Government’s initiatives, efforts, and action plans to pursue the clean and renewable energy path had put India in a leadership position in dealing with climate change issues, according to Prakash Javadekar, minister for environment, forests and climate change. India’s solar energy programme which aims to generate 1 lakh MW electricity by 2020, and other initiatives on wind energy deployment, water conservation, and protecting coastlines and Himalayan ecosystem, reflected Government’s commitment towards environment protection and sustainable development, said Javadekar at the conference on ‘Negotiating the climate cliff: India’s climate policy and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)’ organised by Council on Energy, Environment & Water (CEEW), a think-tank on environment issues, in New Delhi on February 2, 2015.

Regarding the INDCs that India has to submit before the Paris Climate Conference 2015, Javadekar said that various modalities and frameworks for developing India’s INDCs were being worked out. The government is expected to take into account the issues of accessibility of key technologies and financial mechanisms that support climate change initiatives while formulising the frameworks. The minister also reiterated the need to balance the efforts towards environment protection and sustainable development.

CEEW conference aims at initiating discussions on India’s climate strategy prior to and post Paris 2015. A range of issues around nuclear energy, energy efficiency, low-carbon transportation choices, hydroflurocarbons (HFCs), and carbon capture & storage (CCS) all of which have critical relevance in India’s climate policy were discussed at the conference. The conference also deliberated upon strategies and frameworks that would support India’s position in the climate change discourse in Paris 2015.