EPA designates 2 forever chemicals as hazardous substances, eligible for Superfund cleanup


Fri, April 19, 2024



WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others responsible for contamination to pay for its removal.

Designation as a hazardous substance under the Superfund law doesn’t ban the chemicals, known as PFOA and PFOS. But it requires that releases of the chemicals into soil or water be reported to federal, state or tribal officials if they meet or exceed certain levels. The EPA then may require cleanups to protect public health and recover costs that can reach tens of millions of dollars.

PFOA and PFOS have been voluntarily phased out by U.S. manufacturers but are still in limited use and remain in the environment because they do not degrade over time. The compounds are part of a larger cluster of forever chemicals known as PFAS that have been used since the 1940s in industry and consumer products including nonstick frying pans, water-repellent sports gear, stain-resistant rugs and cosmetics.

The term PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals can accumulate and persist in the human body for long periods. Evidence from animal and human studies indicates that exposure to PFOA or PFOS may lead to cancer or other health problems, including liver and heart damage and developmental problems in infants and children.

President Joe Biden’s administration “understands the threat that forever chemicals pose to the health of families across the country,″ EPA Administrator Michael Regan said. “Designating these chemicals under our Superfund authority will allow EPA to address more contaminated sites, take earlier action and expedite cleanups — all while ensuring polluters pay for the costs to clean up pollution threatening the health of communities.”

The final rule issued Friday follows strict limits set by the EPA on certain PFAS in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. Officials say the drinking water rule, announced April 10, will reduce exposure for 100 million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents the chemical industry, said it strongly oppose the EPA's action and believes it “will undermine overall remediation efforts” for PFAS contamination.

The Superfund law “is an expensive, ineffective and unworkable means to achieve remediation for these chemicals,'' the group said in a statement Friday. The 1980 law “is fraught with unintended consequences and will likely result in extensive, unnecessary delays for cleanups,'' the chemistry council said, adding that there are more effective and timely means to clean up PFAS sites “through existing regulatory processes.''

Last year, three chemical companies announced they had reached a $1.18 billion deal to resolve complaints of polluting many U.S. drinking water systems with PFAS. DuPont de Nemours Inc., The Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc. said they would establish a fund to compensate water providers for contamination.

And earlier this month, chemical manufacturer 3M Co. announced it will begin payments to many U.S. public drinking water systems as part of a multibillion-dollar settlement over contamination with forever chemicals.

Besides the final rule, the EPA issued a notice clarifying that the agency will focus enforcement efforts on businesses and people who significantly contribute to the release of PFAS chemicals into the environment, including companies that have manufactured PFAS or used it in the manufacturing process, as well as federal agencies and other responsible groups.

PFAS used in firefighting foam has tainted groundwater on and near military bases and other locations where it’s used in training exercises.

The Superfund law allows the EPA to clean up contaminated sites across the country and forces parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work. When no responsible party can be identified, Superfund gives the EPA money and authority to clean up contaminated sites.

The EPA’s action follows a report by the National Academies of Science that calls PFAS a serious public health threat in the U.S. and worldwide. The EPA said in 2022 that PFOA and PFOS are more dangerous than previously thought and pose health risks even at levels so low they cannot currently be detected.

David Uhlmann, the EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance, called the Superfund designation “a major step toward holding polluters accountable for significant releases of PFAS into the environment.'' Officials “intend to exercise our enforcement discretion to focus on significant sources of PFAS contamination,'' he said, not farmers, municipal landfills, water utilities, municipal airports or local fire departments.

Water utilities, fire departments and other groups had complained that an earlier EPA proposal could have imposed unfair costs on them without defined cleanup standards.

The federal designation will ensure that manufacturers most responsible for widespread PFAS contamination will bear the costs of cleaning it up, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a lawyer for the environmental group Earthjustice.

He said it “just got a lot harder” for polluters including chemical companies that long manufactured PFAS “to pass the costs of their PFAS releases off on impacted communities and taxpayers.”

Erik Olson, a health expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the EPA’s action will help protect millions of American families exposed to the toxic chemicals.

“We all learned in kindergarten that if we make a mess, we should clean it up," he said. “The EPA’s Superfund rule is a big step in the right direction for holding polluters accountable for cleaning up decades of contamination.”

West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called the EPA's action “ill-advised” and said it “puts local communities and ratepayers on the hook for PFAS contamination they had nothing to do with in the first place.″

The Superfund designation could have disproportionate effect on water and waste utilities, airports, farmers, ranchers and fire departments, Capito said, adding that the agency's action underscores the need for Congress to act to address PFAS.

“We must pass legislation to safeguard American ratepayers from the financial burden imposed by this misguided rule,” she said.

CANADA

UN expert finds 'flagrant breaches' of First Nations rights to clean water

CBC
Fri, April 19, 2024 

Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to drinking water and sanitation, spoke with reporters in Ottawa on Friday. (Brett Forester/CBC - image credit)

Canada's failure to provide First Nations with clean drinking water constitutes a flagrant human rights violation, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to water and sanitation says.

The official, following a whirlwind formal Canadian tour, expressed a litany of concerns in a preliminary report delivered verbally on Friday in Ottawa.

"I finish this almost two-week visit with mixed feelings: admiration but also frustration and even indignation," Pedro Arrojo-Agudo told reporters at the Lord Elgin hotel.

"I have witnessed the marginalization of First Nations on reserves, where in many cases the human rights to drinking water and sanitation are not respected."

Arrojo-Agudo's brisk tour of Canada included stops in Ontario, Nunavut, British Columbia and Alberta. He met with government officials, civil society groups, Indigenous people and others in Ottawa, Iqaluit, Toronto, Fort McMurray, Alta., Vancouver and Smithers, B.C.

The visit was eye-opening for Arrojo-Agudo, a physicist, economics professor, winner of the Goldman prize for environmental activism and former member of the Spanish parliament.

He was appointed to the UN post in 2020 as an independent expert tasked with studying and reporting on human rights.

He said Canada is generally perceived as a democratic rights-upholding country, so he found it troubling to receive reports of criminalization of First Nations people opposing natural resource projects on their land.

"I'm sadly surprised by this criminalization of Indigenous river defenders which [will likely] damage Canada's international reputation," he said.

Arrojo-Agudo's findings weren't all bad, however, and he did offer Canada some praise.

He said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the House of Commons' unanimous agreement that genocide occurred at residential school, and the passage of legislation on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples together provide a benchmark for international leadership.

Long-term advisories 'highly significant'

But nevertheless, the official reported evidence of human rights violations and cause for concern.

In particular, he said the term "drinking water advisories" to describe the non-availability of safe drinking water in First Nations communities is concerning.

"It is highly significant that First Nations reserves are affected by what are called drinking water advisories, or long-term drinking water advisories, which are nothing more than flagrant breaches of the human right to safe drinking water," he said.

"The extended and frequent unavailability of potable water — not in Canada, everywhere, for any reason — signifies a violation of human rights."

In 2015, while running for prime minister, Justin Trudeau promised to ensure all First Nations had access to potable water by spring 2021, a deadline he missed by a wide margin.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu's office responded to the rapporteur's findings in a statement to CBC Indigenous.

"A lot more work still must be done so that all First Nations have access to clean drinking water. Decades of discriminatory funding will not be undone overnight, but there is progress," wrote spokesperson Jennifer Kozelj.

"In 2015, 105 long-term water advisories were in place. This Liberal government increased funding by 150 per cent in water infrastructure and today, 28 advisories remain with a plan in place to lift them all."

Arrojo-Agudo acknowledged the government is making progress and lauded the tabling of First Nations water legislation, but he said the right to clean water still must be enshrined in federal and provincial law.

He said the Canadian state has historically forced First Nations to live in harsh conditions on reserves, meaning the government is obliged to provide clean water and adequate sanitation that meets national standards.

The official also cited the mercury poisoning of Grassy Narrows First Nation in northern Ontario, Neskantaga First Nation's nearly 30-year boil-water advisory, oil pollution of waterways in Alberta and persecution of Wet'suwet'en and Secwepemc peoples in their unceded territories.

He declined to answer directly when asked if Ottawa's efforts to provide clean water to First Nations are sufficient.

In a news release, he urged Canada to step up efforts to eliminate discrimination and marginalization of Indigenous people and fully uphold water rights for all.

Arrojo-Agudo is slated to present a full report to the UN's human rights council in September.

Biden administration moves to make conservation an equal to industry on US lands

The Canadian Press
Fri, April 19, 2024 



BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule for public land management that's meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties.

Officials pushed past strong opposition from private industry and Republican governors to adopt the proposal. GOP members of Congress said in response that they will seek to invalidate it.

The rule from the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management — which oversees more than 380,000 square miles (990,000 square kilometers) of land, primarily in the U.S. West — will allow public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

The rule also promotes the designation of more “areas of critical environmental concern” — a special status that can restrict development. It's given to land with historic or cultural significance or that's important for wildlife conservation.

The land bureau has a history of industry-friendly policies and for more than a century has sold grazing permits and oil and gas leases. In addition to its surface land holdings, the bureau regulates publicly-owned underground mineral reserves — such as coal for power plants and lithium for renewable energy — across more than 1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers).

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the changes would “restore balance” to how the U.S. government manages its public lands. The new rule continues the administration's efforts to use science to restore habitats and guide “strategic and responsible development,” Haaland said in a statement.

Environmentalists largely embraced the changes adopted Thursday, characterizing them as long overdue.

Trout Unlimited President Chris Wood said conservation already was part of the land bureau’s mission under the 1976 Federal Lands Policy Management Act. The new rule, he said, was “a re-statement of the obvious.”

“We are pleased to see the agency recognizing what the law already states — conservation is a vital use of our public lands,” he said.

But Republican lawmakers and industry representatives blasted the move as a backdoor way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from government acreage that's often cheap to lease. They contend the administration is violating the “multiple use” mandate for Interior Department lands, by catapulting the “non-use” of federal lands — meaning restoration leases — to a position of prominence.

“By putting its thumb on the scales to strongly favor conservation over other uses, this rule will obstruct responsible domestic mining projects,” said National Mining Association President Rich Nolan.

The rule’s adoption comes amid a flurry of new regulations from the Biden administration as the Democrat seeks reelection to a second term in November.

Government agencies in recent weeks tightened vehicle emissions standards to cut greenhouse gas emissions, finalized limits on PFAS chemicals in drinking water and increased royalty rates for oil companies that drill on public lands.

About 10% of all land in the U.S. falls under the Bureau of Land Management’s jurisdiction, putting the agency at the center of arguments over how much development should be allowed on public property.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a staunch Biden critic, on Thursday said he will introduce legislation to repeal the public lands rule. The Republican lawmaker alleged it would block access to areas that people in Wyoming depend on for mineral production, grazing and recreation.

"President Biden is allowing federal bureaucrats to destroy our way of life,” he said.

A property rights group that often sides with private interests said the rule would help promote voluntary conservation efforts. It will allow ranchers and others who use public lands to work with private organizations to restore streambeds, improve wildlife habitat and remove invasive weeds, said Brian Yablonski with the Property and Environment Research Center.

Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona asserted that protecting public lands has wide support among the American people. Oil, gas and mining companies “have had the upper hand on our public lands for too long,” Grijalva said.

Restoration leases will not be issued if they would conflict with activity already underway on a parcel of land, officials said. They also said private industry could benefit from the program, since companies could buy leases and restore that acreage to offset damage they might do to other government-owned properties.

Those leases were referred to as “conservation leases” in the agency's original proposal last year. That was changed to “restoration leases” and “mitigation leases” in the final rule, but their purpose appears largely the same.

While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation purposes in limited cases, it has never had a dedicated program for it.

Bureau Director Tracy Stone-Manning has said the changes address the rising challenges of climate change and development. She told The Associated Press when the changes were announced last year that making conservation an “equal” to other uses would not interfere with grazing, drilling and other activities.

Former President Donald Trump tried to ramp up fossil fuel development on bureau lands, before President Joe Biden suspended new oil and gas leasing when he entered office. Biden later revived the deals to win West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for the 2022 climate law.

___

This story was first published on April 18, 2024. It was updated on April 19, 2024, to correct the home state of Rep. Raul Grijalva. He is from Arizona, not New Mexico.

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

As Russia presses forward, Ukraine pleads with Canada for armour, air defence

CBC
Sat, April 20, 2024 

Ukrainian parliament member Oleksandra Ustinova cries as she speaks during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on March 13, 2022. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press - image credit)


A leading member of the Ukrainian parliament delivered stark warnings to Canadian politicians and top defence officials this week in a series of mostly under-the-radar meetings in Ottawa ahead of the long-anticipated aid vote in the U.S. Congress.

Oleksandra Ustinova, the head of Ukraine's special parliamentary commission on arms and munitions, told Defence Minister Bill Blair, members of key House of Commons committees and military leaders that both time and weapons stocks are running out for her country.

"The message is very clear. There is urgency, and Ukraine is going to lose if there is no more support coming," Ustinova told CBC News.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Saturday in favour of legislation that included aid for Ukraine, part of a wider $95-billion US package that also includes support for Israel and Taiwan.

Saturday's vote puts an end to a months-long holdup involving more than $60 billion in U.S. support for the embattled eastern European country. Russian forces have made slow and steady gains on the battlefield and have pummelled Ukrainian cities in a series of missile and air strikes.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization convened a special virtual meeting of defence ministers on Friday, where they committed to helping Ukraine tighten up its air defences.

"NATO has mapped out existing capabilities across the alliance and there are systems that can be made available to Ukraine," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

A dog stands on rubble as rescuers work at the site of a destroyed building during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attacks on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine April 17, 2024. 

REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A dog stands on rubble as rescuers work at the site of a building destroyed in a Russian missile strike in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

It's those existing capabilities and inventory, coupled with air defence, that Ustinova was interested in as she met with Canadian officials and toured Camp Petawawa, a major military base near Ottawa, earlier this week.

In particular, she was interested in Canada's stock of new and retired armoured vehicles. She said she doesn't buy the argument that old, broken-down light armoured vehicles are not fit for donation.

"Ukrainians are ready to take even junk, tear it apart and make one out of three machines. This is something that can protect our soldiers," Ustinova told CBC News.

"There [is] a lot of stuff that can be donated but it's not, for some reason. And I don't understand why because, for example, Canada has a lot of armoured vehicles. Like LAVs that you produce yourself. What is the problem to transfer those to the Ukrainian army?"

According to figures put before the House of Commons last year, the Canadian army has 195 LAV II Bisons and 149 Coyote armoured reconnaissance vehicles that are being taken out of service.

The Department of National Defence (DND) also says 67 tracked light armour vehicles (TLAVs) out of a fleet of 140 are awaiting final demilitarization and disposal, or are being used as a source of spare parts for the 73 vehicles still in service.

A Canadian Armed Forces Coyote armoured surveillance vehicle drives at Kandahar Airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan Tuesday February 5, 2002. Twenty-six-year-old Trooper Richard Renaud of Alma Quebec, a member of the 12e Regiment blinde du Canada, was killed in a blast Tuesday, Jan.15, 2008 involving a Coyote light armoured vehicle. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin FrayerMore

A Canadian Armed Forces Coyote armoured surveillance vehicle is shown at Kandahar Airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Feb. 5, 2002. (Kevin Frayer/The Canadian Press)

The Canadian military is slated to take delivery of 621 upgraded LAV III vehicles, which are being converted into LAV VIs.

Ustinova said she finds it hard to understand why Canada can't part with any of those vehicles.

"It's much more effective, I would say, to support Ukraine in our fight right now, and to give us the stuff we need, so you don't have to fight later," she said.

Canada already has given Ukraine eight Leopard 2A4 tanks, 39 new armoured combat support vehicles and 208 Roshel Senator armoured four-by-fours. It also promised during President Volodymyr's Zelenskyy's visit to Ottawa last year to buy additional 50 armoured vehicles for Ukraine; six months later, that contract has yet to be finalized.

Ustinova said Canada could help by going to third countries to purchase air defence missiles, which are in short supply.

"A lot of countries in the world are doing that," she said.

"We have Denmark. We have the Netherlands. We have Great Britain that is literally buying us stuff from other countries. Why can't Canada write a check and buy us the missiles for air defence to protect our population?"

Canada does not have its own dedicated air defence systems to protect either military or civilian targets, so it can't raid its own inventory.

A Ukrainian serviceman from anti-drone mobile air defence unit operates a Browning machine gun at his position, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine March 28, 2024.
 (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

It has, however, contributed $30 million toward an allied coalition that is attempting to procure systems and missiles to protect Ukrainian skies. Earlier in the war, Canada donated both new and used AIM air-to-air missiles.

The Liberal government's recent federal budget set aside $2.7 billion in aid for Ukraine this year, most of it in the form of loans to keep the country's war-ravaged economy afloat. Roughly $320 million has been set aside for military assistance.

That, according to the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress, represents a reduction in support when compared with previous years.

"Planned military aid to Ukraine for this year, approximately $320 million, represents a decrease in military aid as compared to 2023 and 2022 and falls short of the military aid committed by other allies of Ukraine — for example, the U.K., Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands — who have committed far more military assistance in both real numbers and relative to GDP," the organization said in a statement earlier this week.

Speaking to CBC Radio's The House two weeks ago, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland chided the United States for being "unable to step up" on aid to Ukraine.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland waits for the start of a TV interview after tabling the federal budget on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland has criticized the slow pace of U.S. aid for Ukraine. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

"In March, Canada sent $2 billion in urgent budget financing support to Ukraine at a time when the U.S. — and this is maybe something you could ask the U.S. ambassador about — at a time when the U.S. has been unable to step up and provide support for Ukraine. We were there to fill the gap," Freeland said.

Ustinova said that, even after her meeting in Ottawa, she remains puzzled by Canada's reluctance to part with more military aid in the midst of a shooting war.

"We're fighting your war," she said.

"We are protecting the world right now and we're not asking for boots on the ground. All we're asking is, help us protect our soldiers, help us protect our population.

"Canada has been very supportive and helpful in terms of supporting our budget, but again, when we talk about the military, I still think there is a very low understanding of the real needs."

Solar balconies are booming in Germany. Here’s what you need to know about the popular home tech

Lottie Limb
Sun, April 21, 2024 

Solar balconies are booming in Germany. Here’s what you need to know about the popular home tech


More than 400,000 plug-in solar systems have been installed in Germany, most of them taking up a seamless spot on people’s balconies.

New data shows at least 50,000 of the PV devices were added in the first quarter of 2024 alone. A boom born from Germany’s “very strong solar culture”, in the words of one expert.

Solar balconies are a piece of the wider energy transition across Europe, explains Jan Osenberg, a policy advisor at the SolarPower Europe association.


“We see them as a subset of rooftop solar, but also as something different,” he tells Euronews Green. “We basically see it as a trend to use all possible artificial infrastructure for solar generation.”

Train tracks, motorways, carparks, car roofs, cemeteries and building facades… the list of structures getting a solar makeover goes on and on.

So why are other European countries slow on the balustrade uptake? And what do you need to know if you’re eyeing up a panel or two for your balcony?

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Solar balconies in brief: How they work

The main thing that differentiates solar balconies from rooftop solar is that they’re a much smaller system. Essentially, the tech consists of one or two panels plugged into an electricity socket.

They only produce around 10 per cent of the energy of residential rooftop systems, Osenberg says.

As a rough calculation, he estimates Germany has around 200 MW of installed balcony solar; compared to 16 GW capacity from the residential roof sector.

Austria, France, Germany Italy, Poland and Luxembourg have all taken an encouraging approach to balcony solar. - Ertex Solar

From a customer point of view, the main difference is that balcony PV is much easier to install. You can buy the kit online, and don’t need an electrician to set it up. Unlike for rooftop installations, where certified installers are recommended to avoid fire risks and damage to the structure.

In short: the panels are put on a mounting structure and attached via cables to an inverter that converts the electricity from DC to AC, which goes into your socket via a regular plug.
Who are solar balconies for?

“The main reason for the success of balcony solar systems is that it gives people the chance to use solar who weren’t able to use it before,” says a spokesperson for German manufacturer Meyer Burger.

“Most people don’t own a house, or they cannot install rooftop solar because of heritage protection, shading, or other constructional conditions of the roof. For them, balcony solar is appealing because they can use solar power to generate their own electricity and reduce their electric bills.”

Germany was one of the first countries to invest in solar technology, and now produces the most electricity from solar power in Europe. But - as elsewhere - apartment blocks have been late to the party.

“The multi-dwelling unit sector in rooftop solar has been really outside of the solar boom, [it] has been really neglected,” says Osenberg.

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He attributes this to the challenges involved in getting all building owners to agree to rooftop solar, for example, and difficulties in sharing the electricity between different apartments.

“With balcony solar,” however, “it's suddenly very, very simple. All these people who were not able to get solar for the past 10 years now have a way to access it.”

This “wave” of new solar owners aren’t simply benefiting from cheap electricity, Osenberg says; they’re also empowered to take up their place in the energy transition.

“Rooftop solar really has this empowering momentum that people who start to have a solar system, they start to track their electricity consumption, they start to feel themselves as being someone who is a frontrunner in the energy transition, someone who supports the energy transition and is already a part of it” he says.
How has Germany helped people get balcony solar?

Germany was ahead of the curve on rooftop solar in the 2000s. The government encouraged people to get involved by rewarding them with feed-in tariffs, for example, giving a fixed price for every unit of electricity sent to the grid.

“Customers had already started this boom and successfully demanded simplified bureaucracy from politics,” according to Meyer Burger’s spokesperson. “Measures such as the elimination of VAT contributed to the popularity of balcony solar.”

Apartment block dwellers are joining the solar boom - from their balconies. - Meyer Burger

Subsidies are also available on a regional level, with up to €500 on offer in Berlin (potentially half the cost of a kit). The tech pays for itself after around three years, says Osenberg. So with a lifetime of around 20 years, “it’s a very straightforward investment for citizens.”

According to the market master data register, North Rhine-Westphalia currently has the most plug-in solar systems with well over 80,000, followed by Bavaria with more than 60,000 and Lower Saxony with more than 50,000.

The size of balcony solar systems is also gradually increasing, adds Osenberg. The German government is now looking to enable up to four panels.

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Why are other countries’ ‘missing out’ on balcony solar?

The EU has said that member states can aid the adoption of balcony solar. But it’s not mandatory, and it’s not been embraced by all countries.

Belgium, notably, has banned plug-in solar devices over fears about the impact of having unregistered systems feeding into the electricity grid.

Grid operators want to have oversight of electricity supply, as sudden changes can lead to a power failure. “But in our view this is not really an issue,” explains Osenberg, “because the injection from the balcony system is so small that the impact would also be quite negligible.”

Austria, France, Italy, Poland and Luxembourg have all taken an encouraging stance towards balcony solar. While renewable energy campaigners in Spain are seeking to get their government to loosen the rules soon.

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Things to bear in mind before buying balcony solar

There’s constant innovation on the solar scene, of course - and balconies are no different. If you’re tempted to join in, here are some things to note.

Small-scale storage is an option. Although these systems don’t tend to produce much excess electricity, more makers are offering storage systems for balcony specific solar. The batteries - which fit in between the panels and inverter - are smaller than for rooftops, but still handy for people working away during the day who can use the stored energy come evening.

Apps can help track your electricity usage. Some kits come with apps, allowing you to see how much electricity your PV system is producing, and how much of your energy demand they meet. These are hosted on secure servers, so your digital protection isn’t compromised.

Ensure your kit is sustainably manufactured. For Meyer Burger, this means the panels “do not contain lead or other toxic substances [like PFAS], and are produced without forced labour under decent social and ethical standards.”

There are options to rent a balcony solar system. And of course the beauty of this plug-in system is that if you are renting an apartment, you can take it with you when you move on.

Balcony systems still need to be safely mounted. Although they encourage a DIY approach, you need to take the installation seriously, says Osenberg. Hook designs make it simple, but as the modules weigh up to 24kg, they could cause serious damage if dropped from the 10th floor.

Canada's immigration dilemma — not enough workers or not enough homes


Naimul Karim
Sat, April 20, 2024 

labour-shortage-0419

The federal government’s decision to bring in fewer newcomers in the next few years due to the housing crunch could create labour shortages and inflationary pressures on some areas of the economy if the right balance isn’t maintained, says an analysis by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Canada’s record population growth in recent years eclipsed its available housing and the number of jobs the economy has created since 2019, but the increase didn’t have a uniform effect on the economy, the report said.

“We estimate that while the population has risen by roughly 1.1 million (approximately 35 per cent) more than housing availability could accommodate since 2019, the increase has eclipsed labour force needs by “only” between 200,000-700,000 (five-20 per cent),” the report said.


CIBC economist Andrew Grantham said this means population growth was “way above” what the country could handle from a housing point of view, but it was only “slightly ahead” of what’s needed in the labour force, he said.

“Given the fact that we have an aging domestic work force, that excess population growth is actually a lot less,” he added.

Grantham’s report said if authorities solely focus on adjusting the number of newcomers to match housing availability, it could lead to a shortage in the labour force.

“Everything that has been written on population growth … has really been only on housing,” he said. “But that’s just one part of the issue. We have labour force needs as well. Everyone needs to be aware of this balancing act, whether it be policymakers or the Bank of Canada.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has taken a number of steps in the past six months to slow down the intake of newcomers.

In March, the government said it will limit the number of temporary residents entering Canada to five per cent of the overall population over the next three years, compared to the existing 6.2 per cent, or 2.5 million students, foreign workers and asylum seekers.

In January, it imposed a two-year cap on new international students and restricted eligibility for work permits for post-graduates and their spouses, and in November, 2023, it decided against increasing the number of permanent residents it wants to bring in from 2026 onward.

The limitations on newcomers, whom Canada has traditionally relied on to boost its economy, were announced after the country posted record population growth of more than two million people in the past two years, primarily due to a rise in temporary residents.

As a result, some economists expect Canada’s population growth rate to decline by about two-thirds to around 400,000 annually in a couple of years, compared to last year’s growth of 1.25 million.

“With so much attention focused on the link between immigration, population growth and housing affordability, it is easy to lose sight of the positive impact that newcomers into the country are having, particularly in the labour market,” the CIBC report said.

Grantham said that as Canada’s domestic workforce ages, young newcomers have helped slow the decline in labour participation rates. Non-permanent residents and new immigrants have also played an important role in reducing elevated job vacancy levels as the economy was coming out of the pandemic.

“Without this boost to labour supply, wage pressures may have proved even more persistent than they already were,” the report said.

However, it added that the surge in the population eventually “may have been a case of too much, too soon,” and that as the demand for labour eased, newcomers were the “most negatively impacted.”

Canada’s unemployment rate rose above six per cent in March and was largely driven by a lack of jobs for non-landed immigrants and immigrants who moved to the country less than five years ago, the report said. The unemployment rates for these two groups are well above where they stood in 2019, while the rate of joblessness for the remaining population remains slightly below that mark.

Grantham said the “perfect case” would be for some of the government incentives around building the economy to take hold once interest rates start coming down, which would then allow policymakers to bring in the appropriate number of workers for the labour market. But he isn’t sure about the likelihood of that scenario.

“It’s a very difficult balancing act for the next two or three years,” he said.

The productivity 'emergency' and the role newcomers play


Caps on newcomers may hurt businesses, economy


Canada caught in population trap, economists warn

Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic said the changing rules for newcomers shouldn’t be viewed as a “pro-immigration versus anti-immigration question,” but about the right level of inflows.

“Clearly, 1.3 million per year is too much for the labour market to absorb,” he said. “From a long-term perspective, I think permanent resident targets in the 400,000 to 500,000 range are appropriate to offset future retirements, and are just about what we can adequately provide infrastructure for.”

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com

Mass arrests at Columbia spark solidarity protests on college campuses across the US

Jessica Schladebeck,

 New York Daily News

Sat, April 20, 2024


Tents and demonstrations are popping up on college campuses across the country after Columbia University students’ protest of the war in Gaza resulted in the arrests of more than 100 people.

Pro-Palestinian students and faculty — among others, including students from NYU — kicked off their demonstrations on Wednesday, erecting tents and posting signs on Columbia’s campus in upper Manhattan.

Their ongoing efforts, dubbed the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, are in protest of “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to a news release from its organizers, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student-led coalition of more than 100 different organizations.

On Thursday, hundreds of NYPD officers descended on Columbia’s South Lawn in Morningside Heights at the request of President Minouche Shafik. They arrested 108 people, all of whom are now facing trespassing charges. Two of them were additionally hit with counts of obstructing police.

The protesters, however, have remained undeterred and their on-campus occupation continued on Saturday. Their resolve has since inspired others to take action against the war in Gaza, including the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, who launched a rally of their own on Friday.

The UNC SJP said they “stand in solidarity with Columbia students who were unjustly detained for peaceful protesting by setting up an encampment on their own university.” They said they were immediately informed that erecting their own tents were in violation of campus policy.

“In an attempt to avoid their tents from being seized, students put their tents on chairs as to ‘comply’ with administration,” the SJP said. “When police and UNC facility crew came to forcibly remove the tents, protestors collectively lifted up their tents and marched around the quad.”

Hundreds of miles away, the SJP at Ohio State announced their own “emergency rally in solidarity with Columbia students.” Despite efforts from the administration to quash the demonstration in New York, the group said, “Columbia students have bravely occupied their campus in peaceful protest.”

The Boston University SJP similarly praised those occupying the Columbia campus while announcing an “emergency protest.”

“What is happening at Columbia University is but a microcosm of a larger war being waged on campuses across North America — a war waged by a fascist, McCarthyst ruling elite long hellbent on destroying our movement for Palestinian liberation,” the group said on social media. “They will fail in their efforts, and we will be victorious. Until then, the struggle continues.”

Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee meanwhile announced a student walkout “in solidarity with steadfast Columbia students.”

“We stand in solidarity with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine while remaining firm in our calls for Harvard to DIVEST from the occupation of Palestine,” the group said.

Yale students, who have been staging their own demonstrations all week, also voiced their support while calling on their administrators to pull their money from military weapons manufacturers.

The series of protests and demonstrations are only the latest in the months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in the early hours of Oct. 7. The group launched thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip, clearing the way for hundreds of armed terrorists to devastate neighborhoods and military bases along Israel’s southern border. Some 1,200 people were killed during the initial raid.

The attack triggered an onslaught of Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults, resulting in the deaths of at least 34,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Gaza Health Ministry.

Pro-Palestinian protesters call for change at Columbia University

Students at more universities announce solidarity rallies after 108 pro-Palestinian activists are arrested at Columbia

CNN
Sun, April 21, 2024 

Despite more than 100 arrests on Thursday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators aren’t ending their protest on the campus of New York’s Columbia University.

Dalia Faheid, Caroll Alvarado and John Towfighi, CNN
Fri, April 19, 2024

Dozens of activists denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza remain camped out on the West Lawn of Columbia University on Friday, a day after New York City police arrested more than 100 people on suspicion of criminal trespass during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the campus.

Now, students at several other universities are planning rallies in solidarity with the Columbia University demonstrators.

The University of North Carolina Students for Justice in Palestine is holding a solidarity rally Friday. The Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine announced an “emergency rally.” The Students for Justice in Palestine at The Ohio State University announced an “emergency protest supporting Gaza solidarity encampment.” And the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee announced a student walkout “in solidarity with steadfast Columbia students.”

Demonstrators at Columbia were “peacefully protesting for divestment from genocide,” said one of the organizers, Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

At least 33,797 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war against Hamas started in October, according to figures from the enclave’s health ministry. Israel launched ongoing attacks in Gaza after a spate of Hamas attacks in Israel that killed 1,200 people in October.

New York City police officers in riot gear stand guard as demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus on Thursday in New York.

 - Mary Altaffer/AP

What spurred the arrests at Columbia

Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik sent a letter Thursday to NYPD requesting they remove people who were occupying the South Lawn of the university’s campus after being told that they “are in violation of the University’s rules and policies” and are trespassing, according to the letter, which was released by the university.

More than 108 arrests were made, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a news conference Thursday evening.

The protest and arrests at Columbia come as universities across the nation grapple with how to respond to the hundreds of protests and counterprotests held by students on campuses since the war in Gaza began.

Here’s what we know about the protest at Columbia and subsequent arrests so far:
Why students are protesting

The protests began Wednesday. Pro-Palestinian students, faculty and others set up tents and signs that morning on the campus in upper Manhattan on a day that Shafik, the university president, was in Washington, DC, to testify to a House committee over the school’s response to antisemitism.

The encampment was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) – a student-led coalition of more than 100 organizations – Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace, to protest what they describe as the university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to CUAD’s news release.

“The Gaza Solidarity Encampment was established to pressure Columbia to divest all funds, including the endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and military occupation in Palestine,” the release said.

CNN sought comment from Columbia University and the university’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing for more information on their investments and for comment on the protest organizers’ allegations.

Ry, a senior at Columbia who declined to provide his last name to protect his identity, told CNN he had been camping at the campus before arrests began.

“We as students are using our privilege to stand for people who have been oppressed for far too long and we hope other universities take the call and do the same,” said Ry, who is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, was among those arrested Thursday, a police official told CNN. The official said Hirsi is being processed and will likely receive a summons for a criminal trespass charge then be released from custody.

Hirsi, an organizer with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, said earlier Thursday she and two other students at Barnard College – located across the street from Columbia University – were suspended for participating in pro-Palestinian protests.

“Columbia has shown over and over again that they don’t care about student rights, they don’t care about student voices, they don’t care about student safety,” protester Aidan Parisi told CNN affiliate WCBS.

University president asked NYPD to remove demonstrators

Shafik wrote a letter to the NYPD on Thursday asking for the department’s help to “remove these individuals,” and said those students occupying the South Lawn of the university’s Morningside Heights campus had been informed of their suspension.

“The actions of these individuals are in violation of University rules and policies,” the president told police in the letter. “The University provided multiple notices and warnings and informed the encampment participants that they must disperse or face immediate discipline.”

In an email to students obtained by CNN, Shafik said Thursday that she authorized the move “out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia’s campus.”

“I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances,” Shafik wrote. “The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies.”

Calling the protest a “disturbance,” Adams said in a news conference Thursday evening that the protesters violated university rules and that “NYPD officers moved in to ensure the safety of the campus, the students and the staff.” He added that, “the NYPD assured there was no violence or injuries” during the protest.

“The students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” added John Chell, NYPD Chief of Patrol.

Most of the people taken into custody will be summoned for trespassing, while two people were charged with trespass as well as obstruction of governmental administration, authorities said at the news conference.

In the past, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has declined to prosecute or deferred prosecution cases where large numbers of people were arrested as part of civil disobedience.

The arrests came a day after Shafik testified over the university’s response to antisemitism during a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing. The university faced criticism for its handling of antisemitic incidents on campus and for hiring a professor who allegedly expressed support for Hamas on social media. That professor has been fired, Shafik said Wednesday.

In her testimony, Shafik said the core of the university’s mission is to “ensure that all members of our community may engage in our cherished traditions of free expression and open debate,” quoting from the school’s rules of university conduct.
How the protests at Columbia unfolded

Police officers stand near tents erected by pro-Palestinian protesters on the South Lawn at Columbia University in New York, on Thursday.

 - C.S. MUNCY/The New York Times/Redux

Competing pro-Palestine and pro-Israel rallies grew into Wednesday afternoon as more protesters gathered after the hearing.

Several people waving Palestinian flags shouted at police officers, who had begun boxing the protesters in with barricades, CNN affiliate WCBS reported.

During Wednesday’s protests, Columbia closed the gates to campus, only allowing people with university IDs to enter. Many of the pro-Palestinian protesters affiliated with Columbia camped on the campus overnight.

Four people were arrested overnight during the protests, the NYPD said. Police did not specify what charges were filed and gave no additional details about the arrests.

The NYPD used bullhorns on Thursday to tell protesters they would be arrested unless they dispersed immediately. Large crowds of Columbia students on the perimeter refused to leave and chanted “Shame on you!” and “the students united will never be defeated.”

Shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, a group of at least 200 protesters moved to an area about two blocks away from the school campus near the NYPD staging site and police said they would soon disperse the crowd, CNN witnessed. Officers in helmets, carrying batons, were seen lining up in the street surrounding the group.

Online video appears to show NYPD officers arresting pro-Palestinian protesters outside Columbia University early Thursday morning. Detained students were escorted off campus by the NYPD in zip tie handcuffs.
The university warned of suspension

In a Wednesday letter to students, Columbia University officials said participation in the encampment and refusal to leave the campus would result in suspension for students involved.

“If you are a Columbia student and you do not adhere to this final request by 9:00 p.m. today, April 17, 2024, the University will take the interim measure of suspending you pending investigation for possible violation of multiple University policies,” the university said in the letter.

“During the suspension, you may not go to class or hand in work related to courses and therefore may not be able to complete your current courses. Your CUID will be deactivated, you will not have access to classrooms and other parts of campus and may not participate in University activities.”

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Emma Tucker, John Miller, Alaa Elassar and Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.




Pro-Palestinian Columbia Protests Continue After Arrests

Sanya Mansoor
Fri, April 19, 2024 

Students occupy the campus ground of Columbia University in support of Palestinians in New York City, on April 19, 2024. 

Credit - Alex Kent — AFP/Getty Images

One day after Columbia University called on law enforcement to arrest more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters, students continued to occupy part of the campus lawn.

Dozens of police stood outside the university gates on Friday. Inside, it looks like a massive picnic. Chants from the loudspeaker go between “Free Palestine” and reminders to clean up and get food if protesters get hungry.

Marie Adele Grosso, a 19-year-old Barnard College student was among those arrested Thursday. She was back at the encampment Friday, wearing a keffiyeh, despite receiving an email telling her she was currently suspended on an interim basis. The college has not yet determined whether she has violated the Barnard College Student Code of Conduct.

Grosso says she is banned from campus housing, cannot use her meal plan and is unsure where she will stay for the night. University officials say she has 15 minutes to collect her belongings. But she’s determined to keep protesting. “The only moral thing is to do whatever we can,” she says.

Not everyone is on her side. Avi Lichtschein, a pro-Israeli protester, showed up outside the campus gates with an Israeli flag and his dog. “The days of Jewish people or Israeli people feeling intimidated are over. You can have your rally, it’s wonderful. I can hold my Israeli flag,” he says. Lichtschein, who grew up in New York and has relatives in Israel, says he is planning to move to Israel with his family in the near future. “It’s not out of fear, it’s more a sense of supreme pride,” he says. There are only a handful of counter-protesters; they are vastly outnumbered by hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters.

A spokesperson for Columbia University said Friday that students who participated in the encampment are suspended but did not provide an exact number. “We are continuing to identify them and will be sending out formal notifications,” they said.

The spokesperson also stated that the encampment has been dismantled and they expect protests to continue. “We have rules regarding the time, place and manner that apply to protest activity and we will continue to enforce those,” the spokesperson said. While the tents are no longer set up, protesters appear to still have plans to sleep on the lawn. A large pile of blankets and sleeping bags sit on a blue tarp.

Read More: USC Faces Backlash Over Alleged ‘Censorship’ of Pro-Palestinian Valedictorian’s Speech

The New York Police Department arrested 113 people on Thursday. Charges included resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct. The police were invited onto campus by President of Columbia, Minouche Shafik.

Shafik wrote in an April 18 letter to the New York City Police Department that the “encampment raises safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community.”

Police maintained that the protest was peaceful. “The students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” said John Chell, NYPD Chief of Patrol. After police arrested students on Thursday, more protesters took their place in campus demonstrations. Some of those who were arrested returned.

The arrests marked the first time the university has called the cops on student protesters since 1968, during anti-war protests against the Vietnam War.

Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, posted on X Thursday that she was 1 of 3 Barnard College students who were suspended. Hirsi is an organizer with Columbia University Apartment Divest, a coalition of student organizations calling for Columbia to divest in Israel.

On Wednesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar grilled Shafik during a congressional hearing about antisemitism. Omar asked about an alleged chemical attack on pro-Palestinian protesters, as well as why students had been evicted and harassed. “There has been a rise in targeting and harassment against antiwar protesters,” Omar said Thursday.

Shafik said at Wednesday’s congressional hearing that the university had suspended 15 students. “Antisemitism has no place on our campus, and I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly,” she said.

Despite the arrests Thursday and requests from Shafik to disperse students, demonstrations continued Friday, with no signs of letting up.

Around 5 p.m., a few dozen Muslims prayed on the lawn; some used the Keffiyeh as a hijab. Their non-Muslim peers surrounded them with blankets to give them privacy.

Eliette, a graduate student at the Columbia School of Social Work and non-binary queer Korean, got arrested Thursday. (They asked for their surname to be withheld out of fear of getting doxxed.) “The NYPD said there were no threats; that says it all,” they said at the encampment on Friday. The protester says the movement has been “full of joy and camaraderie.” They say it was important to them not to be on the wrong side of history and mention that being an American citizen and living off-campus helps them feel more protected.

The Columbia Spectator’s editorial board slammed the university administration Thursday for “conflating pro-Palestinian campus activism with antisemitism” and failing to protect students. “Hundreds of campus affiliates stood witness as the NYPD disgracefully arrested over 100 of our classmates, friends, and colleagues for peacefully protesting,” they wrote.

At least three legal observers were arrested, according to Columbia University Apartheid Divest. They accused police of denying access to health services for a student who fainted outside of the encampment. The NYPD did not respond to a request to comment about these incidents.

Shafik said in an April 18 statement that she called law enforcement “out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia’s campus.”

Celeste, an Arab Columbia University student, said Thursday during a press conference that the university’s response to protests made her feel unsafe. “Whose safety are we prioritizing when we call the police on campus?” she said. “It just seems at this point that Arab students are valued as less.” (Celeste asked to withhold her last name out of concern for her safety.)

Ilan Cohen, a Jewish Columbia student, said at the press conference that he is “horrified” by the implications these “crackdowns carry for (his) own safety.”

“The idea that censorship, repression, silencing, firing are occurring on our campus in the name of my safety doesn't make me safe. It alienates me,” Cohen said. “If anything. I'm part of a growing group of young American Jews who are horrified and the actions of today solidified that beyond belief.”

Congressman Jamaal Bowman said at a Friday press conference that Columbia appears to be folding to pressure from right-wing Republicans to suppress freedom of expression. “Bringing in the NYPD to arrest students demonstrating for peace leads us down a very, very dark path,” he said.

Maryam Alwan, a Palestinian American and lead organizer of Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, first arrived at the encampment at 4 a.m. Wednesday, ahead of Shafiq’s testimony before Congress. “I have never had such a communal experience in my entire life,” she says.

Alwan feels that the entire student body is enraged. “They’re losing control because we’ve been watching a genocide unfold on our screens every single day and they have ignored every Democratic means by which we have tried to make our voices heard,” she says. (Israel denies that a genocide is occuring but South Africa has brought a case of genocide to the International Court of Justice. )

Alwan says students watched a Palestinian film on a projection screen and people danced. Alwan keeps refreshing her email inbox, nervous that she may receive a suspension notification. So far, she has not. “I’m probably going to join the camp, regardless of whether or not I’m suspended,” she says.

Write to Sanya Mansoor at sanya.mansoor@time.com.

Opinion

The Indian election issue that will impact the world (and no one is talking about)

Opinion by Aditya Valiathan Pillai
Sat, April 20, 2024 at 4:58 a.m. MDT·6 min read

Aditya Valiathan Pillai - Nadeem Z

Editor’s Note: Aditya Valiathan Pillai is a fellow and coordinator for adaptation and resilience at the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, an independent climate change research organization based in New Delhi. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more CNN Opinion.

It’s hard to truly comprehend how difficult and relentless a problem climate change is for a country as large as India. One way would be to rig a drone with a very large battery pack and fly it from one end to the other.

Start in the south in Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley, in the fall of 2022. Fly very, very slowly northwards until you reach the Himalayas just before the national elections that started this week.

You would witness a country in constant convulsion.

Soon after take off, you’d see the swish houses and gleaming towers of Bangalore’s new tech and corporate elite submerged amid September 2022’s monsoon rains. Just a little further north and a few months on in March 2023, record breaking fires tear through Karnataka state’s forests, the smoke obscuring vision for days.

Then, on to the heaving, humid metropolis of Mumbai at summer’s onset in April 2023 to find over a dozen people dead, mostly women, due to heat exposure at a large public gathering. Next, entire stretches of Delhi under water from flooding in July.

That same summer, hospitals in the sunburnt state of Uttar Pradesh, home to over 240 million people, fill with listless, heat-stroked workers. Finally, the anticipated visual reprieve of the Himalayan snow caps that never comes — instead replaced by an almost snowless winter that continues into 2024.

Livestock wander the cracked bed of a dried-out pond amid a heatwave that hit New Delhi in the summer of 2022. - Amarjeet Kumar Singh/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The impacts of India’s extreme weather are not neatly contained within the country’s borders. This is a global worry. When India introduces wheat export bans due to a heat wave or slows its vaunted IT exports because Bangalore is underwater, the lives of seemingly unconnected millions across the world are affected.

India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, after China and the US. It is also the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

How India handles climate change, then, is everyone’s concern. But while climate is mentioned in the election manifestos of the two main parties — the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress — it will, perhaps surprisingly, not feature as a major issue in India’s six-week-long national election that started this week. That’s unlike in Australia, the UK and US, among others, where elections can be significantly influenced by climate policy positions.

This is because climate politics looks different in the developing world; it will shape Indian elections in definitive but under-the-radar ways. Climate impacts do shape voter demands — though this tends to filter through as anxieties about livelihood and continued welfare support, rather than in a neatly defined area of politics labeled “climate.”

You can see it in farmers asking for loan waivers and irrigation facilities after years of drought, in urban families demanding reduced electricity prices to offset cooling bills and in calls for more penetrating social welfare.

A boy takes a dip in a water container outside his slum dwelling in New Delhi, in May 2023. - Kabir Jhangiani/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Here in the world’s most-populous country, the average Indian does not emit very much at present. India’s relatively low per-capita carbon emissions of 1.9 tons per person are less than half of the global average of 4.7 tons per person — and several times lower than developed economies.

This duality — low per-capita emissions and a rapidly growing economy — also shapes India’s climate policy. The incumbent government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has both pushed the rapid deployment of renewables and domestic green manufacturing to create jobs, while continuing to rely on fossil fuels to power the economy. That’s fairly similar to previous governments.

Leaf through the BJP and Congress’ election manifestos and you will find several dozen pledges across sectors that could be filed under climate policy, with a roughly even split between the two parties (though their emphases predictably differ).

But these are listed across several chapters and rarely mention the word “climate” (though each has a separate chapter on sustainable development). Similarly, stump speeches throughout this campaign season have not featured climate change as a central issue.

Parties do however focus on climate-adjacent developmental issues — including expanding entitlements for the poorest (which could also help with weather shocks), creating jobs through green manufacturing and reconfiguring Indian agriculture.

The flooded banks of the Yamuna river along the Taj Mahal in Agra, in July 2023. Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India's treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. - Pawan Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

But politics here seems to reflect the relative insignificance of climate change as a conceptual category in the Indian voter’s mind. When tens of thousands of farmers marched through Maharashtra in 2018 after several years of drought across parts of the state, they protested against rising agricultural debt, declining productivity, pests and inadequate irrigation. This was a climate protest in all but slogan.

Take for example a Muslim woman I spoke with a few years ago from the poorer reaches of North Bengal. Her small house in an informal settlement in Delhi was engulfed in a summer fire, and then a few years later her family home in Bengal was damaged in a monsoon flood.

She supports a large family of children and grandchildren as a house cleaner in Delhi’s rich neighbourhoods. Despite the fingerprint of climate impacts on her past, her main demands in previous elections were for regular water (which she gets once in two weeks from a water truck), cheaper electricity (she told me she pays around three times the price her rich employers pay because of an illegal connection), and cheaper health care.

Elections turn, then, on meeting developmental exigency. The headwinds of climate change are absorbed by the electoral machine and emerge as end-of-tailpipe policies rather than grand climate strategy.

This pattern of climate politics is reinforced by seemingly low recognition in India of climate change as a problem. In a 2022 survey of over 4,500 individuals across the country, over 50% of respondents said they knew little or nothing about climate change. Interestingly, recognition of climate change increased to over 80% in that survey when respondents were supplied with a short description of the phenomenon.

The hotch-potch of ad hoc policy fixes that emerges around climate issues will only get the country so far. It fails when put to the long-term test. Mobilizing large amounts of public finance to redesign cities to trap less heat and flood less, for example, requires a genuine public debate about a climate-ravaged future. Immediate investments are necessary to dull the blow tomorrow.

The climate crisis also deepens the case for global cooperation. India’s climate-outages are going to be hard for trading partners and global markets to ignore as its economy grows. Domestic politics that focus on immediate developmental goals rather than long-term climate-proofing creates a gaping hole that global adaptation finance must fill.

This has a moral dimension, too. The climate impacts buffeting India today are largely because of the historical emissions of developed counterparts.

Global resilience must be a priority in an interconnected world. The climate impacts buffeting the most populous nation on earth aren’t just a domestic issue — they’re an international one.

Tamanna Dalal, of the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, assisted the author with research.