Current Affairs - Pollution

According to a recent study, background radiation levels in parts of Kerala are nearly three times more than what had been previously assumed.

On December 14, 2022, the World Bank released a report titled 'Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia'.

At the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Meeting 2022 taking place in Davos, India has joined the First Movers Coalition, a global initiative aimed at decarbonising the heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors responsible for 30 per cent of global emissions.

At the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2-held at Nairobi), a resolution was adopted by 175 countries to end plastic pollution.

• The resolution, based on three initial draft resolutions from various nations (one from India), establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) which will begin its work this year, aiming to complete a draft legally binding agreement by the end of 2024.

It involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes, such as steel and cement production, or from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation.

On 23rd August 2021, NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India, jointly launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India as part of the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project.

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of NTPC will set up 4750 MW renewable energy park at Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat.

Recently, a group of Special Rapporteurs to the United Nations has written to the Centre expressing concern over the proposed Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020.

• Recently, in a major revamp of regulations, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set out stringent conditions for commercial groundwater use.

Recently, a new study published in Nature Communications has estimated early 11.6-21.1 million tones amount of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean.