WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, the Ministry of Jal Shakti released a guide for the safe rescue and release of stranded Ganges River Dolphins.

• The document has been prepared by the Turtle Survival Alliance and the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department (EFCCD) of the Uttar Pradesh Government.
• It was recognised as the National Aquatic Animal in 2009, by the Government of India.

About:

• Scientific Name:Platanista gangetica gangetica. 
• Discovery: It was officially discovered in 1801.
• Habitat: They live in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
  • The Ganges river dolphin can only live in freshwater and is essentially blind.
  • They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounces off of fish and other prey, enabling them to “see” an image in their mind. They are also called ‘susu’.
• Population: The global population of the species is estimated at 4,000, and nearly 80% found in the Indian subcontinent.
• Significance:
  • It is a reliable indicator of the health of the entire river ecosystem.

Threats:

• Bycatch: These dolphins and people both favor areas of the river where fish are plentiful and the water current is slower. This has led to fewer fish for people and more dolphins dying as a result of accidentally being caught in fishing nets, also known as bycatch.
• Pollution: Industrial, agricultural, and human pollution is another serious cause of habitat degradation.
• Dams: Construction of dams and other irrigation-related projects make them susceptible to inbreeding and more vulnerable to other threats because they cannot move to new areas.
  • Dolphins below a dam are threatened by heavy pollution, increased fishing activities and vessel traffic. They also have less food because dams disturb the migration, breeding cycles and habitat of fish and other prey.

Conservation Status:

• Indian Wildlife (Protection), Act 1972: Schedule I.
• International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Endangered.
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): Appendix I (most endangered).
• Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix II (migratory species that need conservation and management or would significantly benefit from international co-operation).

Steps Taken:

• Project Dolphin: The Prime Minister announced the government’s plan to launch a Project Dolphin in his Independence Day Speech 2020. It is on the lines of Project Tiger, which has helped increase the tiger population.
• Dolphin Sanctuary: Vikramshila Ganges Dolphin Sanctuary has been established in Bihar.
• National Ganga River Dolphin Day: The National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrates 5^thOctober as National Ganga River Dolphin Day.
• Conservation Plan: The Conservation Action Plan for the Ganges River Dolphin 2010-2020, which “identified threats to Gangetic Dolphins and impact of river traffic, irrigation canals and depletion of prey-base on Dolphins populations”.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to excavate ‘five kingdoms’ related to Dadanite and Lihyanite civilisations.

About:

• Excavation will be done by a team of French and Saudi Archaeologists.
• They will excavate five nearby sites related to Dadanite and Lihyanite civilisations. Both of the civilisations were important regional powers, some 2000 years ago.
• Kingdoms were spanning roughly 900 years until 100 CE. They controlled vital trade routes however, little is known about them.

Background

In the year 2019, Saudi Arabia opened a flagship tourist destination called Al Ula. It is a 2000-year-old city that has been carved into rocks by the Nabateans. It is known for the majestic tombs of Madain Saleh. They were pre-Islamic Arab people and they built Petra in Jordan.

About Madain Saleh

Madain Saleh is also called as Hegra. It is an archaeological site situated in the area of Al-‘Ula in the Medina Province of Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. Majority of the remains belong to Nabataean Kingdom that existed during 1st century AD. This site is the southernmost settlement of Saudi Arabia. It is the second largest city after Petra. On this site, traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation can also be found.

Is the site in UNESCO list?

UNESCO proclaimed Mada’in Saleh as a site of patrimony in the year 2008. Thus, this site is the first World Heritage Site of Saudi Arabia. It was selected for its well-preserved remains from late antiquity, like 131 monumental rock-cut tombs, with their ornamented facades.

Who built Mada’in Salih?

Extensive settlement of the Madain Saleh took place during the 1st century AD, after it came under the rule of the Nabatean king Aretas IV Philopatris (Al-Harith IV). He made Mada’in Saleh the second capital of Saudi Arabia, after Petra.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

On November 1, 2021, at the COP26 climate summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 2070 as India’s target to reach net-zero carbon emissions.

About:

• India’s announcement came as a surprise to delegates in Glasgow, as India had rejected calls to announce such a target recently.
• US, UK & Japan have a net-zero target by 2050; EU by 2060; Saudi Arabia, China & Russia by 2070.

What is the net-zero target?

A net-zero target is defined as the date by which a country will only emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases that can be absorbed by forests, soil, crops, and developing technologies such as carbon capture technology.

Which are the top Greenhouse Gas Emitters?

China, the United States, India and Russia are the top greenhouse gas emitters. India is the third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and is among the countries which are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As per the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, India is the seventh-most affected nation by extreme weather events.

India’s goal towards net-zero emissions

India’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 is far-fetched. Thus, to support this goal, four other aggressive pledges were made. These targets are:

• 50% of power will come from renewables by 2030.
• 500 GW of installed renewable energy capacity will be reached by 2030.
• Reduction in carbon intensity by 45% by 2030.
• Reduction in projected total carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.
• India further seeks to reduce its projected total carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by the end of the decade.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, the 5^th edition of Ganga Utsav-The River Festival 2021 has begun which celebrates the glory of the National River Ganga.

• Ganga was declared as the National River of India on 4th November 2008.
• The event will also comprise, the launch of the Ganga Tarang Portal, curtain-raiser on Ganga Knowledge Portal and many more.

 About:

• The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) celebrates the festival every year to strengthen the Public – River Connection.
  • NMCG is the implementation wing of National Ganga Council, set up in 2016, which replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NRGBA).
  • The NMCG has been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records on the first day of Ganga Utsav 2021 for the highest number of photos of handwritten notes that were uploaded on Facebook in an hour.
• The Utsav celebrates the mystical and cultural river Ganga through storytelling, folklore, dialogues with eminent personalities, quizzes, displaying traditional artforms, dance and music performances by renowned artists, photo galleries and exhibitions and much more.
• It highlights the significance of Jan Bhagidari (People’s Participation) in the revival of Ganga, with a focus on encouraging stakeholder engagement and public participation towards the rejuvenation of river Ganga.

Programmes Held during the Festival:

• Continuous Learning and Activity Portal:
  • Continuous Learning and Activity Portal (CLAP) is a learning portal that will be buzzing with activities, quizzes, crosswords, discussion forums to keep children engaged throughout the year.
  • The objective of all the activities will be to sensitize and motivate the children and youth for action to protect and restore our rivers.

Ganga Mashal:

• It is an expedition led by the Ganga Task Force (GTF) that will travel the route including 23 stations along the river Ganga which will help sensitization of the local people and bodies like Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan) and Voluntary groups such as Ganga Mitras, Ganga Praharis, Ganga Doots.
  • Ganga Mitras, Ganga Praharis, Ganga Doots are dedicated voluntary groups formed at the grassroot level, whose resources are channelized for engagement of the community and public at large.
  • GTF is a unit of battalion of ex-servicemen deployed in the services of the Ganga with the approval of the Ministry of Defence for the period of four years till December 2020.

Ganga Quest:

• It is a national online quiz on Ganga, rivers, and environment that was first conceptualized in 2019 as an educational program to sensitize children and youth towards River Ganga to strengthen the Namami Gange program.

Government Initiatives on River Ganga:

• Ganga Action Plan: It was the first river action plan to improve the water quality by the interception, diversion and treatment of domestic sewage.
  • The National River Conservation Plan is an extension to this plan, which aims at cleaning the Ganga river under Ganga Action Plan phase-2.
• National River Ganga Basin Authority: It was formed in the year 2009 under Section-3 of the Environment Protection Act 1986.
• Clean Ganga Fund: In 2014, it was formed for cleaning up of the Ganga, setting up of waste treatment plants and conservation of biotic diversity of the river.
• Bhuvan-Ganga Web App: It ensures the involvement of the public in the monitoring of pollution entering into the river Ganga.
• Ban on Waste Disposal: In 2017, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the disposal of any waste in the Ganga.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

In the recently concluded G20 summit, the leaders made a commitment to reach carbon neutrality by or around mid-century.

• They have adopted the Rome Declaration (the current presidency of G20 countries is being held by Italy).
• Earlier, the G20 Climate Risk Atlas was released which provides climate scenarios, information, data and future changes in climate across the G20 countries.

Highlights of the Declaration:

• Roadmap for COP 26: It urged leaders of the world’s biggest economies to put their action plans to tackle the global climate change crisis.
  • This is a significant step in the context of the upcoming UN climate conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Restricting Aid to Coal Based Plants: It included a pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year (2021).
• PPP Model of Finance Mobilisation: Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are the only way to achieve the trillions of dollars in annual investment needed to transition to clean, sustainable energy sources that will mitigate the warming of global temperatures.

Declaration by India:

• Addressing Vaccine Inequality: Underlining the need to address vaccine inequity across the world, India is ready to produce over 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year (2022).
  • India also emphasised on vaccine research, manufacturing and innovation.
• One Earth One Health: The vision of “One Earth One Health”, or the need for a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against the pandemic.
• Resilient Global Supply Chains: India highlighted the need for resilient global supply chains and invited G-20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.
• Support for Global Minimum Tax: India also lauded the G-20’s decision to come up with a 15-percent minimum corporate tax to make the global financial architecture “more just and fair”.
• Welcoming Indo-Pacific Strategy: India welcomed the European Union’s Indo-Pacific strategy and French leadership in it.

Associated Concerns:

• Half-Hearted Steps: The statement contained few concrete actions and made no reference to a specific 2050 date to achieve net-zero carbon emission.
  • Moreover, the statement removed references in a previous draft to the target to “reduce emissions significantly”.
• No target for Phasing Out Coal: It set no target for phasing out coal domestically, a clear nod to top carbon polluters China and India.
  • For example, China has not set an end date for building domestic coal plants at home.
  • Coal is still China’s main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted attempts for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.
• No resolution on Vaccine Patent Waiver: It did not touch upon the dispute over vaccine patent waivers.
• Pressing India’s developmental Imperative: Climate negotiators from the US, EU and UK had made a number of visits to India over the past few months, pressing for India to update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to include its target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, India announced that it will reach carbon neutrality by 2070 as part of a five-point action plan that included reducing emissions to 50% by 2030.

• India made this pledge at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 climate summit in Glasgow, where it also urged developed countries to deliver on their promise of climate financing.
• However, India hasn’t submitted an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) with these commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) yet.

About:

• Net Zero is a state in which a country’s total emissions are offset by absorptions of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like that done by trees and forests, and physical removal of carbon dioxide through futuristic technologies.
• More than 70 countries have promised to become Net Zero by the middle of the century, and this is being considered vital for meeting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times.
• India’s Net Zero target of 2070 silences its critics but it is along expected lines.
  • The big thing here is not the target itself but the fact that India finally relented and decided to take up a target, something it had been holding back on for quite some time.
  • In its climate action plan submitted under the Paris Agreement, India had promised to reduce its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product, by 33 to 35% by the year 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Reducing India’s Emissions:

• India has the lowest per capita emissions of the world’s major economies — emitting 5% of the total, despite accounting for 17% of the world’s population.
• According to the World Resources Institute, India’s total greenhouse gas emissions were about 3.3 billion tonnes in 2018.
  • It’s projected to rise above 4 billion tonnes per year by 2030.
• That would mean between now and 2030, India could be emitting anywhere between 35 to 40 billion tonnes at the current rates of growth.
• Cutting 1 billion tonnes would, therefore, represent a reduction of 2.5 to 3% in its absolute emissions in the business-as-usual scenario in the next nine years.

India’s New Renewables Target:

• In 2019 India announced that it would take up its installed capacity of renewable energy to 450 GW by 2030.
  • At that time, India’s publicly stated target was 175 GW by the year 2022.
• The installed renewable capacity has been growing rapidly in the last few years, and the enhancement as per its pledge from 450 GW to 500 GW is not likely to be very challenging.
• The increase in the proportion of non-fossil fuel energy in the energy mix, to 50% is a natural corollary of this.
• Most of the new capacity additions in the energy sector are being done in the renewable and non-fossil fuel space.
  • In fact, India has already said it does not plan to start any new coal power plants after 2022.
  • As of now, India was already targeting 40% electricity production through non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

Climate Finance:

• India’s efforts though will have to be supported by the availability of climate finance from developed countries. Without foreign capital, on concessional terms, this transition will prove to be difficult.
• India demands USD 1 trillion of climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action, but deliver climate finance.
• Most importantly, India has called, once again, for a change in lifestyles.

Steps Needed to Achieve Net Zero:

• According to the Council on Energy, Environment and Waters implications of a Net-zero Target for India’s Sectoral Energy Transitions and Climate Policy’ study, India’s total installed solar power capacity would need to increase to over 5,600 gigawatts to achieve net-zero by 2070.
• The usage of coal, especially for power generation, would need to drop by 99% by 2060, for India to achieve net-zero by 2070.
• Consumption of crude oil, across sectors, would need to peak by 2050 and fall substantially by 90% between 2050 and 2070.
  • Green hydrogen could contribute 19% of the total energy needs of the industrial sector.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has incorporated its wholly-owned subsidiary in India on November 1, 2021, to start local broadband operations.

About:

• The satellite broadband arm of SpaceX, Starlink, aims to start broadband services in India from December 2022. It has 2 lakh active terminals subject to permission from the Indian government.
• The subsidiary has been named SSCPL, which stands for ‘Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited’. The company was incorporated on November 1, 2021.
• Starlink has already received more than 5,000 pre-orders from India.

Data charges

Starlink is charging a deposit of USD 99 (Rs 7,350) from each customer. It claims to deliver data speeds in the range of 50 to 150 megabits per second in the beta stage. Its services will compete with the services provided by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea in broadband. It will also be a  direct competitor of Bharti Group-backed OneWeb.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer, communications corporation and space transportation services. It is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the aim of reducing space transportation costs to provide for the colonization of Mars. It manufactures the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, Dragon cargo, crew spacecraft, several rocket engines and Starlink communications satellites.

About Starlink

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX. It provides satellite Internet access to most part of the Earth. As of now, it comprises of more than 1600 satellites.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

On the first day of the global climate meet (COP26) in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a five-fold strategy for India to play its role in helping the world to get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

About:

• Prime minister Modi termed his scheme as ‘Panchamrita’, which means ‘five ambrosia’.
• Traditionally, ‘Panchamrita’ is a method of mixing five natural foods namely, milk, curd, ghee, honey and jaggery.
• Panchmrita is used as a technique in Ayurveda. It is also used in Hindu and Jain worship rituals.

Modi’s Panchamrita

Prime Minister proposed the following ‘Panchamrita’:

• India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
• India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements, with renewable energy, till 2030.
• India will reduce carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030.
• India will reduce its carbon intensity by 45 per cent by 2030.
• India will achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

Where does India stand?

India accounts for 17 per cent of the world’s population. However, it only contributes five per cent of emissions. In terms of renewable energy capacity, India stands at fourth position.

About COP26

COP 26 or 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It started on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland and will conclude on November 12, 2021. It is being held under the presidency of Alok Sharma. It is the third meeting of the parties of Paris Agreement. During the conference, parties are expected to commit to enhanced ambition since COP21. Parties are required to carry out ratchet mechanism every five years, in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Recently, the 100-km long body of ice in Antarctica, which has been experiencing rapid melting, was formally named Glasgow after the Glasgow climate summit.

• The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Glasgow, UK.
• Research: Scientists from the University of Leeds in England have studied a chain of glaciers in the Getz basin of Antarctica.
  • 14 glaciers in the Getz Basin of West Antarctica are thinning by an average of 25% between 1994 and 2018 due to climate change. The 315 gigatonnes of ice were lost from the region in the last 25 years and contributed to rising global sea levels.
  • The Getz basin is part of Antarctica’s largest ice shelf. The shelf is subject to more changeable oceanic forcing – a process where relatively warm deep ocean water melts the glaciers from below – than other Antarctic shelves.
• Other Glaciers Named: The eight newly named glaciers are based on:
  • Stockholm Conference (1972): One of the major results of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
  • World Climate Conference, Geneva (1979): The World Climate Conference, now usually referred to as the First World Climate Conference was held in Geneva.
  • Rio Summit (1992): It recommended a list of development practices called Agenda 21. It gave the concept of sustainable development to be combined economic growth with ecological responsibility.
  • COP1 (Berlin, Germany, 1995): The first Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-1) met in Berlin in 1995.
  • Kyoto Protocol (1997): In Kyoto, developed countries agreed to a collective target of a 5.2% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by between 2008 and 2012.
  • COP13 (Bali, Indonesia, 2007): Parties agreed on the Bali Road Map and Bali action plan, which charted the way towards a post-2012 outcome.
  • COP21 (Paris, 2015): To keep global temperature well below 2.0C above pre-industrial times and endeavor to limit them even more to 1.5C.
    • It requires rich nations to maintain USD 100bn a year funding pledge beyond the year 2020.
  • Incheon: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is based in Incheon, South Korea.

Significance: Over the past 40 years, satellites have observed huge iceberg calving events, changes in the flow of glaciers and rapidly thinning ice demonstrating the devastating impact of global warming.

• The naming of the glaciers after the locations of major climate treaties, conferences and reports is a great way to celebrate the international collaboration on climate change science and policy over the last 42 years.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The first-ever scientific assessment of the amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from and absorbed by forests (2001-2020) in UNESCO World Heritage sites has found that forests in World Heritage sites play a vital role in mitigating climate change.

Mitigating Climate Change:

• World Heritage sites play a vital role in mitigating climate change by absorbing 190 million tons of CO₂from the atmosphere each year.
• Carbon sequestration by world heritage forests over long periods has led to total carbon storage of approximately 13 billion tons of carbon.
  • If all this stored carbon were to be released into the atmosphere as CO₂, it would be akin to emitting 1.3 times the world’s total annual CO₂emissions from fossil fuels.
• However, ten forests released more carbon than they sequestered due to pressure from human activity and climate change, which is alarming.
• UNESCO under its World Heritage Marine Programme lists 50 sites across the globe for their unique marine values. These represent just one per cent of the global ocean area. But they comprise at least 15% of global blue carbon assets.
  • Blue Carbon is organic carbon that is mainly obtained from decaying plant leaves, wood, roots and animals. It is captured and stored by coastal and marine ecosystems.
• India’s Sundarbans National Park (60 million tonnes of carbon) is among five sites that have the highest blue carbon stocks globally.

Reason for High Emissions:

• At some sites the clearance of land for agriculture caused emissions to be greater than sequestration.
• The increasing scale and severity of wildfires, often linked to severe periods of drought, is also a predominant factor in several cases.
  • Other extreme weather phenomena, such as hurricanes, contributed at certain sites.

Recommendations:

• Protection of Heritage Sites:
  • Strong and sustained protection of UNESCO World Heritage sites and their surrounding landscapes to ensure their forests could continue to act as strong carbon sinks and stores for future generations.
• Rapid Response:
  • Rapidly responding to climate-related events, as well as maintaining and strengthening ecological connectivity through improved landscape management.
• Integrated Protection:
  • Integrating the continued protection of UNESCO World Heritage sites into international, national and local climate, biodiversity and sustainable development strategies.
  • It should be in line with the Paris climate agreement, the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.