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In a first for an Indian State, Bihar on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN Environment Programme to achieve climate resilience and low carbon development by 2040.
Over the next two years, UNEP would lead a multi-stakeholder team to assess the carbon footprint of various sectors in the State before chalking out a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increasing carbon sinks.
Technical assistance
UNEP will provide technical assistance to prepare the State’s greenhouse gas inventory and carry out climate impact scenario and vulnerability assessment. It will also suggest revisions to the State Action Plans on Climate Change under which each State’s climate priorities converge with the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
The State has been taking a lot of initiatives such as Jal-Jeevan Hariyali, Agricultural Roadmap, Renewable Energy Policy and Clean Fuel Policy in tackling air and water pollution and increasing green cover, but this would be one such concerted effort for creating a carbon-neutral Bihar for future generations, said the Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad after signing the MoU.
Climate resilience
Environment Minister Neeraj Kumar Singh said this would lead to a more comprehensive climate resilient development, not just for air and water as it was being done so far. According to Dipak Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary in charge of Department off Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bihar has been working on climate resilient agriculture, on controlling air pollution in three non-attainment cities such as Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur, and similarly on water conservation. “But all these programmes were all sector-specific and compartmentalised. For the first time we will be developing a comprehensive strategy for a long carbon pathway development of Bihar that will include all these sectors,” Singh said.
Under the study, which would be carried out at a cost of ₹1.4 crore, there would be a complete inventorisation of green house gas emissions and source apportionment so that the government can take steps to control them, Singh said.