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| CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM | | J&K takes first step towards Kyoto protocol | | Early Times Report
Jammu, March 6: As carbon trading takes the world market with a boom and India aspires to become a global leader in clean development mechanism, Jammu and Kashmir is certainly not far behind in joining the race.
It was decided in July 2009 that Jammu and Kashmir will raise money from hydropower projects through carbon trading in the international market. The then government had asked the Corporation to approach the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for assistance in exploiting hydropower potential in the region.
However, not much headway could be made in moving in this direction till the State’s Forest Research Institute made recent beginning towards the Clean Development Mechanism. A two-day high level workshop involving experts from the area that concluded here today set the process in the motion.
The Kyoto Protocol mandates developed countries to reduce emission of polluting gases by 2012. Under an Emissions Trading Scheme companies in Europe that exceed their carbon emission limits, can buy credits from another companies, or from units in the developing countries.
It is learnt that in a recent communication from ADB headquarter in Manila, the Bank has evinced interest in development of hydropower and assistance in clean development in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to SFRI Director, RD Tiwari, who is actively pushing the initiative, the workshop envisaged strengthening the capacity of the State in making viable CDM projects for getting carbon emmission reduction (CER) under Kyoto Protocol and Development of resources through cleaner technologies.
During the workshop, it was apprised that a Carbon Cell, under SFRI has already been constituted with experts drawn from different departments. SFRI has emerged as a nodal point for the Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI & GTZ. The State Government has also started a budget line for CDM in the SFRI and the operational plan on CDM for the year 2009-10 deliberated in the workshop clearly spelt out the agreed actions and defined the role and responsibility of SFRI in developing green technologies.
The Minister for Forests Mian Altaf Ahmed said that viable and sustainable growth can only be ensured when clean and eco-friendly development mechanism is evolved.
The workshop was organized by the State Forests Research Institute (SFRI) in collaboration with German Trade Cooperation Agency (GTZ) made available to J&K State by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. More than 100 officers and scientists from across the State attended the workshop.
The Minister, deliberating on the impact of greenhouse gases on ozone depletion in the workshop, said that countries across the globe are striving to bring their carbon emissions to accepted levels identified during Kyoto protocol. He called for organizing more such workshops to acquaint the people about cleaner technologies available so that the pollution level is brought down. He said that the outcome of these workshops should be in the form of some concrete results benefiting the common man. He also appreciated the efforts of the SFRI and GTZ in bringing the state on national carbon map for tapping CDM potential.
Commissioner-Secretary, Forests, Shantmanu, speaking on the occasion, emphasized the need to develop expertise in SFRI for handling this specialized subject so that it acts as a resource agency for other line departments, which is quite vast and varied covering energy, A&R, urban planning and natural resource management sectors.
Pamposh Bhat, Director, Climate Change, GTZ discussed the opportunities for the J&K State under CDM. The Conservator of Forests, Research, J&K conducted the proceedings and moderated the deliberations.
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