The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Wednesday said it has formed a high-level ministerial panel for the implementation of the targets under the Paris agreement on climate crisis.
“The purpose of AIPA [Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement] is to generate a coordinated response on climate change matters that ensures India is on track towards meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement including its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC),” the ministry said in a statement.
Senior officials from 14 ministries will serve as AIPA members, who will oversee the progress in implementation of India’s NDC, and receive periodic updates to “monitor, review and revisit climate goals” in an attempt to fulfil the requirements of the Paris Agreement.
The AIPA would also function as a national authority to regulate carbon markets in India under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It will form guidelines for consideration of projects or activities under the deal, and “issue guidelines on carbon pricing, market mechanism, and other similar instruments that have a bearing on climate change and NDCs”.
The committee will also take note of the contributions of the private sector as well as multilateral agencies in the field of climate change, and guide their climate actions with national priorities. “The year 2021 would mark the beginning of implementation of the Paris Agreement and constitution of AIPA is central to strengthening the national systems and institutional arrangements for implementation and monitoring of climate actions,” the ministry said in a statement. “It will also ensure that India maintains its climate leadership as one [of] the few countries in the world whose climate actions are consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
In December 2015, as many as 195 countries had come together and signed the Paris Accord, which seeks to prevent global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius, to prevent extremities like higher sea levels, changes in weather patterns, food and water crises and other adverse effects.
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