Courtesy : downtoearth.org.in
Green economy in india
The accumulation of carbon dioxide has impacted the country’s temperature levels. The rise in temperatures disturbs the socio-political-economic equilibrium, including living standards, productivity, refugee crisis, mass migration, etc.
Around 10 million Indians are struggling with the hottest temperatures recorded in South Asia in over 120 years, reported Al Jazeera, a news channel.
India can shift its economy from brown to green by assisting in the reduction of climate change risk and lowering the impact of catastrophic climate events. The financial sector can play an essential role in India’s battle against climate change.
Global financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development committed over $130 trillion (40 per cent of global financial assets) to align with the Paris Agreement’s climate goals in 2022.
This way, green finance products are expected to become more standardised as the market, driven by increased consumer demand, settles on an agreed framework of requisite principles for green finance in India.
Simply put, green finance is any structured financial activity (a product or service) created to ensure robust environmental outcomes. Let’s understand this better.
Conventionally, banks and financial markets invest money in companies that assure better returns in the future.
A ‘risk-return’ profile usually drives the investment decision that financial players make. Risk and return are traded off depending on the larger goal of the investors.
The higher the risk, the better the return, and the lower risk yields lower returns. But on the other hand, green financing encourages investments based not solely on the flashy numbers of risk returns but on the moral grounds of the companies and their economic activity.
This implies taking into account what the investment would ultimately yield. For example, a bank may now be willing to invest in a renewable energy plant rather than fossil fuel fields, despite lower returns. They are likely to be more concerned about the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk associated with the latter.
Risks and returns would no longer be the only trade-offs; instead, the segments of social benefit, environmental impact and governmental or political consequences would capture the centre stage in decision-making.
Some of the traditional projects that fall under the purview of green finance include — Renewable energy and energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control, biodiversity conservation, circular economy initiatives and sustainable use of natural resources and land.
Clean energy sources can be realised with the perfect mix of approvals, strategic priorities and capital availability.
Such projects could be given preferential treatment in order to make them more compelling. For instance, one such flagship project that India launched in 2019, to battle air pollution is the National Clean Air Program (NCAP).
It envisions the implementation of adaptive measures in action and partnership with states, municipal authorities, etc. NCAP is a graded action plan which sets slabs for comparison, according to which a city will get a proportionate amount. Population and pollution levels are considered for its calculation.
Delhi, the capital city, received over Rs 18 crore from the centre under NCAP in 2022, according to official reports.
Renewable energy sources like air, solar and geothermal power — are the best bet for a rapidly industrialising economy like India. Solar power has looked a bright prospect for years now in India since the price of solar panels keeps falling.
India has remained committed to harvesting solar energy and ecological sustainability, with the Indian government targeting 175 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2022 and 450 gigawatts by 2030.
Hence the solar sector is an excellent opportunity for green job creation. It will provide the much-required employment opportunities for youngsters and give them an outlet to contribute directly and actively to planetary health.
Today, a total workforce of 111,400 people is employed by India’s wind and solar energy sector. The solar sector in India continues to employ the majority of the workforce with a 77 per cent share. At the same time, the wind sector accounted for 23 per cent share, according to a report by Council on Energy, Environment and Water and Natural Resources Defense Council.
What is most important is that the Covid-19 pandemic not only presented a macroeconomic problem but has also offered a fresh opportunity to all stakeholders to rethink environmentally sustainable policies.
Green finance is an important means to facilitate such a shift towards sustainable economic growth.
Right investment and incentives will encourage people to support measures dealing with climate change, according to the International Labour organisation.
Let’s face it — changes towards a greener world will cost a lot, for which the world is unprepared. Thus, the financial sector can play a huge role in promoting development while reducing the pressure on our environment. Green and sustainable financing can promote viable economic growth that does not compromise our future.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth
Solar Energy Sustainable Development Green Climate Funds Renewable Energy India
Europe hypocrisy: Amid shift to coal, what about climate goals?
Europe is buying coal, firing up plants amid Russian sanctions to meet electricity demand pushed up by heatwaves
Published: Tuesday 28 June 2022
British colonisation weakened India’s ancient civilisation. Bengal was starved to feed London by the colonisers who extracted India’s wealth.
In the same way, Africans were taken as slaves to North America. Western industrialisation was enabled by colonial extraction.
As colonies, India and Africa contributed to the development of the West. Although these regions are independent now, the West continues to colonise them in a different way: Carbon Colonization.
The same Europe that lectures others on coal use and browbeat developing countries on their climate goals has conveniently shifted to coal because it needs energy.
Let’s start with what happened in Germany earlier this month. The 56th session of the subsidiary bodies was held in Bonn. It was the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries and regions were there; European diplomats were also present.
They faced two demands: Cut down emissions and provide financing to help developing countries tackle climate change. Did the Europeans agree? No, they did not. In fact, they want more coal, and they want it from the developing world.
The war in Ukraine has exposed Europe’s vulnerabilities. The European Union sanctioned Russia and so, Russia hit back by cutting gas supplies to Europe, pushing the continent to look for coal.
Germany has fired up its coal plants again. The Netherlands has removed limits on production from coal plants. Denmark may do the same.
Italy has declared a state of alert on energy. Italian energy plants have been hoarding coal for months now they might soon put it to use.
Why does Europe need more coal? They’re suffering a heat wave and they need more gas for their cooling systems. So, power consumption has gone up.
But where will this power come from? Europe gets 40 per cent of its gas from Russia and that supply is not guaranteed. Russia is already cutting exports. Gazprom, Russian state-owned gas giant, supplies to Europe. It sends gas through the north stream pipeline to Germany and from there, the gas is distributed to the rest of the continent.
But since last week, the supply has not been steady. In the last seven days, Russia cut gas exports to Europe by more than 50 per cent. And so, they’re switching to coal, the Europeans.
What happens to their climate goals? Europe has money so it can tilt the playing field. Let me explain how EU wants to phase out coal-fired plants by 2030. So, plants in Europe have to be shut down, then where will they get their coal? From other countries — the developing world.
They will supply coal to Europe, in fact they already are. Colombia is one of the countries doing that. In March alone, Europe imported 1.3 million tonnes of coal from Colombia. Colombian exports to the EU have increased by over 47 per cent this year, Braemar data showed.
South Africa is another candidate. It shipped nothing to Europe in march last year. But this year, it sent 287,000 tonnes of coal.
The United States, Australia and Indonesia are all supplying coal to Europe. But even together, they may not be able to meet the continent’s growing demand.
These countries have hit their production limits, plus there’s another problem: European banks won’t finance Russian coal purchases. So, energy companies in Europe have very limited options. They have to buy more coal from the developing world so that Europe can survive the heat wave.
Again, what about their climate promises? Shutting down your coal plants and buying from outside hardly solves the problem. In the past Europe never tired of telling this to the world.
Extreme weather is causing a loss of $520 billion every year, according to the World Bank, and pushing 26 million people into poverty.
Around 23 rich countries are responsible for half of the historical emissions,According to Global Carbon Project. Most of them are European: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom.
Europe has only 7 per cent of the world’s population but it still uses almost 20 percent of the planet’s resources. Recently, Germany rejected the European Union plan for ban on new fossil-fuel cars from 2035 as they are the makers for some of the biggest automobile giants including Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Audi.
I could continue, but here is the essence of the matter: If Europe wants coal, it can buy it. If Europe wants coal, it can keep its plant running. Because European air conditioners must keep running.
When developing countries say they cannot stop using coal, they’re asked to shut down factories, told to ration coal. But when developing countries demand climate compensation and financing, they’re denied.
This is classic European hypocrisy still treating the developing world as their colonies and bending rules to suit themselves.
Coal Coal energy war in ukraine russia ukraine conflict Coal power plant heatwave russia sanctions Bonn climate meet climate goals Renewable Energy World
Electric vehicles have a dark side too: Blood batteries and child labour
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that is among the poorest on the planet, is paying a heavy price for the global green energy revolution
Published: Tuesday 26 April 2022
Elon Musk at the Tesla Fremont Factory in California. Photo: Maurizio Pesce via Wikimedia Commons
Climate action is the new buzzword and why shouldn’t it be? One world is all we have and our world is at risk. Countries, corporations and citizens claim they are doing everything they can to combat climate change.
Green energy is touted as one of the best solutions. We are replacing coal with hydroelectric power, fossil fuels with solar energy, petrol and diesel cars with electric vehicles (EV).
EVs are being pitched as cleaner, greener and sustainable. But are they?
What is clean for the environment, may not really be clean. Under the shiny exteriors of an electric vehicle lies a shocking story of blood batteries, extreme poverty and child labour.
Electric cars use batteries. You know that. But do you know that lithium and cobalt are rare metals that make up these batteries. The cobalt in the battery keeps it stable and allows it to operate safely. It is a bluish-gray metal. It is found in the earth’s crust or what we call crustal rocks.
In addition to its use in jet turbine generators, tool materials, pigments and smartphone batteries, cobalt is also used in lithium-ion batteries. Cobalt is used in about half of electric cars, which is about four to 30 kilograms per battery.
It is found all over the world in countries such as in Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, South Africa, the United States and the Philippines. But 70 per cent of the total supply comes from one country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Let us take a closer look at this country.
DRC is the second-largest country in Africa, with a gross domestic product of $49 billion. It is synonymous with conflict, poverty and corruption. The world’s largest cobalt deposit is beneath the red earth of the DRC. Some 92 million people live in the DRC and two million rely on cobalt production. They are called Négociants.
Cobalt is mined in two ways in the DRC: Industrial (large-scale mining) and artisanal (small-scale mining). So what is the difference between the two?
There are no labour laws or safety protocols governing artisanal mines in the DRC, where 20-30 per cent of the country’s cobalt is mined. These mines employ some 200,000 miners, according to Transport & Environment, a European clean transport campaign group. At least 40,000 of them are children, some as young as six years old, according to the Wilson Centre, a US non-partisan policy forum.
These children flirt with death daily. They enter vertical tunnels that are too narrow for adults to enter. The children in the mine dig for cobalt under inhumane conditions in a furnace-like environment.
Although they sometimes use shovels, they typically dig with their bare hands. They are not provided with masks, gloves, work clothes and may only be provided with 20 minutes of oxygen at a time. Yet, these young children dig for hours.
Upon digging the rock, they crush it, wash it and then take their finds to the market in order to sell them. How much do these children make? Sometimes as little as a dollar.
Cobalt is a multibillion-dollar industry estimated to be worth $17.39 billion by 2027, according to Statista, a German company specialising in market and company data. But this money never reaches a child who is spotting and extracting the metal. In the poverty-stricken DRC, even a dollar is worth risking one’s life for. Many die trying to make this money.
ABC News recently profiled a mother who lost her 13-year-old son to a mine accident. He told his mother he was going to the market to buy coal so she could cook. But he went to a cobalt mine to earn some extra money for the family. After the mine embankment collapsed, the 13-year-old was never able to return home.
In the DRC, at least 80 artisanal miners died between 2014 and 2015, according to UN-run radio station Radio Okapi. In 2019, an accident killed 43 miners. Siddharth Kara, global professor at the British Academy, estimates 2,000 illegal miners die in the DRC every year. Many suffer permanent lung damage, skin infections and other life-changing injuries.
In 2019, some Congolese families sued Tesla and other companies for aiding and abetting the deaths and injuries of children. The suit particularly dealt with a child named as John Doe One.
Since the age of nine, John had worked as a human mule, carrying bags after bags of cobalt for just $0.75 a day. During a work day, John fell into a tunnel.
He was dragged out by fellow workers. But John was left alone on the ground, and when his parents discovered the accident, they rushed to the mining site, but it was too late. The doctors say John will never be able to walk again because he is paralysed.
Why do children work in these high-risk mines? Because of poverty and a desire to escape it. Congolese families are betting big on cobalt. It’s like their crypto, their chance to make it big.
Metal demand has tripled over the past decade and is expected to double again by 2035. EVs are driving this demand. According to reports by the International Energy Agency, EVs sold more than 6.5 million units worldwide in 2021. The number is expected to reach 66 million units by 2040. Therefore, 66 million multiplied by 30 kilograms of cobalt.
According to the World Bank, the demand for cobalt will increase by 585 per cent by 2050. The Congolese people wish to ride this wave and escape poverty. For them, sending their children to the mines is not a choice but rather a necessity.
Many of these children end up working as artisanal miners or as informal workers. Although they are not employed by any company, several companies queue up to purchase their fines.
China and the DRC
The vast majority of companies dealing in blood batteries are Chinese.
Cobalt. Photo: iStock
By far, the largest producer of refined cobalt is China, with 66 per cent, followed by Finland (10 per cent), according to Mining.com. In the last 15 years, Chinese companies have bought out North American and European companies mining in the DRC, according to the New York Times. As of last year, Chinese companies owned 15 of the 19 industrial mines in the DRC.
China has promised the DRC billions of dollars in investment in the form of infrastructure, schools, and roads in exchange for Congolese cobalt. This is yet another example of how stories involving China never end well.
In today’s world, China is leaking blood cobalt into the supply chain for electric vehicles. Chinese companies are purchasing cobalt from children in an effort to encourage them to engage in the trade in blood batteries.
The Congo Dongfang International Mining SPRL is one of the largest cobalt processors in the country. It is a subsidiary of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd, a Chinese company. Huayou provides Cobalt to electric car manufacturers such as Volkswagen.
About 40 per cent of Huayou’s cobalt comes from the DRC. In 2016, the Chinese company was identified by a non-governmental organisation as a child labour benefactor. Huayou promised to clean up its act, but nothing changed on the ground.
In China’s large-scale industry, workers are abused, discriminated against, beaten and forced to work without contracts and adequate rations. If a worker dies, the Chinese keep the corpse hidden and bribe the family to keep quiet.
It is your electric vehicle that is killing people even before it reaches the road. Did you sign up for this?
The world’s largest automakers are complicit in these crimes, including Tesla, Volvo, Renault, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, who all source cobalt from Chinese mines in the DRC. While they may claim to have a zero-tolerance policy on child labour, they are also aware that there is no way to map their entire supply chains.
Back in the DRC, President Felix Tshisekedi promised to act in 2019 and established a state-owned company, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt, aimed at promoting health and human rights.
But that does little to help when Congolese officials are accused of overseeing child labour. Tesla announced in 2020 that it would begin using cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries in its electric vehicles, but shortly thereafter, struck a deal with Glencore, a cobalt mining company and the deal was for 6,000 tonnes of cobalt per year, according to Bloomberg Quint.
EVs thus run on dirty energy, on blood batteries and this is not a climate solution. This is human rights abuse and the two cannot co-exist. A climate solution should not be at the expense of human life. Long story short, electric vehicles have a long way to go before they can claim to be clean.
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Will climate action be a casualty?
Have we learnt the lessons on the impact of burning fossil fuels yet?
By Sunita Narain
Published: Saturday 12 March 2022
Climate change is the result of our demand for energy, we know. Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas, are the reason the world is today on the edge of a precipice. The 2022 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reiterates that the impacts of a warming planet will be catastrophic.
The fact is, not just our world but even the energy market is on a boil — fuel prices skyrocketed even before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. The question is if this hike in prices will accelerate the move to a greener, cleaner energy future? Or will the governments backtrack and re-invest in the still-reliable fossil fuel energy system? In other words, will this price turbulence give the energy business of the past a new lease of life?
Europe, and Germany in particular, is at the centre of this conundrum. It has invested in renewable energy, but has also relied on the import of natural gas — a cleaner-than-coal fossil fuel — to meet its electricity needs. Roughly 40 per cent of this natural gas comes from Russia. Now the war has jeopardised this supply.
Germany has stopped certification of the already built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would have transported gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia. It is walking a tightrope on its existing gas contracts from Russia.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a statement on March 7, saying that his country and Europe as a whole were dependent on Russia to meet energy needs for heating, mobility and electricity, and so they could not sever these ties in the short term.
But it is also a fact that Europe is under pressure from Ukraine and the United States to do more. On the same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country was looking to coordinate with European allies on the possibility of banning the import of oil from Russia. This not only spooked the markets, spiking oil prices to over $139 (more than Rs 10,000) a barrel (nearly 159 litres), but is also an indication of things to come as the war escalates.
So now, energy security is at the core of policy — as much as, if not more than, climate change. Germany has decided to invest in building two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals so that it can diversify its supply. In this process, Europe has become the new destination for US natural gas companies.
On the other hand, Europe is looking at its investment in renewables — wind and solar — as the “energy of freedom”, giving this clean source an added emphasis. The question is if this disruption in the oil markets will derail the move towards energy transition or speed it up?
It is the same in the United Kingdom, which has set itself up as a climate leader with aggressive reduction targets. But now, ironically, its Committee on Climate Change has cleared the decks to expand oil and gas extraction in the North Sea.
The UK is not as dependent on Russia for its energy supply, but its household energy prices are set to double in April. Its energy regulator has lifted the price cap, which on the back of increased oil and gas prices, will add to the household bills.
So, the UK is worried about the energy poverty of its people and the anger it will lead to. Therefore, at this moment, the government, which preached that developing world should shun coal because of climate change, has decided to re-invest in its own fossil fuel industry. Will efforts to combat climate change then become a casualty of this energy war?
Oil and gas prices have been seeing a high partly because of the two years of COVID-19, when the world saw degrowth like never before. As a result, demand for energy fell; there was under-investment; and new capacity was not added. But then, as the lockdowns were lifted and countries returned to business as usual, energy demand soared. And this led to price hikes.
The war has just added fuel to this fire. But what it has done is build a convenient narrative that the energy transition — pushed as it is because of the urgency to combat climate change — was unplanned and unfeasible; that it has led to large-scale disruptions and will not work. Instead, what is needed is to plan for a transition that it is pragmatic and balanced. This, then, is the logic for the resurgence of the conventional energy business.
There is a difference, of course. This argument is combined with new language of the need to abate emissions from fossil fuels, including the need to invest in methane reduction; carbon capture technologies so that the emissions from refineries can be pumped back into the ground; and in hydrogen as the next-generation fuel.
In this way, the current energy crisis could lead us back to the fossil fuel business, which has been indicted for years for adding emissions to the atmosphere and for jeopardising life on earth as we know it. It seems that we have not learnt the lessons on the impact of burning fossil fuels as yet. And this, at a time when the world is running out of time and carbon space, is indeed something that should worry us enormously.
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Is the Union Budget 2022-23 renewable energy friendly?
The budgetary allocations may have indirect impacts on RE from capital goods lists of customs exemptions