the government towards ending the menace. The Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood, has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to ending open defecation in the country. Mr Abubakar stated this in Abuja on Thursday at a Ministerial Press Briefing held to commemorate the “2020 World Toilet Day” with the theme: “Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change”. He said the theme was apt as it underscored the necessity for technologically sound systems for proper waste management and sanitary hygiene practices. He said the government’s commitment was demonstrated by President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration of state of emergency on water sanitation and hygiene in the country. He also identified the signing of the executive order on open defecation free Nigeria by 2025, as another commitment. He added that the ministry in collaboration with critical stakeholders had reviewed and validated the 2005 National Environmental Sanitation Policy Guidelines on safe excreta and sewage disposal. He said “The intervention on control of open defecation and the Clean and Green Programme of the ministry are aimed at promoting the provision of safe and adequate toilets across the country.’’ He said the ministry recently signed a MoU with Centre for Science and Environment, India, on technology transfer, capacity building and research development in areas of water sanitation. He said the centre would be conducting a specialised online training in toilet design and faecal sludge management and reuse for at least 50 Nigerian officials. He said the officials would comprise of environmental health and sanitation desk officers across the 36 states, FCT and members of inter-ministerial committee on national sanitation by December. He added that the ministry had handed over modern public toilets to state governments as practical steps to end open defecation by 2025. “These toilets which are part of the ministry’s community based waste management programme are to be managed by the private sector operators for viability and sustainability,” he said. Mr Abubakar said other toilet projects were at various stages of completion, as he expressed the hope that it would be replicated in all local governments of the federation. He challenged all national, state and local government stakeholders on environment, particularly sanitation, to take practical steps and actions as agents of change. “I must remind us that with just 10 years to go, the 2030 deadline to attain the SDG goals for the sake of people and the planet, we must redouble our efforts,” he said. Yakubu Baba, acting registrar, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria, called on other ministries to key into the programme. Edwin Isotu, national consultant, Public Health and Environment, World Health Organisation, said that investing in sustainable sanitation would help create more jobs for Nigerian youth.

Slight slip in air quality on Diwali’s eve

The air quality of Noida and Greater Noida settled in the ‘very poor’ category on the eve of Diwali as the weather conditions changed with the winds now carrying smoke from neighbouring states. On Friday morning, the wind direction changed from easterly to north-westerly, with smoke coming from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, leading a hike in the share of PM2.5 levels and deteriorating the air quality. According to weather analysts, the air quality could slip further on Diwali, as the wind speed is likely to fall further but the direction will remain the same -- north-westerly. “The wind direction changed from easterly to north-westerly around 9.30am in the region in Friday due to which the ventilation of the pollutants stopped. The NW winds came at a speed of maximum 8 kmph. On Diwali, the wind speed will drop to 5 kmph, due to which the pollution could rise further,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, India Meteorological Department (IMD). Srivastava said due to a approaching western disturbance, the day after Diwali may see light to moderate rainfall after which the wind speed will catch-up to 15 kmph, leading to better ventilation of the pollutants. According to the system of air quality and weather forecasting and research (SAFAR), the current wind directions are not good for the region. “The stubble burning-induced impact in AQI is expected to increase from negligible to moderate for the next two days. Although the level of PM2.5 is predicted to be at the edge of very poor to severe, it is expected to be much better as compared to the past four years around the Diwali period with 0% firecracker emission scenario. The biomass plume transport-level winds have become north-westerly by early Nov 13 and forecast to continue until November 14, which is not good and predicted to have high potential to transport biomass plume in the next 2 days to Delhi and surrounding regions,” said the SAFAR repot on Friday. Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) of Noida, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 337 against 305 a day earlier. The AQI of Greater Noida was 336 against 327 a day earlier, while the AQI for Ghaziabad was 382 against 328 a day earlier. The average PM2.5 for Noida increased to 206.62 microgrammes per cubic metres from 180.62 microgrammes per cubic metres a day earlier. The PM10 for Noida dropped to 308.89 against 342.17 units a day earlier. For Greater Noida, the PM2.5 was 186.85 units against 180.63 units a day earlier. The PM10 for Greater Noida was recorded at 416.51 units against 385.57 units a day earlier. “Combustion is a major source for PM2.5, while dust is for PM10,” said Shambhavi Shukla, program officer, air pollution, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Gurugram: Gains lost? Farm fires spike after 3-year dip

GURUGRAM: Farm fires feeding the toxic smog, that dreaded annual event which returns to Delhi-NCR every October November, have seen the highest numbers this year since 2016, and a sharp increase from the three-year period from 2017-19 when efforts to check them at source appear to have yielded positive results. Read the entire story on TOI+ How Delhi lost 3 years of farm fire gains in three months

What Joe Biden’s win means for global climate agreements

Joe Biden has promised that the US will rejoin the Paris climate agreement on January 20, when he takes oath to become the next president. But that will be just the first step on an uphill climb, during which he will be opposed by the Senate, the upper chamber of US legislature, all the way. In the absence of 60 Democratic senators, action on all three areas where the US needs to return to combating climate change will have to be made through executive decisions. The first area is domestic action to push renewables, and this may be the easiest. Various states including Republican Texas are already pushing renewables hard, and a Biden administration is unlikely to face serious opposition on this score. During his campaign, Biden repeatedly promised a USD 2 trillion federal spend to boost green jobs and get renewables to power the entire electricity grid by 2035. The plan includes a boost for electric vehicles and energy-efficient housing. While this may too much for Congress to swallow, part of the stimulus can be provided through the promised Covid-19 recovery package. It will be more difficult to reduce incentives to fossil fuels, as many Biden supporters want. More difficult still is Biden keeping his promise to ban the Keystone pipeline from the oil sands of Canada – something he may put on the back burner. And Biden has not supported a wide ban on fracking. Another contentious move would be to add greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the list of pollutants under the Clean Air Act. There is every possibility that such an addition would be challenged in court, and a federal Supreme Court with a conservative majority is unlikely to support such a change in law.It looks like Biden will disappoint many of his supporters by not making a move in this direction in the near future. However, if the Biden administration wants to get aggressive on climate action, it can find strength in recent opinion polls, where 70% of all Americans repeatedly said they want their government to do more about the climate crisis. Funding climate research The second big area is funding climate research and rebuilding the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One only has to look at the difference in the number of academic papers and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors before and during the Trump era to realise the truth of what one Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher had said in 2018: “I’m sitting broke in an empty laboratory while my doctoral students move to Europe.” Over three decades, the US produced so many top climate researchers that the near-cessation of their output in the past four years has affected climate science globally. Executive decisions by a Biden White House can do a lot to restore funding to universities and laboratories. It can do a lot more with the support of Capitol Hill, but that is unlikely. Climate research will continue to be underfunded in the US for at least two more years. But at least the White House can repopulate the EPA with competent people. A strong EPA can get a lot done, even with existing laws – even after Trump rolled back at least 80 environmental regulations. Undoing the Trump legacy through executive decisions entails the risk that a future Republican administration will overturn these decisions once more. But it does not look like Biden has much choice. Consequences for global ambition The real struggle will be in the third area: the global war against climate change. Devastation caused by hurricanes, floods and wildfires in their own country do not seem to move most Republicans. Clearly, devastation in other countries moves them even less. It is worth noting that the climate change section is the one with the greatest detail on international relations of the four priority areas identified by the Biden-Harris campaign. Regardless, the frequency of storms, floods, droughts and wildfires around the world will only accelerate unless all countries rein in their GHG emissions, with the US playing a leading role, since it remains the world’s second-highest GHG polluter. When the US re-enters the Paris agreement in 2021, the biggest question facing the Biden administration is what cut in GHG emissions will it pledge to make? Related to that, what will be the value of a pledge made through an executive decision in the face of opposition from the Senate? When the US joined the Paris agreement during the Obama administration, it pledged to reduce its GHG emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. There is little possibility of meeting this now. Net US GHG emissions in 2019 were higher than at the end of 2016, when Trump took over. The original deadline for renewed pledges was the end of 2020, but most countries have not met this, and the deadline will almost certainly be extended. The US’s fresh GHG emission cuts pledge will have a major impact on other countries. China has promised to go carbon neutral by 2060. The EU, Japan and South Korea have given themselves a 2050 deadline. But many developed and emerging economies are waiting to see what the US will do. That includes India, the world’s fourth-largest GHG emitter. See: India must go green or perish During his campaign, Biden did say his presidency would work to make the US carbon neutral by 2050. That target is both ambitious and credible. It will enthuse other governments. It would enthuse them more if they knew it had Senate backing. However, under the Paris agreement, the US will have to provide a nearer-term target – what it will do by 2030. It will be tougher for Biden to push that through. But without it, longer-term promises will ring hollow. Other countries have moved during the four Trump years. India’s big push on renewables has led to the point where solar is the cheapest source of power when the sun is shining, and even round-the-clock electricity from renewables will be price-competitive with coal-generated electricity in about two years. As Ajay Mathur, head of the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, put it, “The US needs to quickly catch up and demonstrate its climate leadership through action, and not just through words.” American negotiators The history of global climate negotiations shows there is one thing the Republicans need not fear: American negotiators will not move an inch if they can even imagine an adverse impact on the US economy. This is bipartisan. Since the Clinton administration days – when global climate negotiations started under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – American negotiators have opposed any move they think can place US businesses at a disadvantage. Current president Donald Trump made a spectacle of pulling out of the Paris accord, but it is not the first global climate accord the US has quit. That was the Kyoto Protocol, which the Bill Clinton administration signed. But the government under George Bush junior did not ratify it, effectively killing the agreement. As Sunita Narain, head of think tank the Centre for Science and Environment, writing in their magazine, Down to Earth, recalled, “The Congress passed the Byrd-Hagel amendment instead, requiring any future American involvement in climate change agreements to be matched by equivalent commitments by developing country parties.” The 2015 Paris agreement was designed keeping this amendment in mind. It killed the long-standing principle that rich countries, which had put most of the GHGs into the atmosphere, had a bigger responsibility to clean up the mess. Despite that, Trump’s main objection was that it would impose too high a cost on the US economy. Regardless of who is president, US negotiators have ensured that will not happen. Every year, the American delegation to the UNFCCC summit includes a battery of lawyers who go through every word and punctuation mark of every draft decision to ensure that it does not affect the US adversely. They held up the Paris agreement by more than a day because they insisted on changing a “shall” to a “should” on the matter of helping developing countries deal with climate change impacts. US negotiators will continue to play hardball under a Biden administration. But as greener economic alternatives become more attractive, that may not be in the best interests of their country.