Sunny climate stormy climate | Weekly digest #51
This week: The Indian govt. launched a mission for natural farming, Coca-cola quietly abandoned its plastic pledge, and 75% of the worlds land has got drier in the last 30 yrs
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. Indian government launches national mission on Natural farming
What are we talking about?
The Union Cabinet has launched the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) with a total outlay of Rs.2481 crore till 2025-26.
The objective is to promote natural farming in mission mode.
What is natural farming?
Natural Farming (NF) is chemical free farming which involves local livestock, integrated natural farming methods, diversified crop systems, etc. NF follows local agro-ecological principles rooted in local knowledge.
The ambition of the mission is to reach 15,000 clusters in Gram Panchayats, 1 crore farmers and 7.5 lakh Ha area in the next 2 years
The mission will provide farmers with training, agri-inputs and also a simple certification system and dedicated common branding to improve access to markets.
Why does this matter?
Modern agriculture typically uses large amounts of chemicals in the form of fertilisers and pesticides. For e.g. 1 tonne of paddy requires 20 kgs of nitrogen, 3.5 kgs of phosphorus, and 20 kgs of potassium.
Such wide scale use of chemicals has resulted in several problems
Loss of soil fertility - Prolonged and continuous use of chemicals reduces the natural fertility of soil and can eventually result in the land becoming barren and unfit for agriculture
Pollution of water bodies - The run off of these chemicals into lakes and rivers can result in contamination of water bodies. This runoff can cause eutrophication, resulting in algal blooms that deplete oxygen in water bodies, creating "dead zones" where aquatic life cannot survive
Impact on health of farm workers - The improper handling and storage of fertilizers can lead to toxic exposure for farm workers and nearby communities.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions - The manufacture and use of nitrogen based fertilisers results in the release of large quantities of potent green house gases that are a big contributor to global warming.
Shifting back to natural farming after years of chemical based farming is challenging as it results in a drop in yield and hence has not been popular with farmers. Hopefully this scheme will generate more pull for a shift to natural farming.
Sources for further reading
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. Coca - cola quietly abandons its plastic pledge
What happened?
In 2022, the company had pledged to ensure that 25% of its beverages would be sold in refillable or returnable containers by 2030. However, this commitment was quietly removed from its website in late November 2024, just before the global plastics treaty talks began in Busan, South Korea
The current pledge says:
It will “aim to use 35% to 40% recycled material in primary packaging (plastic, glass and aluminum) by 2035”
Its previous goal promised to “use 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030”.
It will “help ensure the collection of 70% to 75% of bottles and cans introduced into the market annually”.
Its previous goal said 25% of its beverages will be sold in refillable containers. This is completely removed in the new wording. Previously, it also said it would collect and recycle a bottle or can “for every one we sell by 2030.”
Why does this matter?
Coca-cola has been found to be the ‘World’s biggest plastic polluter’ for the last 6 years. (2023 global audit)
Campaigners have for a long time called on companies such as Coca-Cola to move from recycled plastic targets to reusable bottle targets, because it is single-use items that is the biggest problem.
“Coke’s latest move is a masterclass in greenwashing, ditching previously announced reuse targets, and choosing to flood the planet with more plastic they can’t even collect and recycle effectively,” said Von Hernandez, the global coordinator of the campaign group Break Free from Plastic.
Sources for further reading
3. Alarming report by UN: 75% land has got drier in the last 30 years; Drylands make up 40% of all land excluding Antarctica
What is happening?
The UN released an alarming report on Monday at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) summit happening in Riyadh. Key findings:
More than 75% of Earth’s land became persistently drier in the last 30 years
Nearly 1 in 3 people live in moisture-deprived areas, up from 1 in 5 in 1990
Worldwide, nearly 400,000 square miles of the planet’s healthy and productive land has become degraded annually.
40%+ of Earth’s land outside Antarctica is now considered dryland
Why is this happening?
Global warming caused by human driven climate change is the biggest cause making lands drier.
Other factors are deforestation, intensive agricultural practices, overgrazing and unplanned urban development.
Why does this matter?
Food security: Drylands cannot support agriculture. We are rapidly losing land that was once productive. This will put food security at risk and also potentially lead to more deforestation as we look for new lands to grow crops.
Economic impacts: Africa lost about 12% of its GDP owing to the increasing aridity between 1990 and 2015, the report found. Even worse losses are forecast: Africa will lose about 16% of its GDP, and Asia close to 7%, in the next half decade.
Forced migration: As lands become arid and unlivable more and more communities will be forced to migrate quite literally ‘in search of greener pastures’
Sources for further reading
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #50
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #49
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #48
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