FINANCIAL SECTOR’S ROLE CRUCIAL
FOR SUCCESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ABATEMENT INITIATIVES : T.R.BAALU
The Minister for
Environment and Forests, Shri. T.R. Baalu has stressed the need
for strengthening the capacity of Indian stakeholders for benefiting
from opportunities offered by Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
projects. Inaugurating a two-day International Conference on Climate
Change and the Financial Sector here today, Shri. Baalu said that
the financial sector should be aware and conscious of the opportunities
available in the green house gas mitigation and adaptation sectors.
" The CDM has
a significant potential to help developing countries like India
address their sustainable development priorities. Though the Kyoto
Protocol has not come into force, CDM activities around the world
are moving from Policy to Implementation. The Marrakesh Accords
call for a prompt start for the CDM and encourage small- scale
renewable energy and energy efficient projects through fast- track
procedures," Shri Baalu said.
The minister said
that increasingly there has been a paradigm shift in what constitutes
technology transfer. Earlier, there was a world-wide emphasis
on large scale import of technologies by developing countries.
It’s now being acknowledged that this may not have been the most
appropriate route. "We must now look to newer modes of technology
diffusion and transfer that will involve attitudinal shifts, policy
orientation, green credit, waste minimization and favourable international
terms of trade", Shri. Baalu said.
In her key- note
address, UNDP Resident Representative, Dr. Maxine Olson lauded
the steps taken by the government to reduce the pollution levels
in the National Capital Region of Delhi and said that this was
possible because of a "dynamic partnership between civil
society, private sector and the state". She said that UNDP
is exploring an initiative for market transformation in the refrigeration
sector with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and private manufacturers.
UNDP is also working with the smaller manufacturers for the phasing
out of CFCs. The international body is assisting in the demonstration
of different state-of-the-art waste to energy technologies in
paper mills, slaughter houses and other agriculture and food processing
sectors in the country." Turning waste into resource is one
of the great challenges of the 21st century. It is
also one which, if done thoughtfully, can help in poverty alleviation",
she said.
The two- day conference
has been organized by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce
(FICCI) with focus on the role of the financial sector in Climate
Change and Green House Gas (GHG) reduction projects, the existing
carbon funds and credit facilities operational worldwide and how
the industry can leverage these funds for reducing their GHG emissions.
