The climate finance target set at COP29 highlights ambition, but bridging the gap demands political leadership and structural innovation, not just funding pledges, writes Labanya Prakash Jena $2.3 to $2.5 trillion – this is the amount of capital Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs), excluding China, need per annum to meet their climate goals, according to the Independent High Level Expert Group (IHLEG). By 2035, that figure will climb to $3.2 trillion annually, w

In the second part of CarbonCopy’s series on India’s native forests, we trace the illicit felling of Khair trees in Uttar Pradesh’s Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, and how a lucrative kattha trade, weak institutions, and complicit officials are pushing this forest, and others like it, towards collapse Forest conservation will be one of the defining issues at COP30. Brazil, as host, is pushing for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility , a multilateral fund to reward countries that

CarbonCopy launches a new 4-part series on the state of India’s native forests, beginning in Chamba, where swollen rivers carried hundreds of cut logs downstream, a warning that India’s ecological foundations are fraying As August sloshed to an end, the people of Chamba badly needed respite — and reassurance. It wasn’t to be. In that last week, rainfall, abnormally high all month, added further intensity . Dumping four times more rain than normal, it would leave Himachal Prad

Part two of CarbonCopy’s series on India’s weather warnings explores how startups and private players are betting on AI, satellites, and new data streams to plug forecasting gaps. While facing hard questions of scale, trust, and integration. In the first part of this series , CarbonCopy explored why India’s weather forecasts so often fall short. Despite major investments in satellites, radars, and data networks, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has struggled to predi

Part one of CarbonCopy’s two-part series on India’s forecasting challenge explores how the IMD is grappling with climate-fueled extremes, the gaps in early warnings, and what it will take to strengthen the country’s defense against intensifying disasters. In the mist-clad valleys of the Himalayas, where villages cling to fragile slopes and rivers roar with monsoon fury, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is grappling with one of its greatest challenges: predicting the

Pisciculture, afforestation, pumped storage, eco-tourism have emerged as the more popular forms of re-using abandoned mines. Barely five hundred metres after crossing the Damodar river near Jharkhand’s Bhurkunda town, a leaf-strewn path branches out from the main road to Saunda, a coal town in Ramgarh district. This almost missable path, lined with sal trees, slopes downward towards the former coal mine in the Barkasayal area. It’s now used for harvesting fish. Owned by the C

With CETP delays, water pollution crackdowns, and limited state support, the country’s oldest textile traditions are under strain—and the artisans behind them are paying the price. In the narrow lanes of Sanganer in Rajasthan, which is known for its centuries-old tradition of block printing, lie a myriad of tiny shops filled with vibrant and colourful clothes and busy block-printing units. Behind these shops lies a larger truth – a number of people working tirelessly in dingy