DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

• The country’s river cleaning initiative commenced with the introduction of the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) in 1985.
• Subsequently, the scope of the program expanded to encompass other rivers under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) in 1995.
• The execution of pollution abatement measures operates on a cost-sharing basis between the Central and State Governments.
• These initiatives involve various activities such as the collection, transportation, and treatment of municipal sewage, River Front Development (RFD), Low-Cost Sanitation (LCS), Electric Crematoria, and Improved Wood-Based Crematoria, among others.
• Both the Central and State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees are actively involved in addressing the prevention and control of industrial pollution.
• The primary objective of the NRCP is to enhance the water quality of the country’s major rivers by implementing pollution abatement initiatives.

MEASURES TO CONSERVE SMALL RIVER

Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), launched in 2019, aims to promote water conservation and water resource management. The JSA Series has specific themes and focuses for each year:

• 2021 Theme: “Catch the Rain – Where it Falls When it Falls”
• Focus: Covering all blocks of all districts.
• 2022 Theme: “Catch the Rain – Where it Falls When it Falls”
• Focus: Spring shed management, protection of watershed management, etc.
• 2023 Theme: “Source Sustainability for Drinking Water”
• Special focus on 150 Water Stressed Districts (WSDs) of the country.

Five-fold intervention:

• Rainwater harvesting & water conservation
• Enumerating, geo-tagging & making inventory of all water bodies
• Preparation of scientific plans for water conservation
• Setting up Jal Shakti Kendras in all districts
• Intensive afforestation
• Awareness generation.

Other Water Conservation Initiatives:

• Amrit Sarovar Mission (2022):
  • Aim: Developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district as part of the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• Namami Gange Programme (2014):
  • Aim: Integrated rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
  • Mapping tributaries and smaller tributaries with their catchment area and wetlands.
  • GIS-based inventory of small rivers with additional district-wise information.
• National River Conservation Plan (NRCP):
  • Centrally Sponsored Scheme for pollution abatement in identified stretches of rivers (excluding Ganga basin).
  • Provides financial and technical assistance to States/UTs on a cost-sharing basis.
• Small River Rejuvenation & Conservation Plan:
  • 19 rivers identified and taken up by the Uttar Pradesh government, including River Manorama, River Varuna, River Tedi, etc.
• Mission Water Conservation:
  • Aims to develop an actionable framework for gainful utilization of funds.
  • Ensures synergies with schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
• Mass Awareness Programs:
  • Conducted through various training sessions, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and trade fairs to promote water conservation initiatives, including rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge to groundwater.
• National Water Awards:
  • Constituted under the Ministry of Jal Shakti to recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations working in water conservation.
• Weekly Water Heroes Contest:
  • Objective: Promote the value of water and support country-wide efforts on water conservation and sustainable development of water resources.

• The WCAS, also known as the “high-level segment,” is part of COP-28 where world leaders or their representatives meet.
• They are expected to make statements regarding their countries’ intent and contributions to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

India’s Climate Targets and Previous Commitments:

• During the 26th COP in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, Prime Minister announced specific climate targets known as “Panchamrit.”
  • Achieve “net zero” or carbon neutrality by 2070.
  • Install at least 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil energy by 2030.
  • Cut carbon emissions by a billion tonnes.
  • Reduce the carbon-intensity of the economy by 45%.
  • Meet half of India’s energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030.

India’s Leadership in Climate Change:

• Climate change was a priority during India’s G20 Presidency, with commitments to triple installed renewable energy capacity sources by 2030.
• COP28 seen as an opportunity to build on these successes.

The draft decisions taken at COP28 at Dubai have referred to the abatement and removal of carbon emissions using carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) technologies.

What are ‘unabated’ fossil fuels?

• Unabated - Doing nothing to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases that are released from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas.
• According to IPCC, unabated fossil fuels are those “without interventions that substantially reduce GHG emissions.
• At COP28, the term “unabated fossil fuels” has come to mean the combustion of these fuels without using CCS technologies to capture their emissions.
• Abated - Attempts to decrease the release of polluting substances to an acceptable level.

What are CCS and CDR?

CDR and CCS are distinct, but some CO2 removal methods (e.g., direct air capture) may share the same capture processes or long-term storage infrastructure used for conventional CCS.

• Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – CCS refers to technologies that can capture CO? at a source of emissions before it is released into the atmosphere.
• These sources include the fossil fuel industry (where coal, oil and gas are combusted to generate power) and industrial processes like steel and cement production.
• It is a three-step process, involving:
  • Capturing the CO2 produced
  • Transporting the captured CO2
  • Storing it deep underground
• Carbon-Dioxide Removal (CDR) – Uses technologies, practices, and approaches to remove CO2 from our atmosphere through deliberate and intentional human actions.
• CDR captures CO2 from the atmosphere and locks it away for years in plants, soils, oceans, rocks, saline aquifers, depleted oil wells, or long- lived products like cement.
• It can be natural (afforestation or reforestation) or use technologies (direct air capture), where machines mimic trees by absorbing CO? and storing it underground.
  • For example: Enhanced rock weathering and BECCS (Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage)

How well do CCS and CDR need to work?

• According to 6^th Assessment Report (AR6) of UN’s IPCC, climate mitigation relies a lot on the use of CDR in achieving the goal of limiting the world’s average surface temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C with no or limited overshoot.
  • If CO? emissions continue at current levels, we will have a 50% chance of exceeding 1.5 degrees C compared to pre-industrial levels in 7 years.
• There is more than a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C assuming if the world can sequester 5 billion tonnes of CO? by 2040 which is more than India emits currently every year.

Direct mitigation refers to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

What are the limitations of CCS?

• Under developed technology– CCS haven’t demonstrated feasibility at large scale despite decades of development.
• Higher costs – It is cheaper to shut down a coal plant and replace it with some combination of wind, solar and batteries in comparison to attaching a carbon capture device to the plant.
• Additional energy needs – It create new energy needs for the transport and long-term storage of carbon.
• Creates room to emit GHGs - A Germany-based climate science and policy institute, revealed that reliance on CCS could release an extra 86 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere between 2020 and 2050.
• Underperformance - A 2022 study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that most of the 13 flagship CCS projects worldwide have either failed entirely or underperformed.

What are the limitations of CDR?

• Affect land rights – Higher land demand for planting trees and deploying large-scale CDR methods deprive indigenous communities of their land rights.
• Threaten food security – It compete with other forms of land-use, like agriculture that is crucial for ensuring food security.
• Affect biodiversity – It might alter existing land usage and thereby impact habitat and survival of different organisms.
• Impact of climate change mitigation – Deploying CDR technologies in large tracts of land might counteract from using land to generate renewable energy resources.
  • For example, the 2023 ‘Land Gap’ report shows over reliance of government on land-based CDR to offset fossil fuel emissions thereby shifting their mitigation burden away from reducing fossil fuel use.
• Uncertain future – There is need to identify viable and scalable CDR methods and to figure out who will pay for CDR at scale in the future.

• “SAMUDRA” (Smart Access to Marine Users for ocean Data Resources and Advisories) is a mobile app that provides comprehensive information on all ocean-related services.
• The app is useful for seafarers and the fishing community.
• The app was launched by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

INCOIS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences located in Hyderabad.

• India and 152 other members vote overwhelmingly at U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) to demand a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza recently.
• The vote in the 193-member world body was 153 in favor, 10 against (includes US and Israel) and 23 abstentions.
• The resolution is non-binding but it serves as an indicator of global opinion.

UNGA is one of the 6 principal organs of the United Nations and the main policy making body of UN that votes on the decision that organization makes.

• Argentina recently devalues its currency and cuts subsidies as part of shock economic measures because of its 143% annual inflation.

Argentine peso will be devalued by 50% to 800 to the U.S. dollar from 400 pesos to the dollar.

• The 5G RAN technology developed by 2 IITs and the R&D arm of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was handed over to Indian tech company for commercial applications.
• 5G RAN uses 5G radio frequencies to provide wireless connectivity to devices.

A radio access network (RAN) is a key component of a mobile telecommunication system that connects devices like smartphones to a network via a radio link.