ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
Mitigating climate change
In recognition of the risks of climate change for development and livelihoods in India, the country signed the Paris Agreement in April 2016 within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). By the end of that year, India developed a 2500-acre solar power park with a capacity of 648 MW. It also introduced rules to govern the green bond issuance locally to support market mobilisation for its low-carbon transition. During the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) held in Paris in December 2015, the OECD committed to helping its Members and Partner countries obtain a comprehensive picture of their performance on climate change.
Against this backdrop, the OECD Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) has been actively welcoming India’s participation. The OECD and International Energy Agency (IEA) serve as a Secretariat for the Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG), which organises regular seminars and the Global Forum on Environment, bringing together a wide variety of country delegates and experts, including from India. The CCXG provides analytical input to international climate change negotiations. They held the latest Forum in March 2018 at OECD headquarters, and discussed the transparency of reporting on technology transfer, capacity-building and financial support, accounting for baseline Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets, investment pathways, and the role of land-use in the transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy.
I The OECD co-organised a seminar with ORF on “Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition in India” in March 2017 in Delhi. The panel from left to right are Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), Samir Saran, Vice President, ORF, Geraldine Ang, Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate and Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD, and Christian Kastrop, Director of the Policy Studies Branch, Economics Directorate, OECD. (Photo: Samir Saran, President, ORF)
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