Green Climate Fund to help achieve Paris agreement target, benefit nations - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Green Climate Fund to help achieve Paris agreement target, benefit nations.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) report to COP24 suggests a broad set of countries are benefiting as a result.

Imagine, as a leader of a small developing nation, you are faced with the oncoming existential crisis that is climate change, but every time you try and implement a new policy your Treasury tells you the coffers are empty.

I say imagine, but for many of us in the developing world this is a reality. This dream is the nightmare we face, and it's one climate change will make much darker, much deeper.
Developing countries want access to clean, cheap energy. To kitchens that do not make their cooks cough and splutter, to lighting that allows our kids to do their homework.
The good news is many of us are taking a lead, investing in future energy systems instead of being locked into polluting fossil fuels like the developed world. And the good news also is there is money flowing from rich countries to help. Not enough, but we acknowledge it is flowing.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) report to COP24 suggests a broad set of countries are benefiting as a result.
Fifty-seven of the GCF's 93 projects and programmes worth over $3 billion are targeted at least developed countries (LDCs), small island developing States (SIDS) and African states.
Nearly half a billion dollars is being invested in Indian mitigation and adaptation projects as a result of the GCF, well over $1 billion in Brazil, while billions more is heading to multiple countries in Africa to help transform their financial systems and make it easier for them to access funding.
Released last week, the UN's latest climate finance assessment is -- broadly speaking -- something we can all cheer.
Public finance from developed to developing countries reached $57 billion in 2016. That's an increase of $14 billion from 2014.
If you then take into account -- as we agree you should -- private finance mobilised by public support, flows reached over $70 billion in 2016.
Still: it is clear that support for adaptation is lacking. Projects to protect vulnerable communities receive just a quarter of public climate funding.
Yet if their funding continues to scale up at this rate, developed countries are on track to meeting the $100 billion goal in 2020.
They are not there yet -- and the current US administration's decision to cut support to the Green Climate Fund is deeply regrettable -- but we are nearing the end of this long walk to the $100 billion.
The question is: What next? Can we as a global community relax when we get to the top?
The answer to that lies in the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2018 IPCC 1.5 degrees Celsius report, which must now be our guides as we walk our new journey.
Both emphasize the need for transformational shifts in mobilizing finance to deliver the systemic changes across the planet to avoid dangerous levels of warming.
As the New Climate Economy report earlier this year details bold global action to reap an economic benefit of $26 trillion by 2030.
The world is now on a journey to make financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilient development. Everywhere you look this is slowly happening, from high street banks offering green bank accounts, central banks warning of financial risks linked with fossil fuels, multinational development banks refusing to invest in polluting projects.
To rest now would be to undermine all the work we have achieved so far, and to ignore the fast-growing low carbon economy on every continent.
But for the next stage of our journey, we also need to reframe the climate finance debate.
The fixation with the $100 billion target has obscured the huge gaps in support that are emerging across the world. While the overall funding flows towards clean energy continue to rise, huge gaps remain --, especially across Africa.
The recent study by the UN's energy agency SE4ALL makes clear that "committed finance stands at only half of the $52 billion that is needed annually to deliver electricity access to the 500 million still without power".
It adds: "Already abysmal levels of clean cooking funding have declined, and now account for less than one percent of the projected funding needed to end the several millions of deaths caused annually from traditional biomass cooking."
As we build a set of rules to implement the Paris Agreement, let us commit to ensuring that the most vulnerable and those most in need start receiving more support.
Let us commit to ensuring that as the global economy grows, and as wind and solar energy become cheaper and easier to deploy, these technologies are shared. ( Source: The Business Standard)


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Green Climate Fund to help achieve Paris agreement target, benefit nations.

Supreme Court allows sale of only 'green' firecrackers: Key highlights - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Supreme Court allows sale of only 'green' firecrackers: Key highlights.

The Supreme Court has allowed use of fire crackers that are within permitted decibel limits and emission norms.

HIGHLIGHTS:
-SHO's will be held liable if banned crackers are sold in their area.
-Low polluting crackers with permitted decibel limits and emission norms allowed.
-Court bans sale of firecrackers on e-commerce websites.
The Supreme Court has refused to impose a nationwide blanket ban on sale of firecrackers. In its verdict today, the court said only 'green firecrackers' (which are less polluting) will be allowed to be sold.
In its order, the court banned the online sale of firecrackers and put a stay on e-commerce portals from selling them.
The court said only "low polluting" green crackers which are within permitted decibel limits and emission norms will be allowed.
The court also imposed timing restrictions on burning firecrackers on Diwali. The court said people will be allowed to burn crackers between 8pm and 10 pm on Diwali. On New Year and Christmas, the timing is from 11:45 pm to 12:15 am.
The court has also directed all states to explore feasibility of community cracker bursting during festivals.
The Supreme Court's verdict came in response to a plea seeking a ban on manufacturing and sale of firecrackers across the country to curb air pollution.
This comes 15 days ahead of Diwali (November 7).
The matter was heard by a bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan. On August 28, the bench had reserved its verdict.
Here are 10 thing that you should know:
1) On October 9 last year, the Supreme Court temporarily banned the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali.
2) The court refused to relax its order and dismissed a plea moved by traders. In wake of the temporary ban, the traders were seeking permission to sell crackers for at least a day or two before Diwali last year.
3) The court had said that the limited ban on firecrackers during Diwali was an experiment to examine its effect on the pollution levels.
4) In the past, the Supreme Court had said that while deciding on a ban on firecrackers, it is important to take into account all aspects, including the fundamental right of livelihood of firecracker manufacturers and the right to health of over 1.3 billion people of the country.
5) The court had said that Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution applies to both segments of people (firecracker manufacturers and general public) and it needs to maintain a balance while considering a countrywide ban on firecrackers. For this, the court also asked the central government to suggest ways through which pollution can be curbed and what will be the effect of firecrackers on the public at large.
6) On August 8 this year, the court observed that a spike in PM 2.5 levels in the air is a severe problem as the particulate matter remains in people's lungs, leading to serious health implications.
7) In their contention, firecrackers manufacturers had argued that the use of firecrackers should not be completely banned. They said their use should rather be strictly regulated.
8) On whether firecrackers are the main contributors to air pollution in the national capital and adjoining areas during winter, the manufacturers contended that crackers are not the reason for increase in air pollution. They said there are other factors, like wind and temperature, which contribute to it.
9) They have said the firecracker manufacturers can be deprived of their right to do business based on statements which were not supported by facts.
10) Every year during winter, the air quality in Delhi worsens to alarming levels, turning the city into a gas chamber. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, along with firecrackers during Diwali, vehicular pollution and construction activities are the primary reasons for this.(Source: The India Today)


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Supreme Court allows sale of only 'green' firecrackers: Key highlights.

Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States.

Figures will be used to calculate land acquisition costs, climate mitigation funds

India’s environmental diversity and riches are universally recognised but have never been quantified. Starting this year, the government will begin a five-year exercise to compute district-level data of the country’s environmental wealth. The numbers will eventually be used to calculate every State’s ‘green’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The metric will help with a range of policy decisions, such as compensation to be paid during land acquisition, calculation of funds required for climate mitigation, and so on.
“This is the first time such a national environment survey is being undertaken,” said Anandi Subramanian, Senior Economic Adviser, Union Environment Ministry.
A pilot project is set to begin this September in 54 districts. Land will be demarcated into “grids” with about 15-20 grids per district. These will capture the diversity in the State’s geography, farmland, wildlife, and emissions pattern, and will be used to compute a value, she added.
“If, for instance, there’s a no-go zone, we need to calculate what its economic impact is,” she told The Hindu on the sidelines of a conference to mark World Environment Day on June 5.
Ms. Subramanian didn’t specify the budget for the exercise but said that the funds for the pilot project “were already available.”
Much of the data required for the inventory would be sourced from datasets that already exist with other government ministries.
The government has also launched a ‘green skilling’ programme under which youth, particularly school dropouts, would be trained in a range of ‘green jobs’— as operators of scientific instruments used to measure environmental quality, as field staff in nature parks, and as tourist guides. Some of the labour required for the survey would also be sourced from the green-skilled workforce. (Source: The Hindu)


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Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States.