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The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Finance Ministry unveils draft ‘climate taxonomy' document to aid clean energy investment
To direct investment towards clean-energy projects and infrastructure better adapted to weather threats from climate change, the Finance Ministry has made public a draft document, 'Framework of India's Climate Finance Taxonomy.' Also read: The Union Budget as a turning point for climate action The climate finance taxonomy, the report said, was a 'tool to identify activities consistent with India's climate action goals and transition pathway.' The objective of this taxonomy was to encourage investment in climate-friendly technologies and activities, thus enabling India to be Net Zero by 2070 but simultaneously encouraging long-term access to reliable and affordable energy. The taxonomy should also prevent 'green-washing' and be consistent with the developmental goal of 'Viksit Bharat' to be achieved by 2047. The draft note follows an announcement by Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech this February. 'A climate finance taxonomy is a system that classifies which parts of the economy may be marketed as sustainable investments. It helps guide investors and banks in directing trillions toward impactful investments to tackle climate change,' Rajasree Ray, Advisor in the Environment Ministry had stated at a workshop in January. Developing countries' demand Defining such a taxonomy would also help address a contentious issue in international climate talks such as the Conference of Parties. Developing countries demand billions of dollars from developed countries in the form of subsidised technology transfer and grants to finance renewable energy development as well as strengthen their defences against climate change. Developed countries frequently count business investments in renewable energy projects as part of 'climate finance.' At the last climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, developed countries committed to only $300 billion annually by 2035 as the 'New Collective Quantified Goal' when the actual requirement was $1.35 trillion and a large part of the disagreement was due to a lack of consensus on the definition of 'climate finance.' The climate taxonomy document aims to classify a range of activities and sectors as 'climate supportive' or 'climate transition.' The former include activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce emissions intensity (emissions per unit of GDP), adaptation solutions that reduce the risks of adverse impacts of climate change and, research and development needed to meet these objectives. Climate supportive activities would include those that improve emissions intensity reduction in sectors where cutting absolute emissions are challenging with the available technology- this could mean in the so-called 'hard to abate' iron, steel and cement sector. The major sectors to be covered would include power, buildings, mobility, agriculture, food, water security. Current estimates suggest that the country needs to scale up investments substantially to enhance the installed capacity to 777.14 GW by 2029-2049 from 470.4 GW (as of February 2025). Considering the scale, strategic investments are required in Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) thermal power plants, which reduce emissions through higher efficiency, improving plant efficiency to 46 per cent, surpassing subcritical (~38 per cent) and supercritical (~41–42 per cent) technologies. According to the Initial Adaptation Communication submitted by the country to the United Nations in December 2023, the cumulative expenditure needed for adaptation is estimated to be ₹56.68 trillion (approx. USD 648.5 billion) till 2030 at 2023-24 prices. This is the money required for investments required to implement adaptation actions in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, infrastructure, water resources and ecosystems.
Al Etihad
23-04-2025
- Health
- Al Etihad
UAE to participate in International Convention against Doping in Sport in Paris
23 Apr 2025 14:16 ABU DHABI (WAM)The United Arab Emirates will take part in the 10th session of the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, scheduled to be held in Paris from October 20 to UAE will be represented by Dr. Reema Al Hosani, consultant sports medicine and international coordinator of the global research team studying the impact of herbal substances on Hosani leads an international team of around 40 experts from various countries under an initiative supported by UNESCO's Fund for the Elimination of Doping in initiative aims to explore how traditional herbs affect integrity and values in sports in relation to doping, as part of a plan running from June 2024 to May Hosani said the initiative was launched in response to a growing trend of athletes turning to traditional medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that the Executive Committee of the Conference of Parties adopted the proposal, with the Arab group under her leadership selected to head the global team.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mongolia to host international conference to fight desertification
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Last week Mongolia signed the official agreement with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to host COP17 in its capital, Ulan Bataar, in 2026. COP17 refers to the 17th session of the Conference of Parties concerned about desertification with 194 participating countries. UPI spoke with Ambassador Jargalsaikhan Ensaikhan of Mongolia who was in Washington for discussions related to preparations for the conference. The Gobi desert is a vast, cold, arid region that spreads across southern Mongolia and northern China. "It is expanding bit by bit," said Ensaikhan. "The sands are moving." Mongolia is a vast sweep of grasslands that stretch eastwards across Central Asia. According to UNCCD, 60% of the land across the region is used for grazing and one-third of the population depends on it for their living The problem is not limited to Mongolia and Central Asia. UNCCD estimates there are 500 million pastoralists worldwide. "More than 100 countries face desertification problems," said Ensaikhan. "Most of them are in the Global South." He estimated that more than 70% of the land in Mongolia itself was under threat from spreading sands, winds and dust storms that strip topsoil, and drought conditions. These have a damaging effect on food security, biodiversity, and the livelihoods ofherders according to UNCCD reports. Mongolia is pushing back against the spreading sands through a national reforestation campaign called "One Billion Trees." The goal is to reach that target by 2030 and every citizen is being encouraged to plant. Reforestation is an effective measure against desertification. Tree roots serve to fix the topsoil more firmly and hold the water in it. They also act as windbreaks when planted strategically. Ensaikhan said there was a technical dimension to the tree planting to ensure it is effective. "Not every type of tree will grow in Mongolia. You have to know what willgrow where. There needs to be research." One of the purposes of next year's COP17 meeting is to share best practices in combatting desertification and commission joint research projects since, as Ensaikhan observed, "nobody was working on how to do reforestation" effectively. Ensaikhan served as Mongolia's ambassador to Austria, Italy, and the UN. He is currently the chair of Blue Banner, an NGO committed to promoting nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and establishing a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia.
