nThe Government has set up a national-level panel for a coordinated approach to pursue the country’s climate change goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which aims to limit the global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Led by the Union Environment Ministry, the panel will include members from over a dozen ministries of the Central Government to avoid conflict and ensure synergy between various ministries working towards to approach India’s ambitious climate change goals.
The “Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA)” with the Union Environment Secretary as its head which was notified by the Government last month would interact with officials across the Government departments, technical experts, civil society leaders and other stakeholders to drive a coordinated approach to the nation’s climate change goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
India has ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement under the UNFCCC. India’s NDC’s primarily targets by 2030 a reduction in the emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 to 35 percent; achieving about 40 percent installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources; energy efficiency; and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
The Government noted that AIPA is needed to ensure a “coordinated response on climate change matters that protects the country’s interests and ensures that India is on track towards meeting its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement” including the promises made as part of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2015, as per a statement here from the Union Environment Ministry.
The panel is also expected to “define responsibilities of concerned ministries for” achieving India’s NDC goals and receive periodic information updates to monitor, review and revisit climate goals to fulfill the requirements of the Paris Agreement.