Hyderabad: Municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday urged the Centre to introduce a ranking system among states towards reaching net-zero emissions on the lines of the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings. This would trigger competition among the states and encourage a diligent and effective approach for meeting climate commitments, he said.
The minister highlighted the Haritha Haram program and other afforestation initiatives of the state while addressing a national workshop on forestry activities, organised by the forest department, here.
He appealed to the Union forest ministry to have a pragmatic approach towards achieving net-zero emissions, which was a 2070 target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rao said that the forest department should take into account the overall carbon emissions resulting from deforestation, and not just the loss of green cover.
“When we build a flyover, we only think about the trees that will either be translocated or uprooted. We should study the average number of cars that will use the road, their wait at the traffic signal and for how long the vehicle’s engine is kept running,” he explained.
He said that there was a need to incentivise performing states with respect to improving green cover with additional funds from the compensatory afforestation fund management and planning authority (CAMPA) while at the same time delisting underperforming states.
Stating that the forest department on its own cannot expect any major breakthrough, he urged them to coordinate with all departments and go about the vision as a joint exercise.
He reminded them that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was not for industrialisation at the cost of the environment. Keeping the well-being of future generations in mind, among his first priorities as Chief Minister was a call to take up a workable comprehensive afforestation plan.
Rao expressed happiness that almost 40.44 per cent of forest beat officers, section officers and range officers in the state were women.
