Latest news with #Environment
New Indian Express
16 hours ago
- General
- New Indian Express
TN to set up centre for conservation of hornbill
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has approved the establishment of a centre of excellence for hornbill conservation at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Coimbatore. The decision follows a proposal by the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden. A sum of Rs 1 crore from the Endangered Species Conservation Corpus Fund has been allocated to support this initiative in the Western Ghats, a region home for four hornbill species, including the Great Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill, and Indian Grey Hornbill. The centre will conduct research, restore habitats, and engage communities to address threats like habitat loss and climate change. It will monitor hornbill populations and their habitat use, using methods like distance sampling and GPS telemetry to track seasonal movements. Studies on foraging and nesting ecology will inform restoration efforts, said Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests and Climate Change Department, in a G.O. issued on Monday. The centre will also map food and nest trees to identify areas for conservation and restoration. It will establish a nursery for native species like Ficus and Syzygium to restore degraded forests and install artificial nest boxes to support breeding.
Hans India
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Govt puts Kumurambheem Conservation Reserve proposal on hold
Hyderabad: The Govt puts Kumurambheem Conservation Reserve proposal on hold Government of Telangana has temporarily suspended the proposed Kumurambheem Conservation Reserve, pending further orders. This decision was communicated through a memo issued by the Environment, Forests, Science & Technology (EFS&T) Department on Monday. The conservation reserve was established to create a vital tiger corridor connecting the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Telangana with the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. This initiative aims to enhance tiger conservation and improve habitat connectivity. It was officially notified through Government Order Ms. No. 49 on May 30, 2025. However, based on recommendations from the District Collector of Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, the EFS&T Department has decided to put this notification on hold. Ahmad Nadeem, Principal Secretary to the Government, issued the directive in response to concerns raised from the district, indicating that the state is reevaluating some operational and administrative implications of the corridor designation. It followed a letter from the Collector dated July 11, 2025, which likely outlined potential challenges related to land use, tribal rights, or ecological balance. However, on the other hand, conservation experts emphasised that while connectivity between protected areas is vital for maintaining healthy tiger populations, such proposals must also consider local socio-economic factors and encourage community engagement.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
GO 49 to create new tiger conservation reserve kept in abeyance over Adivasi concerns
The State government on Monday (July 21) declared that the proposal to create Kumurambheem Conservation Reserve — tiger corridor area connecting Kawal Tiger Reserve in Telangana and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra — is being kept in abeyance. The State government's decision comes in the wake of concerns raised by tribals and public representatives across tribal areas and detailed discussions held with various stakeholders. The GO.49 dated May 30, 2025, issued by Environment, Forests, Science & Technology department, potentially displaces tribal residents in more than 330 villages from their traditional habitat and restricts their forest rights and livelihoods. It aims at converting 1.49 lakh hectares across multiple forest ranges in Kumurambheem-Asifabad district, including Asifabad, Kerameri, Rebbena, Tiryani, Kagaznagar, Sirpur, Karjelli, Bejjur, and Penchikalpet into the 'Kumurambheem Conservation Reserve' as an extension to Kawal Tiger Reserve. Adivasi organisations who led sustained protests had maintained that the order was violative of their rights as per Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, that aims at empowering tribal communities in the country's Scheduled Areas. The government, sensing widespread protests, called for a report from the District Collector to address the situation comprehensively. Later, the situation was also studied and reviewed by Minister for Forests Konda Surekha, Adilabad District In-charge Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and Minister for Panchayat Raj Dansari Anasuya. According to officials, the findings and recommendations were submitted to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy by the District Collector on July 11, and the decision to withhold the order until further notice followed on Monday. Ms. Surekha stated: 'Congress government is people's government. We will never take any decision that harms the rights or livelihoods of Adivasis and tribal communities. The concerns of the local people have been heard, and action has been taken accordingly. The welfare of every citizen, especially our tribal brothers and sisters, remains our top priority.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Environment Secretary Steve Reed to face questions on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Update: Date: 08:59 BST Title: And we're off! Content: The guests have all arrived, Kuenssberg is in the studio, and the show is about to begin. We'll bring you the key lines and moments throughout the morning right here, and you can follow along and Watch Live at the top of this page. Update: Date: 08:54 BST Title: Who's on today's show? Content: As we approach 09:00, let's look at today's full guestlist. It's Environment Secretary Steve Reed in the hot seat. He's likely to face questions on water pollution, after the Environment Agency released data showing serious incidents had risen by 60% in the past year - find more details on that in our previous post. Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will also be on the programme. As always, we'll also be hearing from the panel, which today features: Update: Date: 08:41 BST Title: 'Underinvestment and weak regulation' in England's waterways - environment secretary Content: Environment Secretary Steve Reed is likely to be grilled on the state of England's waterways after he pledged to halve the number of times sewage is discharged by water companies by 2030. It comes after data published by the Environment Agency showed 2,801 pollution incidents in England last year, the highest on record. Of these, 75 were considered to pose "serious or persistent" harm to fisheries, drinking water and human health. Reed said families had "watched their local rivers, coastlines and lakes suffer from record levels of pollution". Every year, the Environment Agency records the number of times pollution such as untreated sewage is released from water company sites such as treatment works into the country's waterways. Just three companies – Thames Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water – were responsible for the vast majority of the most serious examples in 2024. The data comes ahead of a landmark review of the water industry, due to be published tomorrow. Update: Date: 08:32 BST Title: The prime minister's authority is in question again Content: Laura KuenssbergPresenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg Who is in charge? You might think the answer should be obvious. "This government should be walking on water, there should be nothing it can't do," a Whitehall insider suggests, given the rows and rows and rows - and yes, rows - of Labour MPs who line up behind the prime minister every Wednesday. But, by booting out a small band of backbenchers this week, Sir Keir Starmer's put the question of his authority back on the table. Answering the question of who is in charge isn't so simple after all. This government has a "backbench they - and we - are surprised to discover they can't control," says one senior official. The financial markets are breathing down its neck, with the country's debts sky high, and for good measure, what a No 10 source describes as a "deep current of instability" around the world. Starmer's next one-to-one meeting with President Donald Trump is a case in point – who knows what he will or won't say alongside the prime minister on Scottish soil next week? No-one in government can be sure how that is going to shake down, although I was very definitively told we will not be seeing Starmer swinging a club with his transatlantic pal. It is, of course, impossible for any administration to be the master of all it surveys. But convincingly displaying authority, inhabiting its power, is a different task. And neither all of Starmer's MPs, nor all of the people inside the government are sure it's being met. Update: Date: 08:21 BST Title: Labour suspends Diane Abbott for second time in two years Content: Labour MP Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP in Parliament, has also been suspended from the party this week over comments she made about racism. Labour has launched an investigation into Abbott's defence of a 2023 letter to a newspaper, , externalin which she said people of colour experienced racism "all their lives", which was different from the "prejudice" experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers. She apologised for those remarks at the time following criticism from Jewish and Traveller groups and was readmitted to the party after a one-year suspension. Asked by the BBC's James Naughtie if she looked back on the whole incident with regret, she said: "No, not at all." In a brief statement issued to BBC Newsnight, Abbott said: "My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept." Update: Date: 08:12 BST Title: Why did Keir Starmer suspend four Labour MPs this week? Content: Earlier this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer suspended four MPs from Labour over repeated breaches of party discipline. Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Rachael Maskell have had the party whip removed, meaning they will sit as independents in the House of Commons. This comes after dozens of Labour MPs - including the now suspended MPs - rebelled against Downing Street's proposed cuts to welfare earlier in the year, forcing the government to pass a watered-down version of its plans this month. The MP for York Central, Maskell, was a key figure in organising the rebellion against the welfare bill - calling them "Dickensian cuts" - and said this was behind her suspension. She told the BBC she had a duty to speak up for those who elected her. "I don't see myself as a rebel," she said. "But I'm not afraid to speak up about whatever is in my constituents' interests." Update: Date: 08:05 BST Title: A busy week in Westminster: A brief overview of the main headlines Content: Update: Date: 08:00 BST Title: Environment secretary to be grilled in jam-packed last show Content: Welcome to our live coverage of this week's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. It is a jam-packed programme - the last before the summer break - with Environment Secretary Steve Reed, shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, and Reform UK's Nigel Farage on the show. It's been a busy week in politics so we can expect lively debate on some of these topics: You can watch the show here by clicking Watch Live at the top of the page from 09:00 BST. We'll also be bringing you text updates throughout the programme - so stick with us.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
How is China leading the green energy sector?
China installed more wind turbines and solar panels in 2024 than every other nation combined. This statistic alone underlines how China has sped ahead in the global green energy race, cornering the entirety of the renewable supply chain due to firm control over the extraction of key raw materials such as polysilicon and lithium. China also asserts dominance over the manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries. China's renewable energy revolution is the result of decades of strategic state planning and massive investments in innovation. Starting with modest pilot projects in the early 2000s, Beijing is now leading in solar panel and battery production. In 2024 alone, China allocated a remarkable $940 billion into the renewable energy sector, according to U.K.-based research organisation Carbon Brief, from an initial investment of $10.7 billion in 2006. In comparison, India's renewable energy sector received a combined total investment of $3.4 billion in 2024-25 as per the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water, highlighting the stark gap. Turning crisis into opportunity Apart from climate goals, what mainly inspired China's green revolution was a mounting crisis of extremely high levels of air pollution, coupled with concerns about energy insecurity. By the early 2000s, the country's reliance on coal had made its cities nearly unliveable, resulting in air pollution so bad in Beijing and Shanghai that it was visible from space and had garnered global attention. Importantly, growing public awareness about the adverse affects of air pollution played a key role in pressuring the government to act. Moreover, surging electricity demand left parts of the nation teetering on the edge of blackouts. Also, increasing dependence on foreign oil triggered concerns over energy security. China's oil imports are largely dependent on West Asia and sensitive shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz and the South China Sea. Therefore, what began as a survival strategy quickly evolved into a platform for national ambition. In less than two decades, China transitioned from an environmental underdog to a clean-energy driven superpower. The turning point came with the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010), which elevated renewable energy to a national strategic priority. The passage of the Renewable Energy Law in 2005 created legal backing for this vision, offering grid access guarantees and price incentives for wind and solar producers, particularly private enterprises that received generous government subsidies. The state poured billions into infrastructure and R&D, while provinces like Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Jiangsu were identified as early testing grounds for wind and solar farms, in keeping with the Chinese economic practice of starting with pilot projects before scaling up. The role of SOEs State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) and banks had a key role to play in executing plans that were led by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA). Public sector banks provided heavy loans, while industrial giants like State Grid, Huaneng, and Genertec brought wind farms and solar parks online at record speed. As SOEs, these firms didn't face the financial limitations of the private sector. The speed was enabled by a blend of state coordination and market dynamism. While the policy push ensured demand at home, the sheer manufacturing scale drove down prices abroad. From the start, Beijing had a global vision for its ambitions, using programmes such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to push green trade, whether through the export of solar panels, construction of hydropower stations in Africa or building wind farms in Latin America. 'The undertaking of major national projects, quickly integrating funds, technology, and policy resources, and achieving scale effects that private enterprises cannot achieve, that is what led to this growth achieved by SOEs,' explains Li Menghui, representative of Genertec. SOEs translated national climate policy into large-scale action, deploying wind farms, solar parks, and high-voltage transmission lines in remote regions. Due to the substantial support provided by the central government in the form of mandates, low-interest credit, and political backing, these companies could move more quickly and take significantly greater risks to innovate than their private counterparts globally. SOEs were also deployed to focus on niche industries, allowing them to use their vast investments in the development and enhancement of a particular technology. Specialised SOEs were not only involved in building domestic energy infrastructure but also served as ambassadors of China's green agenda abroad. SOEsaccount for 55% of global renewable energy investment, as per Bloomberg Finance. China's SOEs turned clean energy into a tool of statecraft, aligning economic development with global dominance in renewable energy. Without them, China's rapid leap from fossil-fuel giant to renewable superpower with global influence would not have been possible. Lessons learnt China's green energy push wasn't without bumps along the way. For instance, in the mid-2010s, wind and solar installations outpaced the ability of the national grid to absorb their output. This led to the curtailment of energy, especially in northern provinces such as Inner Mongolia, Jilin, and Gansu where wind power curtailment was as high as 20% in 2014. These bottlenecks revealed a critical gap in transmission infrastructure. Although the creation of renewable energy projects was rapid, other aspects of national infrastructure could not keep up with the growth. Beijing responded through heavy investments in ultra-high voltage transmission lines and more focus on better integrating renewables into the national grid. Over a decade, State Grid doubled its investment from $33.31 billion in 2010 to $88.7 billion this year, according to Reuters. Another problem was haphazard subsidy policies to SOEs that encouraged wasteful expansion, without adequate oversight. The vast expansion of projects encouraged a build-at-all-costs mentality, leading to redundant projects and inefficiencies across the sector. To correct those issues, Beijing tightened oversight mechanisms and emphasised planning that favoured efficiency and grid-readiness over capacity. One lesson for Beijing was that in the race for renewable development, speed could not trump structure and organisation. Global influence With a sprawling global network spanning 61 countries and a web of joint ventures, with local state-owned enterprises, from Angola to Hungary to Bangladesh, China's geopolitical presence in the sector has become deeply entrenched. The current focus is on ensuring dominance in the next wave of clean energy technologies. With support guaranteed by the state to firms such as Longi, Goldwing, and CATL, production costs have been slashed due to market dominance, leading to vertical integration and economies of scale. The next wave of advancement in renewable technology will arrive in the form of AI-powered smart grids, green hydrogen, and next-generation nuclear technologies like thorium reactors, all of which Beijing has set its eyes on with the same formula of aggressive state investment, breakneck deployment, and focus on the export of technology and influence. The world now faces a bifurcated energy landscape, as the U.S. and its allies scramble to pump billions into reshoring clean energy industries through mechanisms like the Inflation Reduction Act. The key difference between Chinese SOEs and Western private enterprises is the ability of the Chinese state to mobilise large-scale manufacturing capabilities and properly utilise their vast scale. This enables low-cost, high-speed deployment of renewable tech, while the West grapples with higher costs, slower implementation, and far more complex political considerations on the adoption of green energy within each of their countries. The contest of the future, ultimately, will not be about panels or turbines or climate targets but who sets the rules of the global energy game. Will the future of climate tech follow Beijing's centralised, scale-driven blueprint, or will any other player be able to innovate fast enough and demonstrate a credible counter-model to offer to the world? Kabir Jeet Singh is a student and writer based in Beijing, with a deep interest in global economics, energy policy, and China's ascent.
