India Environmental News Compilation August 10th - August 16th, 2011

Climate

India Protests to Prevent UN Stopping Supply of HFC-23 Carbon Credits

“India lodged a formal complaint to prevent the United Nations emissions market regulator from stopping issuances of credits derived from projects that cut hydrofluorocarbon-23 gas. “India considers such steps to be violative of the rights and obligations of parties under the Kyoto Protocol and has lodged formal protest with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat” in Bonn, according to a statement from Environment Minister Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan.”

(Bloomberg, 8/16/11)

Climate change 'to increase malaria' in Indian Himalayas

“Climate change is likely to spread malaria to new areas in the Indian Himalayas, and lengthen the periods in which the infection is spread in a number of districts, according to projections from malaria researchers in India. In the eastern Himalayas, India, the window of malaria transmission will increase from 7–9 to 10–12 months in length. The region is humid and wet, with mild winters, which makes it "highly conducive for mosquito breeding, survival and transmission" of vector-borne diseases.”

(Alert Net, 8/15/11)

Energy

India to Top U.S. Lending With $575 Million in Solar Deals

“The U.S. Export-Import Bank expects India to become its biggest recipient of funding next year, led by loans for clean-energy projects including $575 million of solar deals. The Export-Import Bank’s lending plans won’t be affected by concern that the renewable energy industry may be vulnerable to a new global recession, said Craig S. O’Connor, director of the bank’s office of renewable energy. “This sector isn’t risky,” O’Connor said in an interview at a conference in New Delhi. “It’ll continue to grow.”

(Bloomberg, 8/12/11)

Relaxed norms to help wind power growth

“The central government’s decision to lift a restriction on wind power density is expected to boost capacity addition and help reach NAPCC targets. The Union ministry of new and renewable energy has removed the minimum requirement of a wind density of 200 watts per sq m at a hub height of 50 meters for wind power project development, taking into account advancement in turbine technology.”

(Financial Chronicle, 8/11/11) 

India Plans to Relax Solar Rules

“India plans to make changes to its solar energy program, including relaxing timelines and increasing project sizes, in order to attract larger companies and boost investment in the sector, the renewable energy secretary said Wednesday. "Now we are working to relax a few norms and attract bigger players in the upcoming bids, which are likely to come up this month," Deepak Gupta said. The government plans to have 20,000 megawatts of solar energy-based electricity generation by 2022. As part of the first phase, it handed out 620 MW of projects in December and plans to call bids later this month for projects totaling about 300 megawatts.”

(Wall Street Journal, 8/10/11)  

Solar mission delicately poised; needs more props

“The ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission – a program that is keenly watched by the world – is delicately poised at the moment. ”To be fair, the whole solar business is very new in India. You never know when the next step might land on a mine. Those who are in charge of shepherding this phase of the Solar Mission ought to be given fair latitude, any mistakes pardoned. But the authorities need to bring things back in control very quickly, say industry experts.”

(The Hindu, 8/8/11)

Environmental Governance and Compliance

India likely to see about 1 mn "green jobs" in next two years

“The fast-growing green energy sector is expected to create about one million new jobs in the country over the next two years, offering employment opportunities in diverse areas, feel experts. Increasing environmental awareness, growth of global carbon markets and the rise of green buildings and the like will eventually mean employment opportunities for lawyers, policy writers, carbon finance consultants, business risk analysts, architects and engineers adept in green building norms.”

(The Economic Times, 8/15/11)

FinMin clear green strategy for CBEC”

“The Finance Ministry today gave its nod to a new green strategy for the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) under which officers would be trained for monitoring international trade in environmentally sensitive goods. "The Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has given his go-ahead to an 'Environment Strategy' for the CBEC that would change the way business is done by the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax officials," an official statement said.”

(Business Standard, 8/16/11)

(Prepared by Sachi Singh, Claremont McKenna College)

Note: The linked articles and excerpts in this post are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the India Initiative or of the Natural Resources Defense Council.