Environment & Ecology
Climate, biodiversity, pollution control and environmental legislation
World Bank scraps climate finance targets after U.S. criticism
The World Bank's Board of Directors has approved an extension of the Climate Change Action Plan while dropping the commitment to direct 45% of its total fina...
Delhi govt notifies Delhi EV Policy 2026
The Delhi government formally notified the Delhi Electric Vehicles Policy 2026 on July 1, 2026, aiming to accelerate electric vehicle adoption, improve air q...
Global daily sea surface temperature breaks record in June 2026, hints at global marine heatwaves
Global average sea surface temperatures (SST) set new June records on June 21, 2026, reaching 20.98°C — surpassing the previous June peak of 20.83°C recorded...
A severe El Niño could threaten something essential to half of humanity — rice
A strengthening El Niño, amplified by climate change, is disrupting monsoon rainfall patterns across Asia, threatening production of rice — the staple crop p...
Why is the Indian Ocean Dipole in the news
With a "Super El Niño" now forecast for 2026, meteorologists have raised a key open question: whether the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) could recur in a positive...
Super El Nino threat unseen since 1950 shaping up, says Australian Met body
Forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) indicate that a strong to very strong El Niño event is develo...
India adds 709 new species to its faunal database in 2025, 353 taxa to its flora
India added 709 new animal species and 353 plant taxa to its national biodiversity databases in 2025, as documented by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) a...
Imprint of El Nino, other weather patterns on India’s deficit June 2026 rainfall
India's June 2026 southwest monsoon opened with a steep 40% rainfall deficit against the long-period average, the worst June performance in recent memory, wi...
Kharif sowing slumps 23% amid delayed monsoon; key reservoirs level at 26% storage
Total kharif crop sowing stood at 182.72 lakh hectares as of late June 2026 — down 23% compared to 236.46 lakh hectares at the same point last year — as the ...
UN report flags $800 billion climate fund gap in Asia-Pacific, calls for synergistic action
A United Nations report has flagged an $800 billion annual climate finance gap facing the Asia-Pacific region, calling for synergistic, integrated, and trans...
Delhi govt clears EV policy; electric cars under Rs 30 lakh to be exempt from road tax, registration fees
The Government of NCT of Delhi approved the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2026–2030, effective July 1, 2026, with the policy running until March 31, 2030. El...
Kharif sowing drops 22.7% as weak monsoon delays planting across India
Total kharif sowing area declined by approximately 22.7% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, driven primarily by a severe delay in the...
Global climate finance tops $2 trillion for first time, but growth slows as investment gap widens
Global climate finance reached $2.008 trillion in 2024 for the first time, with a preliminary estimate of approximately $2.06 trillion for 2025, according to...
Centre unveils VB-GRAMG planning framework with focus on water, roads and climate resilience
The Centre has unveiled the Viksit Gram Panchayat Plan (VGPP) framework under VB-GRAMG (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)), ...
India must unlock the potential of natural and nuclear process heat-based hydrogen for its net-zero steel transition
A policy analysis argues that India must diversify its hydrogen production pathways beyond electrolysis-based green hydrogen to achieve net-zero emissions in...
Kerala monsoon onset: Why southwest monsoon arrival matters for India
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala, the customary first landfall point for the monsoon in Indi...
Government flags priority intervention need in 25 of 58 tiger reserves with low, absent tigers
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has identified 25 of India's 58 tiger reserves as needing priority intervention due to critically low or abs...
North-East floods raise power, logistics and inflation risks
Severe monsoon floods in Northeast India, particularly across the Brahmaputra basin in Assam and adjoining states, have disrupted power generation, road and ...
Hamburg Sustainability Conference: India climbs to its highest-ever rank in the 2026 UN SDG Index, but hunger remains a major challenge
The 2026 Sustainable Development Report, released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, placed...
From dam to field: How water infrastructure is India’s answer to climate-driven agricultural risk
A detailed analysis highlights how water infrastructure — encompassing large dams, reservoirs, canal networks, and micro-irrigation systems — functions as th...