The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Shri Prakash Javadekar participated in the 29th ministerial meeting of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) countries on Climate Change at Beijing, China on 25th-26th October 2019.
Following is the Joint Statement issued today at the Conclusion of 29th BASIC Ministerial Meet on Climate Change: The 29th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Beijing, China, on 25th-26th October 2019. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. LI Ganjie, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, attended by H.E. Mr. XIE Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China, and
H.E. Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information and Broadcasting of the Republic of India, Mr. Roberto Castelo Branco, National Secretary for International Relations, Ministry of the Environment of Brazil, and Mr. Maesela Kekana, Chief Director of International Climate Change Relations and Negotiations of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries of the Republic of South Africa. In line with the ‘BASIC-plus’ approach, H.E. Ammar Hijazi, Ambassador of the state of Palestine, on behalf of the Chair of the Group of 77 and China, and Mr. Mauricio Carabelli of Chile, on behalf of the incoming Presidency of COP25 also attended the meeting as Guests.
BASIC Ministers expressed their concern for the global challenge of climate change and its adverse effects, and confirmed their commitments to multilateralism in order to address the issue and to foster climate resilience and promote greenhouse gas emissions reduction, low-carbon and sustainable development, with a view to collectively working towards preparedness of international community for the wellbeing of all. Ministers underscored that all parties should jointly defend the international system underpinned by the United Nations, in accordance with the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances. Unilateralism and protectionism undermine the open and free international trade system and the prospect of global economic development and growth, which will end up with damaging global efforts against climate change. It is imperative to focus on safeguarding the multilateral process and the fulfillment of commitments.
Ministers emphasized the faithful and comprehensive implementation of the Paris Agreement, in particular of its goals and principles, and underlined the importance of a full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol and its Paris Agreement, in accordance with the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances, as well as the nationally- determined nature of the Paris Agreement. They emphasized that global climate action should promote climate justice by recognizing the fundamental equality of all people in accessing economic growth and sustainable development. The BASIC Ministers reaffirmed and emphasized the need for people’s participation and climate friendly lifestyles for addressing the challenge of climate change acknowledging that Paris Agreement embodies and calls for sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns.
Ministers highlighted that developing countries, including BASIC countries, notwithstanding the multiple challenges including food security, poverty eradication, and insufficient and uneven progress of domestic
development, have been implementing ambitious climate action based on their national circumstances in the context of sustainable development, and have achieved great progress with significant contribution to global efforts in combating climate change. In 2018, China has reduced carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 45.8% from the 2005 level, increased the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to 14.3%. South Africa has recently implemented carbon tax, and announced massive renewable energy program in its latest electricity plan. India has already achieved 21% reduction in emission intensity of GDP in 2014 compared to 2005 levels, thereby achieving its pre-2020 voluntary target. In 2015, Brazil had already achieved a 58% emission reduction in the business as usual scenario set for its NAMAs, thereby overachieving its target of 36%- 39% reductions set for 2020.
Ministers noted UN Climate Action Summit and its strong political signal of upholding multilateralism, implementing the Paris Agreement, and enhancing ambitions of action and support. BASIC countries actively engaged and contributed, and are ready to further strengthen international cooperation to explore solutions which are cost-effective and with lower risks, such as nature-based solutions, and technology innovation in industry transition.
Ministers expressed their appreciation to the Polish Presidency’s contribution to the conclusion of the bulk of the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP). They appreciated Costa Rica for hosting Pre-COP25 to promote political dialogue on specific issues. The Group pledged their full support to the incoming Chilean Presidency, and highlighted that the key outcome of COP25 will be to conclude negotiations on robust rules to ensure environmental integrity under Article 6 of Paris Agreement and to achieve progress on climate finance which is one of the key enablers for developing countries to implement ambitious climate actions. They committed to working with all other Parties for the success of COP25 in an open and transparent, consensus-based and party- driven manner.
Ministers valued the 187 ratifications of the Paris Agreement to date, called on all remaining Parties to ratify, and welcomed the implementation of the Agreement in the post-2020 period. The Group also underscored Kyoto Protocol as the significant milestone in the multilateral climate process. Ministers also welcomed the 134 ratifications, to date, of the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and recalled that only 10 acceptance instruments are outstanding for the amendment to enter into force. They urged the Parties that have not yet ratified the Doha Amendment to do so as soon as possible, striving for its prompt entry into force before COP25.
The Group highlighted the substantial gaps not only in mitigation, but also in adaptation and support provided by developed countries to developing countries in the pre-2020 period. They stressed that these gaps should not be transferred to the post-2020 period to present additional burdens on developing countries. They urged developed countries to take urgent actions to close the gaps, including revisiting their targets on mitigation under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and fulfilling their commitments of providing support to developing countries.
Ministers underscored that as developing countries are the most adversely affected by climate change, adaptation is a key imperative but is neglected with imbalanced allocation of resources compared to mitigation. They reiterated that balanced allocation should be made for adaptation and mitigation in terms of support provided by developed countries, including through Green Climate Fund (GCF). The Group encouraged other fora, including the Global Commission on Adaptation to play their part in supporting developing countries on adaptation. They emphasized that it is critical to dedicate a share of proceeds from ITMOs transactions under Article 6 to fund adaptation in developing countries.
Ministers underlined their commitment to taking ambitious actions to implement their NDCs. They stressed that action and support are integral in terms of ambition, and the ambition of support by developed countries should match the ambition of action by developing countries. Developed countries shall provide new and additional, sustained, predictable, adequate and timely finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support to developing countries, open markets and carry out practical technological cooperation, which serve the basis for mutual trust and important conditions for the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Ministers expressed their deep concern on the insufficiency and inadequacy of the support provided by developed countries to date, and underlined that the climate finance should be new, additional, and with significant public funded component. They urged developed countries to fulfill their climate finance commitments of providing USD 100 billion annually by 2020 for developing countries in a transparent and grant-based manner.
Ministers urged developed countries to propose the new collective quantified goal on finance as soon as possible, including detailed roadmap and timetable. The goal should be from a floor of USD 100 billion per year, significantly publicly funded and of greater transparency. The 2020 deliberations should draw lessons from the experience of meeting the USD 100 billion pledge, be informed by the needs and priorities of developing countries, and be adequate to meet the ambition of action of developing countries. In this regard, they stressed the importance of establishing a structured deliberation within the UNFCCC, in order to conclude this work in a meaningful and timely manner.
Ministers noted with concern the significant gap in aspects including funding scale, eligibility and policy- making of the GCF and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) from the need of developing countries. They noted of the contributions made by some developed countries in the first replenishment of the GCF, and urged the other developed countries to make speedy and robust contributions, to ensure the first replenishment doubles the initial resource mobilization pledge in real terms.
The Group highlighted that providing information on transparency of support, including its predictability, is a key component of the Enhanced Transparency Framework. In this regard, Ministers urged developed countries to engage in discussion to formulate clear guidance for the biennial communication which has common tables for communicating such information, referred to Article 9.5 in a positive and constructive manner.
Ministers underscored the importance of concluding the discussions on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, in accordance with the mandates and principles set out in the Agreement and the accompanying decision, including ensuring environmental integrity and avoiding double counting. They restated that decisions on other subjects should not pre-empt discussions under Article 6, and the issues should be addressed in a balanced and inclusive manner.
Ministers expressed that the rules and governance structures for cooperative approaches under Article 6.2 shall be multilaterally agreed and applicable to all Parties, and shall ensure that all transactions are based on actual
mitigation efforts, consistent with Article 2. A robust accounting system shall be put in place, which shall have flexibility to accommodate different types of NDCs and a central log to register all transactions.
Ministers stated that the design of the mechanism under Article 6.4 shall be conducive to public and private sector involvement and avoid the creation of unnecessary obstacles to investment, provided that environmental integrity is ensured. Appropriate approaches, including corresponding adjustment and other possible means, should be explored to this end. Under no circumstances is the nationally determined nature of commitments and the bottom-up character of the Paris Agreement to be changed. They also stated that the ability of the climate change regime to ensure the appropriate transition of the CDM to the mechanism under Article 6.4 will be key to securing continued engagement of the public and private sectors in mitigation action.
Ministers welcomed the review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts based on the mandates, and emphasized the need to address loss and damage on the basis of equity and in accordance with the principles of CBDR-RC, the relevant provisions of the Paris Agreement and COP decisions.
Ministers reiterated that the UNFCCC process remains the preeminent international forum for addressing matters related to climate change, and other fora serve as contributory supplement under the guidance of its principles and spirit. Ministers noted the work of International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation (ICAO) on reduction of GHG emissions, and underlined that the work being undertaken must comply with the key principles of the UNFCCC process, in particular the principle of Equity and CBDR-RC.
Ministers hailed the 10th anniversary of the BASIC Group and agreed to further strengthen the solidarity and cooperation among the four countries. In this context, they committed to jointly promote South-South cooperation, providing assistance as capabilities allow to enhance the capacities of other developing countries in addressing climate change. They reiterated their unequivocal support to the State of Palestine, as the Chair of the Group of 77 and China, with a view to strengthening the unity of the Group and advancing the common interests of developing countries.
Ministers welcomed the offer of India to host the 30th BASIC Ministerial Meeting.
Theme of the Vigilance Awareness Week: “Integrity- A way of life”
Background: The Central Vigilance Commission aims to promote integrity, transparency and accountability in public life.
As part of its efforts to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society, CVC observes Vigilance Awareness Week every year. The observation of Vigilance Awareness Week creates greater awareness among public and encourages all the stakeholders to collectively participate in prevention of and fight against Corruption.
About CVC: It is the apex vigilance institution created via executive resolution (based on the recommendations of Santhanam committee) in 1964 but was conferred with statutory status in 2003. It submits its report to the President of India.
Composition: Consists of central vigilance commissioner along with 2 vigilance commissioners.
Appointment: They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendations of a committee consisting of Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (if there is no LoP then the leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha).
Term: Their term is 4 years or 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Removal: The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.
Impact: This will impart greater operational and financial autonomy thus enhancing powers to their Boards to take financial decisions.
Boards of these PSUs can make equity investments to undertake financial joint ventures (JV) and wholly owned subsidiaries and undertake mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in India as well as abroad. This is however subjected to a ceiling of 15% of net worth of concerned CPSE, limited to Rs 5,000 crore in one project.
The Boards can also structure and implement schemes relating to personnel as well as human resource management and training. Holding companies of a ‘Maharatna’ PSU are also empowered to float fresh equity, transfer assets, divest shareholding in subsidiaries, but are subjected to condition that the delegation will only be in respect of subsidiaries set up by holding company.
Criteria for grant of Maharatna status: Shall be given to CPSEs: Having Navratna status. Listed on Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding under SEBI regulations.
Average annual turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 crore, during the last 3 years. Average annual net worth of more than Rs. 15,000 crore, during the last 3 years. Average annual net profit after tax of more than Rs. 5,000 crore, during the last 3 years. Should have significant global presence/international operations.
Criteria for grant of Navratna status: The Miniratna Category – I and Schedule ‘A’ CPSEs, which have obtained ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ rating under the Memorandum of Understanding system in three of the last five years, and have composite score of 60 or above in the six selected performance parameters, namely,
net profit to net worth. manpower cost to total cost of production/services. profit before depreciation, interest and taxes to capital employed. profit before interest and taxes to turnover. earning per share. inter-sectoral performance.
Criteria for grant of Miniratna status: The CPSEs which have made profits in the last three years continuously and have positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna status.
The new guidelines, among other things, envisage providing training to community health workers to provide support to persons on peritoneal dialysis at home or in primary health care settings.
Significance of these guidelines: The guidelines aim to serve as a comprehensive manual to states that intend to set up peritoneal dialysis services and for providers of peritoneal dialysis as a `best practice’ document to ensure delivery of high quality and cost effective services.
It also aims to achieve equity in patient access to home-based peritoneal dialysis, reduce the overall cost of care to the system by focusing on efficient leveraging of resources, and bring in consistency of practice, pricing and a full range of product availability.
How is peritoneal dialysis performed? During peritoneal dialysis, a cleansing fluid (dialysate) is circulated through a tube (catheter) inside a part of the abdominal cavity (peritonealcavity). The dialysate absorbs waste products from blood vessels in the abdominal lining (peritoneum) and then is drawn back out of the body and discarded.
Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme: Rolled out in 2016 as part of the National Health Mission(NHM) for provision of free dialysis services to the poor. The Guidelines for Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme envisage provision of dialysis services under NHM in PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode.
Need for govt intervention: Every year about 2.2 Lakh new patients of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) get added in India resulting in additional demand for 3.4 Crore dialysis every year.
With approximately 4950 dialysis centres, largely in the private sector in India, the demand is less than half met with existing infrastructure. Since every Dialysis has an additional expenditure tag of about Rs.2000, it results in a monthly expenditure for patients to the tune of Rs.3-4 Lakhs annually.
Besides, most families have to undertake frequent trips, and often over long distances to access dialysis services incurring heavy travel costs and loss of wages for the patient and family members accompanying the patient. This therefore leads to financial catastrophe for practically all families with such patients.
It has been felt that both in terms of provision of this important life saving procedure and also for reducing impoverishment on account of out of pocket expenditure for patients, a Dialysis program is required.
Background: South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, has maintained its developing country status as a member of the WTO since the body’s creation in 1995, mainly to guard its agriculture industry.
Who are the developing countries in the WTO? There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries. Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries. However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.
What are the advantages of “developing country” status? Developing country status in the WTO brings certain rights. Developing country status ensures special and differential treatment (S&DT) or provisions which allow them more time to implement agreements and commitments, include measures to increase trading opportunities, safeguard their trade interests, and support to build capacity to handle disputes and implement technical standards.
Demands by developed countries: For sometime now, developed countries, mainly the US, have been asking the WTO to end the benefits being given to developing countries.
Nearly two-thirds of the members of the World Trade Organization(WTO) have been able to avail themselves of special treatment and to take on weaker commitments under the WTO framework by designating themselves as developing countries.
The initiative was implemented by the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.
Significance, outcomes and benefits of the project: The outcomes of the IndiGen will have applications in a number of areas including predictive and preventive medicine with faster and efficient diagnosis of rare genetic diseases. The data will be important for building the knowhow, baseline data and indigenous capacity in the emerging area of Precision Medicine.
About Genomics for Public Health in India (IndiGen) programme: IndiGen programme aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of thousands of individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India. The objective is to enable genetic epidemiology and develop public health technologies applications using population genome data.
Need for genome sequencing: Ever since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, it opened a fresh perspective on the link between disease and the unique genetic make-up of each individual.
Nearly 10,000 diseases — including cystic fibrosis, thalassemia — are known to be the result of a single gene malfunctioning. While genes may render some insensitive to certain drugs, genome sequencing has shown that cancer too can be understood from the viewpoint of genetics, rather than being seen as a disease of certain organs.
Highlights of the declaration: The Colombo Declaration has been developed with the technical support of the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS), a joint activity of the UNEP and the International Nitrogen Initiative supported by the Global Environmental Facility.
The aim is to halve nitrogen waste by 2030. A campaign on sustainable nitrogen management called “Nitrogen for Life” is to be launched. It stems from the Sustainable Nitrogen Management Resolution which was adopted during the fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly held from 11 – 15 March 2019 at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The Declaration calls upon UN agencies, other international organizations, development partners, philanthropic agencies, academic and civil society organizations to support its implementation.
It also urges countries to conduct a comprehensive assessment on nitrogen cycling covering policy, implementation, regulation, and scientific aspects at a national level plus sensitize the citizens to understand the natural nitrogen cycle and how human impacts alter its balance.
What necessitated this? While a critical element for building structures of living organisms and an essential element for the survival of all living things, nitrogen overuse has negative impacts on the planet, biodiversity and is a contributor to the climate crisis.
How Nitrogen turned into pollutant from nutrient how it is affecting health and environment? Nitrogen is an inert gas that’s necessary for life. But we’re changing it into forms that are harmful, overloading the environment with it, and throwing the natural nitrogen cycle out of whack.
Nitrogen compounds running off farmland have led to water pollution problems around the world, while nitrogen emissions from industry, agriculture and vehicles make a big contribution to air pollution.
Over 80% of the nitrogen in soil is not utilised by humans. While over four-fifths of the nitrogen is used to feed livestock, only about six per cent reaches humans in case of non-vegetarian diet, as compared to the 20% that reaches the plate of a vegetarian.
Nitrogen becomes a pollutantwhen it escapes into the environment and reacts with other organic compounds. It is either released into the atmosphere, gets dissolved in water sources such as rivers, lakes or groundwater, or remains in the soil. While it might lead to favourable growth of species that can utilise this nutrient, nitrogen as a pollutant is often detrimental to the environment and health.
According to the World Health Organization, nitrate-contaminated drinking water can cause reduced blood function, cancer and endemic goiters. Surplus inputs of nitrogen compounds have been found to cause soil acidification. The lowering pH, as a result of the acidification, can lead to nutrient disorders and increased toxicity in plants. It may also affect natural soil decomposition.