Latest news with #NCAs
Indian Express
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Trump administration's climate denialism is a chance for other countries to step up
For nearly 25 years, the US government's National Climate Assessment (NCA) Reports have been seen as among the most comprehensive analyses of global warming and its impact on human health and economy. In a country where wildfires and storms have increased with alarming frequency in recent years, these reports are widely used by planners to devise mitigating strategies. The NCA's insights also inform global policymaking. But in April, the Trump administration dismissed hundreds of scientists working on the latest edition of the NCA. And last month, the US government deleted the website that hosted these reports — some of them are still available elsewhere. On Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the Trump administration would 'update' these studies. The Department of Energy has said that 'Wright was not suggesting he would personally be altering past reports'. But this clarification does not appear convincing in light of the US Energy Secretary's well-known climate scepticism. In the past, Wright, one of the most ardent proponents of the Trump administration credo of 'Drill, Baby, Drill', has criticised the NCA studies for 'not being fair' in their 'broad assessment of climate change'. In his first term, Trump withdrew his country from the Paris Pact and regularly suppressed or downplayed scientific research, which underlined the need for regulation to protect public health and the environment. In his second tenure so far, his administration has taken an even more disquieting approach — weaponising budget cuts to erode the autonomy of scientific agencies and making climate denialism part of their mandate. Hours after withdrawing from the Paris Pact for the second time, Trump asked the US Environmental Agency to reconsider its 2009 statement, which linked greenhouse gases (GHG) with adverse public health effects. Less than a week before Wright's announcement on revising the NCAs, the Department of Energy produced a report which claimed that 'concern over the climate crisis was overblown'. Criticised by several scientists for cherry-picking data, the study emphasised the positive effect of carbon dioxide — it said that the GHG promotes 'global greening' — without acknowledging its role in extreme weather events. Some experts cited in the study have reportedly criticised it for taking their research out of context. The cancellation of NCA data could make the world's largest economy and second-largest GHG emitter less informed about one of the most pressing crises facing the world — and less prepared to confront it. America's retreat from the climate fight also comes at a time when the global resolve is nowhere close to what is required to confront the challenge. It's now up to institutions in other parts of the world to step up.
Agriland
23-04-2025
- General
- Agriland
Dept seeks tenders for Ireland's nature restoration plan
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is seeking tenders for technical support services for Ireland's national nature restoration plan. Under the European Union's Nature Restoration Law, all member states must prepare a national restoration plan (NRP). This plan will set out the specific restoration targets for the habitats, species and ecosystems, as well as the measures required to reach those targets. The department said that the successful tenderer will assist the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in quantifying habitats and species targets and identifying necessary measures to meet the requirements of the plan. Nature restoration According to the tender documents, preparation is underway on National Conservation Assessments (NCAs) for 59 habitats and 68 species or species groups listed in the Habitats Directive. Any habitat or species that is reported as being in less than favourable conservation status will come into scope of the NRP, requiring restoration measures to be put in place and specific targets to be met. The NPWS is currently developing templates in order to record information for relevant habitats and species, which will then feed into the NRP. The deadline for the submission of Ireland's draft NRP to the European Commission is September 2026. Nature restoration The successful tenderer will be required to review the results of the NCAs and develop an understanding of the underlying datasets. They will closely work with the NPWS to finalise the standardised templates for quantifying targets and setting out how to achieve them. The tenderer will participate in workshops/meetings with NPWS 'in order to explain and develop approaches, encourage collaboration and disseminate results'. The documents state there will be 'a degree of flexibility in relation to days/hours worked per week' and that the contractor should provide pricing for 200 days between quarter two (Q2) 2025 and quarter four (Q4) 2026. The deadline for the submission of tenders is 5:00p.m on Monday, May 12, 2025. Nature credits Meanwhile, the European Commission today (Wednesday, April 23) hosted a 'high-level roundtable' meeting focused on developing biodiversity certification and nature credits as tools to finance nature restoration. European Commissioner for the Environment Jessika Roswall met with environmental, business, and financial stakeholders in Brussels. The meeting explored the need to develop a sound and credible methodology, innovative strategies to grow the nature credits market, as well as ways to boost private sector investment and biodiversity conservation. The roundtable also examined key drivers of demand for nature credits in the corporate and financial sectors. The outcome of the meeting will feed into the process of developing EU action on nature credits.
