Clean Climate
Environment News Magazine January 2019
Changing Minds, Not the Climate!
UNESCO believes that 1.5°C target cannot be achieved without a change in mindsets, which will require enhanced efforts in education, public awareness, science, ethics, culture, and communication.
Photo: UNESCO
The conclusions of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C make the strongest case yet for the UNESCO motto ‘Changing Minds, Not the Climate’.
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. It provides an objective, scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts. The IPCC report suggests the ways to measure economic success, changing how we make public policy, taking vital economic services into account. IPCC identifies several climate change impacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, “by 2100, global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with 2°C.” The half a degree extra warming would affect 10 million more people by 2100 due to sea-level rise. The number of insect species projected to lose over half of their habitats is reduced by 66% at 1.5°C versus 2°C – including pollinators that are essential to food security. However, limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. UNESCO believes that 1.5°C target cannot be achieved without a change in mindsets, which will require enhanced efforts in education, public awareness, science, ethics, culture, and communication. UNESCO is supporting Member States’ efforts under the UNESCO Strategy for Action on Climate Change and in-line with the UNESCO Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change.
Interactive Campaign to Promote Climate Action The UN campaign was created with the support of Facebook and advertising company Grey.
The renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has announced the United Nations’ launch of a new campaign enabling individuals the world over to unite in actions to battle climate change. In an address to the opening session of United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, Sir David Attenborough urged everyone to use the UN’s new ActNow.bot, designed to give people the power and knowledge to take personal action against climate change directly on the Facebook Messenger Platform. Speaking for “The People’s Seat” initiative, Sir David Attenborough called it the result of new activism shaped by people from around the world and collected through social media. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 2 of 18
“In the last two weeks,” he said, “the world’s people have taken part in creating this address, answering polls, creating videos and voicing their opinions.”
“They want you – the decision makers – to act now,” the British broadcaster said, addressing the politicians and officials assembled for two weeks in this Polish mining town to negotiate next steps in monitoring and mitigating climate change. The speech was preceded by a video produced with social media content that people had posted in advance of COP24 using the hashtag #TakeYourSeat. The UN campaign was created with the support of Facebook and advertising company Grey and harnesses advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to engage people in the growing movement to take climate action. The ActNow.bot is a fully interactive and responsive chat bot, located on the UN’s Facebook page that suggests everyday actions – determined by the user’s interaction with the bot – that can be taken to preserve the environment and logged on the platform to be shared with social media followers to persuade them to take action too. The collective actions will be presented during the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in New York in September 2019. Photo: COP24
How to Make Environment Friendly Buildings
The new report highlights an emerging gap between total energy efficiency spending versus total investment in building construction and renovations.
Dramatic action will be needed by governments, cities, and businesses if the global buildings and construction sector is to cut its carbon footprint in line with international agreements, according to a new report released by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. The 2018 Global Status Report - Towards a Zero-Emission, Efficient and Resilient Buildings and Construction Sector - highlights that emissions from buildings and construction may Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 3 of 18
have peaked in the past few years, with energy efficiency gains in areas such as heating, lighting, and cooking, and with more offices and homes being powered by cleaner forms of energy. The study was written by the International Energy Agency and UN Environment. Efficiency gains are also being realized through shifts towards energy saving technologies like heat pumps, improved windows and insulation, the use of less energy-intensive materials, and buildings design. However, the report underlines that the buildings sector – a huge engine of the global economy – still accounts for a significant 39 percent of total energy-related CO2 emissions and 36 percent of final energy use. The new report highlights an emerging gap between total energy efficiency spending – which increased by just over four percent in 2017 to USD 423 billion – versus rapidly growing total investment in building construction and renovations. This indicates a slow-down in the rate of energy efficiency investment as a share of total investment when compared to previous growth rates.
Construction Spreads Pollution in Delhi
The polluted FAR construction in inhabited housing complexes – where people are living – is being compared to the poisonous gas chambers used by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
The dust and noise pollution in Delhi is drastically increasing because of government’s ill-conceived floor area ratio (FAR) construction policy. The FAR construction in occupied group housing societies – where millions of people live – is spreading lethal pollution that is harmful to children, men, and women including senior citizens.
Deadly dust and noise pollution is caused by FAR construction in occupied cooperative group housing societies of Delhi. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 4 of 18
This construction activity is supported by a criminal nexus between deep-pocket builders and corrupt politicians / government officials. The total corruption money involved in FAR construction in Delhi is thousands of crores of rupees. The FAR-related corruption is supported by two of the most corrupt departments of Delhi: the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA). With this harmful FAR policy, the Delhi Government is using extended construction as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) which will first torture people with the lethal dust and noise pollution and then finally kill them mercilessly. The polluted FAR construction in inhabited housing complexes – where people are living – is being compared to the poisonous gas chambers used by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust for the genocide of millions of European Jews. You can click here to study the full report on FAR construction and pollution.
Earth Science Instrument to Measure Air Pollution TEMPO will be the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants across the North American continent.
An Earth science instrument to measure air pollution over North America has completed development by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado, and has been formally accepted by NASA. NASA and Principal Investigator Kelly Chance from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, partnered with Ball to design, manufacture and test this Earth science instrument. The rigorous environmental test campaign conducted by Ball verifies the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, or TEMPO, instrument will survive all of the challenges related to launch, as well as sustained operations in geostationary orbit. TEMPO will be the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants across the North American continent hourly during daytime. In doing so, it will revolutionize air quality forecasts and emission control strategies, and enable effective early public warning of pollution events. TEMPO is the first instrument to be awarded by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program in the Earth Venture Instrument (EV-I) Class Series. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 5 of 18
TEMPO is a UV-visible spectrometer, sensitive to visible and ultraviolet wavelengths of light. It detects pollutants and other elements of atmospheric chemistry by measuring sunlight reflected and scattered from the Earth's surface and atmosphere back to the instrument's detectors. Photo: NASA
Join Green Group of Delhi
You are invited to join the Green Group as a member by filling in a simple online form. You can also donate to support the activities of the Group.
The major activities of the Green Group of Delhi are around environment protection to save the environment from air pollution, dust pollution, noise pollution, water pollution, etc. in order to minimize the effect of pollution on Climate Change.
Senior citizens participating in RMN Foundation campaign to stop extended construction and pollution in Delhi.
This is a non-political, non-partisan Group. The activities of the Group are being managed by its members and volunteers. Formed in August 2017, the Group had begun its journey from Dwarka, which is the largest residential suburb in Asia with a population of more than 1 million. However, now it covers other parts of India’s capital New Delhi, which is among the most polluted and the dirtiest cities of the world.
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The Group holds mass awareness campaigns, environment protection education programs, intellectual discussions, and so on. It also coordinates with the government and law-enforcement agencies in Delhi to create a healthy living environment for people. You are invited to join the Green Group of Delhi as a member by filling in a simple online form. You can also donate to support the activities of the Group. People from the entire city of Delhi can join the Green Group as members. More than 1 person from a family can become the member by providing their details in separate forms.
Talanoa Dialogue Calls for Global Climate Action
The roundtables brought together nearly 100 ministers and over 40 non-Party stakeholders to chart a way forward for global climate action.
At the closing of the Talanoa Dialogue, the Presidencies of this and last years’ UN Climate Change Conferences (COP24 and COP23) issued the Talanoa Call for Action. This statement calls for the urgent and rapid mobilization of all societal actors to step up their efforts with a view to meeting the global climate goals agreed in Paris in 2015. The calls to action were delivered by youth champions Timoci Naulusala from Fiji and Hanna Wojdowska from Poland.
Youth Champions Timoci Naulusala from Fiji and Hanna Wojdowska from Poland. Photo: COP24
The closing session concluded 21 ministerial roundtables at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. The roundtables brought together nearly 100 ministers and over 40 non-Party stakeholders to chart a way forward for global climate action. “It is with great joy and commitment that the Polish Presidency co-leads with Fiji the Talanoa Dialogue,” said COP 24 President Michał Kurtyka. “The exchange of experiences Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 7 of 18
and good practices, which is guided by the idea of Dialogue, is particularly important at this stage – the Dialogue’s discussion will focus on the question: how do we want to achieve the goal?" Afterwards, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, President of COP23, said that the time for talking and listening – as important as that has been and will continue to be in the Talanoa process – must now also give way to action. The call is issued against the backdrop of stark warnings in several recent UN reports – including the IPCC’s Special Report on 1.5 and UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report – which show that greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow and only rapid and far-reaching action on an unprecedented scale, together with adequate resources and technology, can prevent the worst climate impacts, and help transition economies to a just, clean future. It therefore sends a critical political signal to governments as they embark on updating their national climate pledges and preparing long-term climate strategies, due by 2020.
Appeal for Donations RMN Foundation is a humanitarian organization that was formed in May 2015 as an educational and public charitable Trust for the benefit of humanity at large. It is registered with the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi at New Delhi, India. Currently, all the activities of RMN Foundation are being managed single-handedly (without any support) by RMN Foundation founder Rakesh Raman who had left his job a few years ago to run this charity. As RMN Foundation has embarked upon some major humanitarian projects during the past over 3 years, now it needs a significant amount of funds in the form of donations to expand the scope of its activities. Individual Indian donors can help RMN Foundation with their contributions using the following bank details: Bank Name: ICICI Bank Bank Branch: HL Square, Plot No. 6, Sector 5 (MLU), Dwarka, New Delhi 110 075 Account Number: 025005004368 Account Name: RMN Foundation Type of Account: Current IFSC Code: ICIC0000250 You can click here to donate with PayPal, credit card, or bank account.
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December 2018
Air Pollution May Cause Mass Exodus from Delhi
While the corrupt authorities in Delhi are not taking any steps to tackle pollution, the distressed citizens have no other option but to leave the city.
An interactive tool on the Breathe Life 2030 website shows a Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 level of 143 micrograms per cubic metre (annual mean) in India’s capital New Delhi. This is over 14 times over the WHO (World Health Organization) safe level of 10 µg/m3.
A dirty street in India’s capital New Delhi, which is the most polluted and the dirtiest city of the world.. The authorities are so careless that they do not get the residential localities cleaned. Bureaucratic and political corruption is the main reason for dirty streets and increasing pollution which is causing diseases and deaths among the people of Delhi. Photo: Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service
Simply put, the people of Delhi are inhaling poison from the air. Air pollution levels get so severe that many residents regularly wear masks and authorities resort to emergency measures such as banning construction and closing schools. While WHO estimates that nearly 1.8 million people die prematurely in the India annually because of air pollution, a large number of deaths – estimated to be 100,000 - take place in Delhi. Pollution also is causing serious diseases such as irritation in eyes, skin rashes, coughing, sneezing, hayfever, asthma attacks, and amnesia among the people of the city.
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Bureaucratic and political corruption is the main reason for lethal pollution in Delhi. While the corrupt authorities in Delhi are not taking any steps to tackle pollution, the distressed citizens have no other option but to leave the city. It is now being observed that many people are running away from Delhi like refugees or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). As a result, India is falling in the category of countries with large IDP populations - such as Syria, Colombia, Iraq, Congo, Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia. A new survey reveals that 35% of Delhi residents want to leave Delhi because of pollution. Recently, a special environment-protection authority in India - the National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapped a fine of Rs. 25 crore ($3.5 million approximately) on Delhi Government run by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for its failure to check pollution in the city. In its order, NGT observed that despite its clear directions, there is hardly any action for compliance of orders of the Tribunal and pollution continues unabated in blatant violation of law and under the nose of the authorities. The NGT also said that the Delhi Government has hardly done anything concrete to stop pollution, except giving excuses and showing its helplessness.
How Stubble Burning Spreads Pollution in Delhi
While India’s federal environmental court banned the practice of burning crop residues in five states, the practice continues.
The UN environment-protection agency UN Environment believes that stubble burning is a major factor that increases the pollution levels in Delhi. But what is stubble burning? UN Environment explains that after a rice paddy is harvested using combine harvesters, loose stubble or straw is left in the ground. Farmers in India’s top two farm states, Punjab and Haryana, burn the stubble in the open to immediately prepare the fields for wheat cultivation. Since farmers need to sow that wheat within two weeks of harvesting the paddy, they burn the straw to save time, labour, and money. Paddy stubble is a relatively modern phenomenon. It has been blamed on farmers switching to mechanical combine harvesters in the 1980s which skim from the top and leave 15 to 20 centimeters of the paddy plant in the field. According to UN Environment, between end-September and mid-November each year, farmers from Punjab and Haryana states burn an estimated 35 million tonnes of crop residue after they harvest their rice crop. “Farmers burning their leftover rice plants release black carbon as well as gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere that contribute to the smog that Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 10 of 18
affects cities like Delhi at certain times of the year,” says James Lomax, Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture Programme Management Officer at UN Environment. While India’s federal environmental court banned the practice of burning crop residues in five states, including Punjab and Haryana – the practice continues, UN Environment reveals.
Children of RMN Foundation free schools distributing pamphlets during an environment protection campaign, urging the Delhi government to save them from pollution. But the careless government is not taking any steps to stop pollution. Campaign and photo by Rakesh Raman, founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation.
Thus, air pollution from stubble burning reaches the city of Delhi. Other contributors to the city’s poor air quality include open waste burning, massive construction, transport, industry, thermal power stations, and careless littering of plastic.
Guidelines for Paris Climate Change Agreement
The guidelines will promote trust among nations that all countries are playing their part in addressing the challenge of climate change.
Governments have adopted a new set of guidelines for implementing the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The implementation of the agreement will benefit people from all walks of life, especially the most vulnerable. The agreed ‘Katowice Climate Package’ is designed to operationalize the climate change regime contained in the Paris Agreement. Under the auspices of the United Nations
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Climate Change Secretariat, it will promote international cooperation and encourage greater ambition. The guidelines will promote trust among nations that all countries are playing their part in addressing the challenge of climate change. “The guidelines contained in the Katowice Climate Package provide the basis for implementing the agreement as of 2020,” said the President of COP24, Michal Kurtyka of Poland. The Katowice package includes guidelines that will operationalize the transparency framework. It sets out how countries will provide information about their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that describe their domestic climate actions. This information includes mitigation and adaptation measures as well as details of financial support for climate action in developing countries.
Read and Download RMN Publications
Raman Media Network (RMN) Company – which is an integrated technology media and entertainment company – is working in diversified content creation, management, and distribution businesses on a global scale. Among other content-based activities, the company runs 4 global news sites on different subjects. The company also publishes and distributes digital content products and magazines among readers around the world. You can read and download our digital products that cover diverse content streams.
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Clean Vehicles = Clean Air = Climate Action UN Environment: Together, we can beat pollution.
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Toyota Releases North American Environmental Report Guided by the six challenges, Toyota is making progress towards creating a net positive impact on the planet.
The Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 is part of Toyota's long-term plan to support and foster a more inclusive and sustainable society. Consisting of six individual challenges, Challenge 2050 addresses the major environmental issues facing the global community, such as climate change, water scarcity, resource depletion, and habitat loss.
The first three challenges focus on carbon and call for eliminating—not just reducing— greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles, operations, and supply chain activities. The fourth challenge addresses water availability and quality, while the fifth and sixth challenges seek to move closer to contributing to a recycling-based society and protecting nature. "The Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 is the most demanding and most inspiring environmental commitment this company has ever made," said Toyota Motor North America Director of Environmental Sustainability, Kevin Butt. "Our success will come from a combination of continuous improvement and new ideas. And it will come from strategic partnerships, education, and sharing our environmental know-how with others." Challenge 2050 is inspiring Toyota team members, partners and customers and connecting them with the company's core commitment to sustainable mobility. Guided by the six challenges, Toyota is making progress towards creating a net positive impact on the planet. In the recently published 2018 North American Environmental Report, Toyota outlines positive impacts made across North America.
Pollution Shortens Lifespan of Delhi Residents by Over 10 Years Delhi Government, the Indian Government, and the pollution-control agencies are not taking proper steps to control pollution. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 14 of 18
Travel Advisory for New Delhi, India: As pollution levels remain dangerously high throughout the year in India, all travelers including business executives, tourists, and diplomats need to exercise utmost caution while planning to visit India – particularly India’s capital New Delhi. Moreover, companies and investors must not come to Delhi for setting up their businesses or for trade conferences as pollution can harm them as well as their families. Foreigners who have come to stay in India for their work, should preferably go back to their countries. Or, at least, they should not keep their children with them because Delhi’s pollution is very harmful for children.
Children affected by dust and air pollution at the RMN Foundation free school for deserving children in Delhi. Photo by Rakesh Raman.
Delhi Government, the Indian Government, and the pollution-control agencies are not taking proper steps to control pollution because most politicians and bureaucrats in India are uneducated and careless. World’s top magazine The Economist reports that “even by the standards of poor countries, India is alarmingly filthy.” The magazine says that Delhi’s deadly air is part of a wider crisis, adding that in WHO’s (World Health Organization) rankings of air pollution, Indian cities claim 14 of the top 15 spots. Moreover, in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index – released by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum – India falls at
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a poor rank of 177 in a list of 180 countries. Worse, India’s Environmental Health rank is 180 and Air Quality rank is 178. An interactive tool on the Breathe Life 2030 website shows a Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 level of 143 micrograms per cubic metre (annual mean) in India’s capital New Delhi. This is over 14 times over the WHO safe level of 10 µg/m3. Simply put, the people of Delhi are inhaling poison from the air. Air pollution levels get so severe that many residents regularly wear masks and authorities resort to emergency measures such as banning construction and shutting schools. But most Indians ignore government orders and pollution activities continue. According to The Economist, this polluted environment does not just make life unpleasant for a lot of Indians, but it kills them. Recent estimates put the annual death toll from breathing PM 2.5 alone at 1.2 million to 2.2 million a year. The lifespan of Delhi-dwellers is shortened by more than ten years, says the University of Chicago.
Hyundai Delivers First 2019 NEXO Fuel Cell SUV A fuel cell vehicle uses a fuel cell to power an electric drive system while a hybrid vehicle is fitted with a fuel cell and a battery.
Hyundai has delivered its first NEXO fuel cell SUV to a former scientist eager to add the benefits of this zero-emissions vehicle to his environment-friendly lifestyle.
Yong-woo (William) Lee, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, congratulates Tom Hochrad of Ventura, Calif., the first customer to receive the all-new Hyundai Nexo. Photo: Hyundai Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 16 of 18
Customer Tom Hochrad of Ventura, California picked up his new SUV at Keyes Hyundai in Van Nuys to become the first U.S. customer to drive off in the new NEXO, which is claimed to be the only mass-produced fuel cell SUV for the U.S. market, boasting a range up to 380 miles. Hyundai says Mr. Hochrad isn't the typical automotive buyer, yet he's the sort of customer looking to drive a zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered vehicle. More than 15 years ago, he purchased his first hybrid car and over the years has driven dedicated electric vehicles as well. His new NEXO will deliver about five times the driving range of his first all-electric car. A fuel cell vehicle uses a fuel cell to power an electric drive system while a hybrid vehicle is fitted with a fuel cell and a battery. According to Hyundai, NEXO can be leased for $399 (Blue model) or $449 (Limited model) for 36 months and can be purchased for $58,300.
Meet the Editor The editor of this environment news magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group). Nowadays, for the past about 8 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his NGO – RMN Foundation. He runs an exclusive community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice. He also creates and distributes a number of digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, corruption and transparency. He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the upcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to happen in 2019. Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. January 2019. Page 17 of 18
Collaboration for Environment Content Project The Clean Climate environment news magazine is being published by RMN Foundation. It is being circulated among top government departments, environment protection organizations, colleges / universities, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, social activists, and others in India and abroad. RMN Foundation is looking for sponsors and collaborators across the world who can join hands with us to expand the environment content activity around Clean Climate initiative. Contact
Rakesh Raman Founder RMN Foundation 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I New Delhi 110 078, INDIA Contact by email
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