News & Editorial Analysis 14 December 2022
The Hindu
Chinese tried to change LAC status quo: Rajnath (Important for Internal Security: GS lll) Page 1
The Chinese troops unilaterally tried to alter the status quo on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Yangste in Twang sector in Arunachal Pradesh and the move was contested by Indian soldiers in a firm and resolute manner: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The ensuing faceoff led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts.
The Chinese side was asked to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquility along the border.
On the other hand, the PLA blames India for the latest faceoff at the LAC for illegally crossing the LAC.
India-U.K. FTA talks restart with Goyal-Badenoch meet (Important for IR: GS ll) Page 11
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Kemi Badenoch held the sixth round of discussion on the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which had been stalled over multiple issues, including reported Indian demand for greater number of student visas and political turmoil in the U.K.
Both parties discussed how both sides can arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement to boost trade and investment ties.
Mr. Goyal presented flagship projects of the government such as National Infrastructure Pipeline, Development Finance Institution and privatisation of non-strategic sectors PSUs, and urged the businesses in India and the U.K. to take advantages of these initiatives for economic prosperity.
Only one-fourth of sanctioned Solar Projects have taken off, says Minister (Important for Environment: GS III)
The Union government has so far sanctioned solar projects with a capacity of nearly 39,000 MW but only a fourth have actually been commissioned so far: Minister for New and Renewable Energy.
Under the ‘Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects’, a total of 57 solar parks of aggregate capacity of 39,285 MW were sanctioned until November end.
However, only solar power projects of 10,027 MW have been commissioned in these parks.
Solar parks had been cancelled due to their “slow progress” The key challenges in this scheme included hurdles in acquisition of land with clear title; a “mismatch” in the time taken to set up a project and infrastructure to route the power produced to the grid; “envi-ronmental issues” and the halt in economic activity due to COVI19.
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
National Policy Of Rare Diseases
About
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare established the NPRD in 2021 to assist people with rare diseases.
Increasing public knowledge of domestic drug development and research is the goal.
To lower the cost of treating rare diseases.
The early detection of rare diseases by screening will aid in their prevention.
Important Policy Requirements
Disorders in Group 1 that only need a single treatment are categorised as such.
Patients in group two require continuing or protracted treatment.
Group 3: Conditions with a long-term cure, but difficult patient selection due to factors including high cost and lifetime care.
Financial Help: Under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi umbrella programme, individuals with rare diseases classified as Group 1 are entitled for financial assistance of up to Rs. 20 lakh.
Patients who are Below Poverty Line (BPL) and have serious, life-threatening illnesses can receive care at any super-specialty Government hospitals or institutes thanks to financial help from Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi.
Such financial assistance will benefit both BPL families and the nearly 40% of the general population who fall within the scope of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and meet the requirements for only receiving care in government tertiary institutions.
Alternative Funding: This means establishing a digital platform for business donations and individual contributions to pay for the voluntary treatment of persons with rare diseases.
Eight healthcare facilities have been designated as “Centres of Excellence” as part of the effort to strengthen tertiary health care facilities for the prevention and treatment of rare diseases. These facilities would also receive a one-time grant for up to Rs. 5 crore to develop diagnostics facilities.
Governmental Register To ensure that reliable data and thorough definitions of such diseases are available to individuals interested in research and development, a national hospital-based register of uncommon diseases will be established.
What conditions make an illness rare?
Less than 5% of the 6,000–8,000 rare diseases that have been designated as such have treatments.
Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD), Pompe disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and haemophilia are a few instances.
Less than one in ten patients receive treatment specifically for their illness, and more than 95% of uncommon diseases have no approved treatments.
In 80% of cases, these illnesses have a hereditary component.
The prevalence of these disorders ranges from those that affect 1 in 10,000 of the population to those that affect 6 in 10,000, depending on the criteria used in the various nations.
A health problem with a low prevalence that affects a disproportionately small number of people as compared to other common diseases in the general population is commonly referred to as a “rare disease.” There is a lot of potential for serious, disabling, and even fatal cases of rare diseases.
In India, there are between 50 and 100 million people who have a rare disease or disorder, according to the policy study. The high morbidity and death rates of these life-threatening disorders play a crucial role in why the majority of these patients do not survive to adulthood. Nearly 80% of these patients are youngsters.
The Indian Express Editorial Analysis
Carbon Credit Trading Scheme
The goal of carbon credits is to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Any tradable certificates or licences that represent the right to emit a certain quantity of carbon dioxide or an equivalent quantity of another greenhouse gas are known as carbon credits. Initiatives at the national and international levels to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations involve carbon markets and carbon credits.
About Carbon Credit
An authorization to emit a certain quantity of CO2 or other greenhouse gases is known as a carbon credit.
An element of a “cap-and-trade” system are carbon credits. Credits are given to polluters, allowing them to continue polluting up to a particular point. This maximum is typically lowered. In the interim, any unsold credits may be transferred to another company that needs them.
The incentive for private businesses to cut greenhouse gas emissions is therefore two times as strong.
In the event that their emissions go over the limit, they must first purchase more credits.
They can also make money by reducing their emissions and then selling any extra credits.
Various carbon credits
Voluntary decrease of emissions (VER)
This carbon offset is exchanged for credits on the unrestricted or voluntary market.
Certified Emissions Reduction is a method for proving that a project has reduced its emissions (CER). It is based on a legal system that permits the development of emission units (or credits).
Carbon credit programmes
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations promoted the use of carbon credits in a 1997 accord known as the Kyoto Protocol to lower global carbon emissions.
For the nations that accepted it, the pact established legally obligatory emission reduction targets.
The Marrakesh Accords, another agreement, included instructions on how the system would function.
According to the Kyoto Protocol, economies are either industrialised or developing. Each of the wealthy nations has a system in place for trading carbon.
Through an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement, a nation that emits fewer hydrocarbons than its target level may sell its extra credits to other nations who fell short of their Kyoto obligations (ERPA).
Carbon credits were given to developing nations using a distinct Clean Development Mechanism called Certified Emission Reductions (CER).
These credits could be granted to a developing nation in return for aiding in the funding of sustainable development initiatives. Trading in CER was place on a specific market.
Paris Agreement
By October 2020, 147 of the signatory countries to the Kyoto Protocol had ratified the Doha Amendment, a 2012 agreement that amended the Kyoto Protocol.
The 2015 Paris Agreement, which also establishes carbon norms and permits emissions trading, was signed by more than 190 countries.
The US initially left the pact in 2017, but did so once more in January 2020.
The COP26 Climate Change Summit in Glasgow
The implementation of Article 6 of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which allows countries to work toward their climate targets by acquiring offset certificates representing carbon reductions by other countries, was agreed upon by negotiators during the November 2021 conference.
In order to reduce global warming, the pact aims to persuade nations to spend money on initiatives and tools that safeguard forests and create a foundation for renewable energy sources.
In order to reduce overall world emissions, further provisions of the agreement cancel 2% of all credits and exclude bilateral offset trades between governments from taxation.
A fund for the adaptation to climate change in disadvantaged nations will also receive 5% of the offset income.
In order to facilitate the entry of 320 million credits into the new market, negotiators also agreed to carry over 2013 offsets.
Credits exchanged
On both public and private markets, carbon credits can be sold. International credit transfers are allowed by current trading legislation.
The dynamics of supply and demand on the market have the biggest impact on credit prices. Due to regional variances in supply and demand, credit costs change.
Although carbon credits are good for society, the average investor finds them challenging to employ as investment vehicles.
Only approved emissions reduction products may be used to purchase credits (CERs).
On the other hand, CERs are sold through unique carbon funds that big financial institutions have set up. The market is open to small investors because of carbon funds.
Credits can be exchanged on specialised markets such as the European Energy Exchange, NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe, and the European Climate Exchange.
Developing nations and carbon credits
According to projections, Europe would be the biggest consumer of carbon credits, while developing countries like China and India will be the main producers.
India contributes about $1 billion to the global carbon credit market’s projected $5 billion worth.
With over 70% of the market, China is currently the biggest seller of carbon credits.
At the moment, carbon is traded with other commodities on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).
The first Asian marketplace to offer carbon credits is MCX.
How does the Cap and Trade system work?
Cap and trade is a type of government legislation that tries to “cap” or restrict the overall level of emissions of specific chemicals, most notably carbon dioxide, as a result of industrial activity.
Supporters of cap and trade claim that their approach is superior to a carbon tax. Both programmes aim to lessen environmental harm without placing an excessive financial burden on business.
Energy cap-and-trade programmes encourage companies to invest in cleaner alternatives in an effort to progressively reduce pollution.
Companies whose permissible carbon dioxide emissions are restricted receive a predetermined number of permits from the government.
Businesses that cut their emissions may exchange or sell any unused credits, but those that exceed the cap are subject to taxation.
The pollution credits’ total aggregate cap (or restriction) steadily declines, prompting businesses to look into less expensive options.
According to some, the high caps may cause corporations to put off investing in greener choices.
Trading of carbon emissions
Through a market-based system called carbon trading, also referred to as carbon emissions trading, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, carbon dioxide, is being reduced.
Making it possible for market forces to direct commercial and industrial activities toward less-emissions- or carbon-intensive substitutes to those utilised when releasing carbon dioxide and other GHGs into the atmosphere for free is the goal.
This method can be used to fund international carbon reduction initiatives because GHG mitigation projects produce credits.
Carbon trading is currently the key element of emission trading, a strategy that offers financial incentives for lowering pollutant emissions.
This strategy is most frequently used by countries to fulfil their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, such as lowering carbon emissions to lessen the effects of climate change.
Market for carbon
With the aim of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, carbon markets make it possible to sell and buy carbon emissions.
Emissions can be reduced by carbon markets in ways that go beyond what is possible for a single government to do.
For instance, in India, there are two ways for a corporation to emit greenhouse gases. A nation that hasn’t been able to cut emissions may provide technological or financial support to the Indian company, allowing that nation to take credit for the reduction in emissions.
On the other hand, the Indian factory has the ability to purchase and sell carbon credits, which are a subset of emission reduction credits. Thus, other parties who are having trouble meeting their goals can purchase these Carbon Credits and gain from them.
Emissions exchanged and covered by the Kyoto Protocol
In accordance with Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, nations that have exceeded their target emission levels may purchase surplus capacity, or authorised but unutilized, emissions.
As a result, a new commodity known as emission removals or reductions was created.
Since carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas, carbon trading is commonly used.
Nowadays, carbon is managed and exchanged like other commodities. The “Carbon Market” is what is known as this.
More than real emission units may be purchased and sold under the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions trading scheme.
Also transferable are the following units, each of which is equal to one ton of CO2
Based on land usage, land use change, and forestry activities, including reforestation, a removal unit (RMU) is created.
The project’s cooperative implementation’s emission reduction component (ERU).
a certified emission reduction (CER) that can be connected to a project activity in line with the clean development methodology (CDM). A nation that has a Kyoto Protocol emission reduction goal may carry out an emission reduction project in a developing nation.
The registration system keeps track of these units and keeps track of their purchases and transfers.
The safe transfer of emission reduction units between nations is guaranteed by an international transaction record.
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