Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Request your office, hotels to increase the AC temperature, earn social carbon credits

While the global summit for climate change in Copenhagen made carbon credit a household name, a Mumbai-based NGO, NO2CO2, is now aiming at bringing about a small change by giving its own version of carbon credits through a campaign called Upby2.

Initiated by Vivek Gilani, the campaign encourages people to do their bit about climate change on a daily basis by asking people to request managements at coffee shops, restaurants, offices and other establishments to increase the temperature of their air conditioning by two degrees centigrade.

According to the NGO, research shows... Read more..

Date : Oct 5

Source: Hindustan Times

Prince Charles discusses climate change with industrialists in Delhi

The visiting Prince of Wales, Prince Charles met various Indian industrialists here on Monday and discussed climate change with the corporate heads during a Business and Leadership Symposium.

During his meet with the senior Indian business leaders, Prince Charles discussed ways to facilitate bilateral investment in low carbon areas between the UK and India.

FICCI 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... Read more..

Date : Oct 5

Source: One India

India commits to help smaller neighbours cope with climate change

Aware of the need to work together, India has committed to help its smaller neighbours cope with effects of climate change.

Stressing that there is no rift with neighbours on the issue, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told on Monday that India would do its bit to help others in capacity building exercises.

“We have a substantial commitment to help our South Asian neighbours adapt to effects of climate change,” he said while addressing a press conference here.

Ramesh stated that the process to help nations like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and... Read more..

Date : Oct 5

Source: Hindustan Times

Govt wants telecom towers to run on solar power, sets up panel

With diesel generators that power three lakh telecom towers in the country guzzling fuel worth over Rs 6,400 crore every year, Government has set up a panel to promote renewable energy particularly solar in the sector to slash cost as well hazardous carbon emissions.

To be headed by Ajay Bhattacharya of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of Telecom Ministry , the five-member panel has recently been asked to submit a set of guidelines to suggest ways to promote renewable energy options in the sector within the next three months.

The panel which has members from... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: The Economic Times

Key UN climate talks open in China

The final round of UN climate talks before this year's summit in Mexico, which begins at the end of November, has got under way in China.

The meeting is expected to produce a draft negotiating text that nations will debate at the Cancun summit.

Last year's summit in Copenhagen, billed as a make-or-break year, ended in disarray without a legally binding deal to curb global climate change.

The meeting, being held in Tianjin, is scheduled to last until Saturday.

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, played down... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: Deccan Herald

Fifteen-year plan for jatropha plantation in arid districts

Beginning later this month, the jatropha crop will be planted across 30,000 acres in the arid districts of Bankura, Birbhum, West Midnapore and Purulia over the next 15 years. Around 10 lakh saplings will be transplanted this year on 1,000 acres in Purulia, with the annual plantation target from next year pegged at 20 lakh saplings on 2,000 acres.

The drive, undertaken jointly by state-promoted West Bengal Wasteland Development Corporation (WBWDC) and private firm Sun Plant Agro Ltd, is in sync with the Centre's Green India Mission to combat climate change by setting an ambitious... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: The Times of India

Way to go

Leave your footprint on the sands of time, by all means. But no carbon footprint, please! That's the message from global warming and tech companies are heeding it - and helping businesses across sectors to be more energyefficient without losing out on productivity.

Bangalore-based MindTree Ltd has developed a software application which, when integrated with a back-end SAP package, helps one monitor, on a dashboard, the carbon impact of devices such as captive gensets or UPS systems. Likewise, an intelligent power strip developed by the SET Labs of Infosys Technologies, helps... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: Hindu Buisnessline

ASEM summit to discuss a slew of issues

Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrived here on Sunday to attend the eighth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, which has been termed a “policymaking laboratory” for the free and frank environment it gives world leaders to air their views.

The summit, taking place a month before the G-20 Summit begins in Seoul, will provide the developed and developing worlds with an opportunity to coordinate their positions, given that its main theme is the international economic and financial crisis.

It will also discuss climate change and ways of strengthening the multilateral trade system that... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: The Hindu

Climate chief urges nations to show deal can be done

The U.N. climate change chief urged governments on Monday to make real steps toward a new treaty to fight global warming or risk throwing negotiations into doubt.

Negotiators are meeting in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin to try reach agreement on what should follow the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the key treaty on climate change, which expires in 2012.

The fraught U.N. talks have been hobbled by lack of trust between rich and poor nations over climate funds, demand for more transparency over emissions cut pledges and anger over the size of cuts offered by... Read more..

Date : Oct 4

Source: Reuters India

EU-Asia summit to call for 'binding' climate deal

The European Union and Asia will issue a joint call for a "binding" climate change deal at a summit of nearly 50 nations next week, according to a draft of the final statement obtained by AFP today.

The draft document said leaders of the 48-nation Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Brussels "shared the goal of reaching urgently a fair, effective and comprehensive legally binding outcome" on climate change.

"Deep cuts in global emissions are required" to ensure the increase in global temperature remain below two degrees Celsius, said the draft, which has yet to... Read more..

Date : Oct 2

Source: PTI

India leads in energy efficiency: Survey

Business leaders throughout India give a higher priority to energy efficiency in their facilities than do those in any other major country, according to the Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI).

This year’s survey results provide a look at how business leaders in India are prioritizing and investing in energy efficiency compared to last year and to other regions around the world.

According to the survey, 85% of business leaders in India consider energy management very or extremely important. This is a drop from 94% last year but significantly higher than in... Read more..

Date : Oct 2

Source: Washington Banglaradio

Jatropha Boom Yields Tough Lessons

With a gas-guzzler of an economy, India had been spending tens of billions of dollars annually to import petroleum. And so its 2009 policy on biofuels mandated that by 2017, India would have enough biofuel production to cover at least 20 percent of the country’s oil consumption.

The government has in fact been encouraging the cultivation of jatropha curcas for the past seven years, believing that would be the fastest way to have the volume of biofuel the country would need – 13 million tonnes, or 30 times more biodiesel than what is being produced at present.

But now, even... Read more..

Date : Sep 21

Source: IPS News

World powers to tackle climate amid skepticism

The 17 nations responsible for 80 percent of carbon emissions blamed for global warming will seek to unblock stalled climate negotiations next week but analysts expect little progress.

The two-day Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate kicks off Monday and will include top government envoys, including US special envoy for climate change Todd Stern.

US President Barack Obama launched the meetings to facilitate climate talks in the wake of last year's disappointing United Nations conference in Copenhagen.

The successor conference to the Copenhagen meet is set for... Read more..

Date : Sep 20

Source: Times of India

India offers to host next meet on Global Sustainability

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, here to attend an international meet on sustainable development, today proposed to hold the next meeting of the high-level panel in India next year.

The 21-member high-level Panel, formed in August, includes Ramesh, United States envoy to the UN Susan E Rice, Foreign Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, European Union's Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard.

"I'm proposing that the second meeting of this panel should be held in India sometime in April next year... India is going to offer to host the second meeting of the panel,"... Read more..

Date : Sep 20

Source: PTI News

Govt ties up with German firm for climate change project

The eight missions set by the Prime Minister under National Action Plan on Climate Change are National Solar Mission, National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, National Water Mission, National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission for a Green India, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

The state government has already identified nodal departments and formed core groups for each mission. Each core group comprises members from various... Read more..

Date : Sep 20

Source: Indian Express

Wait for five-star cars to get longer

The Centre’s plan to introduce fuel efficiency norms for passenger cars has run into rough weather after the auto industry has expressed strong reservations on the five-star rating system proposed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

A technical committee, comprising industry experts and officials of the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) and the power ministry, has been formed to formulate a final draft of fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars under Energy Conservation Act. With the introduction of these standards for motor vehicles, India hopes to bring... Read more..

Date : Sep 20

Source: Economic Times

More Companies Report Data to CDP Despite Uncertain Climate

The number of U.S. and global companies reporting their greenhouse gas emissions continues to grow, despite a still-shaky economy and the chances for a global climate agreement more uncertain today than many would have expected a year ago.

Amidst the continuing uncertainty, a small crop of global companies are emerging as leaders in measuring and managing their carbon footprints, and analyzing and disclosing the risks posed by climate change. Siemens, Deutsche Post, BASF, Bayer and Samsung Electronics are setting the bar in carbon management and communication, according to the... Read more..

Date : Sep 20

Source: Reuters

Carbon consultants find greener pastures

As the uncertainty over the outcome of the global climate change negotiations continues, carbon consultants are increasingly reinventing their businesses to expand into alternative opportunities in related fields like renewable energy, clean technology and environmental sustainability, irrespective of their carbon component.

While leading carbon consultant Ernst & Young is renewing its focus on clean technology business in the country, corresponding to its global plan to hire 300 specialists for the practice, home-grown Emergent Ventures India (EVI) and Gensol Consultants are... Read more..

Date : Sep 19

Source: Financial Express

India firm to bundle solar projects for CO2 offsets

An Indian carbon firm has launched a programme to link up developers of costly small-scale solar power projects to help them earn U.N. carbon credits and boost investment returns.

Emergent Ventures India's programme is part of a recently expanded form of a U.N. scheme, the Clean Development Mechanism, that aims to deploy clean-energy technology in a big way in poorer nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's very new. We've got three projects so far and we've written to about 50 to 60 project developers," said Deepak Verma, chief operations officer and head of EVI's... Read more..

Date : Sep 18

Source: CIOL Network

Carbon firm's new scheme to aid solar projects

An Indian carbon firm has launched a programme to link up developers of costly small-scale solar power projects to help them earn U.N. carbon credits and boost investment returns.

"It's very new. We've got three projects so far and we've written to about 50 to 60 project developers," said Deepak Verma, chief operations officer and head of EVI's... Read more..

Date : Sep 18

Source: Gulf News

Panel to submit interim report on low carbon growth path

A panel of experts headed by economist Kirit Parikh will submit an interim report to the government next week outlining a road map to achieve low carbon growth to tackle climate change.

The report is in keeping with India's commitment to achieve 20-25 per cent cut in emission intensity by 2010 from 2005 levels as was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year at Copenhagen climate meet.

"We are in the final stage of preparing the interim report likely to be submitted to the government next week," Parikh, a former Planning Commission member, said on the sidelines of... Read more..

Date : Sep 17

Source: Deccan Herald

UN urges aviation sector to slash carbon emissions

UN climate chief Christiana Figueres urged the air transport industry on Thursday to press on with curbs on emissions, underlining that it held "critical keys" to tackling global warming.

Aviation produces an estimated two percent of global emissions from human activity which "if left unchecked, will have further impacts on climate change," Figueres told an industry conference on aviation and the environment.

"The world will continue to need a stong aviation industry but the high flying plane must also be a symbol of pro-active action to address climate change," the executive... Read more..

Date : Sep 17

Source: Yahoo

Cold comfort on Kyoto

The clarification by a United Nations’ climate change official that the Kyoto protocol will continue even after 2012, when its scheduled emission reduction commitment period ends, provides only cold comfort. Unless there are fresh binding commitments for reduction in the emission of environment-injurious greenhouse gases (GHGs), the continuation of the toothless Kyoto accord will be pointless. In any case, even the action stipulated in the Kyoto accord for combating global warming fell far short of putting an end to global warming, though it was deemed a good beginning towards that end.... Read more..

Date : Sep 17

Source: Business Standard

Saving ozone is hastening climate change: UN study

Global effort to reduce emission impact on ozone layer in atmosphere is causing faster climate change, a United Nations report had found.

The report released on World Ozone Day said emissions of powerful greenhouse gases such as HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) has increased.

HCFC is a replacement for ozone depleting gas CFCs (cholorofluorocarbons) and HFC is a by-product of HFCFs production. A tonne of HFC emitted is equal to 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a report to be released in 2011... Read more..

Date : Sep 17

Source: Hindustan Times

Centre push for eco development

Tightening the green noose around the city’s development ambitions, the Centre has asked the state government to phase out the use of construction debris and fly ash for land filling within a year.

It has also set a two-year deadline for doing away with the practice of discharging untreated waste and effluents from industries and human settlements, arguing that it poses environmental hazards.

The civic administration statistics suggest that the city generates 8,500 metric tonne of garbage every day, of which 2,200 metric tonne is construction debris.

Union environment... Read more..

Date : Sep 17

Source: Daily News and Analysis