India grants $1 million each to Thimpu forestry centre and Male coastal management centre
03 Dec 2009
India has announced a grant of one million dollar each to the SAARC Forestry Centre at Thimphu and SAARC Coastal Management Centre, Male. The grants were announced at the 8th meeting of environment ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in New Delhi on 19-21 October 2009.
The SAARC environment ministers also noted the proposal of the government of Bhutan to consider climate change as the theme of the 16th SAARC Summit in April 2010. Other important decisions inter alia were issuing of a Delhi statement on cooperation in environment agreeing on specific joint actions to further strengthen environmental governance.
This information was given by the minister of state for environment and forests (independent charge) Jairam Ramesh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
SAARC countries will also co-operate on biodiversity conservation and climate change action; identification of regional projects based on the concept papers circulated by India on biodiversity, solid waste management and training/capacity building programme for zoos of SAARC countries; establishment of 50 weather stations for advance storm warning systems in SAARC member states. The Indian government has agreed to undertake the programme and the first such stations would be set up in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
SAARC also agreed to finalise a regional environment treaty to be signed at the 16th SAARC Summit.
SAARC countries regularly coordinate their position on climate change as members of the Group of 77 and China. In the 15th conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held at Copenhagen in December 2009, Sri Lanka, as current chair of SAARC countries, is scheduled to make a statement reflecting the views of SAARC countries in the opening plenary session, the minister stated.
