DEEP INVASION

Invasive ornamental shrub lantana is altering traits, fast spreading across India's forests

Fighting chance

The new framework on biodiversity provides the opportunity for a fresh start, but countries must ensure implementation

FAKE FABRIC

The moment you consider polyester just a fabric, it escapes attention as a pollutant. The fact is that polyester is a form of plastic and the second biggest by-product of petrochemicals. Yet only a few countries have regulations to manage the plastic fibre. Time India framed laws to regulate the textile industry and brought it under the extended producer responsibility regime

The Future Of Climate Talks

After three decades of efforts, the world has finally agreed to create a loss and damage fund at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt. Devising a mechanism to manage the fund and delivering aid to deserving countries is likely to keep the negotiators engaged in the coming months, even years. AVANTIKA GOSWAMI, ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY, AKSHIT SANGOMLA and PARTH KUMAR report from Sharm el-Sheikh on how the agreement on the fund was forged, the parleys between the Parties and the market mechanisms that will be the future of climate talks

CRUNCH TIME

Three decades of discourse to protect the world’s biodiversity and benefit from its use has not achieved much outside of discussion rooms. As the world meets at the 15\" UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada to decide on a new framework for managing nature through 2030 and beyond, it must ensure that indigenous communities benefit from the biological resources they have guarded for generations

EASY TO SWITCH

Low-cost ethnoveterinary medicines can help curb the use of antibiotics in Indian dairy sector and combat the overlooked pandemic of antimicrobial resistance

Burdened beast

A fall in demand as a beast of burden, and illegal meat and skin trade have caused a critical decline in donkey numbers

Clean champions

A couple in Himachal Pradesh trains teachers and students to promote zero-waste and sustainable living practices

What The Science Says

Attribution studies fix responsibility on historical polluters. But will they be open to the evidence?

Deny, Distract And Delay

The developed world has so far derailed all discussions on loss and damage. Will this change at COP27?

‘AFTER FANI, WE FOCUSED ON DISASTER-RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE’

Odisha, one of the most climate-vulnerable states in India, is hit by numerous extreme weather events every year. Cyclone Fani, which devastated the state in 2019, is one such event that forced Odisha to mount a post-disaster needs assessment. This multi-sector assessment on loss and damage provided new insights on building back better, GYANARANJAN DAS, executive director, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), tells SEEMA PRASAD. Excerpts:

‘SOCIAL STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO INCREASE THE SCOPE OF ATTRIBUTION?’

Researchers have established that the Pakistan deluge was made worse by global warming. But fixing responsibility of such events on historical polluters is not easy, KRISHNA ACHUTARAO, climate scientist at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, tells AKSHIT SANGOMLA. Excerpts:

'TRANSLATION BETWEEN CHANGE IN WEATHER AND DAMAGES IS NOT LINEAR’

Attribution science has grown leaps and bounds to trace the link between climate change and weather events. But this link does not extend to estimating loss and damages, FRIEDERIKE OTTO, climate scientist at Grantham Institute of Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, tells AKSHIT SANGOMLA. Excerpts:

HIDDEN COSTS

Estimations of loss and damage after weather events do not account for non-economic consequences

‘JOHN KERRY IS SCARED OF FLOODGATES OF LITIGATIONS ON ACCEPTING LOSS AND DAMAGE’

Loss and damage financing has seen little progress since the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement,according to FARHANA YAMIN, adviser to the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a partnership of 55 countries highly threatened by climate change. In an interview with AVANTIKA GOSWAMI, Yamin, who was also one of the key architects of the Paris deal, explains why rich countries are attempting to linger negotiations on loss and damage. Excerpts:

POWER OF EVIDENCE

India is transitioning to a robust tool to assess the loss and damage caused by extreme weather events

ONLY TOGETHER CAN WE WIN

At COP27, loss and damage must not to be pushed away with another puny promise of a fund that never materialises but be accepted as a legitimate demand of countries that need climate reparations

WE ARE NO LONGER MEASURING THIS EMERGENCY ONLY IN TONNES OF CARBON EMISSIONS OR THE GLOBAL WARMING BY DEGREES OF CELSIUS

Here in the Pacific Islands, climate change is an existential threat. It is the single greatest threat to our livelihoods, security and well-being. Our economies routinely suffer damages of more than 50 per cent of GDP from climate extremes, taking us back decades in our goals for sustainable development.

‘We need to put down oroblem animals for wildlife conservation’

A VETERINARIAN WHO COMES OUT FROM THE COLLEGE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SHOOT. HOW IS HE GOING TO TRANQUILISE A TIGER? WE HAVE HAD WORKSHOPS TO TEACH PERSONNEL HOW TO HANDLE A WEAPON, EVEN HOW TO WALK IN THE FOREST. THIS IS TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CANNOT BE GLEANED FROM INTERNET OR FROM READING A BOOK

Organic reinforcement

Direct procurement and cold storages are key to promote organic farming of fruits, vegetables

A timely fix

India’s lone home-grown crop simulation model can now forecast climate impact on farm yield in real time

Accelerated breeding

Bisohenol A, a chemical used for softening plastics, shortens the mosquito life cycle and leads to population explosion

India patently way behind on 5G

Policy blocks and poor vision have held up 5G in India, while China’s breakthroughs are helping to set global standards

Evolutionary Thrust

HUMAN EVOLUTION

PANDEMIC CONTINUUM

Two livestock viruses have spread across India in an unprecedented manner this year—lumpy skin disease and African swine fever. With changing climate, new infectious diseases will emerge, while existing ones will Ne spread to new areas and sirike with greater severity, like these two have. Such outbreaks have harsh economic and food security implications, and can pose a major threat to human health. The world has not recovered from the previous virus that jumped from animals to humans. A report by SHAGUN from the worst-hit state of Rajasthan and SNIGDHA DAS in Delhi

Cultivated idea

The potential of urban agriculture in alleviating food insecurity in cities requires holistic policy support from governments

Collateral casualty

Rise in cardiac ailments in India hints at the role of COVID-19, but in absence of long-term studies there are no definitive trends

Chronic floods threaten Niger delta

THE COMMUNITIES living in the oil-rich Niger Delta have been devastated by recurring floods. The lack of effort to safeguard these communities or help them adapt to the changing weather conditions has left people vulnerable and helpless.

Africa's clarion call for climate justice

IT WAS highly symbolic that Gabon, which commits to remain carbon neutral up to and beyond 2050, hosted the Africa Climate Week, the last major talks before the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is held in Egypt this November to implement the Paris Agreement.

Strong start

With free tuition and access to sanitary pads, a non-profit in Prayagraj provides children in low-income areas a chance to complete their education