Patna: A feedback meeting on ‘Climate Resilient and Low Carbon Development Pathway for Bihar’ was held here under the chairmanship of Bandana Preyashi, Secretary, Department of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, on Tuesday. The meeting, held in the wake of the release of a draft report on the low carbon pathway for Bihar by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on March 4, served as a platform for stakeholders to contribute their insights.
Addressing the gathering, Secretary Preyashi elucidated the purpose behind the meeting, emphasizing its role in soliciting feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders, including experts, academicians, and representatives from civil society, regarding the draft report.
“Bihar stands as a pioneering state in the nation for embarking on such an endeavor to delineate a pathway towards low carbon emissions across various sectors. A lot of hard work, extensive study, and data analysis have gone into making the draft report. It is aimed at becoming a policy document of the state government, intended for adoption and implementation by various departments, and subject to monitoring at the highest level,” she said.
S. Chandrasekar, the Member Secretary of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB), underscored the collaborative efforts between United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and BSPCB, encapsulated in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked in February 2021, aimed at formulating strategies for the ‘Climate Resilient and Low Carbon Development Pathway for Bihar’. “The culmination of the study has resulted in the preparation of a draft strategy report, which has been opened up for feedback and suggestions from the populace and all stakeholders. This meeting serves as a continuation of that concerted effort,” he said.
Delving into the recommendations outlined within the climate-resilient and low carbon pathway for Bihar, Divya Datt, Deputy Country Head of UNEP India, said: “The strategy has assessed existing initiatives and schemes to ensure seamless integration of recommendations into current policies under the short-term plan. Moreover, it presents medium (up to 2050) and long-term (up to 2070) recommendations, encompassing initiatives necessary at the structural and institutional level.”
Making a presentation on the climate-resilient and low carbon strategy, Mani Bhushan Jha, senior program associate at WRI India, said the report has laid down mitigation and adaptation strategies in sectors including power, transport, waste, buildings, industries, agriculture, forest, disaster management, water, and human health after scientific analysis of data and field visits to all 38 districts along with primary surveys of more than 35,000 people.
Experts and representatives from various institutions and organizations, including NIT Patna, Central University of South Bihar, Nalanda University, Tata-Cornell Institute, Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, and Piramal Foundation, among others, shared feedback in the meeting.
Concluding the session, Dr. Naveen Kumar, Senior Scientist at BSPCB, extended gratitude and invited further feedback or suggestions on the draft report of the Climate Resilient and Low Carbon Development Pathway for Bihar, to be directed either via email to Bihar.CRLCDP@gmail.com or to the office of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board by April 12.
