Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar has said that clean air, clean energy and clean power balanced with growth were the priorities for India in its mission to combat climate change. The government had pursued voluntarily set targets with commitment, conviction and followed-up action and had played an active and positive role in tackling the Climate Change. The Minister stated this while addressing the media on the eve of his departure for United Nations Climate Change Conference which is being held at Lima, Peru. Shri Javadekar also stated that Indias stand at the Conference would be based on its domestic obligations of addressing the basic development needs of poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, universal access to education and health, gender equality and women empowerment, water and sanitation, clean energy, employment, sustainable cities and human settlement and its commitment to fight climate change.
Shri Javadekar said that the Conference of Parties in Lima should build trust and pave the foundation for the Paris Global Climate agreement to be held in 2015. This could be achieved by constructing credibility of existing mechanisms by comprehensive treatment of all issues under the UNFCCC processes. The Lima conference should outline clear, transparent and coherent articulation of processes, reflecting a balance between the right to development and Climate sustainability, the Minister added.
The Minister said that Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) as part of 2015 agreement would be addressed in the context of enhanced actions and would include all issues - mitigation, adaptation, capacity building and transparency of action and support. The comprehensive INDC would also project the requirement of support in terms of finance and technology transfer. It would cover all the national missions and other initiatives under National Action Plan on Climate Change as well as State Action Plans on Climate Change.
Shri Javadekar said that the immediate upscaling of ambition in the second Commitment period of Kyoto Protocol and its early ratification by all Kyoto Protocol parties would be a step in the right direction. Concerning mitigation, India is of the view that distinction enshrined in the Convention between Annex I (Developed) and non-Annex I (developing) Parties must be maintained in accordance with the principles of Equity, CBDR and other provisions of the Conventions, the Minister said. Announcement of contributions for Green Climate Fund (GCF) and its actual deposit should be ensured by developed countries. GCF could be used to purchase Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of climate friendly technologies. The non capitalization of the Green Climate Fund was a matter of concern and could affect the 2015 Climate agreement, Shri Javadekar added.
The Minister further stated that India was of the view that historical emissions of developed countries as laid down in the Conventions should be the basis for differentiation. The developing countries need for inclusive growth, sustainable development, poverty eradication, and energy access to all must be recognized as fundamental to the approach to differentiation, he emphasized.
Shri Javadekar also mentioned the various initiatives that the government had undertaken on voluntary basis with its own resources in pursuance of a sustainable development strategy: Up scaling of installation of Solar power capacity from 20,000 MW to 1,00000 MW, increase in Clean Energy Cess from Rs.50/ton to Rs.100/ton in order to fund researches on clean energy technologies and for cross-subsidizing solar and other renewable energies, 100 Crore National Adaptation Fund for climate change, setting-up of Ultra Mega Solar Projects in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Laddakh to promote renewable energy, National Mission on Himalayan Studies, National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission (Namami Gange), and launching of National Air Quality Index.
