4th Edition of virtual Ministerial on Climate Action held

The fourth edition of the virtual Ministerial on Climate Action witnessed countries exchanging views on how countries are aligning economic recovery plans with the Paris Agreement and the critical enabling conditions to ensure continued climate action.
The meeting was co-chaired by European Union, China and Canada to advance discussions on the full implementation of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to demonstrate continued political commitment to global climate action.

Key Highlights

• Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar, representing India said that our country has taken very significant steps for combating climate change and will continue its efforts in the future also. Shri Javadekar called upon developed country parties, once again, to do their part as envisaged under UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, for extending financial and technological support to developing countries.
• Highlighting India’s efforts, the Environment Minister said that India has achieved reduction of 21% in emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2014, thereby achieving its pre-2020 voluntary target. Further, India’s renewable energy installed capacity has increased by 226% in last 5 years and stands more than 87 Gigawatt.
• The minister further said that we have provided 80 million LPG connections in rural areas, providing them with clean cooking fuel and healthy environment. “India’s total forest and tree cover is 8, 07,276 sq. km. which is 24.56% of the total geographical area of the country.
• Highlighting India’s efforts towards cleaner fuel Javadekar said that India has also leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020 which was earlier to be adopted by 2024.The minister also highlighted how India had levied a coal cess of INR 400/- as, part of one of the most explicit green initiatives & this is now subsumed under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• The fourth edition of the meeting was attended by Ministers and representatives of about 30 countries and was held virtually for the first time in view of the ongoing pandemic. The purpose was to ensure that progress is made on climate action.

SOURCE: The Hindu, DD News

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