PM Modi to preside over first meeting of climate panel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today preside over the first meeting of the reconstituted Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change here.

The meeting is expected to review the national action plan on climate change,including all existing programmes and missions of the government.

It is likely to discuss steps to be taken for tackling the challenges of climate change.

The members are also expected to discuss ways to use and apply the National Adaptation Fund.

The government had allocated an initial amount of 100 crore rupees for this fund which will be expanded in due course.

The panel is tasked with evolving a coordinated action plan for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change at the national level.

Besides Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, the 18- member panel comprises External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati, Agriculture Minister Radha

Mohan Singh, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh and Coal Minister Piyush Goel, among others.

It also includes climate experts like former bureaucrat J M Mouskar as also the cabinet secretary and secretaries of the external affairs and environment ministries.

Nripendra Misra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, is the member-convener of the panel.

Chairperson of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Ajay Mathur, TERI chairperson R K Pachauri, economist Nitin Desai and retired diplomat Chandrasekhar Dasgupta are also members of the panel.