Himachal moots environment fund

8220;I will be happy if citizens voluntarily decide to contribute, say about Rs 100 per month, towards the environmental fund as cost of damage caused to the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions,8221; said Dhumal.

At a workshop organised by the state8217;s department of environment and scientific technologies, the Chief Minister spoke about the need of collective efforts involving citizens and government agencies to meet the challenges posed by climate change and global warming.

On the government side, beside a series of initiatives already taken to preserve the forest wealth and prevent environmental pollution, Dhumal decided to introduce a concept of compulsory environmental audit by all departments. 8220;Every department8217;s future plan should invariably take into account environmental impacts of the development measures. A beginning should be made to conduct an environmental audit of their programmes and recast strategies to adjust to the needs of environmental impacts,8221; he said.

The two major initiatives proposed by Dhumal received an endorsement from Prof N.H. Ravindra Nath, a noted scientist on climate change from Indian Institute Sciences. 8220;Himachal can show the way to the nation in effectively meeting the challenges on climate change. The state is at an advantage of becoming the country8217;s first carbon neutral state,8221; he announced.

Arvind Bhatia and Navin Chopra, directors from Assure Corporate Solutions, who also made presentations, identified key sectors such as hydel, renewable energy, transport, cement, forestry, as areas for earning carbon credits.

The compact fluorescent lamp CFL scheme will earn the state nearly Rs 100 crore carbon credits, said Arvind Bhatia. Minister for Forest and Environment J.P. Nadda, who set out the agenda for the workshop, spoke about the state8217;s initiative in the forestry sector and project of biocarbon credits introduced with World Bank funding.