Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Year end Review- Ministry of Environment, Forest

and Climate Change

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launches Green

Credit Initiative on the side-lines of COP 28

India updates its NDC according to which target to

reduce emissions intensity of its GDP has been
enhanced to 45 percent by 2030 from 2005 level and
target on cumulative electric power installed capacity
from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources has
been enhanced to 50% by 2030

In G-20 initiatives Global Alliance on land restoration

of forest fire and mining affected areas under the
Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap and the
Gandhinagar Information Platform (GIR-GIP),
Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry
Coalition RECEIC and High-Level Principles for a
Sustainable and Resilient Blue/ Ocean-based
Economy (HLPSRBE) launched

Prime Minister launched Mangrove Initiative for

Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) on
the World Environment Day
International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) launched by the
Prime Minister for conserving global big cats
including tiger

As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 the

total forest and tree cover in India is 80.9 million
hectares which is 24.62% of the geographical area of
the country

Integration of Gatishakti Portal with PARIVESH 2.0

for enhancing environmental clearance proposals

Posted On: 22 DEC 2023 12:02PM by PIB Delhi

Climate Change
Green Credit Programme (GCP)
Green Credit Initiative was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on the side-lines of COP 28. It is an
initiative within the governments Lifestyle for Environment or LIFE movement. The Green Credit
Rules, 2023, has been notified on 12th October 2023 under the Environment Protection Act 1986. These
rules put in place a mechanism to encourage voluntary environmental positive actions resulting in
issuance of green credits. In its initial phase, voluntary tree plantation is envisaged on degraded land,
waste land, watershed area etc. under the control and management of Forest departments.
The generation of Green Credit under Green Credit Rules, 2023 is independent of the carbon credit
under Carbon Credit Trading Scheme 2023.
Governance structure of GCP includes the steering committee members from concerned
ministries/departments, experts and institutions. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
(ICFRE) is designated as GCP administrator and is responsible for implementation and management of
GCP. Digital process of GCP includes dedicated web platform and GC registry for streamlining the
operations. In addition to these methodologies and guidelines, including registration, accounting and GC
issuance monitoring ensures the transparency and accountability of GCP.

India’s achievements against the NDC targets-

As per India’s first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted in the year 2015, India had
the target of:
Reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level; and
Achieving about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-
 based energy resources by 2030.

These two targets have been achieved well ahead of the time. As on 31 st October, 2023; the
cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources is 186.46
MW, which is the 43.81% of the total cumulative electric power installed capacity. The emission
intensity of its GDP has been reduced by 33 percent between 2005 and 2019.
In August 2022, India updated its NDC according to which target to reduce emissions intensity of its
GDP has been enhanced to 45 percent by 2030 from 2005 level, and the target on cumulative electric
power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources has been enhanced to 50% by
2030.

28th Session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28)

An inter-ministerial delegation from India attended the 28th Session of the UN Climate Change
Conference (COP 28) held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 30th November’2023 to 13th
December’2023. The major outcome from COP 28 included the decision on Outcome of the First
Global Stocktake, ratcheting up global climate ambition before the end of the decade and agreement
on the operationalization of loss and damage fund. These global efforts will be taken up by the
countries in a nationally determined manner taking into account the Paris Agreement and their
different national circumstances.
India’s Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change was submitted on December 9, 2023. The report contains information on India’s greenhouse
gas emissions, its vulnerability to climate change, and the measures it is taking to mitigate emissions
and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Energy sector contributed the most to the overall
anthropogenic emissions with 75.81 percent, followed by agriculture sector with 13.44 percent,
Industrial Process and Product Use (IPPU) with 8.41 percent and Waste with 2.34 percent.
India also submitted the Initial Adaptation Communication to UNFCCC. India has been diligently
working towards adaptation in mission mode. Several policies and measures have been put in place
across key economic sectors, keeping in mind the wide scope of adaptation activities. India has been
spending significant amount of resources on adaptation relevant actions, despite the competing
demands for limited resources in a developing economy.
Mission LiFE, was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 20th October 2022. At the 2021
UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26), Hon'ble PM had announced Mission LiFE, to
bring individual behaviours at the forefront of the global climate action narrative. LiFE has been
acknowledged by various international foras, including IPCC Climate Change 2022, Mitigation of
Climate Change Working Group III Report, 2022, Cover decision of Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation
Plan, 2022, G7 Communique adopted in Sapporo, Japan, 2023, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Communique, 2023., G20 Leaders’ Declaration, 2023 and 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit
(P20) and Parliamentary Forum, 2023.
India Cooling Action Plan: India is the first country in the world to develop a comprehensive
Cooling Action Plan, which seeks to provide an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors
encompassing inter alia reducing cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency
and better technology options with a 20-year time horizon. During Hydro Chlorofluorocarbons Phase
Out Management Plan (HPMP) Stage-II implementation, India completely phased out the use of
Hydro chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)- 141b in manufacturing of rigid foam, the first among the
developing countries to achieve the milestone. As against target of 35% reduction from the baseline as
on 1.1.2020, India achieved a reduction of 44%, highlighting India’s efforts in protection of the
stratospheric ozone layer.
G20 Initiatives under India’s Presidency - Environment and Climate Sustainability Work Group
(ECSWG) 2.
Inception of a Global Alliance on land restoration of forest fire and mining affected areas under the
Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap and the Gandhinagar Information Platform (GIR-GIP).
Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry Coalition RECEIC was launched under India's
Presidency with 40 founding members from private sector across the globe.
High-Level Principles for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue/ Ocean-based Economy (HLPSRBE) was
launched. G20 countries formally adopted the 9 comprehensive high-level principles. It includes the
baseline studies for preparation of Marine Spatial Planning for promotion of Blue economy as per
HLPSBE.
A mega beach cleaning International Event was organised on 21st May, 2023, wherein total 18
countries participated. A total of 3300 volunteers participated on 20 international beach and 3593 Kg of
trash was collected for all the beaches.
Forest Conservation
Remarkable Increase in the Number of Ramsar Sites of the Country: Since 2014, 49 new wetlands
across the country have been designated as Ramsar (Wetlands of International Importance) sites taking
the total number to 75. Currently, India has the second largest network of Ramsar Sites in Asia. Amrit
Dharohar Yojana has been launched for conservation of Ramsar sites through community participation
on the environment day 2023. Faunal inventory of all the 75 Ramsar Sites has been published by ZSI on
1st September 2023 and Floral inventory for 75 Ramsar Sites is under preparation.
Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023: To achieve the country’s national as well as
international commitments of NDCs, carbon neutrality, eliminate the ambiguities and bring clarity about
the applicability of the Act in various lands, promoting the plantation in non-forest land, enhancing the
productivity of the forests, amendment in the existing Act has been made by promulgating the Forest
(Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023. During last two years, the Forest Conservation Division has
issued approximately 60 guidelines or clarifications to further streamline the process of approval under
the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
Increase in the number of Protected Areas: The number of Protected Areas in the country, which
stood at 745 in the year 2014 have risen to 998. This accounts for 5.28% of the country’s total
geographic area. The numbers of Community Reserves in the country have increased from 43 in the
year 2014 to 220 presently.
Increase in forest and tree cover: As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, the total forest and
tree cover in India is 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country. Out
of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq
km as compared to 2019. 589.70 Cr seedlings were planted and a total of 8.77 million Hectares of area
was covered under tree plantation till October 2023. as compared to 2020.
Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) was launched on the
World Environment Day (5th June 2023) by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The aim of the MISHTI is to
“Restoration of mangrove forests” by undertaking mangrove reforestation/ afforestation measures along
the coast of India by adopting existing best practices in India and globally. Ministry has prepared a
proposal and same has been submitted to National CAMPA authority for allocation of funds under
MISHTI for FY 2023-24. Rs.100 Crores have been allocated as Project outlay for the FY 2023-24.
4.6. Blue Flag Beaches: There were no blue flag certified beaches in India in 2014. Government of
India initiated the beach development work and 08 beaches conferred blue flag certification in 2020. In
2022, total 12 beaches had blue flag certification.

PARIVESH
 PARIVESH is a web based, role based workflow application which has been developed for online
submission and monitoring of the proposals submitted by the proponents for seeking Environment,
Forest, Wildlife and CRZ Clearances from Central, State and district level authorities. It automates the
entire tracking of proposals which includes online submission of a new proposal, editing/updating the
details of proposals and displays status of the proposals at each stage of the workflow.
To enhance users experience on PARIVESH with modern day web application, Ministry has expanded
the scope of existing PARIVESH (2.0) leveraging on emerging technology such as GIS, Advance Data
Analytics, etc. for providing faster decisions on Green Clearances and robust compliance monitoring by
end-to-end online appraisal and grant of clearances. An upgraded version of existing PARIVESH is
supplemented with unique modules (Know Your Approval, Know Your Customer, Decision Support
System etc).
Major modules in PARIVESH 2.0 viz: end to end online processing of Category A and B environmental
clearance proposals was developed and rolled out at Central and SEIAA level, respectively. In addition,
all major functionalities of other major clearances (FC/WL&CRZ) have been developed and rolled out.
In CRZ clearance, all nine State Coastal Zonal Management Authority were onboarded, for the first
time, on PARIVESH 2.0 for online submission and processing of applications. Furthermore,
PARIVESH 2.0 is also integrated with Gatishakti and National Single window portal.
Integration of NSWS with PARIVESH 2.0 in Option 3 plus: Integration of NSWS portal with
PARIVESH 2.0 under option 3 plus has been completed in October 2023.Under option 3 plus, user now
can also register on NSWS and onboard on PARIVESH through NSWS portal. Registration details on
NSWS will be pushed to PARIVESH through API based services.
Integration of Gatishakti Portal with PARIVESH 2.0: The PARIVESH Portal and Gati Shakti Portal
are seamlessly integrated through Map service. Forest cadastral map for 5 states [Jharkhand, Haryana,
Punjab, Gujarat, & one district of Tripura] and Projects planned on Gati Shakti are successfully
integrated on PARIVESH. Similarly, data in the form of layers (EC/FC/WL/CRZ approved, Protected
Area Boundary, Eco Sensitive Zone) available are successfully pushed to Gati Shakti portal.

Air Quality/ Pollution

Improvement in Air quality: Under NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) and XV FC grants, 131
non-attainment cities are being monitored for the air quality. They have shown a positive impact as
there is progressive reduction observed in the annual average concentration of PM 10 in these 131 cities
which has ultimately resulted in the improved air quality. Under Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan more than
100 cities are monitored for air quality with an intent and plan to improve the air quality through holistic
approach.

AIR QUALITY 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24

Reduction in Calculate
annual PM10 Improvement in 85 Improve me nt in Improvement in 95 Improvement in 90 Financial
levels vis a vis cities 102 cities cities cities basis so
base year 2017 data is awa

Circular Economy
Mission Circular Economy: 11 Committees constituted for development of Circular Economy (CE) and
Action Plans for 10 waste categories (Li-ion batteries; E-waste; Toxic and hazardous industrial waste;
Scrap metal (ferrous and non-ferrous); Tyre and Rubber; End of Life Vehicles; Gypsum, Used Oil,
Municipal solid waste and Solar Panels). Accordingly, the following amendments were made to
Promote mission of circular economy to move fast towards achieving climate goals.
a. Plastic Waste Management Rule was amended on 27.04.2023.
 b. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Used Oil” was amended on 18.09.2023.
c. E-Waste (Management) Rules, was amended on 30.01.2023.
d. Battery Waste Management Rules, was amended on 25.10.2023.
e. Waste Tyre, 2022” on 21.07.2022.
Total plastic packaging of around 3.07 million tonnes been covered under EPR for the year 2022-23.
Registered PIBOs: 31099 Registered Plastic Waste Processors: 2289, till October 2023.

Wildlife
Transcontinental relocation of Cheetah: 8 cheetahs from Namibia and 12 cheetahs from South Africa
have been translocated to Kuno National Park in Sept’22 and Feb, 2023 respectively. Cheetah had
become extinct in the country in the late 1940/early 1950s.
50 years of project tiger: As per the latest Tiger Census report released in August 2023 India is home
to more than 75% tiger population of the world. Tiger Estimation (2022) shows an increase from 2226
in 2014 to 3,682 in 2023 with 12 tiger reserves with Outstanding category. International Big Cat
Alliance (IBCA) has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 9th April 2023 for
conserving global big cats including tiger.
Digitization of Flora, Fauna and herbarium records: The BSI and ZSI has carried out the
digitization of 16500 specimens with 45000 images of the Type and Non-Type of Indian Faunal
specimens. ZSI has completed faunal documentation from 27 States and Union Territories as well as all
of the 10 Biogeographic Zones across the country. Data of 6124 springs in 11 IHR States and 1 UT
(J&K) has been geo-tagged spatially online on the HIMAL Geo portal.
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MJPS/NSK

(Release ID: 1989495)