ACCELERATING
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

The tropics, a region encircling the Earth's equator, have long been perceived as lush rainforests with exotic animals and unchanging weather. However, they are also often associated with poverty, unstable governments, and environmental destruction. A new report, "The State of the Tropics," provides a deeper and more nuanced understanding of this diverse region.

Changing Perceptions

Historically, the tropics were misunderstood, with Aristotle even claiming that no civilization could thrive there. The report calls for a shift in perspective, urging recognition of the tropics from within and embracing local wisdom and experience. Compiled by 12 institutions, this comprehensive 400-page report delves into demographics, health, science, economics, biodiversity, and climate change..

Population Growth

Currently, the tropics are home to 40% of the world's population and 55% of children under five. Population growth is particularly rapid in Africa. By 2050, over half of the global population and 67% of young children will reside in the tropics. The region is expected to add 3 billion people by the end of the century, necessitating a rethinking of global priorities in aid, development, research, and education.

Economic and Social Challenges

A booming population drives increased demand for food, water, and resources. Tropical economies are growing 20% faster than those in temperate regions but still house two-thirds of the world's extreme poverty. While extreme poverty has decreased in Southeast Asia and Central America, it has doubled in Central and Southern Africa since the 1980s. Despite these challenges, there have been improvements, including a decline in undernourishment, rising life expectancy, and reduced maternal and child mortality.

Health Issues

The tropics face unique health challenges, with diseases like dengue fever and malaria remaining significant threats. These diseases are rarely found in temperate regions but are major health concerns in tropical countries.

Land and Environmental Struggles

Growing populations and consumption have led to land-use clashes. Indigenous groups struggle to maintain control over their lands as corporations seek resources for agriculture, livestock, and commodities. Conservationists are working to preserve vital ecosystems, as the tropics host 80% of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity and 95% of mangrove and coral reef biodiversity. Unfortunately, forest loss continues, especially in Oceania.

Oceanic Pressures

Marine resources in the tropics, including coral reefs and mangroves, face unprecedented pressures. Overfishing and destructive practices have depleted species. Mangroves, crucial for coastal protection and carbon storage, are being rapidly destroyed for aquaculture and development. Climate change and ocean acidification further threaten these ecosystems.

Future Challenges

Climate change poses significant challenges for the tropics, including extreme weather, rising seas, and changing precipitation patterns. These changes could impact agriculture and increase the number of refugees and regional conflicts. The tropics are expanding into temperate zones, which will have implications for water resource management and agricultural systems.

Conclusion

The future of the tropics is one of rising influence and wealth, alongside ongoing struggles with poverty, hunger, health standards, biodiversity, climate change, and resource conservation. The report emphasizes the importance of sustainable development and conservation to safeguard resources for future generations. The tropics hold great potential and influence, making it crucial to address these challenges thoughtfully and effectively.

Global warming is affecting the Earth more viciously than expected. The alarming rate at which the glaciers are melting and the sea levels are rising threatens the mass extinction of every species on the planet.

To counter this challenge, governments around the world came together and have designed a market-based system called carbon trading, under the Paris Agreement, to control and regulate the carbon emitted by businesses, especially the ones that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

How does carbon trading work?

There are multiple models designed to facilitate carbon trading, but the recent and successful one is the Cap and Trade scheme.

Cap and Trade Scheme

In this scheme, the government sets a limit on the emission over a time period and allots a fixed number of permits to compensate for the pollution. Each carbon permit is equal to one tonne of CO2 equivalent. Therefore, companies need to track their carbon footprint to comply with the carbon trading scheme.

Businesses that effectively reduce their emissions and manage to spare some carbon credits can auction them for money. Similarly, companies who exceed their carbon emission threshold limit can purchase carbon credits from these auctions.

Carbon Offsets

Another way companies aim to compensate for their exceeding their cap limits is by buying carbon offsets in the free market. Carbon offset refers to any activity which reduces the emission of greenhouse gases elsewhere.

Usually, the sellers of these offsets are project developers who design carbon-reducing systems and technology. Hence, each ton of carbon that is avoided polluting the environment counts as one carbon offset.

Advantage of Carbon Trading

Carbon trading has collectively involved the prime polluters from the developed countries to implement technologies that reduce their emissions. As these companies are majorly dependent on fuels, they usually exceed their allotted threshold, and hence are forced to buy carbon credit from the developing nations, providing the latter with the financial aid it needs.

Carbon trading also provides the flexibility to businesses to change their operations at their own pace. For example, small businesses can easily implement the latest technologies to reduce their carbon footprint and auction the spare carbon credits. Likewise, big corporations can buy these carbon credits to compensate for excess carbon emissions.

Disadvantages of Carbon Trading

Although carbon trading has lowered the carbon emission of many businesses, the scheme is still loose-ended and can be exploited by some companies via its loopholes. As the west is adapting to the concept, there�s still a lot of room for its improvement.

Nevertheless, carbon trading schemes are a work in progress and with stricter laws and controlled demand and supply of carbon permits, the scheme can drastically help the world counter global warming

Carbon emissions can be controlled in so many ways on any given level; be it organizational, industrial, or else; but only so many ways you can use to reach the desired threshold to enjoy the sweet zone of not needing any other organization to cancel out your exceeded margin. Carbon credits (the credits which an organization has that allow them a certain amount of carbon emission in a year) are used by either sticking to the emission allowances or providing funding for sustainable projects that actually create green energy.

If the equilibrium has to be maintained, this is commonly executed & achieved through an exchange, referred to as Carbon Financing. An annual payment cycle is started to fund your company’s project partner, be it public, private, NGO, etc for the greenhouse gases emission reductions created once the project is fully operational.

Carbon financing is a great way to boost the financial viability of cutting-edge projects to give them a longer life & less government interference. It can also generate an added revenue stream and gives an opportunity for the effective transfer of technologies, expertise & knowledge. It provides a medium of leveraging new public & private investments so that the investment kitty inflate & can help in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions allowing all to contribute.

But to leverage carbon financing to your advantage, organizations have to first file for a certification called CER (Certified Emissions Reduction Certificate) and get the audit done to pass for it.

A Certified Emissions Reduction Certificate, or a CER, is provided by the United Nations to member nations for averting one tonne of CO2 emissions by taking measures suitable for the environment. Countries with economies, both traditional & developed (as defined in the Kyoto Protocol) use CERs to help them reach their emission goals. These countries are able to reach their targets and are easily able to set future goals as it makes the endeavor of reducing greenhouse gases emissions more achievable.

Carbon Financing is a way to help organizations and help them out with their slab of emissions, at same the time for the government to be a watchdog over how much they are using or misusing the resources and abusing the limits they have to adhere to

Here are some facts regarding Climate Finance:

1) The UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from countries with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable. (Drishti IAS - https://bit.ly/2Wy0CEb )

2) Under the Climate Change Action Plan for 2016-2020, the World Bank Group laid out a plan to increase climate finance from 21% to 28 % of the Bank’s total budget and has surpassed these targets for the second year in a row (Source – World Bank https://bit.ly/3kCj9aI)

3) The largest source of climate financing in India is public funding, which is routed through budgetary allocation and several funds and schemes related to climate change established by the Government of India such as National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) and National Adaptation Fund (NAF). (Drishti IAS - https://bit.ly/2Wy0CEb )

It's necessary for the environment to have people who are taking care of it and helping it rest in the safest of embraces. The continuous industrial development and growth of infrastructure, new machines, and technology taking over the physical human efforts account for almost all the emissions. With this change, comes our responsibility to control or rather change altogether for the sake of this planet. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we can just do the former i.e. tending towards our responsibility to control.