10-Oct-2022: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav addresses the Inaugural session of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-XI
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav attended the inaugural session of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-XI, (SMDS-XI) being held at Leh, Ladakh UT from 10-12 October, 2022.
The theme for SMDS-XI is ‘Harnessing tourism for sustainable mountain development’. The main focus of the summit is to reduce the negative impacts of tourism while harnessing its positive contributions to building climate and socio-ecological resilience and sustainability.
In his address, he expressed that visiting Ladakh is always refreshing due to its beautiful landscape and magnificent mountains. Integration of science and policy is to be the core activity of IMI, in light of this, he suggested integration of uniqueness of cultures and environments to become essential part of such summits. He also highlighted the establishment of G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBPNIHE) and its one Regional Centre at Leh, under MOEFCC which is particularly mandated on research and development activities for sustainability of the Himalayan environment. He emphasized that various unique landscapes of the country like the Himalayas, Western Ghats and Thar desert need special attention of the scientific community. During the event, capacity building of youth was another important aspect that was mentioned so that it does not focus only on literacy for employment but also on preservation of local culture, environment protection and developing scientific integrity among youth.
R&D organisations under MOEF&CC like GBPNIHE, ZSI, BSI, WII have been conducting research on various pertinent issues like plant genetics for rapid breeding, digitization of Indian flora and fauna and reintroduction of Cheetahs in India for correcting ecological wrong to ecological right. Government has schemes like Skill India and various portals like National Career Service Portal, e-Shram Portal, Udyami and ASEEM portals etc., which are promoting financial literacy and integrated capacity building even for remote areas of the country. National Career Service Portal already has 1 crore applicants with 10 lakh employers which provided 4.28 lakh employment opportunity, largest so far. This portal is being further upgraded.
Shri Yadav stressed that Ease of living is as important as Ease of doing business and MoEF&CC is working on this. During COP-26 at Glasgow, Prime Minister highlighted that world should go towards Mission Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE). The Government is promoting mindful use of resources rather than mindless use of the same. Ideas for such practices are already available in our culture and traditions. People living in harsh Himalayan conditions have all these values and the region is not only popular for tourism but also for cultural harmony. We have many strengths like Buddhist monasteries which are a symbol of peace in this world full of stress, depression, and anxiety.
He emphasized that tourism should be expanded for various aspects keeping in mind environmental fragility, sports, mountaineering, cycling, peace etc. The recent World Forest Conference in US passed a declaration that forests are not only for enjoyment but are an important source of peace. Himalayan forests are promoting peace for centuries. Tourism in the Himalayas should be promoted for nature seekers, pilgrims, and spiritual seekers. Like Ladakh, other states of the Himalayas such as Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya etc. have unique aspects which should be integrated into tourism. Not only environment friendly but responsible tourism is also the need of the hour. Involvement of local communities in the tourism is most important for integrating such initiatives. All our activities should be round the year and our educational institutions should have formats aligned with it. He suggested that for conserving the cultural and local heritage and for protecting Ladakh’s resources, it is very important to identify and resolve all pending issues. Responsibility of local tourist guides if deliberated in the summits shall have long lasting impact. He announced that MoEF&CC has disposed all Wildlife related proposals and applications submitted on Parivesh portal to expedite the development journey of Ladakh. The Parivesh portal is further being redesigned to integrate all environmental clearances in a centralized manner. He assured that MoEF&CC will extend all support to the Ladakh administration for awareness and training of local stakeholder on Forest Rights and other related issues.
He stressed that Solar power is a big source of energy, and our Prime Minister has deliberated across the globe to promote solar energy. India has started International Solar Alliance which now has 106 members globally. In Glasgow, Prime Minister highlighted the concept of “One sun, One world, One grid” which was praised by international community. India with United Kingdom had formed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) on climate change to address the issue of loss and damages due to climate change.
The Minister also informed that the work on connecting remote landscapes by building tunnels like Atal Tunnel and ongoing Zoji La Tunnel will reduce carbon emission in the mountain environment. He suggested that the youth should follow the formula of LiFE in true spirit to ensure sustainable future for our country. He expressed confidence about achieving Prime Minister’s vision for “Carbon Neutral Ladakh”. “When every individual thinks of national good, when every nation thinks of global good, that is when sustainable development will become a reality”, the Union Minister quoted the PM in his concluding remarks.
The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) is a flagship annual event of IMI, a civil society-led forum working across the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) that comprises 10 mountain states, two union territories and four hill districts. In addition to the central event, two integral components of the SMDS include the Mountain Legislators’ Meet (MLM) and the Indian Himalayan Youth Summit.
28-Sep-2022: Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change participates in the Ministerial Roundtable for Green Economy, World Green Economy Summit, UAE
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav attended the Ministerial Roundtable for Green Economy at the World Green Economy Summit at the World Trade Center in Dubai, UAE today. While speaking at the Roundtable, Union Minister stressed the importance of addressing environmental and climate objectives alongside economic development and further stated that accelerating low carbon transition across different economic sectors is the need of the hour.
The Minister outlined achievements under various policies as well as partnerships steered by India under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He mentioned global initiatives like International Solar Alliance and other initiatives for strengthening the green economy across key sectors like energy, industry, transportation, agriculture, and forestry. He further mentioned about the measures taken by India on sustainable finance such as sovereign green bonds, blended finance as well as setting up the GIFT city and the ISA-Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative.
The Union Environment Minister stated that India is the first country with a cooling action plan based on energy efficiency and thermal comfort, and has launched important initiatives including UJALA Yojana and schemes for industrial energy efficiency. India’s ambitious renewable energy progress was also mentioned.
On climate finance, Shri Yadav stated that Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero estimates a requirement of USD 100 trillion of finance for global net zero by 2050. But, Developed countries have failed even in mobilizing the amount of USD 100 billion per annum by 2020, and India’s NDCs are thus largely financed by domestic investment.
After the Roundtable, The Union Minister also had a bilateral meeting with H.E Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade. In the meeting, they discussed issues relating to COP 27, COP 28, MoU on Climate Actions between India and UAE, and global initiatives spearheaded by UAE and India for combating climate change.
10-Sep-2022: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organises National Conference on Sustainable Coastal Management in India
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the first National Conference on Sustainable Coastal Management in India in Bhubaneswar today.
This conference is being organized by the Green Climate Fund supported project – Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities.
The objective of the conference is to bring officials from all 13 coastal states of India under one roof to focus on the three interrelated themes of coastal and marine biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation and coastal pollution.
This endeavour is aimed at creating a vibrant network of stakeholders who will continue to engage with each other on the topics but also on cross-cutting themes such as coastal governance, technologies and innovation as well as domestic and international finance.
“The Indian coastline is of immense strategic, economic and social importance to the country. Spanning 7,500 kilometres, it is the seventh longest in the world, and is home to 20 percent of the country’s population. Three of our four metropolitan cities lie on the coast. There is a great diversity of ecosystems within our coastal regions that support more than 17,000 species of plants and animals. With the changing climate, we need to build the resilience of communities living in coastal areas.” said Shri Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
“This conference comes at an important time as India has submitted its revised NDCs and seeks to create multi-sectoral partnerships to meet these targets” he added
Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, said: “Such conferences are important to bring the conversations of resilience and sustainability to our country’s coastal areas. This was also envisioned in the Honourable Prime Minister’s LiFE movement.”
Sustainable coastal management is recognised as need of the hour. Data-driven policies and management frameworks, participatory conservation models, and convergence between stakeholders are the key pillars for effective coastal management.
A programme on Enhancing Climate Resilience of Coastal Communities is being implemented in partnership with UNDP in the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the initiative is integrating ecosystem and community-based approaches to adaptation into coastal management and planning.