UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said getting a binding agreement sealed on climate change was among his top priorities for the year after the Copenhagen conference that marked "an important step forward".
"From the Indian point of view, if I were a politician, I'd continue to play it hard," explains Mike Hulme, professor at the University of East Anglia's prestigious climate change programme. "From a rational perspective, India has to do what's best for its people."
US President Barack Obama has sought the help of major countries of the world including China and India in addressing the urgent issue of climate change and clean energy.
This follows concern expressed by environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh over poor public allocations for research on the impact of climate change in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The government is finalising the national action plan on climate change and would release this in June, said Shyam Saran, Prime Minister's special envoy for climate change. The action plan would focus on key issues like improving energy efficiency, harnessing solar energy, studying the melting and cracking of icebergs on the Himalayas and understanding the dynamics of coastal and island territories.The plan would contain mechanisms for implementation of various policies.
The apex global health body reckons that about 150,000 deaths occur annually in low-income countries due to the adverse effects of climate change, chiefly malnutrition due to climate change-driven crop failures, stomach diseases and malaria.
He said the coastal and deltaic regions of India are reported to be vulnerable to the risks of flooding.
Javadekar was addressing the 18th BASIC ministerial meeting on climate change here which is being attended by ministers of Brazil, China and South Africa.
Climate Challenge India, a climate change mobilisation effort by Bangalore-based NGO Center for Social Markets has produced a film titled In Good Company: Corporate India and the Climate Challenge that partly tries to answer the question but also raises some red flags on the issue. The film was launched in May at the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen. As CSM's founder and climate change campaigner Malini Mehra explains that the film was a labour of love.
Clinton has already said that she is visiting New Delhi to start a strategic dialogue which will include issues like climate change and clean energy. To put the issue of climate change on fast track, Clinton will be joined by President Barrack Obama's special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, who is known as a man in hurry.
After locking horns with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the glacier melting issue, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday the research of the Indian panel on climate change would be more 'robust and solid' than the UN body's.
Al Gore has reportedly resorted to poetry, as his editor did not allow him to publish a chapter in the book about the ramifications of uncontrolled global warming.
For every 2.5 degree celsius rise in global temperature, the damage to India is predicted to be 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product, highest for any country, according to a key finding of a research by global financial services firm Morgan Stanley.
Climate change has increased the likelihood of temperatures high enough to affect player performance at 97 of the 104 tournament matches.
According to an interim report on climate change to be released in Sydney on Thursday, without intervention before 2020, it would be impossible to avoid a high risk of dangerous climate change that was advancing more rapidly than previously thought.
The experts said that climate change is not only raising temperatures and making India's heatwaves hotter, but also changing weather patterns that further drive dangerous weather extremes.
Downing Street said Johnson reiterated the year 2021 as an important one for UK-India ties and also re-emphasised the UK's commitment to the wider Indo-Pacific region, ahead of the first deployment of the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier group to the region next year.
The DEFRA project with MoEF is yet to identify a research institute in India and the bidding process is to start now, Coyne added. However some green groups in India look at this rush for climate change research in India as a ruse to promote technologies like genetic engineering.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described the landmark climate change deal reached in Paris on Saturday night as the victory of "climate justice" and said there are no winners or losers in the outcome.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to India for the BRICS summit is a pivotal diplomatic event poised to significantly impact bilateral ties and global cooperation amidst ongoing international instability.
Kolkata came in at seventh while Mumbai was in the eighth position and Delhi at 20th in the fifth annual 'Climate Change and Environmental Risk Atlas 2013', recently released by Maplecroft, a British firm specializing in risk analysis.
It is difficult to predict whether religious organisations can mobilise enough global public pressure to minimise perils of global warming.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change is vital in order to respond to the impacts of climate change that are already happening, while at the same time preparing for the future.
During talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Principal Secretary T K A Nair, Ban inquired about India's views on climate change both in terms of the developments at the national level and the climate summit to be held at the headquarters, next week, Indian authorities said on Thursday.
Climate negotiators from 200 nations are currently locked in bitter and acrimonious discussions in an 11-day long conference being held in Doha.
Thunberg has been protesting outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday since August 2018 against inaction over climate change.
The British risk analysis firm Maplecroft recently released a 2011 scientific report ranking the top 10 countries at extreme risk for impacts from climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the UPSC centenary, urged a fundamental shift in civil services recruitment and governance. He highlighted the need for services to adapt to an "instant-delivery world" powered by AI, focusing on citizen-centricity and evaluating candidates' motivation beyond academic knowledge. The PM also praised Captain Smit Machchhar's bravery during his address.
Two weeks ahead of the annual meet on climate change, to be held in Cancun, Mexico, the UN climate chief observed that there is 'optimism for the planet' since countries are taking climate change seriously at home.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry president and Bharti Enterprises vice president Rajan Bharti Mittal chaired a symposium on corporate leadership on climate change in the presence of the Prince of Wales, who is here in connection with the Commonwealth Games.
Though out of 200 firms approached, only 44 responded, nevertheless the 'Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2009' noted the response reflects that not only they were adopting more accurate methodologies but also providing break-down of their greenhouse gas emissions.
Better living conditions must be an integral part of all political campaigns. But this will only happen if the public pressures the political class to understand the irreversibility of climate change and make the environment a crucial part of their manifestos.
India and Africa on Wednesday asked the developed counties to take "ambitious actions" to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and also provide finance and technology to the developing counties so that they could effectively address the impact of climate change.
The government is contemplating changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to deal with environmental claims and liabilities of defaulting companies to make the law future-ready and meet climate action goals, sources told Business Standard. Currently, the IBC has various categories of claims and creditors, including those related to environmental liabilities.
A global failure to respond to climate changes could result in about 8.7 per cent economic loss in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2100, Asian Development Bank said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to pitch for a united global approach in dealing with the situation in Afghanistan and combating challenges of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic at the two-day G-20 Summit in Italy beginning October 30, people familiar with the development said on Sunday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that India is closely monitoring developments in West Asia, addressing topics ranging from ceasefire efforts to maritime security and the safe return of Indian nationals. The MEA also addressed the UN Climate Change Conference and the delimitation bill.
Changes to India's annual monsoon are expected to result in severe droughts and intense flooding in parts of India
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the BRICS summit, urging the bloc to play a significant role in achieving peace and tranquillity in West Asia and the Gulf region. He highlighted BRICS' growth over two decades, its efforts in tackling global challenges, and its steadfastness in safeguarding the interests of the Global South. Xi called for opposing the Cold War mentality, strengthening multilateralism, and promoting cooperation in emerging domains like AI, as China prepares to chair the next summit.
As the world grapples with extreme weather events and climate change becomes the buzzword of contemporary times, author Amitav Ghosh says the crisis has been in the making since the 17th century and it is imperative to take into account history before beginning to tackle the issue.
