Business and Climate Summit gets under way

The third Business and Climate Summit (BCS) was organized on Thursday in the national capital to showcase the voice and engagement of Indian industry in the global cause of climate change.

Minister of Science and Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "The Government of India was currently working on developing a roadmap for implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions and has constituted an Implementation Committee and six thematic sub-committees involving key ministries and departments of the government."

The key sectors covered by the state plans include agriculture, water, habitat, forestry, and health and disaster management, among others.

He further said that the government has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable power installed capacity by 2022-end, of which 58 GW has been installed so far. The other initiatives include distribution of energy efficient appliances and provision of free cooking gas connections to women below the poverty line.

The voluntary actions embarked upon by Indian industry include the carbon disclosure programmes whereby the private players report their carbon management strategy and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.

He asserted that India was also planning to establish a voluntary carbon market with World Bank assistance with focus on uncovered areas.

"The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should enveadvour to promote developed country parties in fulfilling their commitments in the pre-2020 period," Dr. Vardhan said.

Executive Secretary, UNFCCC , Patricia Espinosa urged businesses to announce the final steps taken by them in climate change reduction and indicate that business and investment were in step with climate change reduction requirements at CoP 23 in November.