THE YEAR 2020 is a landmark year for climate change and its mitigation, especially with the unexpected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and economic downturn across the world. The world economy is estimated to shrink by 6 percent in 2020. This is happening when the world is witnessing some of its worst storms, heat waves, ice melting and wildfires, making the twin challenges of climate change and COVID-19 one of the worst periods in human history since the 1930s.
Even so, many countries are stepping up their commitments to minimise their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement of 2015 and some are even going beyond to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to well under 1.50C by 2050 through green new deals. Many like Germany and France are also trying to integrate climate change mitigation into their post-pandemic economic recovery strategies. In June this year, Germany announced that it will provide US $2.36 billion worth of funds to its construction sector for energy-efficient buildings, according to non-profit Carbon Brief. In September, France has also allocated $7.66 billion for energy efficiency in its private and public buildings, including investment in insulation and low carbon heating.
GLOBAL PUSH
This story is from the October 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the October 16, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
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INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents
URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
In early April, the US confirmed the first case of avian influenza in livestock, along with cow-to-human transmission of the virus disease.
A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
Two years after becoming the only state to be excluded from the Centre's ruralemployment guarantee scheme, villages in West Bengal grapple with distress migration and debt traps
'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
The Supreme Court of India, on April 5, recognised that citizens have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the fundamental rights to life and equality. Here are the key arguments articulated by the three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in their judgement
Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood
