India’s forest cover increases to 24.56 per cent of geographical area, informs govt in Lok Sabha

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has asserted that India is on track to achieve its targets set under the Paris Agreement for combating climate change. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Lok Sabha today,  Javadekar said, implementation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change and other measures have led to a reduction in emission intensity of GDP by 24 per cent between 2005 and 2016. He said, India’s forest cover is continuously increasing and it has reached 24.56 per cent of the geographical area of the country.

Replying to a question about the increasing pollution level in the country, the Minister said, the government has taken a series of measures to reduce carbon emission and is committed to reducing the pollution level in 100 cities in the next five years under the National Clean Air Programme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He rejected a claim that sufficient allocation was not made in this year’s budget for combating climate change. Javadekar said that India’s net emission of carbon is very low in comparison with other developed countries and the country is taking every possible step to lower the emission level.

(AIR)