Environment policy on PM's menu

Times of India , Monday, August 08, 2005
Correspondent : CHANDRIKA MAGO
NEW DELHI: The country's much-awaited first national environment policy may finally head to the Union cabinet if it gets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's approval on Monday.

This is one of three major issues which will be up for discussion when a senior environment ministry team meets the PM Monday for what is being described as a "briefing meeting". The two other issues on the agenda are the complete overhaul of environment regulations and climate change. With a series of international meetings coming up September onwards, climate change negotiations will be very much top of the mind.

What has been billed as the country's very first attempt at a national environment policy has been expected anytime since last year. Work began before the general elections, UPA minister A Raja took office in May 2004 and said this would be one of his priorities. In August last, a draft was actually made public. Since then, it just hasn't been finalised. If it gets the PM's approval, it could head to the cabinet. Or, it may go back to the drawing board.

"It is an important policy issue which affects various ministries, and countries," says a source. And, it keeps coming up. The PM will be briefed on the "whole ballgame" so far in two decades of negotiations — and the latest in the country's position on this.

Under the internationally-negotiated Kyoto Protocol umbrella, countries like India and China have been coming under increasing pressure to take on targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions believed to be fuelling global warming. The US, the world's biggest polluter, has rejected targets and just 10 days ago, India, US, China, Japan, Australia and South Korea banded into a partnership to work on environment-friendly energy technology to check climate change.

Next month, officials will head for a preparatory meeting for the multilateral negotiations. The six partners will also be meeting separately in September. The UN meeting on this is scheduled for November, say officials. So is a follow-up to the July meeting between the leading industrialised countries which came up with what was described as the Gleneagles plan of action on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development. The PM, who attended this, had a bird's eye view of how complex, and elusive, agreement on this issue can be.

 
SOURCE : Times of India, Monday, August 08, 2005
 


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