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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/greenhouse-gas-emissions/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:16:05 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>India’s carbon market sets weak emissions targets, analysis finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 16:51:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/31160627/pexels-yajna-s-r-55953015-20591230-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39764</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Green Business, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Pollution, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A critical evaluation of emissions reduction targets set under the country’s carbon market framework has deemed the targets “modest and unambitious” — unlikely to drive changes in operations that would reduce emissions substantially. Between October 2025 and January 2026 India notified greenhouse gas reduction targets for nine industries. Under the framework, industries can earn carbon [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A critical evaluation of emissions reduction targets set under the country’s carbon market framework has deemed the targets “modest and unambitious” — unlikely to drive changes in operations that would reduce emissions substantially. Between October 2025 and January 2026 India notified greenhouse gas reduction targets for nine industries. Under the framework, industries can earn carbon credits if they surpass these reduction targets, with each credit signifying an additional tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced per unit of production (emissions intensity). The industries covered include cement, aluminium, iron and steel, paper and pulp, chlor-alkali, petroleum refinery, petrochemical units, fertilisers, and textiles. The evaluation of the targets by Climate Risk Horizons (CRH), a research organisation, finds that in addition to the targets being “readily achievable,” over the two-year compliance period, the cost of non-compliance is too low to incentivise the kind of systematic operational changes needed to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. India is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter, with emissions from industrial processes and product use accounting for approximately 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. In August 2022, the Indian government pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 45% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. It also pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. According to the CRH analysis, the cost of purchasing credits for major companies in the steel, aluminium, and cement sectors is between 0.6% and 7% of profits, assuming credit prices are $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, as indicated by S&amp;P Global, which tracks&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Bihar&#8217;s green budget expands, but environmental indicators show little progress</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 14:22:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Umesh Kumar Ray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/31125413/NTPC_Kantin_Muzaffarpur-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39756</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bihar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Environmental Politics, Green Business, Green Energy, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It has been seven years since Bihar introduced a green budget. However, even now, data from various sources suggests little to no improvement in key environmental indicators such as renewable energy, air pollution, biodiversity and waste management, among others. The Bihar government presented its first green budget in 2020-21; this year, 2026, it presented its [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It has been seven years since Bihar introduced a green budget. However, even now, data from various sources suggests little to no improvement in key environmental indicators such as renewable energy, air pollution, biodiversity and waste management, among others. The Bihar government presented its first green budget in 2020-21; this year, 2026, it presented its seventh, amounting to approximately ₹158 billion which is roughly three times the amount of the initial ₹56 billion budget. However, on key environmental indicators, the state&#8217;s performance remains poor. For example, the energy sector accounts for roughly 65% of Bihar&#8217;s total greenhouse gas emissions, driven by coal-based power plants. The shift to renewable energy has been low, with renewable energy capacity for 2025-26 standing at 651 MW, up from 376 MW in 2020. The amount is significantly behind the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) call for increasing renewable capacity to 10,000 MW (10 GW) by 2030 and 28,000 MW (28 GW) by 2050 to achieve a &#8216;net zero&#8217; pathway, as stated in its 2024 report. At the current pace, Bihar will reach around 900 MW, just about a tenth of that 2030 target. Biodiversity data shows a similar trend. In 2019, Bihar had 4,550 wetlands spread across 389,713 hectares. By 2025, the number of wetlands reduced by 24 to 4,526 wetlands. As per the latest green budget data, in this period, the total area of natural water bodies has shrunk by 16,843 hectares, that&#8217;s about 70% the size of Patna, Bihar&#8217;s capital. In waste&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Supporting infrastructure is the missing link in India&#8217;s ethanol push</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2026 12:39:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethanol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethanol blending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petrol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petroleum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vehicles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/24105649/AP23242459662267-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39570</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Sustainability, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. Brazil’s decades-long experience shows that producing ethanol is only half the challenge. This story examines the real test which lies in procurement, storage, transport and quality control, the systems that decide whether ethanol actually reaches the pump reliably. The first part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. Brazil’s decades-long experience shows that producing ethanol is only half the challenge. This story examines the real test which lies in procurement, storage, transport and quality control, the systems that decide whether ethanol actually reaches the pump reliably. The first part looked at what that difference means for vehicle owners in both countries. At a petrol pump in Bhopal’s Katara Hills, a 40-year-old pump attendant smiles when asked whether customers talk about ethanol-blended petrol. “People come and joke, ‘ganne ka juice bhardo’ (Fill sugarcane juice),” he says, referring to E20 petrol, a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol. In India, sugarcane is one of the main feedstocks used to produce ethanol. The sarcasm reflects the public conversation that has followed the rapid expansion of E20. Videos and posts circulating online have raised questions about the colour and quality of the fuel, its compatibility with older vehicles, and possible changes in mileage or performance. Government agencies and automobile manufacturers have disputed several of these claims. The debate has nevertheless brought attention to how ethanol is transported, stored, blended and tested before fuel reaches a petrol pump. Brazil’s ethanol mission seems to have inspired India to a great extent as the South American country often comes up in India’s ethanol debate, usually as a success story of higher blends. Interactions with people who run Brazil’s ethanol system bring out some crucial lessons for India. For Brazil, where&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Heat plans must account for age and gender, says UN Women paper</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 12:25:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharmila Vaidyanathan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extreme heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat impacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heat stroke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heatwave]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/21102915/pexels-votso-sothu-53802751-35635150-scaled-e1784610000177-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39480</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and Environment and Her]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Extreme Weather Events, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Human Rights, Impacts of Climate Change, People, and United Nations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India witnessed yet another record-breaking summer this year. As scorching temperatures become the new norm, a new technical paper calls for a more granular understanding of gender and age-specific risks of heat stress. The paper, Gender-differentiated and age-specific risks of heat stress in a warming world: Implications for equality and resilience, by Venge Nyirongo, Deputy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India witnessed yet another record-breaking summer this year. As scorching temperatures become the new norm, a new technical paper calls for a more granular understanding of gender and age-specific risks of heat stress. The paper, Gender-differentiated and age-specific risks of heat stress in a warming world: Implications for equality and resilience, by Venge Nyirongo, Deputy Chief of Economic Empowerment and Policy Advisor for Sustainable Development at United Nations (UN) Women, highlights that heat stress affects men, women, children, adults and older people differently. Nyirongo explains that biological responses vary between men and women. While men have higher sweat rates than women, mortality from heat stroke and heat-related cardiac events is significantly higher among men. Heat impacts also emerge from the interaction of biological differences and gendered social roles, notes the paper. Strenuous physical work performed outdoors, primarily by men, raises internal body temperatures, placing them at greater risk of heat-related illnesses. For women, the paper notes, the impacts of passive heat exposure experienced indoors during heatwaves are a significant concern. It also points out that much of the agricultural work undertaken by women, such as transporting water or watering seedlings, is carried out during the hottest parts of the day, often without sufficient knowledge about heat impacts or access to cooling measures. “These patterns likely reflect both biology and social behaviour,” writes Nyirongo. He stresses the need for more data collection, monitoring and research to develop targeted heat adaptation measures across different demographic groups. “The paper underscores that a significant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/heat-plans-must-account-for-age-and-gender-says-un-women-paper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>In high altitude soils, microbes may be limiting the warming they trigger</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-high-altitude-soils-microbes-may-be-limiting-the-warming-they-trigger/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-high-altitude-soils-microbes-may-be-limiting-the-warming-they-trigger/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 13:17:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lekha Bandopadhyay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/10105814/Tsomoriri_Vegetation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39164</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ladakh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Science, Ecology, Environment, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amid the mountain folds of eastern Ladakh’s Changthang plateau lies Tso Moriri, the highest Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance. Part of a Trans-Himalayan lake-desert ecosystem, the lake remains frozen for nearly one-third of the year and is surrounded by barren hills, broken only by small patches of green meadows and marshes along its northern and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amid the mountain folds of eastern Ladakh’s Changthang plateau lies Tso Moriri, the highest Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance. Part of a Trans-Himalayan lake-desert ecosystem, the lake remains frozen for nearly one-third of the year and is surrounded by barren hills, broken only by small patches of green meadows and marshes along its northern and south-western shores. These high-altitude ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to climate warming. As summer arrives, Tso Moriri and the surrounding landscape begin to thaw, activating native microbes that can accelerate warming by releasing greenhouse gases. A recent study led by Wriddhiman Ghosh, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, explored this process, hypothesising that as cold-adapted microbes become more active, they supply native methanogens — the methane-producing microbes — with compounds such as carbon dioxide and acetate. These compounds fuel methanogenesis, the final stage in the breakdown of organic matter, during which methanogens produce methane and carbon dioxide. This creates a microbe-driven positive feedback loop: warming stimulates microbial activity, which releases more greenhouse gases, leading to further warming. The study set out to determine how strong this feedback could become. Cold-adapted microbes While deserts are ideal habitats for oligotrophic microbes that survive in nutrient-poor soil, the study focused on high-throughput copiotrophic microbes that thrive in nutrient-rich habitats. Copiotrophic microbes consume significantly larger amounts of complex organic matter and release plenty of simple organic matter into the environment. Commenting on the choice of microbes for the study, Raju Biswas, a microbial ecologist and postdoctoral research associate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-high-altitude-soils-microbes-may-be-limiting-the-warming-they-trigger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Trade liberalisation meets carbon tariffs as India eyes EU market [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/trade-liberalisation-meets-carbon-tariffs-as-india-eyes-eu-market-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/trade-liberalisation-meets-carbon-tariffs-as-india-eyes-eu-market-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2026 13:19:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isha SharmaSoutrik Goswami]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trade]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/30112819/AP459830664323-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38847</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Green Business, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The India-European Union Free Trade Agreement was agreed upon in early 2026 after more than two decades of negotiations. Recently, the Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said India and the EU are expected to sign the FTA in December, and it is likely to come into force early next year. The agreement signalled [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The India-European Union Free Trade Agreement was agreed upon in early 2026 after more than two decades of negotiations. Recently, the Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said India and the EU are expected to sign the FTA in December, and it is likely to come into force early next year. The agreement signalled cooperation amid geopolitical tensions, but it also came amid contestation over the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a tax on the greenhouse gas content of imported goods, which became fully operational in January this year. As the union minister Goyal said, the FTA will give India the opportunity to increase exports to European countries, but export-oriented industries will also face pressure to reduce the emission intensity of their exports to comply with CBAM. The opposing impacts of tariff liberalisation and carbon tariffs on exports call for a closer look at the interaction between the CBAM and the FTA, especially in the Indian iron and steel sector, which remains one of the most exposed to the CBAM. It raises the question: how will the interaction between the FTA and the CBAM impact India&#8217;s export opportunities compared to those of its competitors? Moreover, is India’s long-term export competitiveness increasingly being tied to its industrial emissions? Climate action or trade-protectionism CBAM currently targets six carbon-intensive sectors, including iron and steel. These sectors account for around 10% of India’s exports to the EU and about 1.64% of total Indian exports. However, the EU is planning a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/trade-liberalisation-meets-carbon-tariffs-as-india-eyes-eu-market-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Financing the green shift remains a hurdle for steel MSMEs</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 15:55:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rohini Krishnamurthy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[metal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steel Industry]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/24140405/AP20270312356413-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Climate Change, Environment, Green Business, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a decade after independence, one of India’s first public sector steel plants was established in Bhilai, Durg district, Chhattisgarh — a region rich in iron ore, coal and other natural resources. In the ensuing decades, several scattered steel units, dominated by micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs), began to mushroom some 40 km away in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a decade after independence, one of India’s first public sector steel plants was established in Bhilai, Durg district, Chhattisgarh — a region rich in iron ore, coal and other natural resources. In the ensuing decades, several scattered steel units, dominated by micro, small, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs), began to mushroom some 40 km away in Raipur, helping Chhattisgarh become the third-largest producer of crude steel in the country. Meanwhile, about 1,100 km away, a slightly different story unfolded in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur during the 1960s — one where the region’s industrial journey was shaped by its agricultural roots. The demand for agricultural machinery paved the way for a local foundry industry. Foundries use metals like iron to produce castings that are used widely, from irrigation pumps to automobiles. Now, Kolhapur is one of the country’s largest foundry clusters, dominated by MSMEs, contributing 7-8% of India’s casting production. Together, Raipur and Kolhapur, along with other MSME clusters across India, drive India’s secondary steel production — where steel is made by melting scrap metal and other processed forms of iron in electric furnaces, rather than producing iron from iron ore first. The secondary steel sector, which contributes 30-35% of the country’s crude steel capacity, is dominated by MSMEs and relies on coal and inefficient technologies. In contrast, the primary production route is also energy-intensive but dominated by large players with higher capital investment. Notably, the secondary route of steel production accounts for more than 50 million tonnes (MT) of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/financing-the-green-shift-remains-a-hurdle-for-steel-msmes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Rethinking India’s climate plan through equity, delivery and intent [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 14:15:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mohana ManimaranRavi Shankar Prasad]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wind Energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/23131848/AP24052670530069-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38776</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8216;ratcheting ambition&#8217; now shapes global climate action. However, ambition is often measured using a single, uniform metric: comparing all countries against a common temperature goal. This approach overlooks countries&#8217; unique circumstances, development needs, shortage of climate finance, and historical responsibility. India released its third nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0) in March. It [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The concept of &#8216;ratcheting ambition&#8217; now shapes global climate action. However, ambition is often measured using a single, uniform metric: comparing all countries against a common temperature goal. This approach overlooks countries&#8217; unique circumstances, development needs, shortage of climate finance, and historical responsibility. India released its third nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0) in March. It is the climate pledge each country under the Paris Agreement files and is expected to ratchet up with every cycle. The latest NDC is for 2031-2035 and has been subject to a convoluted reading. A set of forward-looking commitments, with deliverable outcomes, and aligned with the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, has been characterised as moderate by many observers. Applying one standard to measure ambition contradicts the Paris Agreement’s principle of equity. Article 2.2 emphasises common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, meaning all nations must act, but those with the most historical emissions and greatest means should do more. Criticism of India’s new plan as &#8216;moderate&#8217; overlooks this principle and ignores India&#8217;s record of delivering on commitments. As the second Global Stocktake (GST2) is set to commence later this year, it is important to assess ambition in its broader context — taking into account equity, historical responsibility, the delivery of past commitments, and the overarching, holistic long-term vision to combat climate change. Viewed through this lens, India&#8217;s NDC 3.0 signals stronger ambition than many assessments suggest. Taking into account legacy emissions Cumulative CO₂ emissions data from the Global Carbon Project reveals a stark&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/rethinking-indias-climate-plan-through-equity-delivery-and-intent-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Coal for cooking during LPG crisis raises questions over health risks</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/bihars-coal-distribution-scheme-raises-questions-over-health-risks/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/bihars-coal-distribution-scheme-raises-questions-over-health-risks/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 15:35:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Umesh Kumar Ray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cooking fuel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[firewood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LPG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/22110652/AP26099341726805-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38305</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bihar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Coal, Energy, Food, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) crisis deepens due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Bihar government has taken an unusual decision: to provide coal for cooking to families holding ration cards. Under guidelines issued by the food and consumer protection department, families in Bihar covered by the National Food Security Act &#8211; [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) crisis deepens due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Bihar government has taken an unusual decision: to provide coal for cooking to families holding ration cards. Under guidelines issued by the food and consumer protection department, families in Bihar covered by the National Food Security Act &#8211; currently around 17.9 million households &#8211; would receive 100 kg of coal every month through more than 50,000 fair price shops in Bihar. In effect, Bihar will burn 1.79 million tonnes of coal for cooking every month. There is no specified end date of this plan. Following the disruption of critical corridors for LPG supply to India, many parts of the country have faced an LPG shortage. The Bihar government formed a high-level Crisis Management Group to address this and at a March 30 meeting, the group decided to distribute coal for cooking. The Bihar State Mining Corporation Limited (BSMCL) has been designated as the authorised agency for the purpose and has invited applications from wholesalers for coal distribution. Each vendor will be allocated up to 10,000 metric tonnes of coal annually. In guidelines issued on April 21, the food and consumer protection department classified the LPG shortage as an “anthropogenic disaster.” A tea stall in Patna, Bihar, uses coal for cooking. To combat the LPG crisis, the Bihar government has decided to provide coal for cooking to families holding ration cards. Gamilies covered by the National Food Security Act would receive 100 kg of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/bihars-coal-distribution-scheme-raises-questions-over-health-risks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/bihars-coal-distribution-scheme-raises-questions-over-health-risks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>When recycling plastic creates more problems than it solves</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/when-recycling-plastic-creates-more-problems-than-it-solves/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/when-recycling-plastic-creates-more-problems-than-it-solves/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 15:24:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ravleen Kaur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[microplastics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plastic pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plastics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recycle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recycling]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/13160443/AP10060403489-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37668</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond the Hype and Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Energy, Environment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Plastic, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Delhi summers are a good time for Jharna Khatun to earn. She runs a micro material recovery facility in an informal settlement near Chanakyapuri, the capital&#8217;s diplomatic enclave. “Summers bring in a large amount of PET bottles. PET fetches the best price in the recycling market — ₹30 per kilogram,” says Khatun who earns ₹12-13,000 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Delhi summers are a good time for Jharna Khatun to earn. She runs a micro material recovery facility in an informal settlement near Chanakyapuri, the capital&#8217;s diplomatic enclave. “Summers bring in a large amount of PET bottles. PET fetches the best price in the recycling market — ₹30 per kilogram,” says Khatun who earns ₹12-13,000 a month from sorting and selling waste to recyclers. Over half of this waste is plastic waste. India generates 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste per day. About 60% of this is sorted by people like Khatun who form the informal waste recycling sector in India. There are an estimated 1.5 million (15 lakh) workers who participate in this sector. In recent years, many new “green solutions” have been proposed to tackle plastic waste, but several of them offer only superficial fixes doing little to reduce pollution. They, in turn, land up stripping waste workers of their livelihood while also generating more emissions than they appear to curb. These energy and capital intensive technologies are concentrating the responsibility of waste management in the hands of a few conglomerates. Additionally, policy solutions like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic packaging, meant to encourage companies to design better packaging, are being undermined by some companies that use loopholes in the system to buy fraudulent credits and claim compliance without any real action. “False solutions are propagated by the same industry that created the problem,” says Arpita Bhagat, plastic policy officer with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA),&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/when-recycling-plastic-creates-more-problems-than-it-solves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Oleum leak puts spotlight on safety and pollution in a chemical hub</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 11:28:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meena Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel leak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hazards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petroleum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/16102523/A-view-of-the-Tarapur-MIDC-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37271</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Environment, Environmental Crime, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Tarapur unit of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Boisar, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, gas leaks are not uncommon. Yet no one was quite prepared for over a ton of liquid oleum leaking into the atmosphere and creating a dense fog-like situation on the afternoon of March 2, ironically, just two days [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Tarapur unit of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Boisar, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, gas leaks are not uncommon. Yet no one was quite prepared for over a ton of liquid oleum leaking into the atmosphere and creating a dense fog-like situation on the afternoon of March 2, ironically, just two days before National Safety Week which aims to promote safety and prevent accidents in workplaces. While a few suffered the toxic effects and were admitted to nearby hospitals, there were no fatalities reported. Oleum is a corrosive liquid, a mix of sulphuric and sulphur trioxide, used in the production of sulphuric acid. It is a raw material for manufacturing dye intermediates in which Bhageria Industries specialises. The leak occurred from two day-tanks at Bhageria Industries Limited. The Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), Maharashtra which is investigating the leak, found that about 1,200 litres or 1.2 tonnes of oleum was stored in these two tanks at the unit and they were placed on cement structures on four legs. One of the legs broke possibly due to the corrosive ambience, and one of the tanks with 800 litres of oleum, tilted and collapsed onto the other tank which contained 400 litres, breaking the charging valve. As a result, the liquid oleum spilled out, forming a dense gas when it came into contact with outside air. The liquid vapour spread due to the wind direction, and many people started running away from the vapour that was rapidly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>India’s new waste management rules face old implementation gaps</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/indias-new-waste-management-rules-face-old-implementation-gaps-in-the-capital/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/indias-new-waste-management-rules-face-old-implementation-gaps-in-the-capital/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 14:45:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jyotsnika Tiwari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industrial waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solid waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toxic Waste Materials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waste-to-energy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/06124304/AP20210450913024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37176</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biofuels, Carbon emissions, Energy, Environment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Pollution, Renewable Energy, and Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India&#8217;s environment ministry notified the new solid waste management (SWM) rules of 2026 on January 27, superseding the 2016 rules. The new rules signal a shift towards a more systematic compliance architecture, with a clearer outline of duties for waste generators, a revised definition of Bulk Waste Generators, and higher landfill user fees for mixed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India&#8217;s environment ministry notified the new solid waste management (SWM) rules of 2026 on January 27, superseding the 2016 rules. The new rules signal a shift towards a more systematic compliance architecture, with a clearer outline of duties for waste generators, a revised definition of Bulk Waste Generators, and higher landfill user fees for mixed waste to encourage segregation. Well-intentioned as the new rules are, experts caution against gaps in implementation that have dogged solid waste management in India for decades. Illustrating this are the towering landfills in New Delhi — Bhalaswa, Ghazipur and Okhla — symbols of the city’s historical failure to segregate waste at source. Delhi leads all Indian cities, generating approximately 600 grams of waste per person per day. Nearly 64% of the collected waste is processed, according to the Central Pollution Control Bureau (CPCB), while the remaining 36% or. 4,241 tonnes, find its way to unsanitary landfills, or dumpsites everyday. These landfills and dumpsites are silent contributors to air pollution through the year as well as to greenhouse gas emissions and heat stress during the summers. Biomass and waste burning are the second largest contributors to particulate matter emissions in Delhi, contributing 23% to PM10 and 24% to PM2.5, according to one source apportionment study. When biodegradable waste accumulates and is left to rot, it produces methane, which has a warming potential 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, over a 20-year-period, and is the second-largest contributor to global warming. According to another study, higher&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/indias-new-waste-management-rules-face-old-implementation-gaps-in-the-capital/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Pollution concentrations soar higher above ground during haze</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/pollution-concentrations-soar-higher-above-ground-during-haze/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/pollution-concentrations-soar-higher-above-ground-during-haze/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 14:51:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aerosol chemistry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[air quality modelling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[air quality monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AQI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[atmospheric science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boundary layer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delhi air pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drone monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high-rise exposure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[particulate matter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PM2.5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollution forecasting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secondary aerosols]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban air pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urban climate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vertical pollution profile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[winter haze]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/03142922/AP25314257198720-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37114</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Innovations and Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Cities and Towns, Coal, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Pollution, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On hazy winter mornings in Delhi, the air people breathe at street level may not tell the full story. A new peer-reviewed study published in Nature npj Clean Air reports that PM2.5 concentrations were up to 60% higher at around 100 metres above ground compared to surface levels during severe haze episodes. The findings suggest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On hazy winter mornings in Delhi, the air people breathe at street level may not tell the full story. A new peer-reviewed study published in Nature npj Clean Air reports that PM2.5 concentrations were up to 60% higher at around 100 metres above ground compared to surface levels during severe haze episodes. The findings suggest that pollution can accumulate not only near roads and traffic corridors, but also higher up at an altitude where many residents and office workers in high-rise buildings spend much of their time. Using a custom-built drone equipped with low-cost particulate matter sensors, researchers conducted multiple flights over South Delhi in March 2021. On one hazy morning, PM2.5 levels reached around 160 micrograms per cubic metre at 100 metres, compared to roughly 100 micrograms per cubic metre at ground level. Ajit Ahlawat, Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology and lead author of the study said about the finding, “This indicates that ground-based monitoring alone substantially underestimates actual exposure to pollution in the lower urban boundary layer, especially during haze episodes.” Traditional air quality monitors typically measure pollutants around five to ten metres above the ground. “This misses vertical gradients in shallow nocturnal boundary layers that trap pollutants aloft,” Ahlawat said, referring to the different heights in the layer of air close to the ground that forms at night which can go up to 300 metres or higher. He added that hygroscopic particle growth, where particles absorb moisture and grow, and secondary aerosol formation often occur&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/pollution-concentrations-soar-higher-above-ground-during-haze/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Old kilns, new blocks, uncertain futures</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/old-kilns-new-blocks-uncertain-futures/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/old-kilns-new-blocks-uncertain-futures/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Feb 2026 11:40:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tanvi Bhatia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brick industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brick kiln]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manufacutring]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/26101535/AP20081304327460-e1772081488710-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37042</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative energy, Carbon emissions, Clean Energy, Coal, Energy, Environmental Economics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Industry]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With expanding cities, rising housing demand, and large-scale infrastructure projects, India is witnessing one of the world&#8217;s fastest construction booms. Under the government&#8217;s urban housing scheme, over a period of 10 years, 11.8 million houses were sanctioned, 11.4 million grounded for construction, and over 8 million completed as of 2024. Meanwhile, under the rural housing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With expanding cities, rising housing demand, and large-scale infrastructure projects, India is witnessing one of the world&#8217;s fastest construction booms. Under the government&#8217;s urban housing scheme, over a period of 10 years, 11.8 million houses were sanctioned, 11.4 million grounded for construction, and over 8 million completed as of 2024. Meanwhile, under the rural housing scheme the government plants to construct 20 million houses by 2029. Every year, the country constructs millions of buildings, reflecting both the scale and pace of this growth. The construction sector is a critical contributor to climate change. According to the World Green Building Council, buildings and construction together account for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions, with materials and construction alone contributing 11%. The growing construction demand has increased the demand for bricks and the brick industry is growing. India is the world’s second-largest producer of bricks, after China. Yet, much of the sector is unorganised, widely dispersed, and largely informal. Traditional brick-making methods rely on coal-fired, energy-intensive kilns, resulting in higher emissions from fired clay bricks used in construction. The brick industry is one of the largest (coal) energy users and a source of GHG emissions from India. But it also employs some of the largest workforces in India, after agriculture. Kanpur, an industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, has a well-established brick manufacturing industry. Its peripheral regions host numerous traditional brick kilns that fuel the city’s rapid construction growth. At the same time, several enterprises here are experimenting with low-carbon alternatives such as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/old-kilns-new-blocks-uncertain-futures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A new book documents voices from the Baghjan disaster</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2026 14:29:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel leak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/19122343/AP20162465039212-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36971</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Environment, Environmental Crime, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Industry, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“&#8230;Neither a fleeting joy, nor an unbidden laughter remains. In a moment, OIL took it all, stripping me of everything.” This stanza is from a poem written by Papul Gogoi, a resident of Baghjan, Assam, from the point of view of a (fictional) woman who lost everything in the Baghjan blowout, a 2020 industrial disaster [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“&#8230;Neither a fleeting joy, nor an unbidden laughter remains. In a moment, OIL took it all, stripping me of everything.” This stanza is from a poem written by Papul Gogoi, a resident of Baghjan, Assam, from the point of view of a (fictional) woman who lost everything in the Baghjan blowout, a 2020 industrial disaster that had widespread impacts on people and the environment. The poem, expressing grief and despair about the blowout, is part of a book Our Burden of Grief published in October 2025. On May 27, 2020, there was a leak in Oil India Limited’s (OIL) Well No. 5 in Baghjan Oil Field, Tinsukia, Assam, resulting in the uncontrollable flow of the natural gas (methane gas), crude oil and condensate droplets. People living nearby had to be evacuated. A subsequent blast on June 9, 2020, completely burned down 12 houses and more than 10,000 residents from nearly a dozen villages within a three-kilometre radius of the rig were affected and displaced. The fire engulfed adjacent wetlands, killing endangered birds and animals. The fire lasted for almost six months, and OIL only succeeded in extinguishing it entirely on November 15, 2020. The impact of the incident, one of the worst industrial disasters in modern India, has been captured in the book Our Burden of Grief. The book, co-authored by Sanjay Barbora, who teaches sociology and social anthropology, and Dolly Kikon, who teaches anthropology, both at the University of California, along with Noihrit Gogoi, a PhD student in sociology&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Policy shifts test Bihar’s ethanol-led industrial revival</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/policy-shifts-test-bihars-ethanol-led-industrial-revival/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/policy-shifts-test-bihars-ethanol-led-industrial-revival/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2026 12:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Umesh Kumar Ray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethanol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/13012716/AP23242459404348-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36871</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Alternative energy, Carbon emissions, Energy, Environmental Politics, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Santosh Kumar has spent more than a decade moving from state to state in search of a livelihood. The last time he migrated from his home in Bihar was more than two years ago, when he went to Delhi. There, he worked as a boiler operator in a factory. “I would earn ₹20,000 a month, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Santosh Kumar has spent more than a decade moving from state to state in search of a livelihood. The last time he migrated from his home in Bihar was more than two years ago, when he went to Delhi. There, he worked as a boiler operator in a factory. “I would earn ₹20,000 a month, but a large part of it was spent on food and lodging,” he said. Two years ago, Kumar learned from a friend that a new ethanol plant was being set up in Nawanagar, about 20 kilometres from his village in Bihar’s Buxar district. “I immediately returned and joined the plant,” said the father of three. Kumar has been working at the Nawanagar ethanol plant since then. However, the situation changed towards the end of last year when India&#8217;s Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited — reduced ethanol procurement quotas for Bihar. The decision led to a 10-day shutdown of the Nawanagar plant in December 2025, where Kumar is employed as a boiler operator. “I am afraid that if this continues (reduced procurement causing shutdowns), I will have to migrate again to Delhi, Gujarat, or Maharashtra,” Kumar said. Murari Chaudhary, another boiler operator at the same plant, shares similar concerns. “If the situation remains the same, the plant will close, and we will become unemployed,” said Chaudhary, who is from Jharkhand. “There are no other employment options nearby. If I have to work, I will&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/policy-shifts-test-bihars-ethanol-led-industrial-revival/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Air pollution can both fuel and suppress lightning in India, study finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/air-pollution-can-both-fuel-and-suppress-lightning-in-india-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/air-pollution-can-both-fuel-and-suppress-lightning-in-india-study-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2026 10:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aerosol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[erratic weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lightning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weather patterns]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/12003510/AP23111293153944-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36848</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Climate Change, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lightning is among India’s deadliest natural hazards, accounting for nearly 40% of all natural disaster-related deaths each year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. While rising temperatures and stronger convection linked to climate change are known to influence lightning activity, a new study points to air pollution as another key factor shaping how lightning [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lightning is among India’s deadliest natural hazards, accounting for nearly 40% of all natural disaster-related deaths each year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. While rising temperatures and stronger convection linked to climate change are known to influence lightning activity, a new study points to air pollution as another key factor shaping how lightning forms inside clouds. The study, published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, examines how aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air from both human and natural sources, modulate lightning activity across different regions of India. According to the authors, air pollution can both enhance and suppress lightning, depending on pollution levels, particle size, and regional meteorological conditions. How pollution influences lightning Subhojit Ghoshal Chowdhury, the lead author of the study, from the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, says the relationship between air pollution and lightning is not linear. “Our study shows that air pollution can both increase and decrease lightning, depending on how polluted the air is and what kind of particles are present,” Chowdhury explains. He notes that when pollution levels increase moderately, lightning activity intensifies. “Tiny pollution particles, or aerosols, act like seeds, creating many small cloud droplets that get lofted high into the atmosphere. There, they freeze into ice crystals and graupel (soft hail), and collisions between these ice particles generate electrical charge; lightning occurs.” However, Chowdhury adds that this process reverses when pollution becomes excessive. “When pollution becomes too high, excess particles disrupt the cloud’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/air-pollution-can-both-fuel-and-suppress-lightning-in-india-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Monitoring India&#8217;s clean air programme needs reimagining, suggests analysis</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/monitoring-indias-clean-air-programme-needs-reimagining-suggests-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/monitoring-indias-clean-air-programme-needs-reimagining-suggests-analysis/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jan 2026 17:46:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[air quality index]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transport]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/14160306/AP24319347692370-scaled-e1768386969370-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36477</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Cities and Towns, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new assessment of air pollution trends in highly polluted cities finds that since 2017, levels of particulate pollution have actually been reducing – but it’s unclear how or why. In 2019, India launched the National Clean Air Programme — a flagship scheme aimed at reducing levels of pollution in “non-attainment cities” — those exceeding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new assessment of air pollution trends in highly polluted cities finds that since 2017, levels of particulate pollution have actually been reducing – but it’s unclear how or why. In 2019, India launched the National Clean Air Programme — a flagship scheme aimed at reducing levels of pollution in “non-attainment cities” — those exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) consecutively for five years. Despite five years since the programme was launched, there’s been marginal improvement, with most cities continuing to report high levels of pollution. Failure of the programme to effect meaningful change has been, in part, due to its design. The NCAP set a target for non-attainment cities to reduce PM10 levels by 20-30% by 2024, using 2017 levels as a baseline. In 2022, the scheme was renewed with a revised target of reducing PM10 levels by 40% by 2026. As fresh renewal of the Programme approaches, experts have been calling for an overhaul, including making changes to the pollutants targeted under the programme, incentives provided, and setting up a comprehensive, standardised monitoring framework. An assessment of changes in air pollution levels in NCAP cities by the Health Effects Institute, released on January 13, found reductions in both PM10 and PM2.5 levels at monitoring stations assessed. However, attributing these changes to the NCAP alone is challenging, due to an unclear monitoring system and other interventions that may have played a role. “We’re making huge investments in improving our air quality monitoring systems. But if we do&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/monitoring-indias-clean-air-programme-needs-reimagining-suggests-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Ministry changes land acquisition requirements for select projects seeking clearance</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/ministry-changes-land-acquisition-requirements-for-select-projects-seeking-clearance/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/ministry-changes-land-acquisition-requirements-for-select-projects-seeking-clearance/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2026 15:13:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Impact Assessment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land acquisition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[national parks]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/12130706/AP23105336045202-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36433</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coal, Energy, Environment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Land Rights, Mining, Oil, Protected Areas, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Developers of select non-coal mining projects no longer need to show proof or intent of land acquisition before obtaining environmental clearance, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has said. The announcement changes earlier norms which required developers of such projects to show proof that land acquisition had been initiated when seeking environmental clearance. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Developers of select non-coal mining projects no longer need to show proof or intent of land acquisition before obtaining environmental clearance, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has said. The announcement changes earlier norms which required developers of such projects to show proof that land acquisition had been initiated when seeking environmental clearance. The change was made after industrial bodies requested the government to do away with the provision, a letter published by the Ministry says. The change now exempts highways, mineral mining, slurry pipeline, and offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration projects from obtaining consent for land acquisition, if they pass through national parks and other eco-sensitive areas. Oil and gas transportation pipeline projects are also excluded. In other words, environmental clearance for these projects – running through national parks, coral reefs, sanctuaries, and eco-sensitive areas – can be granted before land acquisition, or consent for land acquisition, is obtained. “It is very difficult to understand how a meaningful environmental impact assessment can be made without full knowledge of the area that is going to be covered by the non-coal mining project in the first place,” Jairam Ramesh, former Union Environment Minister and a leader in the Opposition Congress Party, said in response to the change in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The change puts these non-coal mining projects on an almost equal footing with exceptions for coal mining projects. A mining engineer points to a chromium ore vein in a mine in Jajpur district,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/ministry-changes-land-acquisition-requirements-for-select-projects-seeking-clearance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Air pollution is the silent enemy of Indian monuments</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/air-pollution-is-the-silent-enemy-of-indian-monuments/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/air-pollution-is-the-silent-enemy-of-indian-monuments/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 13:14:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shilpa Raina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Simrinsirur]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heritage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sustainable development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transport]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[urbanisation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/12/22221939/9272192605_54f9ad8624_k-e1766467839971-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36204</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections and India's Iconic Landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Cities and Towns, Coal, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The implications of air pollution on health, education and work productivity dominate the headlines every winter, when air quality levels deteriorate to hazardous levels over north India. However, new research reveals that these pollutants are also slowly corroding the symbols of our past and putting our heritage at risk. In a scientific study on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The implications of air pollution on health, education and work productivity dominate the headlines every winter, when air quality levels deteriorate to hazardous levels over north India. However, new research reveals that these pollutants are also slowly corroding the symbols of our past and putting our heritage at risk. In a scientific study on the Red Fort, scientists have found that chemical interactions between pollutants and the monument’s stone surface are slowly destroying its distinctive red façade and turning it black. It confirms what was already known about how pollution chips away at a monument’s integrity, when it was discovered decades ago that pollution was behind the Taj Mahal’s changing appearance. Despite protections, this “wonder of the world” continues to find itself in the news for foul smells and its marble turning green. The Red Fort has been a lasting political symbol and has served as the backdrop of every Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech since 1947. But political will is failing to save the fort — and hundreds of other monuments in the region — from the ill-effects of air pollution. The Red Fort study is the first to attribute the formation of black crusts on its surface to emissions from cement factories, thermal power plants, and vehicles. “Indian monuments are already losing their settings because of rampant encroachment and unauthorised construction. It&#8217;s sad to see policymakers believe there is a Planet B. Otherwise, there would have been some concrete measures to reduce air pollution,” says Abha Narain Lambah,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/air-pollution-is-the-silent-enemy-of-indian-monuments/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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