Current Affairs Dec 2015 - Environment

News 1 - SC banned registration of new diesel SUVs, luxury cars in Delhi till 31 March 2016.

The Supreme Court (SC) on 16 December 2015 banned the registration of all diesel SUVs and luxury cars with engine capacity of 2000cc or more in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region till 31 March 2016. The landmark ruling was aimed at curbing the alarming pollution level in Delhi.

News 2 - Typhoon Melor struck the Philippines.

Typhoon Melor on 14 December 2015 struck the Philippines. This typhoon was ranked as a Category 3 storm by the US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which is located at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. This storm triggered flooding, landslides and 4 meter storm surges in the coastal region. As per an estimate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison the wind speeds had reached 220 km/h, when it hit the coast.

The typhoon was locally called as Typhoon Nona.

News 3 - COP 21 under UNFCCC adopted Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Conference of the Parties 21 (COP 21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 12 December 2015 adopted the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which was attended by 192 parties. India was represented by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar.

This agreement facilitates enforcement of global green house emission reduction measures in the post-2020 (post Kyoto Protocol) scenario. It was prepared based on consensus among the parties incorporating Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of the respective parties including that of India.

News 4 - India's biggest wildlife rescue centre commissioned in Nagpur.

India’s biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre named as Gorewada Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Centre has been commissioned at Gorewada near Nagpur, Maharashtra. The centre was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.

News 5 - ZSI Scientists discovered a new eel species named Bengal Moray eel.

Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have a discovered a new species of eel named Bengal Moray (Gymnothorax Mishrai) along the coast of Digha in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. These eels are mainly snake-like fish with fins and gills and are mostly found at the bottom of rivers and seas.

News 6 - Uttar Pradesh government bans use of Polythene bags.

Uttar Pradesh government has decided to enforce ban on the use of polythene bags in the state to protect the environment and public health. The ban prohibits manufacturing, importing, purchasing and storage of all kinds of plastic carry bags in state.

News 7 - South Western Railway Zone introduces Biodiesel for trains.

The South Western Railways (SWR) Zone with its headquarters in Hubli, Karnataka has introduced biodiesel for trains operating under its zone. In this regard, SWR’s first train Hubballi-Bengaluru Janshatabdi Express powered by five per cent biodiesel blended with High Speed Diesel was flagged off from Hubli. The main aim of this initiative is to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission and carbon footprint and also to make fuel consumption more efficient. To meet its biodiesel demand, SWR zone has set up Biodiesel filling centres at Hubli, Bengaluru and Hospet. In next one year all the 13 railway depots within this zone will have their own filling units and biodiesel blending will be gradually increased to ten percent.

News 8 - Myanmar launched its first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake.

Myanmar on 11 December 2015 launched its first UNSECO Biosphere Reserve Inle Lake in Shan state. It was designated as UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Paris in June 2015.

This lake is spread on an area of 489721 hectares and is located in Nyaungshwe township, Taunggyi district in Myanmar's eastern Shan state. The lake gets funding from the Government of Norway under the framework of the Inle Lake Conservation and Rehabilitation project. The wetland ecosystem of this freshwater lake is home to 267 species of birds, out of which 82 are wetland birds, 43 species of freshwater fishes, otters and turtles. The Inle Lake is reported to be the nesting place for the globally endangered Sarus crane.

News 9 - Delhi Government announced odd-even vehicle scheme to curb air pollution.

Delhi Government on 4 December 2015 announced odd-even vehicle scheme to curb air pollution in the city. A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The primary objective of this initiative is to halve the vehicular population in the city and thereby to bring pollution levels under control.

In the first phase, vehicles with odd and even number plates would be allowed to run on alternate days between 1 and 15 January 2016. This rule will be enforced between 8am and 8pm only and there will be no restrictions on Sundays. However, emergency vehicles such as ambulances were excluded from this restriction.

News 10 - Yes Bank announced to mobilize 5 billion US dollars for climate action by 2020.

Yes Bank Limited announced to mobilize 5 billion US dollars from 2015 to 2020 for climate action through lending, investing and raising capital towards mitigation, adaptation and resilience. The announcement was made on the occasion of COP 21 climate summit in Paris.

Furthermore to achieve holistic impact and aid India’s target of meeting its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), the bank committed to achieve the following by 2020 −

Target funding of 5000 MW of clean energy.
Gradually increase percentage of Renewable Energy in its power portfolio.
Contribute towards creating a carbon sink by planting 2 million trees.
Touch 100 million lives through its safe and clean drinking water program.
Offset Carbon Emissions of the bank’s operations.

News 11 - Beijing issued first-ever Red Alert on Air Pollution.

Authorities in China's capital, Beijing on 7 December 2015 issued its first-ever red alert on air pollution ordering schools to close due to hazardous air quality. Red alert is the highest possible state of caution.

News 12 - African Restoration Initiative unveiled to restore 100 million hectares of forest.

A coalition of African countries and donors unveiled African Restoration Initiative (AFR100) on the sidelines of a conference of the 195-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris.

The ambitious initiative looks forward to restore 100 million hectares (250 million acres) of degraded and deforested land by 2030.

Ten African countries, nine financial partners and 10 technical support partners have pledged support. The countries that agreed to join AFR100 initiative include Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.

News 13 - India’s forest and tree cover increased by 5081 sq km: India State of Forest Report 2015.

The Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on 4 November 2015 released the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015. The report states that India’s forest and tree cover has increased by 5081 sq km.

The total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectares, which is 24.16 percent of the total geographical area. While the total forest cover of the country has increased by 3775 Sq. kms, the tree cover has gone up by 1306 Sq. kms.

Changes observed in States as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015 :

The maximum increase in forest cover has been observed in Tamil Nadu that is 2501 Sq. kms, followed by Kerala that includes 1317 Sq. kms forest cover and Jammu & Kashmir with 450 Sq. kms forest cover.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of 77462 Sq. kms in the country, followed by Arunachal Pradesh with a forest cover of 67248 Sq. kms and Chhattisgarh with 55586 Sq. kms.
Mizoram with 88.93 percentage of forest cover has the highest forest cover in percentage terms, followed by Lakshadweep with 84.56 percent.
15 States/Union Territories have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover.

News 14 - MoEF released Draft Environment (Protection) Amendment Rules, 2015.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 30 November 2015 released Draft Environment (Protection) Amendment Rules, 2015. They are intended to amend the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 and issued in exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The purpose of the draft was to specify Primary Water Quality criteria for bathing water in water bodies.

News 15 - Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Coalition formed to reduce demand for fossil fuels.

Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Coalition was formed on 30 November 2015 to reduce demand for fossil fuels. The coalition was launched by global business leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France.

It was launched alongside Mission Innovation, wherein 20 participating countries pledged to double their clean energy research and development funding by 2020.

Key features of Breakthrough Energy Coalition :

It involves 28 rich and powerful people from different countries across the world.
It works on five Investment Principles – Invest Early, Invest Broadly, Invest Wisely and Invest Together.
It will invest in early-stage startups that promise to provide everyone with affordable and reliable energy that produces zero carbon emissions.
The financial cooperation will also be extended to government-backed green energy research.
While Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) are the prime figures in the coalition at the global level, from India, Ratan Tata (Tata Sons) and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries) are the partners in this initiative.

News 16 - World leaders launched Mission Innovation for accelerating Clean Energy Revolution.

World leaders on 30 November 2015 launched Mission Innovation for accelerating clean energy revolution across the world. This mission was launched by 20 participating countries, including India, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris-Le Bourget, France.

As a part of this initiative, the participating countries double their clean energy research and development funding by 2020. It was launched alongside Bill Gates' led Breakthrough Energy Coalition that aims at reducing demand for fossil fuels.

Participating countries included: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the USA.

News 17 - UN adopted resolution to observe 5 November as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

The United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2015 adopted a resolution to observe 5 November every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day. The creation of the day is aimed at raising awareness among people regarding the dangers of Tsunami and stressing the importance of early warning systems in order to mitigate damage. This proposal was first suggested by the Japanese Government after the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015.

News 18 - Bihar Government banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from plying on Patna roads.

Bihar government on 23 December 2015 banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from plying in their capital city Patna. The decision was taken in view of increasing pollution. This decision was made during the review meeting of the environment and forests department under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The execution was pending since October 2013, when the state transport authority had reached a decision regarding this.

News 19 - Union Ministry of Environment notified norms for Coal-based Thermal Power Plants.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on 7 December 2015 notified revised norms of emission standards for coal-based thermal power plants in India. The Ministry also made it mandatory for the existing plants to meet the new emission parameters within two years.

The new emission standards for the plants are based on the recommendation of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). These new standards are aimed at reducing emission of PM10 (particulate matter), Sulfur Dioxide, and Oxide of Nitrogen. It will help in bringing about an improvement in the Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) in and around the thermal power plants.

News 20 - India launched I-LTEO programme to monitor 8 different biomes.

India on 7 December 2015 launched the Indian Long Term Ecological Observatories (I-LTEO) programme to scientifically monitor eight different biomes (natural landscapes) across the country. The initiative was launched on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) of UNFCCC in Paris.

The work on LTEO Programme is being done in a number of developed and developing countries. India too was doing it, but was restricted to only one place in the country – a 50 hectare plot at Mudumalai, which has been monitored for over the past 30 years by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

News 21 - NGT gave directions to keep River Ganga Pollution Free.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 10 December 2015 gave a slew of directions to keep River Ganga pollution free.

The bench, that gave the ruling, comprised of Judicial Member MS Nambiar and Expert Members DK Agrawal and BS Sajwan.