CoP 21 draft : ‘Paris Agreement
Highlights
of the Achievements of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change
Year-Ender 2015
|
Following are the highlights of the
initiatives and achievements of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change during 2015:
COP 21 AT PARIS: Working
Towards Climate Justice:
o India was able to secure its
interest and that of developing countries in the Paris Agreement.
o The Paris Agreement has
unequivocally acknowledged the imperative of climate justice and has based
itself on the principles of equity and Common But Differentiated
Responsibilities.
o The Agreement acknowledges the
development imperatives of India and other developing countries.
o India Pavilion set up by the
Government highlighted the initiatives taken by various Ministries, State
Governments, Missions under National Action Plan on Climate Change, Industries,
Civil Societies, NGOs etc. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Indian Pavilion
and released “PARAMPARA”, a book on India’s culture and climate-friendly
sustainable practices.
o Comprehensive and balanced INDC
submitted, which includes Adaptation, Mitigation, requirement of Finance,
Technology transfer, Capacity Building.
o To put forward and further propagate
a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of
conservation and moderation.
o To adopt a climate-friendly and a
cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at corresponding level of
economic development.
o To reduce the emissions intensity of
its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.
o To achieve about 40 percent
cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy
resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost
international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF).
o To create an additional carbon sink
of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree
cover by 2030.
o To better adapt to climate change by
enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to
climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region,
coastal regions, health and disaster management.
o To mobilise domestic and new &
additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and
adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap.
o To build capacities, create domestic
framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting edge
climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&D for such future
technologies.
o Science Express Climate Action
Special (SECAS) flagged off; to contribute towards increasing the understanding
of the science of Climate Change; the train will halt at 64 locations in about
20 states across the country.
INITIATIVES TO REDUCE POLLUTION:
o National Air Quality Index was launched by the Prime Minister
in April, 2015 starting with 14 cities to disseminate air quality
information. The AQI has six categories of air quality, viz Good, Satisfactory,
Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor and Severe with distinct colour scheme.
Each of these categories is associated with likely health impacts. AQI
considers eight pollutants (PM10, PM 2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 and Pb) for
which (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards
are prescribed.
o National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) comprise 12 pollutants, out of
which, three pollutants namely PM10, SO2 and NO2 are
monitored at 612 locations in 254 cities /towns by Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) in association with various State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)
and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) for UTs.
o Implementation of
Bharat Stage IV norms in the 63 selected cities and universalization of
BS-IV by 2017.
o Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on
27.11.2015 issued two Draft Notifications for advancing the implementation
timelines to 2019 for BS-V and 2021 for BS-VI for comments of stakeholders.
o The Government has held four
meetings with Ministers of Environment of National Capital Region and Punjab on
ways and means to reduce air pollution.
o CPCB has worked out a transparent
criteria to classify industries as 'Red' 'Orange' 'Green' and ‘White’ Category
to link with ease of doing business and granting of consent including its
siting. The criteria evolved are based on pollution potential and
resource consumption rather than capital cost.
o The Comprehensive Environmental
Pollution Index (CEPI) is being revised by CPCB, which will be based on
weightage of air, water and land pollution.
o Real time online monitoring of over
2100 industrial units in 17 highly polluting category including those connected
to C.E.T.P have been mandated, leaving those units which have been exempted
otherwise, or are not operational. These industries have been directed to
monitor 24x7 effluent discharge quality and air emission quality. So far,
around 1800 industries are reported to have installed 24x7 devices.
o CPCB has finalized standards for
sewage treatment plants (STPs) which stipulate that treated effluents from STP
shall be utilized for non-potable use and if, such effluents are to be disposed
off into surface water body of the ground, in such cases, STPs will have to
meet stricter standards.
o Real-time monitoring of water
quality of Ganga initiated at eight stations on the main course and two
stations on Yamuna.
o Developed Action Plan for Ganga
mainstream States to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) and water conservation
for tanneries, distilleries, textiles, sugar and pulp and paper and achieving
improved effluent standards for irrigation in respect of pulp and paper and
sugar industries.
o Environmental standards for Thermal
Power Plants, Continuous Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and sugar industry
have been finalized.
o An online system for submission and
monitoring of Environmental and Forest approvals under the provisions of
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. It
automates the entire tracking of proposals, including online submission of a
new proposal, editing/updating the details of proposals and displays the status
of the proposals at each stage of the workflow.
o A joint action has been initiated
with Water Resources Ministry to run sewage treatment plants and with Urban
Development Ministry for organised Solid Waste Management. The same formula
will be extended to all the other rivers.
o Ministry has undertaken revamping
Waste Management Rules, namely (i) Bio-Medical Waste (Management &
Handling) Rules, (ii) Solid Waste Management Rules, (iii) Plastic Waste
Management Rules, (iv) E-waste (Management) Rules, (v) Draft Hazardous and
Other Wastes (Management and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules and its implementation
will lead to significant improvement in waste management. This is at an
advanced stage of finalization.
o The Ministry organised a Global
Environment Facility (GEF) National Workshop in association with GEF
Secretariat, Washington on May 12-13, 2015.
o An India Resource Panel has been
established to promote resource efficiency and use of secondary raw material.
INITIATIVES TO ENHANCE GREEN COVER:
· Two
Schemes namely Nagar Vana Udyan Yojana and School Nursery Yojana have been
launched. Nagar Vana Udyan Yojana aims to create at least one city forest in
each city with a minimum area of 25 ha. The scheme aims at creation of a
City Forest in forest areas within their jurisdiction up to a maximum of 100 ha
and minimum area of 20 ha. The objective of the Yojana is to create 200 City
Forests in the country. The School Nursery Yojana aims to build a
lasting bond of students with nature.
· Under
Green India Mission (GIM), perspective plans and annual plans of operations of
six States have been approved in the first sitting of the National Executive
Council held in May 2015. The Green India Mission aims at increasing the
forest/ tree cover by 5 million hectare as well as, increasing the quality of
the existing forest cover in another 5 million hectare. An amount of Rs.
50.77 crore has been released to four States out of the fund allocation of Rs.
64 crore. At the second sitting of the National Executive Council held in
November 2015, Perspective Plan and Annual Plan of Operations of another four
States have been approved.
· Compensatory
Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA): To ensure expeditious
utilisation in transparent and efficient manner, and safety and security of the
accumulated amounts and fresh accruals, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund
Bill 2015 has been introduced in the Parliament. Enactment of the Bill will
pave way for utilisation of the huge accumulated amount significantly
contributing towards conservation and development of forest and wildlife.
Unspent balance available with the said ad-hoc body has increased to about
Rs.38, 000 crore.
OTHER INITIATIVES:
· The
International Day for Biodiversity celebrated across the nation on May 22,
2015. This year’s theme was ‘Biodiversity for Sustainable Development’. At the
main event held in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, a project on Biodiversity
Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) was launched.
· On
the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, the Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi, planted a ‘Kadamb’ sapling at 7, Race Course Road.
· A
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change and NOIDA for the development of Botanic
Garden of Indian Republic (BGIR) in NOIDA on June 5, 2015 on the occasion of
World Environment Day. The Botanical Garden would also act as a centre
for botanical research scholars to carry out studies on rare species of
plants. 249 eco-sensitive proposals have been approved, which include 28
final notifications and 92 draft notifications.
· The
final notification declaring Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Okhla bird
sanctuary has been issued by Government of India in the Gazette of India vide
S/o2262 (E) dated 19th August 2015, providing relief to lakhs
of house owners in NOIDA and Greater NOIDA area.
· The
Ministry has launched the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity TEEB-India
Initiative (TII) to highlight the economic consequences of the loss of
biological diversity and the associated decline in ecosystem services.
· A
commemorative stamp released to mark the centenary year of Zoological Survey of
India.
· The
Ministry commemorated World Day to combat Desertification on June 17, 2015.
· The
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in association
with UNESCO, has established a Centre for World Natural Heritage Management and
Training for the Asia and Pacific Region as a UNESCO Category 2 Centre at the
Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun.
· ‘Chintan
Shivir’ organised in Bangalore, Bhopal and Guwahati for young officers to
enable the officers from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
and officers from forest, pollution boards and scientists from the concerned
departments to introspect and discuss various aspects related to the Ministry.
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