The Tamil Nadu government is set to release scientific data on carbon emissions by each of its departments in the next few months, and is aspiring to realise the ‘net zero’ goal much before the national target of 2070, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has announced. It will also launch a ‘climate literacy’ programme and use palmyra trees to prevent coastal erosion and protect biodiversity, he said.
“In the next few months, we [Tamil Nadu government] will scientifically release data on carbon emissions by each of the departments. Either this committee [Tamil Nadu Governing Council on Climate Change] or a sub-committee would study the data and set a target so that Tamil Nadu realises the goal of ‘net zero’ much before 2070, when India aims to realise it,” Mr. Stalin said during his inaugural speech at the first meeting of the Tamil Nadu Governing Council on Climate Change in Chennai on Friday.
Mr. Stalin, chairing the meeting, called upon his Cabinet colleagues to scrutinise all development programmes through the lens of climate change before they are implemented, contending that development and sustainability were two eyes essential for the State’s development.
“We are not against development but it should not drain resources, and should be sustainable. If development is an eye, the thought about climate change is another. So, both these eyes are essential for the State’s [Tamil Nadu’s] development,” he said.
Listing out various efforts initiated by the Tamil Nadu government, Mr. Stalin pointed out that no other State in the country, not even the Union government had constituted a council for climate change like Tamil Nadu had done. “It is this council that would determine when Tamil Nadu should realise the goal of ‘net zero’,” the CM said.
Mr. Stalin said the State government would soon announce a campaign for ‘climate literacy’ to ensure that the message of climate change reached school and college students and entrepreneurs. He said a programme to convert 10 villages into ‘climate resilient villages’ was being launched on Friday (March 3). “A programme would be implemented for planting palmyra trees to prevent seashore erosion and to protect biodiversity,” he added.
Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Electricity Minister V. Senthil Balaji, Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar, Minister for Finance Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Environment and Climate Change Siva V. Meyyanathan and Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu were present.
Eminent members of the Governing Council -- economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme Erik Solheim, Chairperson of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation Soumya Swaminathan, Founder-Director of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management Ramesh Ramachandran, Coordinator of Poovulagin Nanbargal G. Sundarrajan and Chairperson of Ramco Community Services Nirmala Raja and senior officials took part in the meeting.
Mr. Stalin said he was worried over media reports every other day about the effects of climate change and further said he was really concerned about the effects it had not only on humankind but also on Kingdom Animalia. He also expressed concerns over the severe drought facing the city of Venice in Italy -- the worst in over seven decades, and over the severe impacts due to cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand.
Pointing out that 9 of the list of 50 States/provinces across the world that were predicted to face the highest climate risk were located in India and that Tamil Nadu stood 36 in the list (‘Gross Domestic Climate Risks 2023’ by Cross Dependency Institute), Mr. Stalin said the study underlined the importance of the Council’s meeting.
