All posts tagged: climate crisis

India’s gram panchayats need climate plans

India’s gram panchayats need climate plans

Published by Parlour News

Across rural India, the climate crisis is no longer a future risk, it is a lived reality. Villages are experiencing falling groundwater levels, erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, declining soil fertility, biodiversity loss, and increasing pressure on livelihoods. Yet, despite these interconnected challenges, village planning often continues to operate through disconnected departmental schemes and annual infrastructure wish lists. Gram panchayat (HT Archive) The irony is that the institution best positioned to respond to climate change already exists–the gram panchayat. Every year, gram panchayats prepare the gram panchayat development plan (GPDP), India’s most extensive local planning exercise. But while GPDPs determine investments in roads, water bodies, livelihoods, sanitation, agriculture, and social welfare, climate risks rarely shape how these decisions are made. A climate plan at the gram panchayat level is, therefore, not about creating another document. It is about helping villages understand their changing landscape and using existing resources, institutions, and schemes to build resilience. Climate action becomes meaningful when it is rooted in local realities, local knowledge, and local governance. For many panchayats, GPDP preparation has become …

An overheated Europe, an underprepared world

An overheated Europe, an underprepared world

Published by Parlour News

3 min readJun 30, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Jun 30, 2026 at 06:05 AM IST For several years, weather extremes seemed a distant crisis for much of the Western world. The devastating heatwave of 2023 did leave an imprint on the ecological consciousness of a section of Europeans. But it’s only been about a decade since people outside the developing world began to feel the impact of global warming acutely. In Europe, temperature records were broken during the summers of 2019, 2022 and 2023. The hot weather has been particularly distressing for people across the continent this year. Temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in several countries, red alerts have spread across France and other parts of Europe, schools have shut, transport systems have been disrupted, and health services have come under immense pressure. The UK has recorded its hottest June day on record, while Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have all experienced conditions that until recently would have been considered highly unusual. The exact toll taken by the climate …

Warm air from Africa compressed in a dome: The ‘Omega block’ that’s causing Europe heatwave

Warm air from Africa compressed in a dome: The ‘Omega block’ that’s causing Europe heatwave

Published by Parlour News

Western Europe is in the grip of an early-summer heatwave that has shut schools, triggered red alerts across four countries and killed dozens of people. People cool off in the Trocadero fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower as temperatures rise in Paris during a heatwave affecting a large part of France. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor (REUTERS) France has linked more than 40 deaths to the heatwave, most of them drownings, as people sought relief in rivers, lakes and the sea. Temperatures have crossed 40°C in France and Spain, while Britain has issued a rare red heat warning — only the second in its history — for parts of central and southern England. Meteorologists trace the cause to a weather pattern called an ‘omega block’. Unpicking how it works explains why this heatwave is intense and why different parts of Europe are experiencing it so differently. The block The Omega block pattern takes its name from its resemblance to the Greek letter Ω: a bulge of warm, high-pressure air held between two pockets of cooler, low-pressure air, …

Beyond ecology vs economy binary

Beyond ecology vs economy binary

Published by Parlour News

The Centre restricts new hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand’s Ganga basin, raising concerns over existing projects’ vulnerability amid climate crises. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: Source link

Climate change is also child rights crisis interrupting nutrition, learning: UNICEF official

Climate change is also child rights crisis interrupting nutrition, learning: UNICEF official

Published by Parlour News

Mumbai, The climate crisis is also a child rights crisis as it impacts nutrition and learning, UNICEF India Representative Cynthia McCaffrey said on Tuesday. Climate change is also child rights crisis interrupting nutrition, learning: UNICEF official “We call climate crisis a ‘child rights crisis’….Today, one billion children around the world live in an extremely high-risk environment area,” McCaffrey told PTI on the sidelines of Mumbai Climate Week. When there are droughts or floods, or food can not be produced locally, children’s nutrition suffers, said McCaffrey. India, like the rest of the world, is dealing with a triple burden, she said, adding that besides malnutrition, there is now the problem of micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. Good nutrition leads to good learning, she added. Climate events are interrupting schools, and in 2024, as many as 24.2 crore children around the world had an interruption of schools due to natural calamities, noted McCaffrey. Policies and frameworks to deal with these problems exist in India and many other countries, but it should be ensured that these policies are adequately …

Beyond CSR: How corporates can build India’s social capital

Beyond CSR: How corporates can build India’s social capital

Published by Parlour News

Under the overarching umbrella of the climate crisis, food security, gender equality, and the evolution of AI, the issues that India needs to address are rapidly escalating. However, the burden of solving them remains largely with the public sector through schemes, subsidies and other critical investments. The Dasra Philanthropy Report estimates that nearly 95% of social-sector spending in India comes from the public sector. The 5% that comes from the private sector is a mixed bag of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, family philanthropy, corporate foundations, and donations by ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals (UHNI/HNI). While in monetary terms, private investments amounted to $ 15 billion in 2024, they must increase if we are to effectively counter and scale viable solutions to the myriad problems the country faces. CSR CSR forms about 40% of the social spending by the private sector in India. However, it remains a largely compliance-driven space rather than one that can affect systemic change. There are several reasons for this. Due to the 2% ceiling, many companies treat it as a budgetary …

Where do we go from here?: See how humans are moving, amid the climate crisis

Where do we go from here?: See how humans are moving, amid the climate crisis

Published by Parlour News

“Climate change is not a distant threat. We can already see the impacts of it. People are being rendered homeless or jobless because of it, are moving because of it,” says Alice Baillat. A climate governance researcher, Baillat is a policy advisor with the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), one of the world’s leading data sources on displacement (set up by the not-for-profit organisation Norwegian Refugee Council). “Displacement has long-term impacts on economies, on societies. Every country needs to integrate displacement into national planning,” says Baillat. “Climate change is what we call a risk multiplier.” What does she mean, and what should we be doing? Well, as a species, we have always moved to alleviate risk. Now, Baillat points out, the climate crisis is amplifying pre-existing vulnerabilities, intensifying the impacts of poverty, threatening basic infrastructure and the idea of a safe life or livelihood for many. Since 2008, IDMC has tracked one key area of impact: Displacement. They track this across four parameters. 1) extreme weather events such as storms, floods and wildfires. 2) …

Harnessing AI for systemic change: Can India’s startups solve its urban and environmental crises?

Harnessing AI for systemic change: Can India’s startups solve its urban and environmental crises?

Published by Parlour News

Navigating rush hour might soon feel less chaotic. At dozens of intersections, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now analysing traffic patterns, drawing insights from Google Maps data, and suggesting optimised timings for traffic signals. This type of AI-driven solution aims to reduce frustrating stop-and-go traffic, save fuel and cut emissions. It’s a small intervention in a massive system, yet it hints at a larger possibility: Can India harness the potent combination of digital infrastructure, entrepreneurial energy, and rapidly advancing AI to tackle its most complex, systemic challenges? India finds itself in a unique position. Building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) – from the Aadhaar identity system to the ubiquitous UPI payments network and emerging data-sharing frameworks – has created unprecedented digital rails. Layered onto this is a vast, young population rapidly embracing digital tools, and a vibrant startup ecosystem teeming with technical talent and ambition. AI represents a technology shift as profound, perhaps, as fire or electricity. An enabler that can accelerate progress across nearly every field, its power demands a bold approach to innovation, pushing boundaries …

A pestilent green fly is crimping tea output in Assam, Darjeeling | Latest News India

A pestilent green fly is crimping tea output in Assam, Darjeeling | Latest News India

Published by Parlour News

Kolkata: A small green-fly, not measuring more than 5mm in length, has started taking a heavy toll on the Darjeeling and Assam tea industry with production of Darjeeling tea dropping to a record low in 2024. Experts have blamed it on the climate crisis. Data shared by the Tea Board of India reveals that the production of this world-famous brew, known for its rich aroma and unmatched flavour, dropped to 5.6 million kilos in 2024, the lowest in recent times. (HT Photo) Data shared by the Tea Board of India reveals that the production of this world-famous brew, known for its rich aroma and unmatched flavour, dropped to 5.6 million kilos in 2024, the lowest in recent times. In 2022 and 2023 the production of Darjeeling tea was 6.9 million kilos and 6.01 million kilos respectively. “The tea industry in West Bengal and Assam is facing a severe challenge due to widespread infestation of green flies, a pest that has emerged as a major threat over the past two years. This sap-sucking insect has caused …

‘Below2°’: An artwork that is melting | Art-and-culture News

‘Below2°’: An artwork that is melting | Art-and-culture News

Published by Parlour News

As temperatures soar across North India and the India Meteorological Department warns of an intense heatwave ahead, artist Aakash Ranison’s artwork ‘Below2°’ — installed at the eco-resort Karma Lakelands in Gurugram — warns of the impending climatic disasters that await. A five-foot globe constructed from 1,000 repurposed golf balls, hand-painted by schoolchildren to symbolise the generation inheriting the planet, the globe is created with a special wax adhesive mixed with natural chemicals that is engineered to melt at 53°C, serving as a metaphor for the consequences of surpassing critical climate thresholds. “With global temperatures already exceeding 1.5°C of warming, the artwork underscores the devastating implications of breaching the 2°C limit set by the Paris Agreement,” notes a release. A five-foot globe constructed from 1,000 repurposed golf balls is hand-painted by schoolchildren to symbolise the generation inheriting the planet (Source: PR Handout) Ranison states, “Art moves people in ways data and reports cannot, as it speaks to human emotions. Below2° is a visual, emotional and scientific representation of our planet’s crisis and the urgent need for …