Lok Sabha Question No. 5247 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-04
Subject: Green House Gases
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Thirumaa Valavan Thol

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5247

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2022

## Green House Gases

## 5247.   SHRI THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOL:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the recent Red Alert given by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has reduced the Green House Gases in the country during the last three years;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) if  not,  whether  there  is  any  plan  to  reduce  the  Green  House  Gases  to  prevent  the global warming and man-made pollution in the country's Biosphere, Atmosphere and Cryosphere?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) and (b) The Government is seized of the matter.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently in its Sixth Assessment cycle and has releasedthe Working Group I  contribution  reporttitled  'Climate  Change  2021:  The  Physical  Science  Basis'in  August 2021  and  report  titled  'Climate  Change  2022:  Impacts,  Adaptation  and  Vulnerability'  in February 2022. India has always noted that while it is committed to being part of the solution, the developed countries bear the main responsibility, both historical and current, and should also take the lead urgently for drastic emission reduction in their countries.

(c) to (e)India is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and its Kyoto Protocol (KP), and the Paris Agreement (PA).As a Party to the UNFCCC,  India  periodically  submits  its  National  Communications  and  Biennial  Update Reports (BURs) to the UNFCCC which includes national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory. As  per  India's  second  BUR,  India's  Greenhouse  Gas  (GHG)  emissions  in  2014  including Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) were 2306.3 million tonne CO2e and as  per  third  BUR,  India's  net  GHG  emissions  in  2016  were  2531.07  million  tonne CO2e.Being a developing country, the emissions of India, according to the UNFCCC, will grow  to  meet  its  social  and  development  needs.  However,  keeping  with  the  effort  to progressively delink growth  from  emissions,  the  emission  intensity of India's  Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reduced by 24% between 2005 and 2016.

The  government  seeks  to  address  the  environmental  issues  and  problems  like  air pollution,  management  of  waste,  degradation  of  forests,  biodiversity  loss,  and  land/soil degradation through promotional and legal  measures.  The  promotional  measures are undertaken  by  various  ministries/departments  through  various  programs,  schemes  and activities in close cooperation, with state governments and all other stakeholders. Further, the regulatory measures are implemented through Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; the Wild Life (Protection)  Act,  1972;  the  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927;  the  Biological  Diversity  Act,  2002; Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016; and rules and Notifications under these Acts, as amended from time to time.

Furthermore, a number of actions have been taken by the Government to combat air pollution,  waste,  degradation  of forests,  biodiversity  loss,  and  land/soil  degradation,  which inter alia, includes the following:

-  Ministry  has  launched  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  in  January  2019  to tackle the problem of air pollution in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 to 30 per cent reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024. City Specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared and rolled out for implementation in132 non-attainment and million plus cities.
-  As  per  Solid  Waste  Management  Rules,  2016,  local  bodies  and  village  panchayats shall  facilitate  construction,  operation  and  maintenance  of  solid  waste  processing facilities and associated infrastructure on their own or with private sector participation or through any agency for optimum utilization of various components of solid waste adopting suitable technology including the technologies and guidelines issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs from time to time and standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board.
-  The Government has launched several schemes/programmes which include inter - alia the  National  Afforestation  Program,  Green  India  Mission,  Watershed  Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi SinchayeeYojna (PMKSY) which contribute to the target of restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land and achievement of land degradation neutrality with focus on sustainable and optimum utilization of land resources. This will help in preserving forests and biodiversity, facilitating conservation of natural resources and improving carbon sinks.
-  The  Biological  Diversity  Act,  2002  enacted  in  pursuance  to  the  Convention  on Biological Diversity to which  India is a Party, is aimed  at conservation of biodiversity,sustainable  use  of  its  components,  and  fair  and  equitable  sharing  of benefits  arising  from  the  use  of  these  resources,  also  known  as  access  and  benefit sharing (ABS). The Act is implemented through a three-tiered institutional mechanism,  namely  National  Biodiversity  Authority  (NBA)  at  the  national  level, State Biodiversity Boards at the State level, and Biodiversity Management Committees at the local body level.

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