The India Climate Observatory

Commentary, action and research on climate and development in India

International Climate Negotiations

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India and International Climate Negotiations

India ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1993, and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. Under the UNFCCC, all countries agreed that climate change is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and that they will work together to regulate emissions.

Under the Convention, India (and other developing countries), has not had to undertake legally-binding commitments to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, since the major proportion of the problem (and historical responsibility) was due to emissoins from developed countries. As a result, the Kyoto Protocol places the burden of emissions reductions on 37 ‘Annex 1’ countries (developed countries and countries in transition). This listing of Annex 1 countries excludes the United States, which did not agree to emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol.

Under the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, countries such as India are exempt from mandatory emissions reductions due to their small historical contribution to atmospheric GHG emissions, their low per-capita emissions, and modest financial and technical ability to switch to low-carbon growth without external aid (from developing countries).

With increasing industrialisation over the course of the past few decades by major emerging economies such as India, China, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and Indonesia, and increasing global emissions, the political equilibrium evident at Kyoto has been challenged. Annex 1 countries (since it excluded the US) now only account for a third of global emissions and new groupings have emerged such as the Major Economies Forum convened by the United States. The MEF has been meeting regularly since 2008 and comprises 17 countries – including all the major emerging economies such as India – which collectively account for eighty percent of global emissions. It is estimated that the majority of future emissions will come from these emerging economies.

At the United Nations climate negotiations, India has historically aligned with the G77 and China, a group of 134 countries of which it is a member. The G77 & China group negotiates as a block but increasingly contains within it significant smaller blocs such as the Africa Group, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and others who are articulating their own positions.

Of these, the largest bloc is the LDC bloc (100+ countries), and arguably the most active progressing grouping is the AOSIS. Both the LDCs and AOSIS countries are calling for global temperature rise to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius to ensure the survival of island nations and vulnerable countries. This position is not shared by the Government of India which cleaves to the conventional 2 degrees limit mentioned in the Copenhagen Accord and the G8/ G20 declaration of 2009. Since November 2009, India has aligned with the three other major developing countries – Brazil, China and South Africa (the BASIC group) – who are increasingly coordinating their positions at international climate change fora.

The Government of India admits that climate change is a global issue that needs to be addressed by the international community on a priority basis. However, India’s approach to the international climate change negotiations has been to keep firmly behind the ‘historical responsibility’ and ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ positions. So India’s policy remains that while it may choose to take on domestic actions in its own self-interest, it will not take on any international commitments that it will be legally bound to comply with.

However, with the growing realisation that India’s stance appears backward and defensive in the face of acknowledged global climate change threats, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has permitted a greater opening and acceptance that the government must embrace a more proactive climate agenda.

For example, in the run-up to the UN Climate Summit (COP15) in Copenhagen in December 2009 which attracted more than 110 heads of state, India sought to be seen as a ‘deal-maker’, with the Prime Minister signing a Major Economies Forum (MEF) political commitment to keep warming below 2 degrees C. Just prior to COP15 in December 2009, India announced that it would agree to voluntarily cut domestic ’emissions intensity’ by 20 to 25% by 2020.

An official GoI letter said: ‘India endeavors to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 level’. While details on how the emission cuts are to be achieved are yet to come out, it is possible that the mitigation benefits of each National Mission of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) will contribute to this effort.

India’s position on climate change

The Government of India’s historical position is that as a developing country, it is not responsible for past greenhouse gas emissions and any solution to climate change must take the issue of equity into account. The GoI says that India is willing to do its ‘fair share’, apportioned by country-wise historical contributions.

India has historically had low per-capita emission rates, and has often used the argument that every human being has an equal right to the atmosphere – per capita entitlements to the global atmospheric space. However, this argument is seen as a ‘right to pollute’ and has not gone down well with either industrialised countries or vulnerable countries most at risk of climate change.

In absolute terms, India is now the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with just under five percent of the global share of emissions. Since taking office in May 2009, the Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has sought to pursue a more proactive role in international climate negotiations and engaged in lively debates in Parliament on the issue.

At the UN climate negotiations, however, India has laid out its three ‘red lines’ – positions that it will not go beyond:

  1. No legally binding emission cuts (therefore still in keeping with Kyoto and UNFCCC requirements)
  2. No ‘peaking’ year for emission levels
  3. No international monitoring and review of voluntary domestic actions.

National climate change programmes

In June 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released India’s first National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The NAPCC is a 52-page outline of how the country seeks to address domestic mitigation and adaption action. It presents policies (existing and future) and eight ‘Missions’ that will address developmental challenges and alleviate climate change at the same time. All actions undertaken through the NAPCC are domestic and not under the purview of any legally binding regimes.

The eight ‘Misisons’ are divided equally between mitigation and adaptation, and “identify measures that promote development objectives while also yielding co-benefits for addressing climate change effectively”.

So far however, only the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched in January 2010, has received a budgetary allocation for the first phase, and amounting to Rs.4,337 crore ($900 million). The JNNSM eventually aims to install 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. A plan under this mission is the Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s (BEE) plan to have 60 solar cities in India by the end of the 11th 5-Year Plan.

The National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), the second flagship mission of the NAPCC, aims at implementing a host of programmes that will tackle energy efficiency in the industry and power sectors largely.  While full details of the mission are not available, it has been approved by cabinet, and has received a budgetary allocation of Rs. 253.35 Crore for the initial phase. 

A draft documents of the ‘Green India Mission’ is ready, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests has projected a total cost of Rs. 44,000 Crore over a period of ten years, starting 2012. 

The Naitional Water Mission and the Sustainable Habitat Mission have been approved by the Prime Minister, but few other details are available on the same.

Some Indian states – including the Himalayan States, Gujarat, Kerala and New Delhi have been proactive in addressing climate change and capitalising on the potential for cleaner energy. New Delhi has launched a climate change action plan modeled closely on the NAPCC, running through 2012, and building greener infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games, for which New Delhi is the host city. Kerala has announced a Rs. 1000 Crore green fund to be used over the next five years, and a Rs 55 Crore scheme that will reach CFL bulbs to 75 lakh households across the state.Orissa has announced a Rs. 5000 Crore project to electrify 3000 remote villages using solar energy. Tripura the capital of Manipur has announced it will be the first CNG and green city by 2013. 191 villages in Jammu and Kashmir are to get solar electricity at the cost of Rs. 54 Crore.

However, what is still lacking is a national climate change strategy, which is reported to be in the making, and likely to be ready by 2012.

For more information:
India Climate Watch
India – Emerging Leadership on Climate Change, Dec 2008
India starts to take on climate change – State of the World 2009

What climate change means for India

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India has reason to be concerned about the effects of climate change2. Across its geography, India shows a wide range of climatic conditions – from the high altitude Himalayas to the marine climates of the coastline and islands; from the arid deserts of the north-west to the tropical forests of the north-east. Owing to this complex geography, the consequences of changes in climate would vary greatly across the different climatic zones of the country.

Much of the climate and a large proportion of the economy depend on the South West Monsoon – the short three-month period over which nearly all the rainfall occurs over the subcontinent. Any changes in the monsoon will further stress water availability and distribution across the subcontinent.

Regional climate model simulations for India indicate that a 0.4 °C rise in annual air surface temperature has already taken place2. Predicted increases in maximum and minimum temperatures and increased frequency and intensity of floods and drought are likely to adversely affect agriculture, ecosystems, coastal zones, health and infrastructure.

Projections of rainfall vary from model to model, but it is projected climate change will affect water balance in various parts of the country, and alter the quality of ground water.

Reduced water availability – owing to glacier retreat and decreased rainfall will increase water stress. These and other impacts become significant in light of projected water demands from a growing population: estimated to rise to 980 billion cubic metres by 2050.

River basins of west-flowing Mahi, Pennar, Sabarmati and Tapati are likely to experience constant water scarcities, while the river basins of the Cauvery, Ganga, Narmada and Krishna are likely to experience seasonal or regular water-stressed conditions.

Agriculture

Sixty-eight percent of agriculture in India is rain-fed, and depends heavily on the quantity and distribution of rainfall2. Predicted effects include a drop in wheat production if the effects of climate change are ‘pessimistic’ – i.e, higher temperature increase.

Ecosystems

Regional climate model predictions indicate shifts in forest boundary, changes in species assemblages, and 70 percent of forest vegetation likely to be less optimally adapted to their existing locations. These are long-term and irreversible impacts, for which long-term adaptation strategies need to be developed. Mangroves submergence and increased wetland salinity are likely to occur with sea level rise, as also bleaching of degraded coral reefs that are typical to South Asia.

Coastal Areas

India’s coastline is densely populated – with an average population density of 455 persons per km2 as opposed to the national average is 324. Adverse effects are likely to be worsening of existing coastal zone problems such as erosion, flooding, and the submergence and deterioration of coastal ecosystems.

A one-meter sea level rise could displace about 7.1 million people, and result in the loss of 5674 sq. km of land, damage coastal infrastructure and result in the salinisation of fertile agricultural soils.

Health

Similar to other tropical countries, India is predicted to have increased susceptibility to vector-borne diseases such as malaria – projected to move to higher latitudes and altitudes, covering ten percent more area in 2080 than it did in 2000.

References

  1. Amarasinghe et al. India’s water supply and demand from 2025-2050: Business as Usual Scenario and Issues. IWMI
  2. India National Communications. 2004

India and Climate Change

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Introduction


India is a large developing country of sub-continental proportions – home to 1.1 billion people or 17 percent of the world’s population. A large proportion of this population continues to live in rural areas and depends heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and forestry for its livelihood2. With rapid economic growth, however, the demand for goods, services and energy has soared and large shortfalls are emerging. The government estimates that the rate of growth of energy demand will be 5.2 percent each year if it is to provide energy to all citizens.

It is said that India is a rich country with a lot of poor people.  The paradox of India is evident in her contradictions. She has the largest number of poor people in the world, with 45% of children malnourished, and yet has more billionaires than Japan4 and a burgeoning middle class aspiring to western consumption standards. The country has advanced space and nuclear programmes, the world’s fifth largest navy3, and is a world leader in a range of technologies from electric vehicles to solar power. And yet, more than sixty years after Independence, official estimates suggest that anything from 400 to 600 million Indians still do not have access to basic electricity.

Public policy on climate change officially therefore continues to be guided by the need to eradicate poverty and develop economically. The Government of India maintains that “the most important adaptation measure to climate change is development itself”8. This approach can be seen in the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which seeks to promote development objectives that yield ‘co-benefits’ that address climate change but are not solely aimed at mitigation or reducing emissions.

Economy and emissions

India is now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world10 after China and the United States. Its per capita emissions are low, however, given the size of the population and account for one-tenth the global average. As an industrializing nation, India’s emissions have risen in the past few decades. Over the period 1994 to 2007, India’s emissions nearly doubled2  and have continued to grow since.

The economic reforms of the 1990s put India on its growth path and the country began to achieve high growth rates of over 7 percent per year. India is now the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of GDP (purchasing power parity) at US$ 3.56 trillion in 20099. Its ranking on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index however is dismal – India ranked 138 out of 180 on the list in 2008 – indicative of the massive strides yet to be taken on the development front.

Vulnerable land, vulnerable billion

India’s geography and climate are as varied as the country. The Himalayas mark the northern boundaries, the Thar Desert the Western, a 7500 km densely populated coastline along the peninsula, and a heavily monsoon-dependent economy, all make India vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The future predicted impacts of climate change (IPCC 2004 report) include a decrease in snow cover in the Himalayas, erratic monsoons, rising sea levels and an increase in the frequency and intensity of floods2. There is already evidence of prominent increase in the intensity and/or frequency of extreme weather events across Asia11.

Such impacts are likely to reduce the availability of fresh water, threaten food security, affect agricultural production and the people dependent on it, adversely impact natural ecosystems and human health, and exacerbate existing coastal zone problems across a densely populated coast line2.

Counting and countering emissions

India emits 1.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, as of 200710. Most of the emissions come from a heavy dependence on coal, much of which is used to generate electricity. Energy production, most of which comes from coal, accounts for 61 percent of the country’s emissions, and agriculture accounts for 15 percent emissions2. Despite a growing economy, emissions intensity (GHGs per unit of GDP) has dropped and is 20% lower than the global average.

Future emissions are set to grow rapidly, owing to high economic growth rates and carbon-intensive development. With current development patterns and business-as usual growth, India could be responsible for up to 6 billion tonnes of GHG emissions by 20307, and lock-in carbon-intensive practices in all areas of growth (industry, buildings, transport, and power).

In the mid-term, the Indian government has pledged to cut its carbon intensity by 20 to 25 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. While these efforts are unlikely to bring about a major deviation from business as usual emission trajectories, they are indicative of initial efforts to mitigate climate change by the government.

End Notes

1.       World Bank, 2005
2.       India’s National Communicationsto the UNFCCC, 2004
3.       Indian Navy; GlobalSecurity.org.
4.       Forbes billionaires list 2010
5.       United Nations Statistics Division, 2006
6.       CDIAC 2006
7.       India’s GHG emissions profile: results of five climate modeling studies. MoEF 2009
8.       National Action Plan on Climate Change
9.       CIA Factbook – India
10.     International Energy Agency 2010.
11.     IPCC 2007 report: Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation

Education & Outreach

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Aegis:

In India, the vast majority of people are unaware of the issues relating to global warming and climate change. This population includes people from many walks of life from the affluent to the poor, from students to professionals, from teachers to home- makers, etc.

Regardless of our socio-economic status, everyone faces the consequences of climate change. Our contributions to climate change, however, vary. We must all become aware and take necessary action at individual and group levels to mitigate our contribution to climate change and to be able to adapt to it.

Our initiative, Democratizing Climate Change Discourses, reaches out to many different kinds of audiences with information on climate change and what we can all do about it. Climate change education is an integral part of our effort.

Climate change education:

CSM has been conducting multimedia, interactive, and inter-disciplinary workshops for students of classes 7 and above thus far. Soon, we will be offering workshops for others – teachers, employees of companies, civil service personnel, civic groups, home-makers, etc. The content, format, and duration of the workshops are flexible to suit the audiences.

At present, workshops are provided in English and Kannada. Soon, we will be offering them in Bengali.

For educational institutions, we are currently working towards gradual inclusion of climate change into the syllabus of various educational curricula.

For students:

Student workshops are graded into three levels: One Star, Two Star, and Three Star.

One Star: climate and weather, climate change, interdisciplinary understanding of the topic, responding to climate change. For all audiences with suitable modifications.
Two Star: Case studies in climate change. Best suited for students in 9th standard and above (including college)
Three Star: Option A – a selected climate change-related research project; Option B – history and development of the climate change issue.

In all cases, we will help schools assess students for formal academic credit also, if desired.

Thus far, we have provided workshops at:
• Army Public School, Bangalore [English] – ongoing.
• Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore [English]
• Shantinikethana English Medium School, Bangalore [English]
• Netaji High School, Bangalore [Kannada]
• Audugodi Government High School for students of 8th and 9th standards [Kannada]

In Kolkata we have offered workshops at these schools, in partnership with Dep. of Environment and Dep. of Forests, Gov. of West Bengal:
• Patha Bhavan
• Loreto Day School – Sealdah
• St. Joseph and Mary School
• St. James’ School
• Chowringhee High School

More workshops are forthcoming for students, teachers, and others.

If you would like to organize climate change education workshops for
• a formal group (schools, students, civic organization, etc.)
• an informal group (friends, family, etc.)
• or would like to join one of our in-house workshops

please contact cced@csmworld.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for details.

Student feedback – Kolkata

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STUDENT FEEDBACK – KOLKATA WORKSHOPS

 

 

 

“Graphical representation of the reducing of ice caps or increase in temperature was really interesting… This workshop should be shown all over the world, if possible.”

— (Anonymous student, Patha Bhaban)

 

 

 

“It was very interesting. Sir was very friendly and so problem of not understanding did not occur. I would love to attend the next level workshops also, if possible”

— (Rupsa Sengupta, Patha Bhaban)

 

 

 

 

 

“The workshop was very interesting. So much better than ordinary school coaching.”

(Anonymous student, Patha Bhaban)

 

 

“It was a very good workshop that I have attended in my life, because the Sir was very friendly with us and he always makes us laugh and I would thank to them who have organized this workshop from the bottom of my heart.”

— (Md. Atif Azad, Chowringhee High School)

 

 

 

 

“The interaction and the manner it was taught to us. Sir, your teaching was awesome! We had a great time and fun and learned a lot of things. Hope v meet again!!”

— (Tazamul Sarfaraz, Chowringhee High School)

 

 

“It was fun and did not make go to sleep.”
(Anushka Mitra, Loreto Day School Sealdah)
“The … video which was showing methane burning / the flames coming out from the ice. The competition which we had between our groups. The workshop is already excellent what else we must tell to make the workshop better.”

— (Afreen Khatoon, Loreto Day School Sealdah)

 

 

 

 

“I learnt what I can do to prevent Earth from getting hotter. It was fun.”
— (Divij Agarwal, St. James’ School)

 

 

“A great way to increase your knowledge about climate change. A very good way to prepare the mind of children for the next level and I would like to attend it again.”

— (Kanishka Agrawal, St. James’ School)

 

 

 

 

“The workshop was awesome and it should come again in our school with some other topics.”

— (Sanjukta Chatterjee, St. Joseph & Mary School)

 

 

“Practical experiments can be tried. The whole school should attend the workshop so that they can also be aware of this. This workshop has influenced me a lot and I’ve decided to check some of my activities that affects (sic) the environment.”

— (Pratyesha Bhattacharya, Patha Bhaban)

 

 

 

 

“The workshop made me a lot more aware about my environment than before. The activities which were performed… were really exciting. We should provide a bit more time for the activities.”

— (Mayurakshi Mukherjee, Patha Bhaban)

 

 

“I learned that I can do something to help reduce climate change. [I] hope this workshop always be continued and the conversation was free and there was no restrictions.”

— (Priya Jaiswal, Chowringhee High School)

 

 

 

 

“Several quizes and prizes should be there in a workshop.”

— (Md. Sabir, Chowringhee High School)

 

 

“The ability to make us understand the topics. The interconnection of the subjects as shown. The workshop should be given a little more time to have more interaction and fun.”

— (Anonymous student, , Chowringhee High School)

 

 

 

 

“The [movie] clips were very well to make us understand about the global warming. The topic was really very interesting. By these things we can really work hard in our future to reduce global warming.”

— (Midhat Samar, Loreto Day School Sealdah)

 

 

“It was interesting especially the part where the methane gas catches fire. The uncle who conducted the quiz explained us very well. If there was a movie or more videos with better sound, it would be great”

— (Anonymous student, St. James’ School)

 

 

 

 

“The slides made were fantastic and very interesting.”

— (Anonymous student, St. James’ School)

 

 

“It taught us the red alerts to the nature. The maps.”

— (Anonymous student, St. Joseph & Mary School)

 

 

 

 

CSM begins workshops in Kolkata

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CSM begins climate change education work in West Bengal.

In partnership with the Ministry of Environment, and Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal, CSM has started a project to bring climate change (CC) education to schools in West Bengal. We began with a series of engagements in Kolkata in the first week of May 2010.

We conducted interactive workshops at Patha Bhavan, Loreto Day School – Sealdah, St. Joseph and Mary School, St. James’ School, and Chowringhee High School (all in Kolkata) for students in standards 8-10.

The response to the workshops was overwhelmingly positive.

Each interactive multi-media workshop took the students through a recap of climate concepts and terms, concepts of anthropogenic (human-caused) and natural global warming, climate change, and the impacts of these.  Video clips, animations, and slides were used to illustrate the topics throughout.

Students were engaged in a dialogue to not only learn about climate change, but also to understand how everything they study at school is interconnected; and how they all connect to climate change.

Students were given informative posters on climate change, bookmarks with “Five things to remember” about climate change and related topics, and certificates of participation.

Wherever possible, we asked the groups of students to confer and tell the whole group what each person would do to help reduce their impact on the climate and what their school could realistically do to reduce impact on the climate. Most students went so far as to suggest how they would actually help the schools achieve this.

They also competed in climate change word-finding competitions, winning a rather unusual prize.

Through cheerful interaction, fun engagement, and smattering of competition, students added to whatever they knew about climate change.

We also held a briefing for school Principals and teachers at Aranya Bhaban on “From subjects to disciplines — climate change education as a tool”.  Fifteen schools were represented at this briefing. Four of these schools signed up for student workshops to be held in the next quarter.

This is just the beginning of an ongoing and longer-term climate change education engagement among CSM, the schools, Ministry of Environment, and Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal.

If you would like to organize workshops at your school, for students and/or teachers, please get in touch with us at cced@csmworld.org



Proudly announcing partnerships for the program

Principals’ and teachers’ briefing in progress.
 

Group discussions underway at principals’/teachers’ briefing.

 

Participants at the principals’/teachers’ briefing.

 

Students at Chowringhee High School, deep in discussions.

Chowringhee High School student painting part of a concept
(“habitat loss”) on the workshop presenter.

 

Chowringhee High School student presenting the outcomes
of his group’s discussions.

Participants at Loreto school painting climate
change information on each other

Participant at Loreto – Sealdah analyzes a venn diagram brilliantly!
(They have not yet been taught set theory!)

Participant at Patha Bhavan school emphatically makes
a point that emerged from her group’s discussions.
 

Participants at the St. James’ School climate change workshop.

Participants at St. Joseph & Mary hold up their
“Five Things to Remember” bookmarks.

Student feedback – Bangalore

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STUDENT FEEDBACK – BANGALORE WORKSHOPS

      
“What I really liked about this class was, I learned about the difference between weather and climate, that temperatures are rising, and what I learned about the environment is how the heat is being produced. My wish is that he (the teacher) should come again sometime.”
— Vignesh, 9th standard,Netaji Bose High School, Hombegowdanagara, Bangalore 		    “We learned where methane comes from, and about Earth, carbon dioxide, methane … we are increasing the heat … we did not know so much. Thank you for teaching all these things. You taught us with a lot of jokes and comedy. I request you to come again to our school and teach us about these things.”
— Tejasvini, 9th standard,Netaji Bose High School, Hombegowdanagara, Bangalore
       
“What I liked most about this class was you took a topic and described it well and you also showed us the related topics.”
— Shivalakshmi, 9th standard,Netaji Bose High School, Hombegowdanagara, Bangalore		     “Our friends must be told about this. Likewise, we should tell our parents not to burn plastics and tyres and create carbon dioxide, not to cut trees … everyone should be taught this. This is my suggestion.”
— Priya, 9th standard,Netaji Bose High School, Hombegowdanagara, Bangalore
       
“I liked the interaction between the students and the professor, and the team work.”
— Priyanka K, 9th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.		     “I liked the idea of working in a group, the slides, the videos, and the explanation.”
— Chirag Jain, 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.
       
“Creating awareness about rapid change in climate … I liked it because no other workshop tells us about climate and area surrounding us. There was a mixing of all subjects which were inter-related to each other and we didn’t know.”
— Chetan Prakash, 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore. 		    “The topic was interesting and the way of explanation was very good. It was fun, interesting.”
— Hemanth S., 9th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.
       
“Conduct the workshop in parks so that even people going by will learn about (climate change).”
— Akilesh Patel, 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.		     “I liked the cooperative learning with friends and teacher teaching as a friend.”
— Sanath V. Bharadwaj, 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.
       
“I liked the concept of sharing thoughts between students and teacher.”
— Mohan C.K., 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore. 		    “I liked Sir’s interactive behaviour and teaching skills which is amazing and easy to understand. Totally a fabulous workshop which I will try to remember forever.”
— Sagar V., 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.
       
“I liked the programme’s concern about the individual’s importance in safeguarding the climate of our Mother planet.”
— Janardhan, J.S., 10th standard, Shanthinikethana English School, Bangalore.		     “It told us about the climate that is changing due to us… how we can help in reducing the global warming.”
— Sanjay Rawat, 8th standard, Army Public School, Bangalore
       
“It was in an interesting way, not like the usual lectures we get. It was fun and influenced me.”
— Anahat Kaur, 8th standard, Army Public School, Bangalore		    

“It was not restricted to only listening to someone else; we all had chance to voice our ideas and opinions. I learned new ways of tackling global warming which I had never thought of.”
— Christina Mathew, 8th standard, Army Public School, Bangalore

       

Students’ feedback at Kannada language workshops

      
       
   
   
     
       

India Climate Watch – April 2010

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INDIA CLIMATE WATCH – APRIL 2010 (Issue13)

Inside this issue
Editorial: Meetings like this?
SAARC summit: promise of possibility?
Industries get a PAT this year
New EU Climate Commissioner visits Maldives and India 
Old wine in new bottle: BASIC meet and declare
Uttarakhand Government’s meet on environment
Climate events round-up

Editor:
Malini Mehra

Research & Reporting
Kaavya Nag, Somya Bhatt, Pranav Sinha, Malini Mehra

April was a month of high-profile climate meetings. While neighbourhood diplomacy stepped up a gear with the SAARC Summit, the newly-emerging markets powerbloc, BASIC, met in Cape Town to strategize on climate positions. A continent away in Europe, UN member states came together for the first time since the fiasco of Copenhagen to declaim on climate and prepare for the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) meeting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Mexico later this year. The short weekend meeting – held from Friday 9th April –  Sunday 11 April, brought the two Working Groups on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 11) and Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 9), together for the next round of negotiations following on from Copenhagen.

The mood music was not cheerful. Recriminations were still floating and bruisings from the battle for the Copenhagen Accord still evident. Not the best indication that the world is on course to meet the climate challenge – still in the world of diplomacy, if one meeting fails, there will surely be another one not far off. Not the ideal sense of urgency one would hope for but it does means that the June session of the UNFCCC in Bonn has to raise the game considerably.

SAARC summit: promise of possibility?

Climate Change was the theme of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Heads of State of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), which took place in Thimphu, Bhutan, on 28-29 April 2010. Heads of State of the eight countries adopted the ‘Thimphu Statement on Climate Change’, which includes  among other things, establishing an inter-governmental expert group on climate change, and planting ten million trees in the region over the next five years (2010-15).

The statement is fairly detailed in the promises it hopes to keep, including providing capital for low-carbon technologies, a massive regional afforestation and reforestation campaign, future plans to protect archaeological monuments, strengthen understanding of shared oceans, biodiversity, mountain ecosystems, monsoon initiative, and plan for disaster risk reduction.

The summit also called for cooperation among member states on a range of issues including the formation of an expert group, knowledge sharing and capacity building.

The leaders underscored the need to initiate a process to formulate a common SAARC position on climate change for COP16, including issues such as separate financing for adaptation and mitigation, and technology transfer. Divergent economic drivers have so far been some of the biggest barriers to a common SAARC position, with countries such as the Maldives and Bangladesh on the one hand pushing for strong international pledges in the interests of reducing the adverse future effects of climate change, and developing major India, also a part of SAARC, committing only to reducing emissions intensity by 20-25 percent by 2020.

Listed below are the key initiatives and proposals:

·        Establish an Inter-governmental Expert Group on Climate Change to develop clear policy direction and guidance for regional cooperation
·        Commission a study on ‘Climate Risks in the Region’
·        Explore the feasibility of a SAARC mechanism that will provide financial capital for low-carbon technology and renewable energy projects
·        Strengthen the understanding of shared water bodies in the region through an Marine Initiative
·        Inter-governmental Mountain Initiative to study mountain ecosystems and glaciers, and their contribution to livelihoods and sustainable development
·        an Inter-governmental Monsoon Initiative on the evolving pattern of monsoons to assess vulnerability due to climate change
·        SAARC Inter-governmental Climate-related Disasters Initiative on the integration of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) with Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
·        Establish institutional linkages among national institutions in the region to facilitate sharing of knowledge and capacity building programmes in climate change
·        Enhance cooperation in the energy sector to facilitate energy trade, development of efficient conventional and renewable energy sources including 
         hydropower.
·        Action Plan on Energy Conservation would be prepared by the SAARC Energy Centre (SEC), Islamabad and creation of a web portal on Energy Conservation 
         for exchange of information and sharing of best practices among SAARC Member States.

Climate change has become a core issue for SAARC as the entire region is vulnerable to the impacts of environmental degradation and regional collaborative efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change have gained prominence. However, although climate change has been part of the agenda right from the 5th SAARC Summit in 1990, even a 2007 ministerial meet in Dhaka and the ‘SAARC Action Plan on Climate Change’ yielded no concrete results. Pledges to act on the Action Plan between 2009 and 2012 have not yet been initiated. While leaders have pledged in Thimphu to review its implementation and  establish an expert group under it to develop a clear policy direction it remains to be seen whether actions will follow words.

Neither did SAARC countries defend a common position at Poznan (2008) or Copenhagen (2009) at the UN conferences on climate change.

While this April 2010 Thimphu Summit provided an opportunity to devise a common climate agenda as a regional group, it remains to be seen whether possible areas of cooperation will be implemented or shelved, as is the normal pattern.


Industries get a PAT this year

Indian industry is the primary consumer of electrical energy in India, accounting for 42 percent of the country’s total commercial energy use in 2004-05. With a high growth rate across all industry sectors (small, medium and large enterprises), electricity capacity addition needs to touch 400 GW by 2030 if it is to meet the demands of all consumers (private and commercial) across the country.The Indian government hopes to meet some of this deficit by improving energy efficiency across both electricity providers and consumers through the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE). This rather than increasing production while doing nothing about inefficiencies in the sector appears to be the way forward.

The NMEEE is expected to account for annual fuel savings in excess of 23 million toe by 2014, achieve a cumulative avoided electricity capacity addition of 19,000 MW, and save 98 million tons CO2 emissions per year.

The “Perform Achieve and Trade” (PAT) scheme is a market-based mechanism under the NMEEE, crucial for achieving these targets. It aims to fix specific energy consumption (SEC) targets for large energy-guzzling installations across India. Nine sectors in which the PAT scheme is to be operationalised have been identified – power stations, cement, steel, fertilisers, aluminium, chlor-alkali, paper, textiles and railways. 714 energy-intensive installations across these sectors have been identified as the initial targets for the PAT scheme.  The scheme is limited to energy efficiency targets, and does not cover other sources of carbon emissions.

Under the PAT scheme, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (the implementer of the NMEEE) will issue Energy Savings Certificates (ESCerts) to the identified (714) installations (factories or power production facilities), against targets that the BEE will set for them. Installations will have to meet their targets, and those having excess ESCerts can sell credits to those who fall short – much like the Kyoto protocol’s carbon credit mechanism.

Speaking at the 2nd Indo German Energy Symposium, BEE Director General, Ajay Mathur said ‘a wide bandwidth of energy efficiencies occurs in almost all industry sectors which creates a differentiated potential for energy savings. Designing benchmarks and standards are challenging tasks for us’. What he means to say, for those of us unfamiliar with energy terms, is that owing to several standards and benchmarks, BEE is not going to insist on one single benchmark across all industries. Instead, Industry will be allowed to gradually become more energy-efficient from their present levels.

A time frame of three years, beginning April 2011, has been set out by BEE for driving energy-intensive manufacturing companies to adhere to energy conservation norms, and for ESCerts to become a reality.


New EU Climate Commissioner Visits Maldives and India  

The European Union’s new Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, visited Maldives on 6 April and India on 7-9 April to convey a fresh EU negotiating strategy on climate talks post Copenhagen. The Maldives and India were among the countries which negotiated the Copenhagen Accord, the principal outcome of the Copenhagen conference, and both have pledged emission reduction actions under it.  

This visit was part of the EU outreach programme to pick up the threads from the December 2009 UN climate conference in Copenhagen and discuss how to take international negotiations forward.

As part of her visit to India, Commissioner Hedegaard met environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and the Minister of Coal & Mines, Prakash Jaiswal. She also met with a small group of representatives from industry, NGOs, think tanks, and the World Bank to discuss adaptation and mitigation of climate change including options for low carbon strategies and measures in India.

She commented that India and China cannot be looked at as a single unit, since challenges are different for both countries. Also, that the United States and China need to be moved on climate action. She hoped that India through BASIC as well as other forums could influence China. Hedegaard was against using climate and environment opportunities to create new trade wars, but rather to channel the opportunities through an international framework for a carbon trading system.

As far as the international climate negotiations, the EU wants to get agreement on key elements in Cancun, where the COP16 talks are scheduled in 2010 December, and knock in some progress on contentious issues such as legal form for discussion between Cancun and South Africa (2011).

Also, 24-member European parliamentary delegation, led by Chairman Graham Watson visited India between 26-29th April 2010 to seek fruitful dialogue with India on security, terrorism and climate change, apart from greater cooperation in energy security, cultural and people to people exchange.

Old wine new bottle: BASIC meet and declare

Environment Ministers from the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) block of countries met in Cape Town in late April, in what is now the second time since Copenhagen that the group has met.

The group issued a joint statement in which it called for renewed focus on maintaining the existing framework of the international negotiations – the two-track approach of the Kyoto Protocol for short-term industrialised country emission reduction targets, and the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA) for action under the Convention. Ministers maintained that political agreements on contentious issues must be ‘translated’ into the official negotiating texts, but that the UNFCCC is the only legitimate forum for climate change negotiations.

Stating that ‘internationally binding legal agreements already exist’ under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and the Kyoto Protocol, Ministers felt that the UNFCCC process must conclude a legally binding outcome by Cancun this year, or at the most, by 2011 when negotiations will be held in South Africa. The Joint Statement also pushed for operationalising the promised fast-track finance of USD 10 billion to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation action.

The previous meeting, held prior to the January 31st deadline for the Copenhagen Accord’s proposed country actions submissions, was held in New Delhi. Here, ministers met to discuss a common strategy and response to the Copenhagen Accord. The group also indicated that they would soon announce a  BASIC-led fund to help other developing countries cope with climate change. However, no details regarding the BASIC fund have emerged from the April 25th Cape Town meeting, although reference to the Delhi meeting was made in the joint statement.

While the Joint Statement elaborated areas under the UNFCCC negotiations that could make progress prior to Cancun, such as fast start finance, implementation of REDD, architecture on technology transfer, adaptation programmes and a MRV work programme; no significant internal (i.e. BASIC-centric) actions were proposed or elaborated from previous meetings.

The BASIC countries decided that moving forward, they would hold another meeting, this time in Brazil, to recast the equity debate


Uttarakhand Government’s meet on Environment

Following in the footsteps of Nepal, which held a cabinet meeting at the Mount Everest base camp to draw the attention of the world community towards receding glaciers, the government of Uttarakhand held a 12-member cabinet meeting on the banks of River Ganga at Haridwar. The main objective of this meeting was to highlight the environmental concerns of the state with a major focus on the River Ganga and the receding Gangotri glacier.

The meeting led to the decision to set up a Ganga Conservation Board  – an autonomous body which will work towards the restoration of the river and the Gangotri glacier. The government has also billed a plan called the ‘Ganga Nirmal Yojna’ which will work on the cleaning the river. A six point resolution was passed in order to achieve the mammoth task of cleaning the river.

EVENTS ROUNDUP FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2010

1.      1, 2 and 3 April 2010, The Al Gore Sustainable technology venture competition, Chennai: Hosted by IIT Madras, it is Asia’s first and most prestigious sustainable/clean technology business plan competition, founded in 2007

2.      7 April 2010, National Workshop on Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management, New Delhi: Organised by SEED and Christian Aid with support from DFID, this conference focused around filling the gaps between climate change adaptation, social protection and disaster risk reduction.

3.      12 and 13 April 2010, Algae Bio-fuel Workshop, New Delhi: Organised by the Grow Diesel Climate Care Council the main focus of the workshop was the next generation bio fuel using algae as a main feedstock. The workshop brought together investors, entrepreneurs, Bio fuel companies, renewable fuel experts, their associates and academia to share their valuable experiences and knowledge.

4.      13 April 2010, Climate leader initiative on ‘Climate Change and Conservation’, Kolkata: Organised by EMPATHY this seminar focused on the key issues related to Environment and conservation and saw participation from different stakeholders.

5.      23 and 24 April 2010, National Conference on Ensuring Food Security in a Changing Climate, New Delhi: This conference was jointly organised by Gene Campaign and Action Aid India the conference was attended by participants from twenty two states. A range of speakers representing the scientific community, the government, academics, international organizations and civil society groups working on agriculture and environment spoke about the various issues involved in ensuring food security in a changing climate.

6.      27 April 2010, Water Conclave, New Delhi: Organised by CII with proper management of available water resources being the main theme this conclave saw the participation from a number of investors, entrepreneurs, academia, scientists, water resources experts and other stakeholders.

7.      28 and 29 April 2010, 2nd Indo-German Energy Symposium, New Delhi: Organised by the Indo-German Energy forum this symposium had two main focus areas being decentralized renewable energies and demand side energy efficiency.   Meeting the objective of decoupling development from energy consumption and related CO2 emissions, India submitted within the National Action Plan on Climate Change the National Solar Mission and the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency. The agenda of the Symposium was to strengthen the bilateral dialogue focussing on these initiatives

 

India Climate Watch – March 2010

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INDIA CLIMATE WATCH – MARCH 2010 (Issue12) 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Comment: Earth Hour 2010
India accepts CA with reservations – special focus on Chindia and UNFCCC
Shyam Saran demits office; India on lookout for key negotiators after Ghosh & Dasgupta quit
MoEF splits into Forests & Wildlife
Chindia co-operation for environment
Chindia MOU & bilaterals – analysis
Global Warming casts its shadow upon Kerala
Climate events round-up for March 2010

Editor:
Malini Mehra

Research & Reporting
Kaavya Nag, Somya Bhatt, Pranav Sinha, Malini Mehra

Highlights

MoEF to spilt traditionally clubbed wildlife and forestry divisions into two. Process officially approved by PM

India accepts CA with reservations – special focus on Chindia and UNFCCC

After months of dilly-dallying on whether or not to put its name into the Copenhagen Accord, India finally allowed for a conditional association. In full coordination, and just a day after, China too asked for its name to be put under the accord conditionally.

While both countries were key players in drafting the Accord while in Copenhagen, they soon distanced themselves from it, maintaining that the Accord was undoubtedly a political exercise.

In his letter to the then Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer on March 8th, key Indian negotiator R.R. Rashmi made clear three points;

1)      The Accord is a political document and is not legally binding.
2)      The Accord is not a separate and third track of negotiations outside of the UNFCCC
3)      The purpose of the Accord is to bring about greater consensus on the existing two-track UNFCCC process, and to ‘facilitate the ongoing two-track negotiations under the UNFCCC…’.

Rashmi further indicated that India would be willing to be listed in the chapeau of the Copenhagen Accord, given the understanding that neither the Accord nor portions of it would become a new track under the UNFCCC negotiations. And neither would it be included in any part of the negotiating text.

Just a day later, Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh address Parliament, explaining why India has acceded to the Accord. He indicated that the government believed, that acceding to the Accord would ‘strengthen our negotiating position on climate change’.

Similarly, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said ‘it is neither viable nor acceptable to start a new negotiation process outside the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol’. But China too, on 9th March, agreed to have its name included in the Accord, with the Director General of China’s department of climate change Si Wei confirming that the UNFCCC could include its name in the Accord.

A Ministry of Defense annual report clearly highlights tensions on China’s modernization of military forces along the northern borders. Nevertheless, India and China have rapidly moved towards convergence on climate-related issues. With both countries pursuing high-growth development pathways and refusing to accept any legally binding emissions under the UNFCCC, their climate-relationship continues to be cemented.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu reportedly told Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, that China regards cooperation in the field of climate change as the most successful example of bilateral cooperation with India.

This has been evident ever since the two countries signed an agreement to address climate change, and teamed up along with two other developing giants to form the BASIC group.

Bilateral cooperation has charged ahead with the two countries meeting in end March to chart out their future course of action. This round of talks will be followed up with two more rounds in April and May.

Shyam Saran demits office, India looks for new negotiators

As reported earlier, Shyam Saran – the Prime Minister’s special envoy on climate change – demitted office on 14th March 2010. Mr. Saran resigned from the post on February 19 reportedly after having differences with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh over India’s climate policy.

India had shifted its stance on climate change policy—from one that out and out refused to take on any binding emission reduction targets to a more accepting stance of taking on voluntary cuts in emissions intensity. All this, within a calendar year. The move effectively shocked old guard bureaucrats and policy-makers, who had, up until then, been the sole drivers of India’s climate policy.

With this, speculation over the reconstitution of the Prime Minister’s Panel on Climate Change has also become stronger. Union minister (of state) for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has reportedly dropped Prodipto Ghosh and Chandrashekhar Dasgupta — his most vocal critics — from the suggestive list of members on the negotiating team, which he forwarded to the PM. The two veteran ex-bureaucrats along with Saran, often held dramatically different views than Ramesh on what India’s negotiating position should be at the international climate talks.

This move, as well as statements to the press by Ramesh, have sent out clear signals that Ramesh believes bureaucrats must not be able to sway national policy based on their beliefs. In effect, only those officials who are willing to follow a more flexible approach at the negotiations are welcome to remain.

It is expected that a new negotiating team will be in place for the next round of climate talks which begin in Bonn on April 9th. The MoEF had approached Ajay Mathur, the director general (DG) of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to represent India in Germany. However, Mathur was not keen on donning the role of a chief negotiator, considering his work at BEE was likely to suffer. The new list of negotiators is expected to be short listed by none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The government also plans to create an inter-ministerial body coordinated by the climate change division at the department of science and technology to resolve contentious scientific issues on the impact of global warming on India. This body will complement the efforts of the environment ministry, but concentrate on sorting out differences of opinion between experts on the actual impact of climate change on India’s monsoon, forests and farming systems and see that whatever input we present internationally will be unanimous.

India-China team up on environment

The two major developing giants India and China, particularly given their rapid and escalating rates of growth, are likely to be two of the largest resource users in the years to come. Given this, ambitious scientific and economic cooperation between the two is essential in order to combat the effects such development will have on climate change and biodiversity loss.

While possibly not for such egalitarian reasons, India and China’s growing environment-related cooperation is a step in the right direction. The growing bonds of environment and climate cooperation are a stark contrast to the bitter military disputes in the past. But after forming the group of BASIC countries, the first bilateral relations on environment which began on 26th March, are further cementing Chindia’s green relations.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met with Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to discuss cooperation in forestry and wildlife, application of biotechnology in agriculture, environment management and climate change. Ramesh indicated that forestry and agriculture dominated the discussions.

China’s plans of increasing artificial forest cover by 4 million hectares each year seem to have inspired India, which is ten times as slow, at 4 million hectares in ten years. China currently has the maximum area under artificial forest cover for any country – over 53 million hectares – according to statistics released by the State Forestry Administration (China). Plans are to increase area under forest cover from 18.21 percent in 2008 to 26 percent by 2050, and plant 40 million hectares of forest over the next ten years.

India’s own aspirational target is 30 percent forest cover. Currently and according to government figures, ‘tree cover’ in India is pegged at 20 percent, and after the talks, seems to have gained some inspiration from this high level of Chinese ambition.

A high level team is scheduled to visit China in April to discuss possibilities for forestry research, surveys and management.

While BT crops and their related issues were discussed, wildlife protection was also an area that was touched upon.

Eight researchers from across the world have incidentally published an appeal for greater scientific cooperation between India and China in the journal Science. The report comes close on the heels of this bilateral between the developing majors. The report calls for ‘more earnest cooperation between the world’s two most populous countries’.

ChIndia MOU & bilaterals – analysis

China India’s ‘Bhai-Bhai’ cooperation on Climate Change reached the next level in late October last year, when the two sides signed a five-year agreement to jointly fight climate change and negotiate international climate deals. The partnership is also expected to strengthen their bilateral dialogue. The agreement, which came ahead of United Nations climate-change summit held in Copenhagen in December 2009, was signed by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice-Chairman Xie Zhenhua. China’s NDRC and India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests will be designated authority for implementation of this agreement. The cooperation is also important in terms of negotiations as there is virtually no difference between Indian and Chinese negotiating positions on international climate treaties, said Ramesh in a statement.

Highlights of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)

·         Hold ministerial consultations to deepen mutual understanding, strengthen coordination and enhance cooperation, and conduct regular exchange of views
·         Establish an India- China Working Group on Climate Change. The Working Group will hold annual meetings alternately in China and India to discuss respective domestic policies and measures and implementation of related cooperative projects.
·         Agree to strengthen their exchange of views and cooperation on mitigation policies, programmes, projects, technology development and demonstration relating to greenhouse gas emission reduction on following: (a) Energy conservation and energy efficiency (b) Renewable energies (c) Clean coal (d) Methane recovery and utilization (e) Afforestation and sustainable management of forests and ecosystems (f) Transportation (g) Sustainable habitat.
·         To enhance cooperation in the area of adaptation recognize the equal priority of adaptation and mitigation in tackling climate change

Experts from both sides who participated in a workshop, shared their respective national action plans to tackle climate change including domestic initiatives, issues in multilateral negotiations (mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and finance) and outlook for the Copenhagen conference in December 2009.

In order to take forward the bilateral cooperation in tackling issues of climate change, India and China held talks on 26th March 2010 to chart out future course of action. During the visit, Vice Premier of China Mr Hui Liangyu regarded Climate Change as the most successful example of bilateral cooperation. He said,” We will be exchanging ideas on what more we need to do.” As part of the cooperation, Ramesh will be visiting China April 10-11 and May 7-9 to attend meetings related to climate change. Recently, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh also announced an agreement with China for glaciological studies would be finalised soon as shrinking glaciers is a big area of cooperation.

Global Warming casts shadow on Kerala

Kerala- ‘God’s Own Country’ has been witness to the effects of global warming in past, in the form of changes in rainfall pattern, depleting groundwater and rise in mean annual temperatures among others. With its 550km of coastline, Kerlala has already been predicted in IPCC reports to be one of the worst affected  from increasing sea levels and drying up of fresh water resources.  By mid-March this year, temperature across the state rose to unprecedented levels, leading to more than 20 cases of severe sun burns . The highest temperature recorded was 42 degree centigrade from the Palakkad district , and at a time of year when temperatures never rose to more than 37 degree C in the past, leading to a state of panic amongst the locals as well as the state officials.

A disaster management team was sent by the state government soon after the cases were reported . Later in the month, members of the state assembly agreed  on setting up a task force with short and long term goals to combat the effects of climate change. Finance and revenue minister KP Rajendran announced a fund of Rs 15 crore for relief activities and fight against the looming danger of drought. Chief Minister V.S Achuthanandan has commissioned the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) at Thiruvananthapuram to carry out a detailed research of climate related variations in the state and submit a report that will help formulate effective adaptation and mitigation strategies for the state.

EVENTS ROUND UP FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2010

1.      2, 3 and 4 March, 2010, Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, New Delhi: Organised by US EPA, Govt of India and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI) this expo was attended by people from diverse backgrounds ranging from project developers and financers, policy makers, manufacturers and vendors and industry representatives. The programme included discussions on key methane capture technologies and policy, methane marketplace and government and industry partnerships.

2.      4 and 5 March, 2010, Conference on Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission-The Way Ahead at World Trade Centre, Mumbai: In view of the importance of announcement of the National Solar Mission by GoI Solar Energy Society of India and Electronics today jointly organised this two conference which witnessed global participation and many key issues related to solar power production, policy, technology and implementation were discussed.

3.      5 and 6 March, 2010, Climate Change and CDM opportunities, Hyderabad: This Workshop on climate change and clean development mechanism opportunities in industries, urban infrastructure, buildings, railways, municipalities, agriculture was organised by CCCEA and Siri Energy with the aim of familiarising the participants with the key issues and opportunities in CDM post Copenhagen.

4.      18 March, 2010, World Renewable Energy Technology Congress and Expo 2010, New Delhi: With the central theme of Global Technology Cooperation for Renewable Energy the expo aimed to supplement the efforts of the government by providing a platform to showcase opportunities in the Indian market for global players.

5.      24 March, 2010, Youth Interaction at the British Deputy High Commission, Kolkata: This interactive meet was attended by Young journos, NGO representatives, students of the JU Global Change Program, and Environment Science

6.      25 March, 2010, CII meet on Climate Change, Kolkata: CII, Eastern Region, organised a panel discussion on how to strengthen NGO business partnership to cope with the challenges being thrown up by climate change, according to a CII-ER release. The keynote address was given by Mr Fergus Auld, First Secretary, Climate Change & Energy, British High Commission. Among other speakers were Mr Debal Roy, Chief Environment Officer, Government of West Bengal; Ms Malini Mehra, CEO, Central For Social Markets; Mr Subhas Dutta, green activist; Mr Ram Agarwal, Chairman, West Bengal State Council and Director S R Batliboi & Company; and Mr Sanjay Wadhvani, Deputy High Commissioner, British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata.

7.      29 March, 2010, National Seminar for post-Copenhagen: Immediate task for India, Hyderabad: This was a Seminar for media personnel at the Engineering Staff College of India, Hyderabad.  Organised with the aim of providing an opportunity to the participants to further strengthen their knowledge base on this most important topic of current times to help them educate and inform the public effectively.

Resource Guide – COP 15 Issue

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Name of Company/Organisation
Contact Person
     
Action for a Global Climate Community (AGCC)   Mark Runacres
A.N.College   Not Specified
Aaaranyak   Partha
Adhar   Umashankar Sahu
Adhwana   Dr J Mary John 
Aditi Constructions   Prashant Chavan
Administrative Staff College of India   Dr. Valli Manickam
Advisory Services   Pravik Malik
Air Quality Management Cell of PMC   Dr. Ajay Ojha
Airport Road Mohalla Committee   Satyagrahi
ALERT   Vandana Chavan
All India Disaster Mitigation Institute   Arpita J. Chhatrapati
Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy   Reshmi Vasudevan
Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co   Shardul S. Shroff
Ambuja Cements Ltd   Kishore Kavadiya
Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team   Harry V. Andrews
Aranyam   Pradeep Sebastian
Arun Kapur   Arun Kapur
Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy   Jane Howarth
Asia Carbon Global   Ravi Shunkar
Balipara Tract and Frontier Foundation   Robin Eastment
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS)    Dr A. Atiq Rahman
Bangor University   PA Hollington
BASICS ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CONSULTING  COMPANY   Ashok Singha
Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd.   Rajdeep Lalvani
BETTER ENVIRONMENT FOR LONG(BELL) FOUNDATION    Subash Arumugam
Blue Cross of Hyderabad   Amala Akkineni
Blue Moon Fund   Not Specified 
Bombay Natural History Society   Deepak Apte
British Council Kolkata   Radhika Singh
Businessworld   Sumati Nagrath
CantorCO2e India Private Limited   Dr. Ram Babu
Carbon Disclosure Project   Paul Simpson
Centre for Climate Change and Environment Advisory- Hyderabad   Pradeep Sebastian
Center for Clean Air Policy   Anmol Vannamali
Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA),   Dr. Pushkin Phartiyal
Centre for Climate Justice & Equity   Naveen Mishra
Centre for Development Education   Subbalakshmi Kumar
Centre for Earth Research and Environment Management   Nair
Centre for Earth Science Studies   Dr.M.Baba
Centre for Environment and Development   Dr. Babu Ambat
Centre for Climate Change and Advisory Limited   Sanjay Gadhalay
Centre for Environment Concerns   K.S. Gopal
Centre for Environment Education   Dr. R. Gopichandran
Centre for Green Building Material & Technology   Satyanarayan Mandal
Centre for Policy and Sustainability Research   Prof. Sanjeev Ghotge
Centre for Resource Education   B.V. Subarao 
Centre for Science and Environment   Sunita Narain 
Centre for Social Markets   Malini Mehra
Centre for Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University   N. Dubash
Centre for Youth Development and Activities (CYDA)   Not Available
Chetna   Dr. B. K. Behera
CleanStar Energy Pvt Ltd.   Shashank Verma
CleanStar Trust   Archana Devar
Cleantech India   Razvan
Climate Change Capital   Nakul Zaveri
Climate Change Community   Resource Person
Climate, Energy and Sustainable Development Analysis Centre   Prof. Murari Lal
Centre for Media Studies   Alka Tomar
Coalition Network   Tariq Hyder
Confederation of Indian Industry   Rakhi Roy
Conservation Action Trust   Debi Goenka
Copenhagen Climate Council   Laura Storm
Corporate Communications & Sustainability BT India Pvt Ltd   Dalton Carson
CQuest Capital   Assistant Director
CREM – working on sustainability   D.Sengupta
Daily Loksatta(The indian express group),   Abhi Ghorpade
Damandeep Singh   Damandeep Singh
Delhi Greens   Kartikeya Singh
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited   Rajat Banerji
Department of Botany   Ruqaya jabeen
Dept. of Marine Science,University of Calcutta   Abhijit Mitra
Development Alternatives   Udit Mathur
Development Research Communication and Services Centre   Anshuman Das
Dow Chemical International Pvt Limited   Rakesh Chitkara
Dr. Reddy’s Foundation   Capt. Raghuraman
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd.   R. Subramanyam
DCM ShriRam Consolidated Ltd.    Nisha Menon
E Square Verification Proivate Limited   S.C. Katyal
Eaga Energy Private Limited   Lopamudra Mahapatra
Ecologix Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd.   Seema G R
EcoZen Solutions   Shailesh Gupta
Edelman India   Bharat Ramanan
Emergent Ventures (EVI)   Chirag Talwar
Engineering Staff College of India, organ of The Institution of Engineers-India   Dr Shalini Sharma
Environmenmtal Planning and Coordination Organization (EPCO)   Lokendra Thakka
Environment Conservation Society   Vinay Jaju
Environmental Defense Fund   Nadaa Taiyab
Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP)   John Liu
ENVIS Centre, Department Of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu   Dr. C.  Thomson Jacob
Euro Akadem   Kathrin Hentschel
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI)		   Rita
Federation of Small & Medium Industries   Not Given
FONDATION ENSEMBLE   Irène Serot Almeras
For Food Production (AFPRO)   S. C Jain
Forum of Environmental Journalists of India   Daryl D Monte
Frenz Greenearth Technologies Pvt. Ltd.   Mr. Rajiv Nehru
Friendship Foundation   Vikram aditya
Gadhia Solar   Shirin Gadhia 
Gene Campaign   Dr Suman Sahai
German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)   Dr. Juergen Bischoff
Global Citizens for Sustainable Development   Anugraha John
Global Climate Campaign   Naveen Mishra
Good Earth   Jeeth Iype
Grameen Development Services   Not Given
Green Hopes   Dr.Shuja ul Rehman 
Green Indian States Trust   Pavan Sukhdev
Green Wings   Prof.Dr.Venkatachalam
Greenpeace India   Srinivas Krishnaswamy
Gyaneshwar Singh   Gyaneshwar Singh
Habitable Earth   A.J.Akram 
Hariyali – Environmental Cell of the ILS Law College   Sucheta Dikshit
Heinrich Boll Foundation   Shalini Yog
Hindustan Unilever Ltd   Meeta Singh
HOLISTIC DESH / HOLISTIC BANGALORE    Nilima Bhat
Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited   Anjalee Tarapore
Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)   Malini Thadani
HYDERABAD URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (HUDA),   JAYESH RANJAN
ICLEI South Asia   Emani Kumar
IIT London Chapter   BK Gurtu
Indian Agricultural Research Institute   Director
Indian Institute of Bio Social research and Development(IBRAD)   Dr.S.B.Roy
Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment   Director
Indian Institute of Forest Mangement   Dr. Madhu Verma
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology   Prof. B.N. Goswami
Indian Merchants’ Chamber  ERTF    Kiran Nanda
Indian Society for Himalayan Studies   Prof. S. Dasgupta
Indian Youth Climate Network   Anoop Singh Poonia
Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)   Sudhakar
Infosys Technologies Limited   Rohan Praikh
Institute of Economic Growth   Dr. Purnamita Dasgupta
Institute of Environment Education and Research   Bvieer
Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR)   Shaanti Kapila
Institute of Science and Technology   Murali Krishna
INTEL   Sales Department
IOFSBROTHERHOOD   R.Sundaram
IRG USAID ECO-III Project   Dr. Satish Kumar
ITC Ltd.   Tarun Chattopadhyay
Jadavpur University   Dr. Joyashree Roy
Kalpavriksh-Environment Action Group   Madhulika goyal
Karmayog   Vinay Somani
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board   Sharathchandra
Keya Acharya   Keya Acharya
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority   Tapas Ghatak
Kriti: A Development Research   Not Given
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation   A.R. Nambi
M/s. Sleek Boards ( I ) Limited   Nitin Vaze
Macknight Infrastructure P Ltd   Doroty B Mehta
Madras Institute of Development Studies   S Janakarajan
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.,   Arun Jaura
Mansaram Architects   Not Specified
McKinsey & Company   Rajat Gupta
Medmark Communications Private Limited   Dr. Suresh Chandran
MigrantWatch   Uttara Mendiratta
Mitra Foundation   Seema Merchant
Munasinghe Institute for Development   Not Given
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai   R.A. Rajeev
N K Singh   Gopal
Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation   Denise Lee
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH INSTITUTE   Dr. Rakesh Kumar
National Society for Clean Cities   Satish Khot
National Solid Waste Association of India   Dr. Amiya Kumar Sahu
Natural Resources Defense Council   Not Given
Nature Conservation Society   Prof. Nishikant Kale
Nature Environment & Wildlife Society   Biswajit Roy Chowdhury
Nature First Consulting Private Limited     Samir Menon
Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development   Raj K. Verma
NewsX   Not mentioned
Nexant, Inc.   D. Edwards
Nizhal   G. Dattatri
Observer Research Foundation   Not Given
One World Youth Project   Aashish
OneWorld South Asia   Mr. Naimur Rahman
OSRAM India P Ltd   Chandan Bhattacharjee
Oxfam   Deepinder Singh Kapur
Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park   Roopali Shahney
Paryavarni   Niranjan Sant
PASUMAI THAAYAGAM (Green Motherland)   R Arul
Pew Center on Global Climate Change   Namrata Patodia
Phoenix Yule Limited   Smita Pandit Chakraborty
Praj Industries   Pramod Chaudhari
Prakriti, Jawharlal Nehru University   Irfan Ahmed
Prantojon Trust   S M Shahazada
Prayas (Energy Group)   Girish Sant
PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited   Bharti Gupta Ramola
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests   Not Given
Pune Municipal Corporation   Praveen Singh Pardeshi
Reliance Industries Limited   Rakesh Jain
Reva Electric Car Co. (Pvt) Ltd.   Chetan Maini
Rockefeller Foundation   Anna Brown
RPG Enterprises   Jacqueline Patel
Sahyog Trust   Asim Sarode
Steel Authority of India Limited   Not Given
Sanctuary Asia   Bittu Sahgal 
Sankalpa Trust   Subhrankar Mukherjee 
Sarang Yadwadkar   Sarang Yadwadkar
SARASWATHI SAMRAJYAM   Dr IYYANKI MURALIKRISHNA
Satpuda Foundation   Kishor Rithe
School of Oceanographic Studies   PROF. SUGATA HAZRA
Science and Technology Policy Research Freeman   Not Given
Shell Foundation   Simon Desjardins
Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd   Satya Kumar D V
Sierra Club   Stephen Mills
Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE)   Samir Acharya
Some Space Technology   Kisholoy Gupta
Sony   Not applicable
South Asia Alliance to Save Energy   Sudha Setty
Spatial Access Social Consultancy   Meenakshi Bhalla
Sustainable Hyderabad – Megacities of Tomorrow   Dr. Ramesh Chennamaneni
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA CULTURAL FOUNDATION   Manjit Dada
Swechha   Vimlendu Jha
Tata Consultancy Services   Dr. Aniruddha Agnihotri
Technology Futuristic   Soumitra De
TESCO Hindustan Service Centre Pvt Ltd   Capt. Dayalu Arasappa
Thani Illam   Santhapan
The British Council Division, British High Commission   Not Given
The Climate Project- India   Anjuli Pandit 
The Energy and Resources Institute   Rajiv Chhibber
The Hub   Ella Saltmarshe
The Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage		   G.M.Kapur
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation   Nilangshu Bhusan Basu
The Missing Link(TML)   Amba Jamir
The Oceanic Group   Ajit Kumar
The TATA Power Company Limited   Prashant Kokil
The Times of India   Narayani Ganesh
Thomson Foundation   Savyasaachi Jain
Titan Industries Limited   Sumant Sood
Udayama    Pramod Mahopatra
U.S. Consulate    Aileen Nandi
U.S. Consulate General   Ragini Gupta
UK Trade and Investment   Hannah Greig
University of Pune   Dr. Ravindra Gavali
Valence Energy   Alexis Ringwald
VEDA MACS Ltd   M. Satya
Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (Don’t break promise campaign)   Suman Dasgupta
Walker Institute for Climate System Research   Professor Nigel Arnell
West Bengal pollution Control Board   Debal Ray
Wildlife Aware nature Club   TVN MURTHY  
Winrock International India   Dr. Kinsuk Mitra
World Economic Forum   Dominic waughray
WWAGS – Rural Development Services   L. Suva Kumar Singh
WWF- India   Shirish Sinha
WWF-India Sundarbans Programme   Dr. A. Anurag Danda
zens Alliance for Sustainable Living (SUSTAIN)   M. G. Devasahayam 
Zoe Young   Zoe young