| |
A weekly digest on impacts, politics and science of the climate emergency from the Global South perspective. You can find this digest in the web here.
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
Dear readers,
Welcome to the Climate Weekly Digest by the Centre for Science and Environment’s Climate Change and Green Economy programme and Down to Earth.
India’s renewable energy additions have continued to grow apace in 2026, with the country adding a record 26 GW of solar and 2.9 GW of wind capacity between January and June. Down to Earth’s Puja Das reports that solar installations rose by 43 per cent compared with the same period last year, while wind capacity additions declined 16 per cent year-on-year. Further, the strong performance means solar installations in the first half of 2026 have already reached nearly 70 per cent of the total capacity installed last year, with total solar and wind installations in 2026 expected to reach 47 GW.
Within solar, India added about 19 GW of utility-scale capacity and 6.4 GW of rooftop solar—which recorded the fastest growth primarily driven by the PM Surya Ghar scheme. Gujarat (29 per cent), Rajasthan (25 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (9 per cent) were the largest contributors in solar installations, while the wind sector was led by Gujarat (43 per cent), Maharashtra (17 per cent) and Karnataka (16 per cent). India’s cumulative renewable energy has reached 288 GW by June 2026.
In decarbonisation news, India’s carbon market has moved closer to operationalisation with the publication of draft targets for the iron and steel sector. CSE Sustainable Industrialisation’s Kushagra Goyal and Parth Kumar write that the notified targets cover 255 units for the fiscal year 2026-27, with the required reduction in emissions intensity ranging from 2.1-9.3 per cent across various steel entities in the list. India has the world’s second-largest steel sector that contributes 10-12 per cent of the country’s total carbon dioxide emissions. As of 2023-24, India’s average emissions intensity per tonne of crude steel produced was 2.54 tonnes of carbon dioxide, while the global average stands at 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Goyal and Kumar point out that the inclusion of iron and steel targets under India’s carbon market will likely drive improvements through energy efficiency and low-cost operational measures. The real test, they write, will be whether future targets begin to influence long-term investments and accelerate the adoption of low-carbon technologies, driving a structural shift in the sector’s emissions trajectory.
Finally, the latest episode of the Carbon Politics podcast, titled “The IPCC in the Age of Misinformation”, features CSE’s Trishant Dev in conversation with Dr. Minal Pathak and Dr. Aditi Mukherji, two IPCC authors from India. They discuss the workings of the IPCC assessment cycles, the divide between political consensus and scientific confidence, and how the upcoming assessment cycle, AR7, is taking shape.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
By - Upamanyu Das
Climate Change and Green Economy, CSE
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Ladakh, India’s cold desert, is getting more monsoon rain than normal — for the fifth year in a row, 16 July 2026
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
These are the 111 districts the government flagged as vulnerable to El Niño 2026 — and 69 are already rainfall deficient, 16 July 2026
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
CLIMATE NEWS | SCIENCE| IMPACTS| POLITICS |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Carbon Politics: A Video Podcast by CSE |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Online Training Course |
|
Online Training Courses |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
