In March 2024, UN FAO released  the Report The Unjust Climate: Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women and youth. This report assembles an impressive set of data from 24 low- and middle-income countries in five world regions to measure the effects of climate change on rural women, youths and people living in poverty. It analyses socioeconomic data collected from 109 341 rural households (representing over 950 million rural people) in these 24 countries. These data are combined in both space and time with 70 years of georeferenced data on daily precipitation and temper ..read more

 The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act 2022 amended the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.  The Act regulates the protection of wild animals, birds and plants.  The amended Act seeks to increase the species protected under the law, and implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).    Key features of the Bill include: ·      CITES:  CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not th ..read more

On January 30, 2024, MoEFCC released a report on the status of snow leopards in India. The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) Programme is the first-ever such scientific exercise. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is the National Coordinator for this exercise that was carried out with support the support of all snow leopard range states and two conservation partners, the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru and WWF-India.   The SPAI systematically covered over 70% of the potential snow leopard range in the country, involving forest and wildlife staff, researchers, v ..read more

 Towards achieving Net-Zero goal by 2070, several key initiatives in the green energy sector were outlines in the interim budget 2024-25: Provision of viability gap funding for the development of one GW of offshore wind energy capacity. Establishment of a coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 Mt by 2030 to reduce imports of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia. Phased mandatory blending of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) in CNG for transportation and piped natural gas for domestic needs. Financial assistance for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery. Expanding and strength ..read more

 Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India. The programme will also implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rainwater harvesting.  The Jal Jeevan Mission is based on a community approach to water and will include extensive information, education and communication as key components of the mission. JJM looks to create a jan andolan for water, thereby making it ..read more

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) had commissioned “Swachh Survekshan Grameen-2019” (SSG 2019) through an independent survey agency to develop ranking of all districts of India based on quantitative and qualitative sanitation (Swachhata) parameters. This ranking was done based on a comprehensive set of parameters including surveys of public places like schools, Anganwadis, PHCs, Haat/ Bazaars, Panchayat, and citizen’s perception of Swachhata and their recommendations for improvement of the programme. Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2022 aimed to undertake the ranking of States a ..read more

 Launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India.  The objective of survey is to encourage largescale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to live in. In addition, survey also seeks to promote a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities, to improve the quality of their services to people, and create cleaner cities and towns.   The first s ..read more

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed December 13, 2023 with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance. In a demonstration of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach. “Whilst we didn’t turn the ..read more

On 30th November 2023, WMO released the 2023 Provisional State of the Global Climate report. The WMO provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record. Data until the end of October shows that the year was about 1.40 degrees Celsius (with a margin of uncertainty of ±0.12°C )above the pre-industrial 1850-1900 baseline.  The difference between 2023 and 2016 and 2020 - which were previously ranked as the warmest years - is such that the final two months are very unlikely to affect the ranking.   The past nine years, 2015 to 2023, w ..read more

On November 20, 2023, UNEP released the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). As global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions break records, the Report finds that current pledges under the Paris Agreement put the world on track for a 2.5-2.9°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels this century, pointing to the urgent need for increased climate action.   Released ahead of the 2023 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Report finds that global low-carbon transformations are needed to deli ..read more