-The Hindu COP26 must focus sharply on reducing emissions till 2030, rather than on net zero 2050, which is too distant a goal The stage is set for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, starting October 31. Major preparatory conferences and bilateral meetings have been held to persuade countries to raise their emission reduction commitments from the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. Some...

-The Hindu Did Kerala and Uttarakhand receive incessant rain in October due to Climate Change? The story so far: Even as the southwest monsoon began to retreat from the subcontinent, Kerala and Uttarakhand received record rainfall in October. In both these States and others, over the last few years, there have been variations in the pattern and intensity of rainfall. Kerala had seen a severe spell in 2018, which caused havoc. This...

-The Hindu The ‘Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’ notes that 295 billion hours of potential work were lost across the globe in 2020 due to heat exposure. India has become 15% more vulnerable to extremes of heat than in 1990, according to ‘the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’, a flagship report of the medical journal The Lancet that provides periodic updates on the scientific literature on the relationship...

--Press release by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dated 20th October, 2021 GENEVA (20 October 2021) – Water is increasingly being treated as a mere commodity and even as a financial asset, a UN human rights expert told the UN General Assembly today, undermining the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and the sustainability of the environment. Pedro Arrojo Agudo, the Special Rapporteur on the...

-Down to Earth Governments are planning to produce more than double the production of fossil fuels than what the world requires to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius The climate crisis has become clearer than ever, but it has not been able to compel major emitters to improve action on the ground so far. Governments across the world are still planning to produce more than double the fossil fuels than...