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Climate Weekly
A weekly digest on impacts, politics and science of the climate emergency; from the Global South perspective. Access our extensive coverage on climate. You can find this newsletter in the web here.
August 4 – August 10, 2021
Dear readers,

The UN’s climate science body, the IPCC published a major climate science report that has made headlines since it confirms that humans are responsible for almost 100% of global warming due to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The impacts will be dire, if the report is not treated as an urgent call to action. Rapid emissions reductions are needed, without which regions around the world will experience more severe extreme weather events and the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit may be breached.

Indigenous knowledge will be vital in the fight against climate change, and efforts to peak global emissions are also crucial.

In India, we focus on why the government should expand the decentralized renewable energy sector, and what is needed to reduce the concentration of air pollutants

And finally, we read comments from Sunita Narain on the EU’s proposed carbon border tax and what it means for developing countries like India.
   
 
EXTREME WEATHER TRACKER
 
Humans have caused almost 100% of global warming, says new IPCC report, 10 August 2021
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Down To Earth IPCC climate report: Profound changes are underway in Earth’s oceans and ice – a lead author explains what the warnings mean, 10 August 2021
 
   
 
Climate crisis:
‘There has not been a cool month in 628 months’, 08 August 2021
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COMMENTARIES
IPCC’s new report on climate change is a call to action, 09 August 2021
The latest IPCC report confirms that we can no longer lose time in prevarication or in finding new excuses not to act, including empty promises of net zero by 2050
 
   
  Turn of the tide in 120 years: Past, present and future of climate, 10 August 2021  
  Average surface temperature of Earth will cross 1.5°C in next 20 years and 2°C by middle of the century; rapid reductions to global emissions are needed  
   
  Make trade work for climate, 04 August 2021  
  EU’s carbon border tax won’t take us towards a cooperative world required to combat climate change  
   
  Why India should pay attention to decentralised renewable energy sector, 04 August 2021  
  Union government must not reduce subsidy expenditure from renewable energy; it should re-structure it towards decentralised renewable energy  
   
  CLIMATE NEWS | SCIENCE| IMPACTS| POLITICS  
   
 
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Chennai needs an adaptive governance model to tackle climate change risks, 10 August 2021
Chennai needs continuous efforts to build the capacity of communities as well as existing institutions to enhance its resilience
 
   
 
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IPCC report is a really big deal for climate change. So what is it? And why should we trust it?, 09 August 2021
This report puts greater emphasis on regional climate change, on changes in extreme events, and how these events are linked to human-caused climate change
 
   
 
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Concentration of air pollutants significantly increasing over India: IPCC, 09 August 2021
Just effective decarbonisation policies not enough to bring SO2, NO2, O3 and NH3 to safe levels; clean energy and waste management would be needed
 
   
 
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1.5°C warming in 20 years: What does IPCC warning mean, 09 August 2021
Current warming unprecedented in more than 2,000 years; temperatures during 2011-2020 exceed those of the most recent multi-century warm period around 6,500 years ago
 
   
 
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IPCC report: Global emissions must peak by 2025 to keep warming at 1.5°C, 09 August 2021
Even in the most optimistic scenario, there is only a 50:50 chance that global temperature rise will stop there
 
   
 
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Indigenous knowledge is vital in the fight against climate change: IPCC report, 09 August 2021
The IPCC’s latest report cites various instances of how fast-vanishing indigenous knowledge is an important tool to mitigate the climate crisis
 
   
 
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Global warming limit of 1.5°C may be breached by 2040, says new IPCC report, 09 August 2021
Even if emissions are brought to net-zero by mid-century, there will be an ‘overshoot’ of the 1.5°C limit by 0.1°C
 
   
 
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The world is running out of time: Least developed countries on IPCC report, 09 August 2021
Science is even clearer: Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising, the impacts will be devastating, said chair of 46 least developed countries group
 
   
 
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Widen met station network in Himalayas to better predict extreme weather: Panel, 06 August 2021
The Centre should put in place and strengthen weather forecasting technology to warn about cloudbursts, flash floods and glacial lakes, the Standing Committee on Water Resources said
 
   
 
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Climate change is real: July 2021 was 3rd warmest globally, 06 August 2021
Surface temperature for June 2021 was the 5th-highest in 142 years
 
     
 
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This Weekly Newsletter is published by Down to Earth and the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based global think tank advocating on global south developmment issues.
We would love your feedback on this newsletter. To speak to our experts for quotes and comments on the above stories. Please email to vikas@cseindia.org
 
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