Chief Secretary stresses financial support for green transition at climate change workshop

Kolkata: The state Environment department will introduce Green Carbon Credit Card for rewarding and incentivising individuals for their positive environmental contributions.

“We are doing something unique in Bengal through the introduction of Green Carbon Credit Card. An individual can lessen his/her individual carbon footprint and can earn brownie points through our private partners that includes some big names in online shopping,” said Abhinav Chandra, secretary of state Environment department at a stakeholder consultation workshop on “Financing India’s Green Transition Plan and Adaptation Needs” organised by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). He added that the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) is expected to be finalised soon.

The department’s idea behind introducing such cards evolved during a recent visit to a district school where various awareness programmes are conducted by the department on a regular basis. The Green Card is scheduled to be launched on World Environment Day (June 5).

Bengal’s Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said in today’s era tackling climate change is not just an environmental agenda but also a development imperative for which additional financial resources are needed. However, access to climate finance is constrained by challenges like institutional capacity, lack of bankable projects pipeline and the need for standardised methodologies to integrate climate considerations into development planning. Therefore, the focus must be on scaling investments in ecosystem-based approaches, promoting climate-resilient agriculture and enhancing infrastructure resilience.

He further highlighted the importance of community engagement in climate change efforts and the need to collaborate and create decentralised, context-specific funding models. To accomplish this, we need to strengthen the capacity of states and local institutions to prepare robust funding proposals such as those required by the Green Climate

Fund (GCF).

Rajasree Ray, economic adviser, MoEFCC, highlighted that to achieve low carbon and climate resilient growth, India requires concerted efforts, a cohesive approach and the collective efforts of all actors, policymakers, regulators and the financial system. She stressed on a concerted approach around taxonomy, green guidelines and financial products, as well as defining the roles of the private and public sector and bankers and asset managers.