sibi arasu

Many farmers are calling for greater federal and state investment to help farms switch to more climate change-proof practices.

India is the world’s largest milk producer, and is home to 80 million dairy farmers who made 231 million tons of milk last year. Many farmers only have a few cows, but the industry as a whole has 303 million bovine cattle like cows and buffalo, making it the largest contributor to planet-warming methane emissions in the country. The federal government has made some positive steps to reduce methane, but wants to focus emissions cuts elsewhere. But experts say the industry can and should make more reductions that can quickly limit warming.

Bengaluru in southern India is witnessing an unusually hot February and March, and in the last few years, it has received little rainfall in part due to human-caused climate change. Water levels are running desperately low, particularly in poorer areas, resulting in sky-high costs for water and a quickly dwindling supply.

Just a few years ago, someone who wanted to install a rooftop solar connection in India faced getting multiple approvals, finding a reliable company to install the panels and spending heavily before seeing the first surge of clean energy.
But that’s changing. The government has streamlined the approvals process, made it easier for people to claim subsidies and pushed mountains of cash to encourage faster adoption of technology that’s seen as critical for India to reach its clean-energy goals.

For years, renewable projects in India have been growing steadily, from small-town rooftop solar installations to large-scale projects across the desert and long stretches of wind turbines and solar panels on farmland all contributing to the country’s climate goal of transitioning to clean energy.
But a mix of policy decisions, politics and supply chain issues meant solar projects in 2023 have been marred in delays and uncertainty, making the country fall short of its targets for the year.

The world’s renewable energy grew at its fastest rate in the past 25 years in 2023, the International Energy Agency reported Thursday in its first assessment since nations agreed in December on ambitious new targets to slow dangerous climate change.

Azerbaijan’s ecology minister has been named to lead the United Nations’ annual climate talks later this year, prompting concern from some climate activists over his former ties to the state oil company in a major oil-producing nation.

A new compromise floated early Wednesday at United Nations COP28 climate talks called for the world to eventually wean itself off planet-warming fossil fuels in a global rallying cry stronger than proposed days earlier but with loopholes that upset critics.

The European Union’s plan to impose a tax on the carbon pollution emitted to make goods imported from countries like India and China has sparked a debate at the United Nations climate conference in Dubai, as poorer countries argue that the tax will harm livelihoods and economic growth.

United Nations climate negotiators on Wednesday declared the world must transition away from oil, gas and coal, a significant decision by nearly 200 countries in nearly 30 years of climate talks.
But will countries keep their word, moving away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward more green energies like solar and wind?
History may provide some insight into that question.

This year’s United Nations climate talks may have seen record numbers registered to attend, but activists who have spent years demonstrating at the annual event say their space to voice their demands is shrinking year on year.

Rising from the bare expanse of the large salt desert that separates India from Pakistan is what will likely be the world’s largest renewable energy project when completed three years from now.

As United Nations climate talks enter their second week, negotiators who are largely focused on how to curb climate change have another thing on their plates: how to adapt to the warming that’s already here.

The world just took a big step toward compensating countries hit by deadly floods, heat and droughts.
Nearly all nations on Thursday finalized the creation of a fund to help compensate countries struggling to cope with loss and damage caused by climate change, seen as a major first-day breakthrough at this year’s U.N. climate conference.

The oil and gas sector, one of the major emitters of planet-warming gases, will need a rapid and substantial overhaul for the world to avoid even worse extreme weather events fueled by human-caused climate change, a report Thursday said.
The current investment of $800 billion a year in the oil and gas sector will need to be cut in half and greenhouse emissions will need to fall by 60% to give the world a fighting chance to meet its climate goals.