IPCC Report
- The Indian Ocean is warming at a higher rate than other oceans, said the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released, with scientists warning that India will witness increased heat waves and flooding, which will be the irreversible effects of climate change.
- The current overall global warming trends are likely to lead to an increase in annual mean precipitation over India, with more severe rain expected over southern India in the coming decades.
- IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”, said the warming of the ocean would lead to a rise in sea levels, leading to frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-level areas.
- With a 7,517- km coastline, India would face significant threats from the rising seas. Across the port cities of Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Surat and Visakhapatnam, 28.6 million people would be exposed to coastal flooding if sea levels rise by 50 cm.
- Monsoon extremes are likely to increase over India and South Asia, while the frequency of short intense rainy days are expected to rise.
- Models also indicate a lengthening of the monsoon over India by the end of the 21st century, with the South Asian monsoon precipitation projected to increase.
- Stating that human activities are causing climate change, the report said the planet was irrevocably headed towards warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times in the next two decades.
- Unless extremely deep emission cuts are undertaken by all countries immediately, these goals are unlikely to be met.
- The report recommended that countries strive to achieve net zero emissions — no additional greenhouse gases are emitted — by 2050.
Analysis
- Climate change is described by many as a far greater threat to humanity than COVID-19, because of its irreversible impacts.
- The latest report is bound to strengthen the criticism that leaders in many countries have stonewalled and avoided moving away from coal and other fossil fuels, while even those who promised to act, failed to influence the multilateral system.
- The new report attributes catastrophic events to sustained global warming, particularly the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts, proportion of intense tropical cyclones, reductions in Arctic Sea ice, snow cover and permafrost
- More than five years after the Paris Agreement was concluded, there is no consensus on raising ambition to reduce emissions, making access to low carbon technologies easier, and adequately funding mitigation and adaptation.
- Heatwaves and heavy rainfall events experienced with increasing frequency and intensity are just two of these, while disruptions to the global water cycle pose a more unpredictable threat.
Five principles of Maritime security
PM 5 Principles for Maritime security
- Maritime trade without barriers so as to establish legitimate trade.
- Peaceful settlement of maritime disputes and only on the basis of international law.
- Present nations to collectively combat maritime threats posed by non-state actors and natural calamities.
- We have to preserve maritime environment and maritime resources.
- He also professed encouragement to responsible maritime connectivity.
- Oceans are our shared heritage and our maritime routes are the lifelines of international trade. These oceans are very important for the future of our planet,”
- “This shared heritage of ours is facing several types of challenges. Maritime routes are being misused for piracy and terrorism.
Persian Gulf
- The Persian Gulf is a nearly 990 kilometre-long body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
- Seven member States of the United Nations lay claim to washing their hands or feet in its waters.
- At its narrowest point, in the Strait of Hormuz, it is only 54 km wide and the main shipping channels that pass through it are 30km-35 km wide and 8km-12 km wide.
- They are critical to the transportation of crude oil and LNG to global markets
- The Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain have qualitatively influenced the Arab-Israeli calculus in the Persian Gulf States and in the wider Arab world.
- More recently, the U.S.’s decision to withdraw forces from Afghanistan and reduce commitments in Iraq has been the subject of discussions on policy options among knowledgeable observers in Washington.
- Another view is that “the post-COVID-19 environment is going to be unfriendly to Saudi Arabia perhaps more than to any other leading power in the Gulf”.
- The Saudi failure to subdue the Houthis and to close the Yemen conflict on their terms has become a source of concern.
- The U.S.’s inability to subdue Iran on its terms has also become evident
- “On balance, the American ground-force base in Kuwait, the Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain, [the] Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE and the access arrangements in Oman provide the U.S. with a politically and financially sustainable military presence” in the region.
- Given practical shape, its essential ingredients would need to be:
- Freedom of access to, and outlet from, Gulf waters through the Strait of Hormuz;
- Freedom of commercial shipping in international waters in the Persian Gulf;
- Prevention of conflict that may impinge on the freedom of trade and shipping;
- Freedom to all States of the Gulf littoral to exploit their hydrocarbons and other natural resources and export them;
- Ensure conditions of peace and stability in the individual littoral States, and ensure that regional or extra-regional conditions do not impinge on any of these consideration
National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
- The Centre will spend ₹11,000 crore on a new mission to ensure self-sufficiency in edible oil production at a time when India’s dependence on expensive imports has driven retail oil prices to new highs.
- This financial outlay for the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) will be over a five-year period.
- share of imported palm oil is more than 55%. “
- north-eastern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as prime locations for oil palm cultivation.
- NMEO proposal would aim to reduce import dependence from 60% to 45% by 2024-25, by increasing domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes, a 70% growth target.
- It projected a 55% growth in oilseed production, to 47.8 million tonnes
IPCC Report on Glacier
- Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region will keep shrinking and the snow cover will retreat to higher altitudes, the latest IPCC report said on Monday.
- The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), approved by 195 member-countries, warned that extreme precipitation is projected to increase in major mountainous regions with potential cascading consequences of floods, landslides and lake outbursts in all scenarios.
- The snow cover had reduced since the early 21st century and glaciers had thinned, retreated and lost mass since the 1970s
- “Snow-covered areas and snow volumes will decrease during the 21st century, snowline elevations will rise and glacier mass is likely to decline with greater mass loss in higher greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
- Rising temperatures and precipitation can increase the occurrence of glacial lake outburst floods and landslides over moraine dammed lakes,”
- Mountain glaciers will continue to shrink and permafrost to thaw in all regions where they are present.
Plastic pact
- A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
- However, viewed from the angle of livelihoods, postconsumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.
- “We should expect to mismanage more than 7.7 billion metric tonnes of plastic waste globally over the next 20 years… [which is] equivalent to 16- times the weight of the Plastic pact
- The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
- The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.
- All Pacts unite behind four targets: to eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation; to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable; to increase the reuse, collection, and recycling of plastic packaging; and to increase recycled content in plastic packaging
- The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit
- The Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
- Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste
India’s Plastic pact
- The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation. Members’ accountability is ensured through ambitious targets and annual data reporting.
- The Pact will develop a road map for guidance, form action groups composed of members, and initiate innovation projects.
- While the India Plastics Pact will be active in India, it will link globally with other Plastics Pacts.
- Many Indian businesses and organisations have expressed an interest in signing up to the Pact.
- Deeper and long-lasting benefits will be felt across the supply chains of these businesses, most of which comprise MSMEs.
- The Pact will encourage development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
- Apart from benefits to society and economy, delivering the targets will drive circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution.