Topic 1: Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Why in News?

Due to recurrent issue of global warming and continued effect of climate and ecology, it has been in news.

What is Greenhouse Gas Protocol?

• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
• Building on a 20-year partnership between World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), GHG Protocol works with governments, industry associations, NGOs, businesses and other organizations.

Who Uses GHG Protocol?

GHG Protocol supplies the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards. The Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard provides the accounting platform for virtually every corporate GHG reporting program in the world.

How relevant is GHG Protocol?

• The Paris Agreement, adopted within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in December 2015, commits participating all countries to limit global temperature rise, adapt to changes already occurring, and regularly increase efforts over time.

• GHG Protocol is developing standards, tools and online training that helps countries and cities track progress towards
• their climate goals.

What is Paris Agreement?

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• The Paris Agreement on climate agree to cap global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above levels measured between 1850 and 1900 – and 1.5C if possible.

Topic 2: e-cigarettes

Why in News?

Recent WHO report has confirmed E-cigarettes are not effective for quitting tobacco use.

What are e-cigarettes?

• Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or non-combustible tobacco products are known by many names — vapes, e-hookahs, electronic cigarettes and e-pipes. E-cigarettes may be manufactured to look like traditional cigarettes and are marketed as tobacco-free nicotine delivery devices. instead of burning tobacco leaves like in traditional cigarettes, an e-cigarette, which is a battery-operated device, produces aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine among other things.
• The device contains nicotine and flavours in the form of liquid which is primarily composed of solvents such as glycerol and/or propylene glycol. The aerosol containing a suspension of fine particles and gases simulates cigarette smoke. Following a puff, the aerosol is delivered to the user’s mouth and lungs and the rest is exhaled.

What are the effects of using e-cigarettes?

Just like traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes too deliver ultrafine particles and nicotine deep into the lungs, which is then absorbed by the blood.

• According to a white paper on e-cigarettes by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), depending on the battery output voltage used, nicotine solvents can release in varying amounts potential carcinogens such as acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone.
• Flavours such as diacetyl used in e-cigarettes are linked to serious lung disease. E-cigarettes also contain volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, such as nickel, tin and lead.

Do e-cigarettes help smokers to kick the habit?

Manufacturers have promoted e-cigarettes as a harm-reducing product. But at present, compared with nicotine patches and nicotine gum, there is limited evidence to support the claim that e-cigarettes help people to stop smoking.

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved e- cigarettes as an alternative to reduce smoking.
• A 2015 survey cited by The Truth Initiative (an anti-tobacco organisation) found that almost 60% of those who used e-cigarettes also smoked cigarettes, called as dual users. A meta-analysis of 25 studies found that smokers who used e-cigarettes as a cessation aid were 27% less likely to quit smoking.

Are e-cigarettes addictive?

According to a National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2018 carried out by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 3.6 million kids in the U.S. are using e-cigarettes. High school students in the U.S. who used e-cigarettes at least once in 30 days increased from 11.7% in 2017 to 20.8% in 2018; the increase was 48% for middle school children.

• Flavours in e-cigarettes have been cited as one of the top three reasons for children to use them.
• The misconception that “e-cigarettes are less harmful than other forms of tobacco such as cigarettes” is another main reason. Youth who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to go on to smoke conventional cigarettes.