The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has for the first time chosen India as the global host of World Environment Day (WED) on June 5. In an email interview with FE’s Rajiv Tikoo, UNEP chief Achim Steiner explains that India has been chosen for a variety of reasons, including its growing influence on environmental issues. Excerpts:
UNEPs theme this year is Forests: Nature at Your Service. India is already active in this space. Apart from taking actions domestically, Indias REDD+ proposal too has gained traction during climate change talks. So, how can India utilise this years WED to push its forestry agenda forward?
India has certainly been very active in the UN climate convention negotiations on REDD and perhaps, more importantly, REDD+, which includes not only managing standing forests but the planting of new ones in order to enhance forest carbon stocks. India has also been active in what is called the REDD+ Partnership. The global investments in this area from members total around $4.5 billion. As a result of the hosting of WED 2011, and in the run up to the UN climate change meeting in Durban, there is a real opportunity for India to evolve its role in this arena.
How can India leverage its position in this space to secure tangible returns?
India has been a pioneer in the management of forests including assessing forest cover and managing forests for non-timber products. For example, India has developed excellent forest inventory systems, which are the basis for any MRV system. These MRV skills of India are important not only to secure national REDD+ efforts, but could be important aspects for catalysing a transformational REDD+ regime globally as they could form the basis for strengthening the capacities in other developing countries that are embarking on REDD+ initiatives.
So, an even more engaged India stands to benefit nationally from, for example, revenues from REDD+ carbon credits, and harnessing its experience to enhance the prospects for other forested countries.
How can India get more buy-in from the corporate sector in forestry?
India has had a strong track record in recent years in terms of engaging the private sector in areas such as farm forestry and out-grower schemes. Much of the timber, particularly in Indias southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, for instance, comes from new plantings on private farms and home gardens. There is a real opportunity to scale this up and widen the number of products available. Indias experience in forestry management can equip its private sector to be one of the leading suppliers of certified timber and non-timber products.
India is also one of the countries that is taking forward the global work of TEEBa broad partnership hosted by UNEPand bringing it to the national level. Assessing the wider economic value of forests in terms of their multi-billion dollar servicesranging from supply of freshwater to stabilisation of soilsand factoring those into national accounts could provide a new and fresh impetus for the private sector to invest and re-invest in forestry.
If the 20th century was an industrial age, then the 21st century will be increasingly a biological one both in terms of constraints and opportunities. Many of the new businesses, products and processes of the coming decades may well emerge in those countries which have maintained that biodiversity and developed smart policies and science and technology to sustainably exploit them.
The global environment agenda has been appropriated by the burning climate change agenda. Is it not hurting the environment more than it’s benefiting climate change?
To a certain extent it is understandable that climate change has taken such a pivotal position in environmental diplomacy. It is a scientific and environmental change issue, but one that goes in many ways to the heart of the global economy with potentially wide ranging and multiple impacts. Having said that, I agree that it would be unfortunate to lose sight of the other challenges and I think governments over the past one or two years have realised it and acted.
The Green Economy also reflects that understandingsustainable development will only evolve if we join up the dots and realize that only by bringing together economic, social and environmental challenges as a wholeand in a way that reflects the new imperative and new knowledge of a new century: Can civilization fulfil the promises made almost 20 years ago.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 28 May 2011