The Central Government has constituted the ‘Apex Committee for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (AIPA) November 27, 2020.
- The 17 members AIPA has the responsibility of formulating policies and programmes for implementing Paris Agreement.
Objectives and functions
- It has been constituted to ensure a coordinated response on climate change matters that protects the country’s interests.
- The Committee will also ensure that India is on track towards meeting its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement including its submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- The committee will be headed by the secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The additional secretary, MoEFCC will be the vice chairperson,
- The committee also has the responsibility of regularly communicating and reporting the NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- The committee will act as a national authority for the regulation of carbon markets in India under the Article 6.2, Article 6.4 and Article 6.8 of the Paris Agreement.
What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?
- The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. These efforts are voluntary in nature.
The three quantitative goals in the Indian NDCs are:
- A 33-35 per cent reduction in the gross domestic product emissions intensity by 2030 from 2005 levels
- A 40 per cent share of non-fossil fuel based electricity by 2030
- Creating a carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide through afforestation programmes
The NDCs are to be implemented in the post-2020 period.
(Source: Down to Earth)
