Environment Min holds workshop for state govt officials

The Environment Ministry held a two-day workshop for state government officials to help them formulate proposals for accessing finances for various climate change projects, an official statement said today.
"In an effort to provide hands-on training to state government officials for formulating and submitting proposals for accessing climate change finance under the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC), Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Adaptation Fund Board (AFB), the Environment Ministry held the third regional workshop with state governments in Bengaluru from April 11-12, 2016.
"14 states and UTs from the southern and western regions of the country participated in the workshop," it said.

NAFCC, established in 2015, aids national and state-level activities in meeting the cost of adaptation measures in areas vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change.
In 2015, under NAFCC, twelve projects submitted by Punjab, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana and Puducherry were approved at a total cost of Rs 235.17 crore, of which Rs 118.33 crore has been released.
Special Secretary in the Environment Ministry, Susheel Kumar, while inaugurating the workshop, emphasised on the need for generating quality project proposals in a time-bound manner which have full ownership by the state government departments.

"It is anticipated that the project benefits will continue to flow in a sustainable manner after project completion," he said.

GCF,a financial mechanism under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aims to mobilise unprecedented levels of funding to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient developmental projects.
The GCF-empowered committee headed by Environment Secretary has approved in-principle two project concept notes of Odisha and Haryana governments with a total cost of USD 31.63 million (Rs 211 cr) and USD 46.39 million (Rs 310 cr), respectively in 2015-16.
"It is expected that the participants will acquire the requisite knowledge and expertise for preparing good quality adaptation and mitigation projects for NAFCC and GCF for their respective states by May 15 this year," the statement said.

The Environment Ministry has been organising regional workshops to support state governments in proactively pursuing climate change adaptation and mitigation and building their capacity for accessing climate change finance from domestic and international sources.