Sunny climate stormy climate | Weekly digest #45
India has new Greenwashing guidelines, poor air quality season is back in Delhi and more than 85% countries haven't met the deadline to publish nature protection plans.
Hello folks!
Welcome to your weekly dose of climate news where I bring one sunny story that gives hope and two stormy ones that are a cause for alarm. Hope you like them!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
1. India now has guidelines for prevention of ‘Greenwashing’
What is ‘Greenwashing’?
Greenwashing refers to “the practice of making products, activities, or policies seem more environmentally friendly or less environmentally damaging than they actually are”
If a T-shirt is labelled as ‘recycled’ but actually only the buttons on the T-shirt are recycled while the T-shirt is made from regular (new) polyester, it is what you could call ‘Greenwashing’
What is happening?
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued guidelines called the Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing or Misleading Environmental Claims, to control greenwashing in consumer markets aiming to bring in greater transparency and accountability.
Key dos and don’ts:
Generic terms such as ‘clean’, ‘green’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘eco-consciousness’, ‘good for the planet’, ‘minimal impact’, ‘cruelty-free’, ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘pure’, ‘sustainable’, and ‘regenerative’ cannot be employed without adequate qualifiers and substantiation.
If a product is marketed as sustainable, it must be backed by reliable data and documentation
If a product is described as recyclable, the advertisement must be clear if that applies to the product’s entire structure or just a specific part.
Call for use of consumer-friendly language when introducing technical terms such as environmental impact assessment, greenhouse gas emissions, and ecological footprint.
Why does this matter?
Companies often make dubious claims about their products or services being environment- or climate-friendly to enhance their brand image.
This has become increasingly rampant as consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and looking for ‘environment-friendly’ alternatives.
A lot of the language used in advertisements is either generic (what exactly ‘eco-friendly’ mean?) or misleading (labelling a product as made from recycled materials when only a small part of it is made from recycled material), hence some guidelines that keep a check on this are much needed.
How this gets enforced remains to be seen, but this is a start!
Sources for further reading
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. Pollution season is back! Delhi AQI consistently over 250; crossing 350 on some days
What is happening?
In what has become a yearly ritual, as the monsoons have retreated, the air quality in several Indian cities has dropped to poor/ very poor since October began and reached dangerous levels in the last week.
Delhi: The AQI was 350 on Sunday and improved slightly in the week, but continues to be over 250
Forecasts suggest air quality will remain ‘very poor’ through Wednesday (today) and become ‘severe’ during Diwali days
What is AQI?
AQI is Air quality index and is calculated using the levels of 6 different pollutants.
Overall lower the AQI the better.
India’s AQI chart - Anything above 200 is considered poor.
Why is this happening?
Delhi’s dismal air quality as winter sets in has become a yearly ritual and has been blamed on stubble burning by rice farmers in Punjab and Haryana for years. However, more and more research is showing that they are not actually the biggest drivers. Farm fires have gone down significantly over the last couple of years, but the poor air quality remains.
According to a recent report vehicular emissions, road dust, construction activities are biggest contributors to the poor air quality.
Why does this matter?
Poor air quality has major impacts on health. It can result in severe respiratory and cardio-vascular disorders and even cancer.
A report last year had said that breathing Delhi’s air was like smoking 10 cigarettes as day!
Last week, air pollution in Delhi was 8 times above the limit WHO considers healthy
Sources for further reading
3. Biodiversity COP 16 is on but 85% countries haven’t published their Nature protection plans!
What is happening?
The COP 16 Biodiversity Summit is happening from October 21 - November 1. It is a meeting of all countries to talk about issues related to Biodiversity.
In COP 15 (that took place in 2022), countries agreed on a landmark deal called the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity framework (GBF) which aims to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. It is called the 'Paris agreement for Nature'
As part of this framework, nations agreed to submit new NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategies and Action plans) in COP 16 (October 2024). However, most countries have not submitted these.
Only 25 countries and the EU have submitted these plans. 170 countries have not submitted them.
India is among the countries that have not submitted their plan. India is also classified as a megadiverse country.
Why does this matter?
This decade is often referred to as the defining decade for the ‘Nature’ or ‘Biodiversity’ crisis
We have to act now and creating a strategy is the first step in that direction. It is also very important in order to mobilise funding, which has always been a sticky point when it comes to biodiversity efforts.
Sources for further reading
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #44
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #43
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #42
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The CPCB itself has greenwashed the nation about its #plasticban. How and who can question companies and their adverts now?