THE newly-formed climate change department of the Gujarat government, the first such department in Asia and sixth in the world, has received its first budgetary allocation.
The state government has provided Rs 100 crore in Budget 2010-11 for the department, which was set up in 2009, to address the challenge posed by global warming.
“The government has taken a historical decision to establish a separate department for climate change for maintaining a balance between development and environment,” state finance minister Vajubhai Vala said while delivering the Budget speech.
The state has earmarked Rs 10 crore for Climate Change Trust Fund to be set up to conduct research, development and commercialisation of green technology. The main focus of research will be to study the effects of climate change on agriculture, health and coastal areas and estimating carbon footprints. The state government will involve renowned institutes, both from India and abroad for the purpose.
A major activity of the department will be in creating awareness among people regarding ‘green projects’. The department will also work towards making Gandhinagar a solar city and make specific areas carbon neutral. A provision of Rs 19.25 crore has been made towards this.
There are only six countries in the world that have put in place separate ministries for climate change. The state, one of the highly industrialised in the country, accounts for nearly 29% of the total carbon credit income in India. The government also plans to launch ‘Green Credit Movement’ on the lines of carbon credit, state CM Narendra Modi had earlier announced.
Other tasks taken up by the new department include preparing curriculums pertaining to climate change for educational purposes and regulating and financing of new technologies for controlling emission of green house gases.
