Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Green buildings hold key to climate change commitments

Setting minimum standards of energy efficiency for buildings will be key to meeting India's commitment on addressing climate change issues, according to Mr Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CII-GBC).

Addressing the inaugural of the four-day international conference and exhibition on green buildings organised by CII-GBC, he said the building sector accounts for nearly half the green house gas emissions that are responsible for the threat of global warming.

Setting standards for establishment of energy efficient buildings will help address... Read more..

No Clear Consensus at International Climate Talks

United Nations talks on climate change are nearing a close with no clear consensus yet in sight. The meeting is aimed at laying the groundwork for progress at a major climate change meeting in Mexico later this year.

While many of the negotiators for a global climate change accord consider it a pressing issue, there is less agreement on how to share the burden of tackling the problem.

Last year, the international community failed to reach an agreement that included legally binding emissions reductions at a high-profile meeting in Copenhagen.

Precursor to Cancun meeting... Read more..

Single smart card for daily commuters on anvil

If the Union urban development ministry has its way, you can commute soon by bus, metro and local train, thanks to a single smart card. 

The "ambitious" proposal, mooted by the urban development ministry, seeks to introduce a common mobility card -- One India Card -- to ensure seamless and hassle-free journey for daily commuters, who use different modes of transport. 

The multipurpose card, which can be used in both state and private-run transport operators, will be extended to autos and taxis at a later stage. 

Besides, it will come in handy for paying toll taxes on... Read more..

'India promotes solar energy in telecom sector, sets up panel'

Indian government has set up a panel to promote renewable energy, particularly solar in the telecommunication sector to reduce carbon emissions, reports the PTI. To be headed by Ajay Bhattacharya of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of telecommunication ministry, the five-member panel has 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 environment and renewable energy ministry besides telecommunication also has the mandate to develop the strategy for... Read more..

Going green good for your wallet too

Adopting green lifestyle for a family can mean saving of R24,514 per annum or close to R2,000 per month without much additional costs, environment ministry said on Thursday.

A guide to low carbon lifestyle brought out by the ministry with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Deutsche Gesellshaft fur Technische Zussammenardeit (GTZ), a German research body, has a 15-point manual, which people can adopt to save up.

The guide has come when India has been rated as world’s third largest global warming causing carbon dioxide and rich nations are asking India and... Read more..

White House to go green, to get solar panels

Going the green way, the White House will soon be installed with solar panels and solar heaters, in a reflection of the US President Barack Obama's policy of promoting alternative and clean sources of energy.

Energy secretary Steven Chu said the solar panels and solar water heaters are expected to be in place by early next year at the rooftop of the presidential residence.

The solar panels, however, are not new to the White House. They were first installed during the presidentship of Jimmy Carter, but were later removed during President Ronald Reagan regime.

"This... Read more..

China says unreasonable to set CO2 peak yet

China's top climate negotiator on Wednesday said it was unreasonable to expect his country to set a peak for its greenhouse gas emissions while rich economies fail cut theirs.

Xie Zhenhua also said China would not budge from its commitment to making the Kyoto Protocol -- the current climate change pact that does not set mandatory caps on poorer countries' emissions -- the basis of any new climate deal.

"A rise in greenhouse gases is necessary and, it should be said, reasonable," he said of China and other developing countries. "The key is that we must adopt effective measures... Read more..

Corporate titans commit to low-carbon future – UN

Business leaders from around the world today pledged to slash their carbon emissions in areas ranging from energy, communications and construction at the end of a United Nations-backed summit in Mexico City.

They urged governments to advance negotiations to ensure an ambitious outcome at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Cancún which kicks off next month.

The corporate leaders also underlined the need for a level playing field worldwide to foster green entrepreneurship, in a declaration issued at the conclusion of the Business for the... Read more..

Carbon markets attractive to Asian nations

Asian and European nations expressed a growing interest Tuesday in carbon markets to raise funds for fighting global warming.

A 48-nation summit also called for legally binding decisions at a major conference on climate change later this year in Cancun, Mexico — a step forward from the nonbinding political declaration that emerged from the last climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

At the end of the two-day Asia-European Union meeting, or ASEM, the leaders "noted the rising interest among ASEM partners for developing carbon markets" that could scale up financing and... Read more..

Genetically Altered Trees Could Store Billions of Tons of Carbon

Developing genetically modified trees and plants could capture billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually and reduce the impacts of global warming, a new U.S. study says. In the study, researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory explore methods of enhancing the processes by which plants sequester carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon that can be stored inside the plants - and, ultimately, in the soil.

The scientists said it could be possible to genetically alter plants and trees so... Read more..

Developing Countries Could Sue for Climate Action -- Study

A new study out says vulnerable countries could sue the United States and other industrialized nations for action on climate change.

The report, published by the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), based in the United Kingdom, says small island nations and other threatened countries have the right and likely the procedural means to pursue an inter-state case before the United Nations' International Court of Justice.

"Some of these countries are getting increasingly desperate," Christoph Schwarte, the paper's lead author, said. With little... Read more..

EU will adopt carbon tariffs: Milne

Greens senator Christine Milne says it is inevitable that countries that do take action on climate change will look to pass on the cost by imposing tariffs on polluting industries.

The comments come after Trade Minister Craig Emerson on Sunday said carbon tariffs were simply "old protectionism" and that Australia would not be going down the same path.

India has already introduced a tax on coal, which came into force on July 1.

Senator Milne said countries that were taking strong climate action, particularly in Europe, would almost certainly also introduce sanctions on... Read more..