Lok Sabha Question No. 5133 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-04
Subject: Combating the Climate Crisis
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Kani K. Navas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5133

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2022

## Combating the Climate Crisis

## 5133.   SHRI K. NAVASKANI:

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

- (a) whether the  Government  agrees  with  the  view  that  while  the  efforts  to  combat  the climate crisis are gathering traction slowly, the pace isn't nearly fast  enough as our ecosystems are collapsing and species are becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate;
- (b) if so, what remedial steps have been taken/being taken by the Government keeping in mind  that deforestation and forest degradation continue unabated, leading to significant nature and biodiversity loss; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Government  is  seized  of  the  matter.  Climate  change  is  a  global  collective  action problem. India with more than 17% of the global population has contributed only about 4% of  the  global  cumulative  greenhouse  gas  emissions  between  1850  and  2017.Reports  from various  sources,  including  Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change,  highlight  that  the challenges faced due to global warming are mainly due to cumulative historical and current greenhouse gas emissions of the developed countries. Even though, we are not part of the problem, India is part of the solution and is doing more than its fair share.

The Government of India through its various Ministries and Departments continues to assess  the  impact  of  climate  change  keeping  with  new  data  and  increased  scientific knowledge on  the  subject.  Such  data  and  analyses  are  routinely  carried  out  in  the  regular work  of  Ministries  and  Departments  and  incorporated  in  further  schemes,  plans  and initiatives of the Government. While impacts of climate change are felt in various sectors of the  economy,  such  changes  take  place  overtime-spans  of  several  decades  to  centuries  and there are no such studies in India which directly correlate and attribute extinction of species and  collapse  of  ecosystems  with  climate  change.  Some  negative  impacts  have  now  been scientifically  documented  but  neither  species  loss  nor  ecosystem  collapse  due  to  climate change has been recorded in India. Unchecked global warming may lead to negative impacts on ecosystems in the future, which, however, governments of the world are pledged to limit to the temperature goals set by the Paris Agreement.

(b) and (c) Does not arise. The forest and tree cover in India are on an ascendance. India's forest and tree cover has increased by 14,571 km 2 between the 2015 and 2021 assessments of the Forest Survey of India. However, in select locations and areas, whenever deforestation does occur it is dealt with in accordance with extant procedure, both administrative and legal.

Further,  the  Government  is  addressing  the  environmental  issues  and  problems  like degradation of forests, biodiversity loss, and land/soil degradation through both promotional and legal measures. Government has enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 in pursuance to the Convention on Biological Diversity to which India is a Party. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 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).

Furthermore,  various  schemes  are  being  implemented  by  the  Central  and  State Governments for increase in forest cover of the country. These include National Afforestation Programme (NAP) and Green India Mission (GIM) being implemented by the Ministry of Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change.  Afforestation  activities  are  also  taken  up  under various programmes/funding sources such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Pradhan Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee Yojana, Compensatory  Afforestation Funds  under Compensatory  Afforestation Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority (CAMPA).  Afforestation  activities  are  also  taken  up  under  various  schemes  of  State Government/UT Administration.

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