Come out with own initiatives for climate action: Harsh Vardhan to states

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that states are important partners in implementing the vision to tackle climate change in the country and asked them to come out with their own initiatives in this regard beyond implementing central policies.

He underlined that both the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) had been conceptualized almost a decade ago and will be revised to reflect the current realities.

The NAPCC and SAPCC guide climate actions in the country.

Harsh Vardhan said the fight against climate change has to become a social movement and asked state governments to increasingly play a proactive role in implementation of climate policies.

"States must create their own initiatives for climate action beyond implementing central policies. The issues of transfer of technology and finance continue to be major issues in dealing with climate change," the Minister said at the inaugural session of the national workshop on 'Taking forward the climate agenda'.

He also asked the states to undertake ambitious climate action on both mitigation as well as adaptation beyond the schemes of central government.

"The ministry is taking steps for revision for the national missions of NAPCC as well as the SAPCCs to reflect the current climate change realities," an official statement quoting the Minister said.

He asked the state governments to take measures to strengthen the climate change nodal departments by providing adequate resources to the departments, so that they can function optimally.

He also appreciated the role played by the state climate change nodal departments in driving climate action at the state level by serving as a critical link between central government and state government on climate change issues.

The Minister said several pioneering initiatives and innovative approaches for addressing climate change, beyond national level initiatives, are being championed by the state governments.

Citing the Green Good Deeds movement in this context, Harsh Vardhan said that "adopting one Green Good every day, Green Good Behaviour, Green Social Responsibility and adopting Green Practices will help in fighting climate change".

He stressed that climate change issue will be successfully handled only by the people of this world.

He pointed out that India has been addressing climate change as one of the "key" national priorities.

The statement said a presentation made during the inaugural session of the workshop informed the gathering that 11 states have submitted second proposals under NAPCC and 27 adaptation projects, including a multi-state regional project, are being implemented.

India also submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) on October 2, 2015 for the period of 2021-2030 and ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016.

The meeting on Tuesday was organised as part of efforts to further strengthen the engagement with states on climate change issues.