The rally was calling for the European Union to end subsidies on Fossil Fuels.

Tipping Point | End of coal power in the UK, Fridays for Future

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

The United Kingdom is moving away from coal power for good. On September 30, the 2,000-megawatt Ratcliffe coal plant in Nottinghamshire will shut operations, ending the U.K.’s 142-year-long tryst with coal power.

Is moving away from coal a good step? Definitely. Every step away from dependence on fossil fuels counts towards controlling emissions and global warming. Is it enough? Well, the UK has historically been the fourth largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, and should lead in phasing out fossil fuel dependence by setting a stronger example. 

This week’s extreme weather event of note is the Sumatra Squall that hit Singapore on September 17, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the tiny city-state on the southern tip of the Malay peninsula.

Fridays for Future, a youth-led international movement to highlight the lack of action on climate crisis, is our this week’s source of climate hope. 

On September 20, young college students and activists planned a march to the Delhi secretariat in the national capital as part of the Global Climate Strike.

Their demands include an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a transition to renewable energy, climate education and awareness, and to transform Delhi into a cycling-friendly city. 

Presentation: Priyali Prakash

Video: Zeeshan Akhtar and Aniket Singh Chauhan

Production: Aniket Singh Chauhan

The concept of green steel promotes the production of steel using green energy sources and minimizing the usage of fossil fuels. File (representational image)

Green steel will play an important role in reshaping the future of the industry as the world moves towards a low-carbon economy, the Economic Survey for 2023-24 said.

The concept of green steel promotes the production of steel using green energy sources and minimizing the usage of fossil fuels.

Also Read:Economic Survey 2023-24 LIVE updates

“As the world moves towards a low-carbon economy, green steel is poised to play a pivotal role in reshaping the future of the steel industry,” said the Survey tabled in Parliament on July 22.

“India’s steel sector accounts for 12% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions with an emission intensity of 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel compared to the global average of 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel,” it said.

The Survey also said, “India remained a net importer of steel during the first, second and third quarters of FY24 because of price differentials between international and domestic prices of finished steel.”

“Low prices in the international markets led to reduced profit margins for exports and made imports more affordable, affecting the trade balance in the steel sector,” it said.

Click here to download Economic Survey 2023-24

“The import dependence on coking coal, an essential raw material for steel production also went up from 56.1 MT in FY23 to 58.1 MT in FY24,” the Survey said.

The Survey also highlighted that many technologies required for global net zero are commercially unavailable, such as hydrogen-fuelled steel/cement, steel and aluminium production with (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) CCUS, etc.

“There is a need to enhance international cooperation in R&D, especially in the domains of distributed RE, offshore wind, geothermal, tidal energy, biofuels, compressed biogas, green hydrogen, energy storage, electrolysers, and nuclear power [including small modular reactors SMR],” it said.

Milwaukee:

Climate change is little more than an afterthought for attendees at the Republican National Convention, who are gathered this week to crown Donald Trump as their party’s nominee for this November’s election.

“I don’t believe all that,” said Jack Prendergast, from New York, who believes that human activity does just as much harm to the planet as “when a volcano goes off.”

“Trump is going to drill pipelines and we’ll become the leading supplier of energy in the world, in the gas and the oil,” Prendergast told AFP.

And the former president has promised as much — adopting the slogan “drill, baby, drill” to sum up his fossil fuel-friendly approach.

Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord during his first term, on Monday appointed a fellow climate skeptic as his running mate: Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

The 39-year-old, who would become Trump’s vice president if they are elected, has previously accused Democrats of stirring up fears about climate change for political gain.

The two men will run on a 5,000-word Republican platform adopted on Monday by the party’s delegates which makes no mention of plans for climate change or renewable energy.

Instead, it promises to end “green” policies it deems “socialist,” and says the United States will become the world’s number one oil and natural gas producer — a position it already holds, according to official data.

Trump himself has said he is opposed to wind power — a widely-touted alternative to fossil fuels — as he is convinced it “kills all the birds.”

‘Bright future’ 

Climate groups such as the Sunrise Movement have criticized the Republican platform, saying the party “has made it clear that they’re happy to make the climate crisis worse.”

But for Stephen Perkins of the American Conservation Coalition — perhaps the only booth at the Republican convention focused on preserving the planet — you have to take Trump’s comments with “a grain of salt.”

“I think that some of his comments are meant to be more entertaining than policy positions,” said the 29-year-old, wearing a striped blue polo shirt.

His organization is hoping to show what a “conservative approach to environmental policy and climate policy look like,” which he thinks could entice younger voters.

But he concedes it’s a “slow process,” with older Republicans averse to agreeing to action on climate change.

According to a Yale survey published on Tuesday, more than two-thirds of Americans do believe in the existence of climate change.

However, that does not necessarily translate into support for Democratic President Joe Biden, who has pushed through several initiatives to combat global warming during his time in office.

Perkins instead believes Biden is at the mercy of a “radical sect” of progressives “that doesn’t engage in nuance.” His convention stand shows the word “destruction” alongside images of left-wing environmental activists throwing soup at a work of art.

If he had it his way, he would show that “we have a bright future ahead” despite the challenges of climate change, instead of “the doom and gloom.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
| Photo Credit: AP

“The vast majority of planet-warming carbondioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of just 57 fossil fuels and cement producers,” researchers said on April 4.

“From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production,” said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap.

“The world’s top three CO2-emitting companies in the period were state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom and state-owned producer Coal India,” the report said.

Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report found most companies had expanded their fossil fuel production since 2015, the year when nearly all countries signed the U.N. Paris Agreement, committing to take action to curb climate change.

Since then, while many governments and companies have set tougher emissions targets and rapidly expanded renewable energy, they have also produced and burned more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise.

“Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high last year,” the International Energy Agency has said.

InfluenceMap said its findings showed that a relatively small group of emitters were responsible for the bulk of ongoing CO2 emissions, and it aimed to increase transparency around which governments and companies were causing climate change.

“It can be used in a variety of cases, ranging from legal processes seeking to hold these producers to account for climate damages, or it can be used by academics in quantifying their contributions, or by campaign groups, or even by investors,” InfluenceMap Programme Manager Daan Van Acker said of the report.

A previous edition of the Carbon Majors database was cited last month in a legal case brought by a Belgian farmer against French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. The farmer argued that as one of the world’s top 20 CO2-emitting companies, TotalEnergies was partly responsible for damage to his operations from extreme weather.

The database was first launched in 2013 by the non-profit research organisation Climate Accountability Institute. It combines companies’ self-reported data on coal, oil and gas production with sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national mining associations and other industry data.

Carroll Muffett, CEO of the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law said the database would improve investors’ and litigators’ ability to track companies’ actions over time.

New Delhi:

With just hours left for the G20 Summit to begin, climate change is already turning to be a contentious point among the leaders, sources said. The group has been divided on commitments to phasing down fossil-fuel use, increasing renewable energy targets and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

China and Saudi Arabia are opposing drastic steps for phasing out fossil fuels.

G20 sherpas or negotiators have made progress on several issues but the main point sticking point is the language in the leaders’ declaration on climate change.

The other issue that is expected to be a major talking point during the two-day Summit is Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

New Delhi:

With just hours left for the G20 Summit to begin, climate change is already turning to be a contentious point among the leaders, sources said. The group has been divided on commitments to phasing down fossil-fuel use, increasing renewable energy targets and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

China and Saudi Arabia are opposing drastic steps for phasing out fossil fuels.

G20 sherpas or negotiators have made progress on several issues but the main point sticking point is the language in the leaders’ declaration on climate change.

Three key climate issues will be on the table in New Delhi: a push to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030; weaning economies off fossil fuels — particularly coal; and finance for the green transition in developing countries.

In July, G20 energy ministers failed to even mention coal in their final statement, let alone agree a phase down roadmap, and there was no progress on the renewables goal.

The other issue that is expected to be a major talking point during the two-day Summit is Russia’s attack on Ukraine.