Seminar on net zero goals planned during Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit

As part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit scheduled for next week, a seminar themed on net zero carbon emission will be held in Gandhinagar.Announcing the seminar, Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Gujarat, on Tuesday said the seminar to be held on January 12, is aimed at bringing together global and national leaders to share their insights on net zero, decarbonisation of the economy and carbon trading.

“The journey to net zero would require strategic interventions aiming at existing technology upgradation, new technology adoption, finance and investments, policies and institutional setups, foresighted governance, capacity building of people, and the right mix of confidence,” the principal secretary said.At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to an ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewables, reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030.
India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070.

While sharing the details of the seminar, the principal secretary said Union Minister, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav would attend the seminar as the chief guest. VK Saraswat, Member Niti Ayog, Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman and CEO, ONGC and Kimmo Siira, Counsellor, Embassy of Finland will also participate.
There will be two plenary sessions — Decarbonisation of Economy and Carbon Trading, respectively.

Develing in the details of the sessions, he said, the plenary sessions are designed to hear the perspectives of the leaders and experts on their challenges, upcoming opportunities, success stories and way forward.Other eminent speakers who will take part are Vivek Adhia, Boston Consulting Group, Prof. Anu Ramaswami, Director, Princeton University, Jinal Mehta, Managing Director, Torrent Power Limited, Jai Shroff, Chairman, UPL Limited, Prof M K Tiwari, Director, IIM Mumbai, Prof. Amit Garg, IIM Ahmedabad, Olivia Zeydler, Lead, Strategic Integration, World, Economic forum, Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, Alejandro Bertrab, Project Director, GIZ India, Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, Prof. Michael Greenstone, University of Chicago, Manish Dabkara, CMD, Enking International (Carbon Trading Expert) and David Diallo, Co-founder, Good Carbon, Germany.

“Gujarat Forest Department has signed three MoU worth Rs.2217 crores in carbon financing through mangrove plantations by involving communities. This is the first of its kind in the country. Apart from this, MoUs in the field of carbon financing through agro-forestry are also being signed. Apart from this, we have done more than 50+ MoUs in the field of knowledge sharing in the field of plantations, nature education camp resource persons and wildlife rescues. Gujarat, in addition to the aforementioned MoUs, is also exploring the carbon sequestration potential in wetlands and is conducting carbon studies on four Ramsar Sites (Nalsarovar, Thol, Khijadiya and Wadhvana) through the GEER Foundation,” Sanjeev Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was initiated by Narendra Modi in 2003, the then chief minister, to put Gujarat on the world map of trade and industry. The tenth edition of the Summit will be held from January 10 to 12, 2024. The Summit event will be inaugurated by PM Modi on January 10.