Centre constitutes committee for implementation of 2015 Paris Agreement

The Government of India has constituted the Apex Committee for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (AIPA) November 27, 2020, through a gazette notification.

Context

• The Government of India has constituted the Apex Committee for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (AIPA) November 27, 2020, through a gazette notification.

What is its objective?

• AIPA has been constituted with the purpose of “ensuring a coordinated response on climate change.
• It aims to protect the country’s interests and ensures that India is on track towards meeting its climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement including its submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)”.
• The AIPA also has the responsibility of regularly communicating and reporting the NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• It will also define the responsibilities of the government ministries that would be crucial in achieving the country’s climate change mitigation and adaptation goals and submit a report every six months.
• The AIPA will also act as a national authority for the regulation of carbon.

What are NDCs?

• NDCs are the accounts of the voluntary efforts to be made by countries that are a part of the Paris Agreement, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate change.
• There are three goals in the Indian NDCs, which are:

1. 1. A 33-35 per cent reduction in the gross domestic product emissions intensity by 2030 from 2005 levels.
   2. A 40 per cent share of non-fossil fuel based electricity by 2030.
   3. 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.
• India had submitted its NDCs in 2015.
• Now, the AIPA, with 17 members, has the responsibility of formulating policies and programmes for implementing them.

Who will be its members?

• The committee will have the secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) as the chairperson and the additional secretary, MoEFCC as the vice chairperson, according to the notification.