Chandigarh:
Political representatives cutting across party lines today gave a call for making concerted efforts not only neutralize the effects of climate change but devise policy initiatives to minimise these effects. Representatives of political parties were attending a seminar titled ‘Connecting the Dots’ organized here by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and British Deputy High Commission, Chandigarh.
Delivering a key note address, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Non-Conventional Energy Minister, Punjab said the government had accorded top priority to climate change issues and was fully sensitized to its potential impacts on humans, eco-system and economy besides the efforts required to mitigate it. He said the government was focussing on implementing an integrated energy and climate policy as well as creating awareness about the issue.
Mr. Majithia pointed out that industrialized countries accounted for almost 80% of Co2 emissions in the atmosphere with the USA being the biggest contributor of almost 50.7 billion tonnes of Co2 emission since 1950. He said developed economies should therefore also take the responsibility to lead from the front in addressing this problem.
He said Punjab had already initiated the process of preparation of Strategy and Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) with technical support from GIZ (German International Cooperation), as per National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) framework. It focused on integrating climate change into policies and programmes of the state. He said Punjab had also proposed to establish Centre of Excellence on Climate Change at PAU, Ludhiana. Besides this, a unique ‘Greening Punjab Mission’ has also been launched to increase the area of the state under forest cover from the present 5.13% to 15% by 2022 by planting 40 crore saplings. He said that our government has already taken legislative measures to prevent transplantation of paddy before 10th June. He further said that the industries which were earlier using fossil fuels in the furnace of boilers / other furnaces have now been shifted to bio-mass as fuel.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Member Parliament appreciated the efforts of UK government in reaching to the political leaders to create awareness as well as making collective efforts to meet the challenge of climate change. She said that the Greening Punjab Mission was a major stride towards saving the environment. She said that Punjab being the mainstay of nation’s food security, every inch of available land was being cultivated by the farmers.
Earlier, Baroness Sandip Verma, Energy and Climate Change Minister, UK said that the purpose of organizing the seminar was to build collaboration with Indian government politicians, business, research communities and civil society by exchanging policy good practice and sharing the UK’s experience. She said that the legislators have a key role to play in tackling the serious issue of Climate Change and put on necessary legislations.
By:IANS