Under the said scheme, an additional £ 700,000 will be made available to Indian projects: “India is the largest country programme. Presently, we have 22 projects in our portfolio with a total budget of approximately £ 1.8 million,” said Simon Wilson, British deputy high commissioner, eastern India.

The amount, meant for funding climate change projects, will cover the expenses involved in around 30 projects. With more money coming in, it is expected that more such projects in India will materialise. “At present, we are busy identifying the projects that can be funded,” Wilson said.

Addressing eminent environmentalists, researchers and media at an interactive session on Nicholas Stern’s Review on the Economics of Climate Change (a report commissioned by the British government on climate change carried out by Nicholas Stern, head of the government economic service and former World Bank chief economist, and submitted to the UK government last year), Wilson said that the India-UK partnership on environmental issues is strengthening as the issue is being regularly monitored at the highest levels on both sides - including Prime Ministers and ministers: “This includes Kyoto Protocol work, the Gleneagles and World Bank processes, assisting vulnerable countries in managing climate risks, covering issues such as clean coal technology, bio-fuels and carbon capture,” Wilson said.

The Stern analysis states that climate change will result in human development becoming more expensive. It also adds that limiting concentrations within the desired range is possible. But for all the desired outcome, a decisive and strong international action is the urgent need of the hour. The session, organised by the deputy high commission along with the Indian Chamber of Commerce, was attended by Dimitri Zenghelis, senior UK government economic adviser and Justin Mundy, energy and environment adviser with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK.