International treaties, environment, science and business interests converge on the use and replacement of refrigerant gases.

The issue of refrigerant gases is covered by two international agreements Montreal Protocol (MP) and the UN Framework Contention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The MP is meant to reduce or do away with gases that cause a hole in the ozone layer that envelopes the Earth — mostly refrigerant gases and solvents. The UNFCCC is meant to bring down emissions of greenhouse gases that warm up the planet.

Indo-German Development Cooperation (IGDC) project of Tripura has begun to assess land based climate finance possibilities in tribal dominated Dhalai district of Tripura besides, identifying existi

Addressing climate change from social justice and human rights perspectives is a global challenge, and international negotiations dealing with climate change need to incorporate such concerns.

This report, the final output of SEI’s partnership with the 3C (Combat Climate Change) initiative, examines how business engagement with climate change has changed since 2007, including business attitudes towards climate science and policy and business-initiated mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Voicing concern over "painfully slow" progress in climate talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the goal of stabilising global temperatures was "nowhere in sight" and called for individual countries to take action to increase energy efficiency.

While inaugurating the Fourth Clean Energy Ministerial, Singh also made it clear that rich nations, who were responsible for a bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, were best placed to provide workable solutions to mitigate climate change.

Market mechanisms, international funding needed

Warning that a carbon tax of $10 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions could cause a GDP loss of more than $600 billion, the Economic Survey says the way forward for domestic environment financing must come from a mix of market mechanisms, fiscal instruments and regulatory interventions.
Citing the results of preliminary modelling studies by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Survey argues that “relying solely on carbon taxes and subsidy may not be the most viable policy option.” It also discusses the establishment of a National Green Fund to finance environmental protection, but only mentions international sources to fill the coffers of the Fund.

Sterlite Energy Ltd (SEL), a Vedanta group firm, has so far paid Rs 33.6 crore to the state Environment Management Fund in two tranches.

It deposited Rs 19.22 crore in August for the previous year charges and recently submitted a demand draft of Rs 14.39 crore towards the fund for the six month period between April to October 2012. According to the government policy, the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) must have to contribute six paise per unit every year to the fund for the power sold outside the state. The fund will act as an agency to reduce the carbon emission in the state.

For more than a decade, the target of keeping global warming below 2 °C has been a key focus of the international climate debate. In response, the scientific community has published a number of scenario studies that estimate the costs of achieving such a target. Producing these estimates remains a challenge, particularly because of relatively well known, but poorly quantified, uncertainties, and owing to limited integration of scientific knowledge across disciplines.

The Doha climate talks could not take “ambitious or meaningful decisions” on financing commitments of developed countries, the government on Tuesday said.

However, India could protect its interests “fully” and succeeded in bringing the three issues of “Equity, technology-related IPRs (intellectual property rights) and the unilateral measures firmly back on the table,” it said. “Among the key concerns which the conference could not address are those relating to financing commitments of developed countries, sectoral actions and the issue of compensation for loss and damage arising from climate change,” the government said two days after the conclusion of the Doha conference.

“A new moment for mankind.” That was how Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, described his country’s biofuel boom in March 2007. Back then, Brazil was the poster child of ethanol fuel, its output second only to that of the United States. Fermenting the sugars in the country’s abundant sugar cane produced a motor fuel that lowered carbon dioxide emissions, and many saw Brazil as a model for how the world could shed its addiction to oil, creating jobs along the way.

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