|
|
India bats for technology, finance to achieve climate goals
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
|
|
|
SME Times News Bureau | 28 Jun, 2018
India is committed to follow the green path but needs technology and
finance as it continues to work to meet objectives of the international
environmental conventions, an Indian official said here on Thursday.
Playing
a crucial role to mitigate climate change and other environmental
challenges across the globe, Union Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra
said India has decided to strengthen its support with a 25 per cent
increase over its contribution to $15 million to the Global Environment
Facility's (GEF) new investment cycle.
He was addressing the
Sixth GEF Assembly, which meets every four years, on its concluding day
that saw over 1,000 delegates across the globe in this Vietnamese port
city.
The GEF is a partnership for international cooperation that
involves 183 countries working together with international
institutions, civil society organisations and the private sector to
address global environmental issues.
Endorsing its continued
focus on biodiversity and land degradation, he said: "We believe
Himalayan biomes deserve global attention, being of critical importance
as one of the recognised biodiversity hotspots in the world."
"We
urge GEF-7 programming to support countries of Himalayan region in
achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Target. Similarly, we welcome renewed
focus on Land Degradation in GEF-7 and commitment to meet the Bonn
Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded
land by 2020."
"Although the reduced support for climate change
in GEF-7 would certainly change the complexion and scale of impact of
GEF program, yet we do hope that appropriate action in other focal areas
will generate climate co-benefits."
Batting for more flow of GEF
funds to develop sustainable cities in India, he said: "We also hope to
see assistance to countries for improving conditions of cities
including its air quality through the sustainable cities program and
other thematic areas."
GEF's new four-year investment cycle is known as GEF-7.
The
GEF policy direction clearly enunciates the criticality of national
ownership of the GEF program for maximising sustainable benefits, he
said.
"This is something we welcome and, therefore, strongly
pitch for the inclusion of national agencies in the GEF partnership to
build suitable capacities in the country and improve the efficiency of
GEF cycle."
Seeking transparency too, in the GEF working, he
said: "We need to make GEF more agile and responsive to recipient
demands and, therefore, look forward to additional policy measures to
enhance the operational efficiency and transparency of the GEF. At the
end of the day, the best programme is one that is country driven."
"We
also urge the proposed private sector advisory committee to consider
the primacy of the government action in many of the focal areas of GEF.
The private sector participation strategy should be nuanced and
orchestrated.
"We do realise that the private sector brings in a
fresh perspective, which is beneficial. But availability of concessional
resources is limited and the overall responsibilities relating to
environment lie with the public sector in developing countries," Mishra
said.
He said the GEF while engaging with the private sector should ensure "additionality, accountability and country ownership".
Seeking
transfer of technology from the developed world, he was categorically
clear in saying: "Let me again reiterate that two critical elements to
achieving our goal will continue to be technology and finance."
Marine pollution is a serious global problem, and India has a long coastline of almost 7,500 km.
India
has joined the UN's 'Clean Seas' programmes to monitor marine
pollution. "It is, therefore, an area of criticality for GEF to work on
with countries sharing coastlines."
He added India is committed
to eliminating the most harmful chemicals which are covered by the
Stockholm Convention, the Minamata Convention and the Montreal Protocol.
The
GEF, established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle
the planet's most pressing environmental problems, has provided $17.9
billion in grants and mobilised an additional $93.2 billion in financing
for more than 4,500 projects in 170 countries.
India, among the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change, is both a donor and a recipient of the GEF.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
|
|
Daily Poll |
|
|
PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
|
|
|
|
|
Commented Stories |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|