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All over the world, waste and its disposal are becoming a more prominent issue, as landfills swell up and growing evidence points to its contribution to climate change and environmental degradation. In the developing world, waste pickers sort through solid waste and sell it to vendors, who will recycle the product into something consumable. The work they do is vital to climate change mitigation, as well as urban cleanliness. In a way, waste pickers, especially in India, are vehicles of environmental justice, but they are often discriminated against and subjected to inhumane working conditions. In this environment, the pandemic hit, making waste pickers' already precarious life even worse. This paper attempts to fill the gap in the academic literature by compiling a systemized literature review of the impacts of COVID-19 on waste-pickers' lives using an environmental justice perspective. The review also uses a Feminist Political Ecology perspective to illuminate the double jeopardy that female waste pickers face in the era of COVID-19, which academia often ignores. Ultimately, this paper shows that COVID-19 exacerbated the preexisting injustices that the waste picker community face and created an immense burden on women. This paper will show that it is important to notice the differentiation between female and male waste picker challenges, especially at the crux of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper has important policy implications as well as research considerations for both environmental justice and feminist political ecology scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of trees into diverse land-use systems holds potential for India to meet nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. With a target of sequestering 2.5–3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030, the study focused on the widespread and economically viable eucalyptus-based agroforestry, practiced widely in various planting geometries tailored to meet industrial end-use requirements. In this context, a detailed study was conducted to quantify the influence of five planting geometries [3 m × 3 m, 6 × 1.5 m, 17 × 1 × 1 m (paired row) and two boundary plantations (east–west and north–south directions) at 2 m away from tree to tree] of eucalyptus on intercrops [dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata)—barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) rotation] biomass, soil properties, and carbon stock of the system during 2009–2016. Results revealed that biomass accumulation of different tree components was 62.50%–74.09% in stem; 6.59%–9.14% in branch; 3.18%–5.73% in leaves; 12.20%–20.44% in stump roots; and 1.71%–3.48% in fine roots across the planting geometries. The mean carbon content of the stem, branch, leaves, and roots was 49.00, 47.00, 43.00, and 49.00%, respectively. Over the 8-year period, geometry of 3 × 3 m performed better in terms of total biomass production (344.60 Mg ha− 1 by tree biomass and 62.53 Mg ha−1 by intercrops). The independent parameter, DBH²H (DBH: diameter at breast height and H: tree height), was found to be a very good predictor of dry weight, followed by DBH alone. Among various functions (linear, allometric, logistic, Gompertz, Chapman, and exponential), the best-fit equation was allometric, i.e., B = 300.96 × DBH²H0.93 (adjusted R² = 0.96) for eucalyptus based on universal model adequacy and validation criteria. The carbon sequestration rate was maximum (20.79 Mg C ha−1 year−1) in 3 × 3 m followed by 17 × 1 × 1 m. The total carbon stock of eucalyptus-based system (tree + crop + soil) varied significantly under different planting geometries and sole crop rotation (dhaincha–barley). The higher carbon stock (237.27 Mg ha−1) was obtained from 3 × 3 m spacing and further partitioning carbon stock in trees—166.29 Mg ha−1, crops—25.01 Mg ha−1 and soil—45.97 Mg ha−1. The paired row spacing (17 × 1 × 1 m) yielded higher crop yield and net returns (Rs. 600,475 ha−1), underscoring wide spacing’s role in system productivity and sustainability. Tree-based systems were valuable components of agriculture, advocating for their widespread adoption to reduce CO2 emissions and generate income through carbon credits. These findings will provide crucial insights into sustainable land-use practices and advance India’s commitment toward adaptation of climate change mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses significant challenges to Indian agriculture, impacting crop yields, water availability, and overall food security. To address these challenges, a combination of adaptation and mitigation strategies is crucial. Adaptation measures involve adjusting agricultural practices to changing climate conditions, such as altering planting schedules, implementing water-saving techniques, and promoting resilient crop varieties. Mitigation strategies focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities, like adopting sustainable farming practices and enhancing carbon sequestration in soils. In India, the integration of adaptation and mitigation efforts is essential to enhance the resilience of farmers and agricultural systems to climate change impacts while contributing to global climate goals. By combining traditional knowledge with modern scientific approaches, Indian agriculture can navigate the complexities of climate change, ensuring sustainable food production and livelihood security for millions of farmers across the country. A concerted effort involving policymakers, researchers, extension workers, and farming communities is vital to bolster the resilience of Indian agriculture while contributing to global climate change mitigation efforts. Effective extension services are paramount for educating farmers and ensuring widespread adoption of these strategies. By prioritizing both adaptation and mitigation, Indian agriculture can navigate the challenges of climate change and ensure long-term food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the feasibility of India achieving its stated objective of getting to net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and outlines a possible strategy for the next 10 years consistent with this goal. It recommends a combination of price-based measures and several sector-specific interventions. The ideal price-based measure would be a carbon tax. This may not be feasible for various reasons, but in its absence a well-designed emissions trading system, as described in the paper, could make a major contribution in reducing emissions. On sectoral interventions, the critical areas over the next 10 years would be (i) accelerated expansion of various forms of renewable energy capacity, which will require several policy changes, (ii) electrification of transport, and (iii) a shift from private to public transport in urban areas and from road to rail for freight. Action will also be necessary in other sectors such as industry, agriculture, and buildings, but a detailed strategy for these may take more time to put in place. Since responsibility for action in all these areas is spread across different ministries in the central government and, in many cases, state governments, evolving an internally consistent and cost-effective strategy will present a major challenge. There is a case for setting up a high-level commission chaired by the Prime Minister to approve a national strategy. The paper estimates that the additional investment needed to make this transition will be about 2 per cent of India's GDP by 2030, much of which will have to come from additional public and private savings. In this context, some form of carbon pricing would help generate additional revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale sector fisheries associated with tropical wetland were found to be highly vulnerable to various socio-economic, ecological and climatic factors. The present study conducted in Vembanad lake in India attempted to identify and assess vulnerabilities of wetland fishers to climate variability at spatial scale. One hundred and eighty fishers distributed across three villages (Vaikkom, Muhamma and Thycattussery) who were representative of marine, freshwater and brackish water fishers, respectively, were surveyed based on a structured schedule prepared by National Innovations for Climate Resilient Agriculture and ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute. Potential indicators of vulnerability as perceived from survey were segregated under seven drivers such as health, livelihood, social, food, ecological, resource and resource user. These indicators which were represented by attributes were scored, based on fishers' perception, and were used for identifying the highly contributing drivers of vulnerabilities. Kruskal–Wallis parametric test was used for analyzing the vulnerabilities statistically. The overall wetland vulnerability indices derived from various villages indicated that Thycattussery was highly vulnerable compared to Muhamma and Vaikkom. A transactional analysis across each sampling station indicated that in Vaikkom, fishers were less vulnerable to resource, food security and resource user vulnerabilities in a climate changing context. Poor status of livelihood, social and food related insecurities and resource user-based uncertainties were the factors attributing to fishers' vulnerability in Thycattussery. The fishers of Muhamma experienced greater ecological and resource-based vulnerabilities. The study suggested that a bottom-up approach involving the primary stakeholders (fishers) along with the community will adequately position them to climate change adaptation and mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a global concern of the current century. Its rapid escalation and ever-increasing intensity have been felt worldwide, leading to dramatic impacts globally. The aftermath of climate change in India has brought about a profound transformation in India's environmental, socio-economic, and urban landscapes. In 2019, India ranked seventh, among the most affected countries by extreme weather events caused due to changing climate. This impact was evident in terms of both, the human toll with 2,267 lives lost, and the economic damage, which accounted for 66,182 million US$ Purchasing power parities (PPPs). Over the recent years, India has experienced a significant increase in the number and frequency of extreme weather events, causing vulnerable communities. The country experienced severe air pollution problems in several metropolitan cities and was highlighted in the list of the world's most polluted cities. Additionally, India has become the most populous nation globally, boasting a population of 1.4 billion people, equating to ~18% of the global population, and experiencing an increased rate of consumption of natural resources. Owing to the country's current scenario, various climate mitigation strategies, including nature-based solutions, must be implemented to reduce such impacts and support India's target of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review tries to have a holistic understanding of the effects of climate change on different sectors to identify India's challenges in achieving SDG 13 and SDG 11. Finally, it also highlighted the future recommendations for climate change-related research from an Indian perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Dudhganga watershed is the primary water and food resource of the Kashmir Valley, it has undergone significant changes in food resources and strategies due to rampant urbanization in the area over the past 20 years. This urbanization has had a profound impact on the watershed and has also affected land use and land cover (LULC) patterns and environmental changes. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of urban development on food security parameters in the Dudhganga watershed area, India, from 2000 to 2020, by evaluating LULC changes. Additionally, the study aims to examine the relationship between climate changes and LULC indices, such as the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI). The results indicate a 21.66% increase in barren areas, at the expense of snow-covered lands, during the 2000–2020 period. The primary land cover transition observed is towards barren areas. The predictions for LULC in 2030 highlight the need for careful management of land use and climate changes in the study area. This study can assist local government officials in reassessing food strategies by identifying areas where urban expansion should be controlled and climate impacts minimized, to prevent local hunger and ecological degradation. Therefore, the development of systematic urban planning approaches and mitigation of climate change sources are crucial. Furthermore, the adoption of advanced agricultural technology should be considered to mitigate the impact of urban expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem restoration is inherently a complex activity with inevitable tradeoffs in environmental and societal outcomes. These tradeoffs can potentially be large when policies and practices are focused on single outcomes versus joint achievement of multiple outcomes. Few studies have assessed the tradeoffs in Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) and the distributional equity of NCP from forest restoration strategies. Here, we optimized a defined forest restoration area across India with systematic conservation planning to assess the tradeoffs between three NCP: i) climate change mitigation NCP, ii) biodiversity value NCP (habitat created for forest-dependent mammals), and iii) societal NCP (human direct use of restored forests for livelihoods, housing construction material, and energy). We show that restoration plans aimed at a single-NCP tend not to deliver other NCP outcomes efficiently. In contrast, integrated spatial forest restoration plans aimed at achievement of multiple outcomes deliver on average 83.3% (43.2 to 100%) of climate change mitigation NCP, 89.9% (63.8 to 100%) of biodiversity value NCP, and 93.9% (64.5 to 100%) of societal NCP delivered by single-objective plans. Integrated plans deliver NCP more evenly across the restoration area when compared to other plans that identify certain regions such as the Western Ghats and north-eastern India. Last, 38 to 41% of the people impacted by integrated spatial plans belong to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, greater than their overall representation in India's population. Moving ahead, effective policy design and evaluation integrating ecosystem protection and restoration strategies can benefit from the blueprint we provide in this study for India., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

The article focuses on the challenges posed by climate change, particularly the rise in global average temperature and its implications, highlighting the need for intensified adaptation and mitigation efforts globally. It also emphasizes the significance of understanding the vulnerability scenario in the Indian Himalayan region and the initiatives taken under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem to assess ecosystem health and formulate sustainable development strategies.

Tropical coastal wetlands have been well recognized for their role in mitigating climate change apart from possessing high biodiversity values as well as providing important habitats for fisheries and other ecosystem services. Although these wetlands play key roles in sequestering carbon (C) in the lithosphere and hydrosphere, there is a notable dearth of comprehensive yet spatially explicit accounts of their total blue carbon (TBC) stocks. The anthropogenic factors including development stressors have fundamentally altered the global C dynamics. In this respect, holistic accounting of the total C stocks of the coastal wetlands becomes the foremost task in emphasizing their recognition as integral components of climate change mitigation strategies. This study modeled TBC stocks of an intertidal mudflat of eastern India across different land use/ land covers (LULCs) by quantifying the above ground biomass (AGB), below ground biomass (BGB), and soil organic C (SOC). The distribution of SOC was modeled through spatial interpolation of point-specific C densities (R2 = 0.77; RMSE = 22.91 Mg ha−1). AGB was estimated by establishing allometric relationships between geospatial data, both of active (PALSAR-2) and passive (Pleiades-1B) nature and in-situ dendrometric variables using the artificial neural network (R2 = 0.85; RMSE = 48.91 Mg ha−1). BGB was estimated from the modeled AGB. Spatial integration of these datasets estimated the TBC stock of mudflat as 27,469.30 Mg. Overall, open mangrove represented highest mean TBC density (163.29 Mg ha−1) while herbaceous vegetation recorded largest TBC stock (9818.94 Mg). Mean TBC densities across LULCs were significantly different (p < 0.05) from each other except for the herbaceous vegetation and built-up categories, indicating the inertial effects of paleo-land covers. Accordingly, this study could be inferred as a pioneering one in developing a comprehensive geospatial model of TBC accounting in India towards strengthening the regional and national C inventories. [Display omitted] • Total blue C stocks of an intertidal mudflat including AGB, BGB and SOC estimated • Applying destructive/non-destructive sampling, elemental analysis and RS datasets • Coupling of fine resolution multispectral and SAR datasets through ANN • Effects of land use/land cover patterns on blue C dynamics assessed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bioeconomic potential of monopodial and sympodial bamboos is not well understood. Therefore, Net primary productivity (NPP), total biomass, carbon (C) stock, soil organic carbon (SOC), CO 2 sequestration, and bioenergy potential were studied in a sympodial Chimonocalamus griffithianus and a monopodial Phyllostachys mannii bamboo in Meghalaya, north-eastern India. P. mannii stand with mean culm density 16,877 ha−1, height 14.8 m and diameter 4.4 cm, accumulated 107.56 Mg ha−1 biomass with a total NPP of 18.83 t ha−1yr−1. It stored 50.67 Mg C ha−1 in biomass, 77.28 Mg C ha−1 in soil, and had sequestration potential of 469.58 t CO 2 ha−1. C. griffithianus stand with mean clump density 1065 ha−1, mean culm density 52,185 ha−1, height 7.19 m and diameter 3.04 cm, accumulated 67.08 Mg ha−1 biomass with a total NPP of 15.30 t ha−1 yr−1. It stored 31.30 Mg C ha−1 in biomass, 83.25 Mg C ha−1 in soil, and had sequestration potential of 420.40 t CO 2 ha−1. Matured culms (>2–3 years old) of P. manni and C. griffithianus produced 143.08–166.65 MW h and 87.13–101.48 MW h of energy per ha, respectively. Although landuse history and site characteristics of the two stands were not 100 % identical, significantly greater (p < 0.05) standing biomass, NPP, growth rate, carbon sequestration potential, and energy values of P. mannii than C. griffithianus makes the monopodial bamboo a better choice for energy plantation and climate change mitigation tool than the sympodial. • Monopodial bamboo, Phyllostachys mannii , surpasses sympodial Chimonocalamus griffithianus in bioeconomic potential. • P. mannii exhibits higher biomass, NPP, carbon sequestration, and energy values. • Comparative analysis reveals the superior suitability of monopodial bamboo for energy plantations. • Results provide valuable insights for sustainable development in India's biobased economy. • Study contributes to understanding the role of bamboos in mitigating climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop residue burning is a common practice in many parts of the world that causes air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regenerative practices that return residues to the soil offer a 'no burn' pathway for addressing air pollution while building soil organic carbon (SOC). Nevertheless, GHG emissions in rice-based agricultural systems are complex and difficult to anticipate, particularly in production contexts with highly variable hydrologic conditions. Here we predict long-term net GHG fluxes for four rice residue management strategies in the context of rice-wheat cropping systems in Eastern India: burning, soil incorporation, livestock fodder, and biochar. Estimations were based on a combination of Tier 1, 2, and 3 modelling approaches, including 100-year DNDC simulations across three representative soil hydrologic categories (i.e., dry, median, and wet). Overall, residue burning resulted in total direct GHG fluxes of 2.5, 6.1, and 8.7 Mg CO 2 -e in the dry, median, and wet hydrologic categories, respectively. Relative to emissions from burning (positive values indicate an increase) for the same dry to wet hydrologic categories, soil incorporation resulted in a −0.2, 1.8, or 3.1 Mg CO 2 -e change in emissions whereas use of residues for livestock fodder increased emissions by 2.0, 2.1, or 2.3 Mg CO 2 -e. Biochar reduced emissions relative to burning by 2.9 Mg CO 2 -e in all hydrologic categories. This study showed that the production environment has a controlling effect on methane and, therefore, net GHG balance. For example, wetter sites had 2.8–4.0 times greater CH 4 emissions, on average, than dry sites when rice residues were returned to the soil. To effectively mitigate burning without undermining climate change mitigation goals, our results suggest that geographically-target approaches should be used in the rice-based systems of Eastern India to incentivize the adoption of regenerative 'no burn' residue management practices. • Efforts to build SOC for climate change mitigation, while simultaneously avoiding burning, may have unintended consequences. • Tier 1, 2, and 3 modelling approaches were used to compare no-burn rice residue pathways. • Field hydrology had a dominant effect on methane emissions. • Soil incorporation of residues increased emissions relative to open burning, except in comparatively dry fields. • Biochar is estimated to have the lowest GHG emissions of the evaluated 'no burn' alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four design principles would inform a forest carbon market-based mechanism in India. • Robust governance and accounting emerge as key technical considerations. • Local community involvement and flexible spatio-temporal criteria would encourage participation. • Land tenure, implementation challenges and design flaws may inhibit effectiveness. Forest carbon markets (FCMs) have emerged as a significant means to direct resources toward urgent climate action that can mobilize a large set of actors and catalyze funding toward reducing deforestation and promoting sustainable forest management. Here, we conduct a critical qualitative review of global academic and investigative literature to identify ten major sets of design principles that provide a platform for the functioning of carbon markets worldwide. From these, we pinpoint four design principles which may be relevant to future market-based mechanisms in India We propose that clarity over market-quality standards, comprehensive regulatory framework, minimization of transaction costs and upfront financing options, and flexibility in time-bound and spatial commitments would be fundamental to ensure that market-based mechanisms in India accrue sustainable and long-term benefits to climate action and human well-being. A successful market-based mechanism in India's forestry sector would have to overcome challenges around land property rights, local implementation capacities and knowledge gaps, and incentive structures to ensure that it likely caters to the needs of all stakeholders while delivering socio-ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]