‘Sustainable Development is our priority’: Prime Minister
Prime Minister inaugurates international conference on rule of law for supporting the 2030 development agenda/sustainable development goals
‘Developed world should follow India’s example of taxing coal at $ 6 per tonne’: Environment Minister
The Prime Minister said that poverty is the biggest challenge for environment and eradication of poverty is one of the fundamental goals of the government. Shri Modi said that the poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups have fewer resources to cope with climate disasters. He underscored the need to look within to make a meaningful impact on environment. Reiterating the need for Climate Justice, the Prime Minister stated that rules, laws, practices and principles of one country cannot be applied to another uniformly. The Prime Minister said that India’s commitments at COP-21 underline the Indian ethos, which aim at changing human lifestyle along with changes in the manner in which economic activity is undertaken.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Javadekar said that the Prime Minister convinced the world at Paris about Climate Justice and sustainable lifestyle. The Minister said that Climate Justice is about justice to the 3 billion poor people of the world. Shri Javadekar said that both the concepts of Climate Justice and Sustainable Lifestyle have been mentioned in the Preamble of Paris agreement.
Shri Javadekar said that the Finance Minister has presented a Green Budget. Highlighting the green features of the Union Budget 2016-17, he said that coal has been taxed to the tune of Rs. 400 per tonne, i.e about $ 6. He emphasized that no country in the world is taxing coal for $6 per tonne. Shri Javadekar added that if the developed world follows India’s example in taxing coal at $ 6 per tonne, $ 100 billion to be generated by the developed world to meet the mitigation and adaptation needs of the developing world will be collected through this $ 6 tax. The Minister said that some of the other green features of the Budget include the benefit of LPG being extended to 50 million BPL families, which is not just a health benefit, but also saves cutting of trees. Shri Javadekar emphasized the commitment of the government by preponing the migration to Euro VI by 2020, by investing Rs. 60, 000 crore in refineries to have cleaner fuel.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley pointed out that the proposals presented in Budget 2016-17 pertain not only to coal and fossil fuels, but also towards hydrocarbons. The Finance Minister said that two important programmes on environment are Swachh Bharat and Clean Ganga campaigns. He pointed out that the 0.5% cess on all services will go only towards Swachh Bharat campaign. He also added that adequate money for Clean Ganga campaign has been provided. Shri Jaitley also said that as part of the Clean Ganga campaign, the most polluted stretch from Kanpur to Varanasi is being taken up for cleaning River Ganga. The Finance Minister emphasized that the decision to provide LPG connections to mitigate the adverse impact of ‘chulha’ is not only a social sector scheme, but also an environmental programme. He also stated that while hybrid and electric vehicles have been encouraged, more polluting vehicles have been discouraged.
The Prime Minister released the National Green Tribunal International Journal on the occasion.
Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice T.S Thakur delivered the keynote address, while National Green Tribunal Chairperson, Shri Justice Swatanter Kumar gave the welcome address. Attorney General of India, Shri Mukul Rohtagi also addressed the gathering. Director, Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, UNEP, Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema gave the Vote of thanks.
The three-day Conference has been organized by National Green Tribunal NGT), Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Ministry of Water Resources and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The objective of the Conference is to bring together Chief Justices, judges, environmentalists, scientists, lawyers, academicians, executives in the field of environment to exchange ideas on environmental issues such as climate change and disaster management, threat to marine environment, waste management and air pollution. Some of the other issues to be deliberated include – global warming, marine environment, rule of law, remedies and judicial mechanism, increasing pollution and the impact on forest, wildlife and environment.
