Clean Climate
Environment News Magazine March 2019
India – Spearheading Climate Solutions
An Editorial Initiative of Raman Media Network Editor: Rakesh Raman
Climate Change | Air Pollution | Environment | Campaigns | Policy
Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 1 of 16
Main Stories in This Issue
Government Policy
- Green New Deal on Climate Change - U.S. Committee on the Climate Crisis
Environment Protection
- How London Checks Air Pollution - India Spearheading Climate Solutions
Developments
Business News
- 2018 Fourth Warmest Year - Katowice Climate Package Released - Construction and Pollution in Delhi
- Subaru Loves the Earth Initiative - DHL New Electric Delivery Vans - UN17 EcoVillage in Copenhagen
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How India Plans to Combat Climate Change
The publication not only highlights India’s achievements toward climate action but also its preparedness for future.
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released a publication on February 12 in New Delhi. Titled “India – Spearheading Climate Solutions,” it highlights climate actions that India has taken under various sectors towards combating and adapting to climate change.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan releasing a publication on climate actions in India titled “India – Spearheading Climate Solutions”, in New Delhi on February 12, 2019. Photo: PIB
Environment minister Harsh Vardhan said that India has been one of the proactive countries in the world that has been working on multiple aspects of climate change at domestic as well as international level. He added that this publication not only highlights India’s achievements toward climate action but also its preparedness for future. “The initiatives captured in this publication are reflection of our commitment toward addressing climate change concerns while keeping a fine balance with the sustainable development priorities,” the minister said. In December 2018, India submitted its second Biennial Update Report (BUR) to UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) as per the reporting obligations under the convention. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 3 of 16
According to the government, the report brings out the fact that emission intensity of India’s GDP came down by 21% between 2005 and 2014 and India’s achievement of climate goal for pre-2020 period is on track.
2018 Fourth Warmest Year in Continued Warming Trend This warming has been driven in large part by increased emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Earth's global surface temperatures in 2018 were the fourth warmest since 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
2018 Fourth Warmest Year. Photo: NASA
Global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Globally, 2018's temperatures rank behind those of 2016, 2017, and 2015. The past five years are, collectively, the warmest years in the modern record. "2018 is yet again an extremely warm year on top of a long-term global warming trend," said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. Since the 1880s, the average global surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius). This warming has been driven in large part by increased Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 4 of 16
emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by human activities, according to Schmidt. NASA's temperature analyses incorporate surface temperature measurements from 6,300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations. NASA's full 2018 surface temperature data set — and the complete methodology used to make the temperature calculation — are available here.
Speaker Pelosi Forms Committee on the Climate Crisis Each member brings their own unique expertise and deep commitment to America’s effort to confront the climate crisis.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi in February named Democratic Members to serve on the new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. “The American people have spoken, and demanded bold action to take on the climate crisis, which is the existential threat of our time,” said Speaker Pelosi. “The climate crisis is the existential threat of our time.” It was said in a statement that Speaker Pelosi has named Democratic Members to serve on the new House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. They will be bold leaders in addressing this threat to public health, economy, national security, and the whole of God’s creation. Chaired by Congresswoman Kathy Castor (pictured), according to the statement, each member brings their own unique expertise and deep commitment to America’s effort to confront the climate crisis. During her time in Congress, Castor has been a leader in protecting the environment and tackling the climate crisis. She serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has oversight responsibilities for environmental policies. According to the statement, she also was a co-chair of the House Democratic Environmental Message Team that issued the Trump’s Toxic Team Report to lead the fight to address climate change and detail the corruption, self-dealing and abuse of taxpayer money under the Trump Administration at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Interior and Department of Energy. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 5 of 16
DHL Expands Green Fleet with Addition of New Electric Delivery Vans The fleet of 63 NGEN-1000 electric delivery cargo vans are produced by equipment manufacturer Workhorse Group.
The world's leading international express services provider DHL is planning to roll out a new fleet of electric delivery vans that will serve the U.S. markets. These new vehicles add to the company's alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) fleet, which includes fully electric, hybrid-electric, compressed natural gas (CNG) and clean diesel.
DHL has set a target of operating 70 percent of first- and last-mile delivery services with clean transport modes by 2025 as part of its longer-term corporate commitment to reduce its logistics-related emissions to zero by 2050. The fleet of 63 NGEN-1000 electric delivery cargo vans are produced by equipment manufacturer Workhorse Group and are built to be among the safest, most efficient last-mile delivery and work truck systems available. Capable of running up to 100 miles on a charge, the vans have ultra-low floors to reduce physical stress on workers' knees and back, and a high roof design that maximizes cargo space in a small footprint (1,008 cubic feet of cargo capacity). DHL will roll out the first 30 NGEN-1000 electric delivery cargo vans in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Architects Design UN17 EcoVillage in Copenhagen One cluster of buildings is designed to produce more energy than it needs and will distribute power and heating to other buildings.
United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) reports that a new building project will use all 17 of the UN’s Global Goals as a sustainability blueprint for a 35,000-square-metre eco-village being built on the southern outskirts of Copenhagen. Amid dire warnings about the need to rapidly rein in carbon dioxide emissions, Danish architects Lendager Group, and project partners Årstiderne Arkitekter, have planned their 400-home development in Ørestad South to set a new standard for sustainable construction. “We see the Sustainable Development Goals as a global tool with a holistic approach to the world’s sustainability challenges; a tool and a language that can be understood across sectors and countries,” Lendager says in its project description for the UN17 Village development. UN17 Village will house 830 people, including around 175 children and 100 older residents. Five housing blocks will be built using recycled concrete, wood, and glass. Some of the construction materials will be sourced from Lendager UP, the branch of Lendager that provides upcycled building materials, and the company will also use various subcontractors.
Construction and Pollution in Delhi You can click here to study a report on the harmful effect of construction on environment in India’s capital New Delhi. Construction is due to begin at the end of 2019, or early 2020, depending on the weather, and the work is scheduled to be completed in 2023. UN Environment says it seems fitting that this innovative project is going ahead in Copenhagen. The Danish capital was the 2014 European Green Capital and aims to become carbon neutral by 2025. For Lendager chief executive officer and company founder Anders Lendager, the development will act as a compass to guide others, including governments, businesses, and individuals towards sustainability in construction. Cities and urban settlements must be at the heart of renewed efforts to cut emissions. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities, and urban areas already account for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 7 of 16
A stinking residential area in India's capital New Delhi which is among the dirtiest and the most polluted cities of the world. Photo: Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service The development will include rainwater collection facilities capable of recycling 1.5 million litres of water each year. The water will be treated and recirculated and used in the wash house and in the bath house. Water heating will be based on geothermic energy, while solar panels will also be used. Each building will also have a rooftop garden. One cluster of buildings is designed to produce more energy than it needs and will distribute power and heating to other buildings, testing the efficacy of a smart closed system. The building complexes, as well as individual apartments, are designed to be resilient to climate change with vegetation and green areas to help counteract the loss of vegetation and biodiversity caused by urban growth. There will be around 3,000 square-metres of community spaces for residents and the people of Ørestad. There will also be a conference centre, an organic restaurant, greenhouses and food-sharing and food-growing facilities. As part of its attempt to tackle poverty, the project will provide 100 unskilled jobs for marginalized workers and challenge contractors to include them in their teams. The Village also aims to produce enough food for 30,000 meals every year by growing crops on the roofs and in the greenhouses.
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Green New Deal Introduced to Save the Environment Discussion on climate change is expected to dominate the 2020 U.S. presidential election debates.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a.k.a. AOC (D-NY) has introduced a Green New Deal resolution that has brought the climate change discourse to the center stage of American politics. In its raw and ambiguous form, the deal document submitted on February 7, 2019 by Ms AOC outlines a slew of imperatives for the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. It blends economic as well as environmental factors to press for the urgency of the new policy framework. “Don’t mess with our future. When it comes to climate, it’s all our lives at stake. The younger you are, the more consequences you’ll see. It’s life and death for us. And we will fight like it,” Ms AOC tweeted. She also blamed the rival Republicans (GOP) for ignoring the climate crisis. “We are already feeling the early nightmares of climate crisis and the GOP is doing nothing to stop it,” she complained. As discussion on climate change is expected to dominate the 2020 presidential election debates, willy-nilly the GOP will accept the green deal in some form. Photo: AOC
FAR Construction, Corruption, and Pollution in Delhi FAR construction is spreading lethal dust and noise pollution in India’s capital New Delhi.
In an unscrupulous manner, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is giving approvals for extended construction in Delhi’s group housing societies where people are already living. This construction - under the dubious floor area ratio (FAR) policy is spreading lethal dust and noise pollution which is poised to harm millions of people including men, women, children – and even senior citizens.
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The extended construction racket – in which huge corruption is happening – is being run by DDA in connivance with the corrupt managing committee (MC) members of various cooperative group housing societies and dishonest builders.
FAR construction is spreading lethal dust and noise pollution in Delhi.
Along with DDA, the other departments involved in this criminal activity are office of the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS), Delhi Fire Service (DFS), and Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC). Click here to download and read the full report on FAR construction.
How London Uses Technology to Check Air Pollution The cost of air pollution to the London economy has been estimated at £3.7 billion every year.
London has launched an advanced air quality monitoring network which will help the city’s policymakers “put the right policies in place”, according to London Mayor Saddiq Khan. London is working with academic, private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGO) partners on Breathe London, a year-long, multi-partner project funded by C40 cities and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. It is managed by the Environmental Defense Fund Europe.
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Breathe London has mounted a network of 100 state-of-the-art sensor pods on lampposts and buildings in the worst affected areas and sensitive locations throughout the city, which will take continuous readings, while Google Street View cars fitted with mobile sensors will roam over a thousand miles of roadways taking readings about every 30 metres.
London Mayor Saddiq Khan
“This real-time data will also help us learn more about London’s toxic air and help us to put the right policies in place to continue our clean-up efforts. As a recent Aether report demonstrated, these actions will benefit all Londoners, but particularly those living in the capital’s deprived areas. I hope the success of this scheme will act as a blueprint for cities around the world as they battle their own toxic air emergencies,” said Mayor Khan. This is significant in a world where 9 out of 10 people breathe air that does not meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and 7 million people die each year from diseases caused by air pollution, the majority of them from low- and middle-income countries. The cost of air pollution to the London economy has been estimated at £3.7 billion every year, due to the health impact of fine particulate pollution (PM₂.₅) and nitrogen dioxide leading to lost life-years, hospital admissions, and deaths. Download and Read RMN Publications TechWise Today
The Integrity Bulletin
Clean Climate
Legal Directions
Young Learner
Real Voter
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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 Or you can click here to donate with PayPal, credit card, or bank account.
Katowice Climate Package to Help Implement Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement sets the ambitious goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
The Katowice Climate Package, adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in Katowice last December, constitutes guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Package sets out the essential procedures and mechanisms that will make the Paris Agreement operational. The successful adoption of implementation guidelines promises to build greater trust and to strengthen international cooperation on transitioning to a low-emissions, climate-resilient world. The Paris Agreement sets the ambitious goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if we are to limit warming to 1.5°C we will need to lower our CO2 emissions by about 45% by 2030 (compared to 2010 levels). Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 12 of 16
Even limiting global warming to 2°C will require nothing less than transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy by the middle of this century – only several decades from now.
Guidelines for Implementing Paris Climate Change Agreement
The implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement respect the different capabilities and socio-economic realities of each country while providing the foundation for ever-increasing ambition with respect to climate action. They establish an effective international system for promoting and tracking progress while empowering countries to build national systems for implementing the Agreement. Functioning together, these systems will enable countries to transparently contribute their share of action for tackling the global challenge of climate change. Download Previous Issues of Clean Climate November 2018
December 2018
January 2019
February 2019
How Subaru Recycled One Million Pieces of Waste Subaru Loves the Earth initiative is dedicated to preserving the environment.
Subaru of America announced on February 13 that it has recycled one million pieces of waste through the automaker's ongoing Subaru Loves the Earth recycling program. The Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 13 of 16
program is created in partnership with TerraCycle, the world's leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. "This milestone means a lot to us at Subaru because it reinforces our belief that loving the environment means more than loving the great outdoors," said Alan Bethke, senior VP of Marketing, Subaru of America, Inc. Utilizing TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box platform, participating Subaru retailers encouraged customers, employees, and community partners to recycle waste streams that are commonly thought of as hard-to-recycle, including snack wrappers, disposable cups and lids, and coffee, tea, and creamer capsules. In addition, Subaru emboldened customers to enhance their own commitment to sustainability by collecting these waste streams at their home or office and bringing them into a local participating Subaru retailer.
Subaru Loves the Earth
The collected waste is then turned into useful, high-quality recycled products, like park benches, picnic tables, and playground materials, and donated to Subaru community partners. Subaru retailers can also view, and order products made from the recycled materials through an exclusive Subaru product-line, produced in conjunction with TerraCycle. The partnership with TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box program is part of the larger Subaru Loves the Earth initiative, which is dedicated to preserving the environment. Clean Climate: Environment News Magazine by RMN Foundation. March 2019. Page 14 of 16
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. 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.
Meet the Editor The editor of Clean Climate 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 has formed an environment-protection group called Green Group in Delhi. He creates and distributes a number of digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, education, politics, 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.
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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.
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 the 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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