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Dear readers,
Welcome to the Climate Weekly newsletter by the Centre for Science and Environment’s Climate Change programme and Down to Earth.
India’s Finance Ministry recently released a guidance document for its first ever climate finance taxonomy, designed to help policymakers and investors identify and streamline projects that need funding and align with the country’s broader climate goals. CSE Climate’s Sehr Raheja reviews the document, highlighting how it is set to cover technologies, measures, projects and activities aligned with the country’s climate goals—outlining key areas such as mitigation, adaptation and the transition of hard-to-abate sectors. Intended as a living document, the taxonomy will be periodically reviewed to meet India’s climate finance needs.
The framework adopts a two-pronged approach: qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative component sets the objectives and principles for determining climate-relevant activities. The quantitative aspect sets measurable performance thresholds such as targeted emissions reductions and improvement in emissions intensity. Some experts have highlighted that tools such as green taxonomies may carry the potential to mobilise more climate finance and supplement country-led efforts towards achieving green and sustainable economies.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a new report, the Global Methane Tracker 2025. Down to Earth’s Rohini Krishnamurthy writes about the report, underscoring the continuing trend of ‘stubbornly high’ methane emissions from the energy sector which reached 145 million tonnes (Mt) in 2024. Within this, oil and gas facilities accounted for over 80 Mt of methane emissions. Methane is responsible for around 30 per cent of the rise in global temperatures and its atmospheric levels are growing faster than other greenhouse gases. The three main sources of methane are agriculture, energy and waste. Energy alone accounted for over 35 per cent of methane emissions from human activity.
Finally, the latest climate bulletin from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has revealed that the first four months of 2025 were the warmest on record. April 2025 has been ranked as the second-warmest April ever recorded (preceded by April 2024), reaching 1.51°C above the estimated pre-industrial average (1850-1900). This means that the global average temperatures have remained over the critical 1.5°C threshold for nearly two years.
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By - Upamanyu Das
Climate Change, CSE
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| EXTREME WEATHER TRACKER |
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Another bad year? Shrinking Swiss glaciers go into summer with low snow cover, 14 May 2025
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2024 warmest or second-warmest year on record for Africa: State of Climate report, 12 May 2025
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COMMENTARIES |
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The chronicler reaffirms, 14 May 2025
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We must incorporate politics in our everyday world—not party politics, but societal values that cherish inclusion and justice. After reporting for 33 years, this knowledge is now part of our DNA and is being reinforced through the writings on our times
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CLIMATE NEWS | SCIENCE| IMPACTS| POLITICS |
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