Daily Current Affairs

India in Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023 (GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• Recently, Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023 was released.
• India climbed two spots to rank eighth out of 63 in the CCPI 2023, due to its low emissions and the increasing use of renewable energy.

 

CCPI 2023:

• The report published by three environmental non-governmental organisations tracks climate performance of the European Union and 59 countries, which together account for over 92 per cent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world.
• The rankings by Germanwatch, NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network are based on how well the countries are doing to halve their emissions by 2030, an essential aspect to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius goal within reach and prevent dangerous climate change.
• The CCPI, which has been published since 2005, aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and it enables comparison of individual countries’ climate protection efforts and progress.

 

Top rankers:

• The report leaves the first three places empty as “no country performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating”.
• It puts Denmark in fourth place, followed by Sweden and Chile.

 

Global scenario:

• India earned a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, while it got a medium rating in Climate Policy and Renewable Energy sections.
• China, which is the world’s biggest polluter now, fell 13 places to 51st in current CCPI and received an overall very-low rating due to plans for new coal-fired power plants.
• The US rose by three ranks to the 52nd place.
• Iran (63rd), Saudi Arabia (62nd) and Kazakhstan (61st) fared the worst.

 

Observations on India:

• The report said India is “on track” to meet its 2030 emissions targets, compatible with a well-below 2-degree-Celsius scenario. However, the renewable energy pathway is not on track for the 2030 target.
• Since the last CCPI, India has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and announced a net-zero target for 2070. Net zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out.
• The NDCs are national plans to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
• In August, India released its updated NDCs and now stands committed to reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• It aims to achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. These NDCs are, however, contingent on delivery of finance and technology transfer.

 

Suggestions for India:

• They stressed on the importance of a just and inclusive energy transition, as well as the need for decentralised renewable energy and capacities for rooftop photovoltaics.
• A carbon-pricing mechanism, the need for more capacities at the sub-national level and concrete action plans for achieving the targets are key demands.
• India is among the nine countries responsible for 90 per cent of global coal production and it also plans to increase its oil, gas, and oil production by over 5 per cent by 2030.

NASA launches Artemis-1

(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)

Why in news?

• Recently, the NASA launched Artemis-1 mission on its maiden voyage that goes beyond the Moon and back.
• The Space Launch System (SLS) lifted off with the Orion spacecraft on top from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Background:

• The launch comes on the back of multiple failed attempts that had been mired by fuel leaks, engine snags, and surviving the fury of nature as the rocket braced hurricanes and tropical storms.
• SLS provides a new exploration capability and flexibility for human and robotic missions to deep space destinations, and it can deliver greater payload volume and departure energy than any existing launch vehicle.

 

Launch to Landing: A 42-Day Voyage

• The spacecraft is on a 42-day journey that will see it escaping Earth's gravitational pull but captured by the Moon's as it goes into orbit.
• The spacecraft has been launched to validate the systems and to test its ability to carry humans and cargo into space in the future.
• The spacecraft was powered by four RS-25 engines that burned for two minutes as the vehicles experienced the maximum atmospheric pressure nearly 90 seconds into the flight.
• The spacecraft will be put on a course to the Moon, where it will be as close as 97 kilometers above the lunar surface.
• NASA will then use Moon's gravitational pull to propel Orion into a distant retrograde orbit, pushing it over 60,000 kilometers beyond the Moon. The spacecraft is expected to return home and splash down off the coast of San Diego in December.

 

A rundown of the new rocket and capsule, part of NASA’s Artemis program, named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister:

Rocket power:

• At 322 feet (98 metres), the new rocket is shorter and slimmer than the Saturn V rockets that hurled 24 Apollo astronauts to the moon a half-century ago.
• It’s called the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

 

Moonship:

• NASA’s high-tech, automated Orion capsule is named after the constellation, among the night sky’s brightest.
• At 11 feet (three metres) tall, it’s roomier than Apollo’s capsule, seating four astronauts instead of three.

 

What has been launched with Artemis-1?

• While there are no humans onboard, the Artemis-1 is carrying three dummies that will gather data about vibrations, stress, and radiation in space. The data will help devise better strategies for humans on the long-duration mission to Moon and then on to Mars.
• The spacecraft is carrying Commander Moonikin Campos, a male-bodied manikin previously used in Orion vibration tests. The mannequin has been equipped with two radiation sensors and has additional sensors under its headrest and behind its seat to record acceleration and vibration data.
• Meanwhile, two female-bodied model human torsos, called phantoms, who have been named “Zohar” and “Helga”, were also launched onboard.
• Artemis-1 is also carrying 10 dedicated CubeSats which will conduct different observations to plot the future course to the Moon. A biology experiment is also being launched that will test the effects of the space environment at cellular levels.

 

Apollo vs Artemis:

• More than 50 years later, Apollo still stands as NASA’s greatest achievement.
• Using 1960s technology, NASA took just eight years to go from launching its first astronaut, Alan Shepard, and landing Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon.
• By contrast, Artemis already has dragged on for more than a decade, despite building on the short-lived moon exploration program Constellation. Twelve Apollo astronauts walked on the moon from 1969 through 1972, staying no longer than three days at a time.
• For Artemis, NASA will draw from a diverse astronaut pool and is extending the time crews spend on the moon to at least a week. The goal is to create a long-term lunar presence that will grease the skids for sending people to Mars.

 

What’s next?

• There’s a lot more to be done before astronauts step on the moon again.
• A second test flight will send four astronauts around the moon and back, perhaps as early as 2024. A year or so later, NASA aims to send another four up, with two of them touching down at the lunar south pole.
• Orion doesn’t come with its own lunar lander like the Apollo spacecraft did, so NASA has hired Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide its Starship spacecraft for the first Artemis moon landing.
• Two other private companies are developing moonwalking suits. The sci-fi-looking Starship would link up with Orion at the moon and take a pair of astronauts to the surface and back to the capsule for the ride home.
• India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is planned to be launched 2023 to study the Moon in finer detail than the past two probes.

 

Who should pay for climate damage?

(GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• At the G-20 summit in Bali, rich nations including the U.S., Japan and Canada have pledged $20 billion to wean Indonesia off coal.
• The U.S. and Japan have led the International Partners Group to mobilise funds from the public and private sector to support Indonesia’s efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
• But a lot more needs to be done, and in that context it is significant that at the ongoing Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, compensation against loss and damage due to climate change is finally on the main agenda, unlike previous years.

 

Why is compensation critical?

• Between 1900 and now, developed countries have benefitted from industrial development, which also led to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing countries were relatively late in starting out on economic development. They may be contributing to emissions now, but that is a weak reason to ask them to stop economic development.
• A farmer in rural Africa can claim that his country has not added to emissions historically, but because of the U.S. or Russia’s industrialisation, his agriculture yields are declining.
• Or an urban worker in South America has to work, without choice, in unforgiving heat wave conditions caused by the developed world’s emissions of the past. Therefore, options like financing the developing or underdeveloped countries by the developed world have been discussed.
• Data from the Global Carbon Project to show that between 1751 and 2017, 47% of the CO2 emissions came from the U.S. and the EU-28. In total, just 29 countries. 

Impact of emissions on nations:

• The emissions attributable to the U.S. over 1990-2014 caused losses that are concentrated around 1–2% of per capita GDP across nations in South America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, where temperature changes have likely impacted labour productivity and agricultural yields.
• But emissions may have also helped a few countries, such as those in Northern Europe and Canada. Moody’s Analytics estimates that by the middle of the century, Canada would see a rise in GDP of 0.3% (about $9 billion a year) as warmer climates spur agriculture and labour productivity.
• The Canadian Climate Institute cautioned that such a claim was not wholly true and that other factors must be considered. For example, climate change-spurred floods could cost Canada $17 billion annually by 2050.
• The UN Environment Programme’s annual emissions gap report for 2022 said the “international community is falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. Only an urgent system-wide transformation can avoid climate disaster.... The world must cut emissions by 45% to avoid global catastrophe.”

 

Where about India’s emissions?

• India is among the top seven emitters (others being China, the EU-27, Indonesia, Brazil, the Russian Federation and the U.S.).
• These seven, plus international transport, accounted for 55% of global GHG emissions in 2020. Collectively, G-20 members are responsible for 75% of global GHG emissions.
• If case of economic development, some GHG emissions are unavoidable. But, put in the context of India’s population, its emissions are far lesser per head, than for others.
• World average per capita GHG emissions were 6.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in 2020. The U.S. is way above this level at 14, followed by 13 in the Russian Federation and 9.7 in China. India remains far below the world average at 2.4.
• In addition to 2021’s pledge of net-zero emissions by 2070, India has also committed to generate 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, bringing down emission intensity of GDP, as also raising forest cover.
• In 2021, India was responsible for the wording of the agreement on coal. It was changed from “phase-out” to “phase-down” of coal — which reflects the country’s ground realities of large energy requirements, met predominantly by thermal power, to spur economic development.

Conclusion:

• In sum, the headlines that dominated the first week of the COP27 summit showed that there has been little sign of a concerted effort the world over to keep emissions low so as to retain global warming within the 1.5°C range.