Climate Change – Page 3 – Global South Policy Review

Air Quality Worsens Despite China’s Renewable Energy Boom

Marybeth Collins

Despite significant investments in renewable energy, China’s air quality has deteriorated in several northern cities. As of March 2025, 11 major urban centers reported PM2.5 levels exceeding national safety standards. While solar power generation increased by 30.8% and coal usage declined by 3.3%, these improvements have not translated into better air quality. Experts attribute this to factors such as industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, and the continued reliance on coal-fired power plants. Additionally, challenges in integrating renewable energy into the existing grid infrastructure have limited its effectiveness in reducing pollution. This situation underscores the need for comprehensive strategies that address not only energy production but also broader environmental and infrastructural issues.

How Training in Green Skills Could Help Turn The Tide Against Plastic Pollution

UNEP

UNEP, in partnership with regional universities, is training students in green skills to fight plastic pollution. The program promotes a circular economy by teaching sustainable practices and waste reduction. By integrating these concepts into academic curricula, it aims to build a workforce ready to support eco-friendly industries. This effort is part of the broader “Green Jobs for Youth Pact” to boost sustainable employment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Rwanda Sweet Solution For Adapting To Climate Change

UNEP

In Rwanda’s Ngororero district, a UNEP-supported initiative is aiding farmers in adapting to climate change through sustainable beekeeping. By adopting modern hives and planting trees, they have expanded their operation from 20 to 200 hives, enhancing honey production and income. This approach not only provides economic benefits but also restores ecosystems, mitigates climate impacts, and exemplifies how nature-based solutions can foster resilience and livelihoods in vulnerable communities

Bengaluru’s water crisis deepens: Citizen-led NGO Paani.Earth urges Greater Bengaluru Authority to embrace river-centric planning

Sanjana Shashidhar

Bengaluru is facing a worsening water crisis due to rapid urbanization, groundwater overuse, and neglected water bodies. The citizen-led NGO Paani.Earth is urging the new Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to adopt river-centric, watershed-based urban planning. Their initiative emphasizes integrating natural water systems into city development. While the GBA offers hope for better coordination, its success depends on prioritizing sustainable infrastructure and protecting Bengaluru’s vital lakes and rivers.

South Africa climate change act is now in force

Lisa Matata

South Africa’s Climate Change Act, effective from May 2025, marks a major step in enforcing climate action across public and private sectors. It introduces binding measures such as Sectoral Emissions Targets for high-emission industries, mandatory carbon budgets with legal penalties for non-compliance, and stronger regulatory oversight. The Act also mandates local governments to integrate climate planning. It aligns South Africa with global efforts toward a low-carbon, resilient economy.

Going Bananas: How Climate Change Threatens the World’s Favourite Fruit

Nina Lakhani

The climate crisis is threatening the future of the world’s most popular fruit, as almost two-thirds of banana-growing areas in Latin America and the Caribbean may no longer be suitable for growing the fruit by 2080, new research has found.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather and climate-related pests are pummeling banana-growing countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia, reducing yields and devastating rural communities across the region.

Climate change is disrupting the human gut in a new path to illness

Sharmila Vaidyanathan

Research has already found that high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can diminish the quantity of plant micronutrients like phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and iron, along with protein concentrations in vital crops; these effects add to the complexities that affect the gut microbiota. Climate-driven food shortage and undernourishment could affect the composition of the human gut microbiota, exacerbating the effects of climate change on human health, according to a new review article published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

‘Indus Waters Treaty needs a rethink’: Country’s top glaciologist warns of shrinking Indian share in river flows

Nikhil Ghanekar

India’s eastern Indus glaciers are melting faster than Pakistan’s and that will reduce water availability after mid-century, leading glaciologist at IISc Anil Kulkarni tells The Indian Express in an interview.

Anil Kulkarni points out that although the Indus Waters Treaty allocates 20% of the river flows to India, only about 5% of the glacier-stored water is in the eastern basins under India’s control, while 95% is in the western basins allocated to Pakistan. This disparity, coupled with accelerated glacier retreat due to climate change, could significantly impact India’s water share in the future.

One heatwave can lead to back-to-back hot spells: Study

PTI

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Germany’s Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz looked at why South Asia continually experienced extreme heat events during the March to April 2022 period.

Comparing the heatwaves of March and April, the team found that each was driven by a different atmospheric process — the former by winds in high altitudes and the latter by dry soil conditions, which were created as a result of the former.

Climate change poses new challenges for troops at the Indian borders

Kalyan Das

Global warming is not only altering weather patterns but also increasingly posing challenges to the defence forces stationed in high-altitude areas along the borders (LoC with Pakistan and the LAC with China).
Erratic and less snowfall along with unpredictable rainfall patterns and drying up of natural streams in the Himalayas over the years are major concerns. And its effects are visible on the ground with infiltration risks to disrupted infrastructure projects, according to senior security establishment officials.

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