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IMD, Japan and UNDP launch a Project to Accelerate Climate Action in India

  • 16 Aug 2022

India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Government of Japan, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have announced a new initiative to accelerate climate action in 10 states and Union Territories across the country.

Background

  • At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November 2021, India pledged to cut the country's total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, install 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, reduce the carbon intensity of the nation's economy by less than 45% by the end of the decade and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

UNDP’s Climate Promise: Supporting States to achieve NDC Targets

  • It is the largest global climate and development offer of support to countries on their national pledges to the Paris Agreement. At COP26, UNDP launched the next phase of the Climate Promise - From Pledge to Impact - scaling up its support to turn NDC targets into concrete action in at least 100 countries.

About the Project

  • To be rolled out in partnership with the IMD at the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the USD 5.16 million project will leverage the Nationally Determined Contributions to achieve net-zero emissions, climate-resilient development, and post-COVID green recovery in India.
  • The launch comes after the Cabinet’s recent approval of India's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) to be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
  • Under the initiative, UNDP will work with IMD to promote climate resilience and MNRE to promote climate mitigation by:
    • Clean Energy Infrastructure and Low-Emission Technologies: Deploying clean energy infrastructure and low-emission technologies in key sectors including Transport, Health, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and Agriculture. This includes solarizing 150 healthcare facilities, 20 micro-enterprises, and installing 85 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations and 30 solar cold storage systems across the 10 states.
    • Resilient Climate Planning: Demonstrating resilient climate planning at the grassroots through climate information flow systems for 30 Gram Panchayats.
    • Green Jobs and Green Entrepreneurship: Promote green jobs and green entrepreneurship in sectors like Renewable Energy by providing skilling and training to 2000+ people.

Target States/UTs

  • The project will be rolled out in the states and Union Territories of Bihar, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh between 2022-23.

Role of Japan

  • Japan has extended USD 5.16 million in climate grant to UNDP India for the project. This is part of Japan’s global support to 23 countries through UNDP’s ‘Climate Promise - From Pledge to Impact’ programme for scaling up its support to turn NDCs into concrete action.
  • Japan is the largest supporter of this phase of the pioneering and groundbreaking initiative and joins the longstanding funding partners Germany, Sweden, EU, Spain, Italy, as well as the new funding partners UK, Belgium, Iceland, and Portugal to accelerate these efforts.