Outlining the challenges that the country faces in achieving sustainable development, the Economic Survey has stated that financing the adaptation and mitigation measures is the most important issue as it involves both environmental and economic costs.
Grouping the issues under climate change, food security, water security, energy security and managing urbanization, the survey has introduced a chapter on sustainable development and climate change for the first time.
It emphasises on the conversion of the targets of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol into unconditional quantified emissions limitation and reduction objectives (QELROs) and addressing issues such as the domestic emissions trading scheme proposed by the European Union during the Durban talks last year.
On the domestic front, the country needs to follow a low carbon growth path in the 12th Plan and reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% of the 2005 level by 2020, which requires funding. ?Lack of funding is a large impediment to implementing adaptation plans. Climate change is a complex policy issue having major implications in terms of finance. All actions to address climate change ultimately involve costs,” said the survey.
It says India is mostly utilising and relying on domestic sources of finance, which are budgetary allocations for various sectors and the National Clean Energy Fund, fed by a cess on coal at R50 per tonne introduced in 2010. The fund is expected to generate R10,000 crore by 2015.
?However, the private sector, driven by returns and profits, could only play a supplementary role, contributing mainly in mitigation projects; adaptation will and should be the responsibility of the public sector,” the survey said. Internationally, the UNFCCC has estimated that $200-210 billion additional annual investment would be needed in 2030 to return emissions to the current levels. Further, additional investment needed worldwide for adaptation is estimated to be annually $60-182 billion in 2030.
