Minister of state for environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday informed the Rajya Sabha that the country’s first impact assessment report on change in environment is likely to be brought out by November. He stated that the government has already made a provision for Rs 25,000 crores to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The minister stated that the report will assess the impact of climate change on important sectors like agriculture, water, health and forests. “The assessment report is being prepared by the involvement of about 220 scientists from 120 research institutions across the country,” he stated. Mr Ramesh said that the report will assess the impact in the regions of Himalayas, Northeast, Western Ghats and coastal areas.
On the environmental mitigation fund, the minister said money is being raised through cess on coal and compulsory afforestation fund. He said Rs 10,000 crores is already available under the Compensatory Afforestation and Management Planning Authority, while another fund of Rs 10,000 crores would be generated by 2015 from cess on coal. Besides, the finance ministry has sanctioned Rs 5,000 crores as recommended by 13th Finance Commission.
On the need for the assessment report, the minister stated that the country needed to know what will be impact of such changes in the middle term like by 2025 and not wait for reports that are predicting for 2050 or later. “We need to know about the changes likely to be affected as we have to act on these now,” Mr Ramesh stated.
while responding to a resolution moved by JDU MP N.K. Singh.