Pooja Bora, Pune
The Union government on Tuesday granted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change a budget of ₹3330.37 crore. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also talked about developing a taxonomy for climate finance for aiding in measures against climate change and the sustainability goals of the country.
The expenditure is a slight jump from the previous budget allocation of ₹3079.40 crore and ₹3030 crore from the year before. Such an increase can also be seen in regulatory bodies adjacent to the Environment Ministry. These include the Central Pollution Control Board, the Central Zoo Authority, the National Biodiversity Authority, and the Commission for Air Quality Management where there is an overall 21% hike
The Finance Minister spoke of a potential “climate finance taxonomy” in her address. Climate finance taxonomy is a means of defining and classifying economic and financial activities that would align with sustainability goals and climate mitigation efforts. Such regulatory practices create a favorable and equitable environment for investment and business activities to take place while also being cautious of the environmental impact.
Developing a uniform definition for such a taxonomy has been staggered within the United Nations’ climate deliberations, which has compelled India to formulate its own rules. This enables climate-conscious investors to identify opportunities that align with climate and sustainability efforts. The Environment Minister had also emphasized the importance of a clear definition last year citing the reason that a lack of a definition for such a framework leads to a “lack of trust and transparency” thereof.
The Economic Survey released ahead of the Budget unveiled some of the country’s environmental accomplishments as well. The nation has achieved two of the Paris Agreements’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs.) The Centre also utilized sovereign green bonds worth ₹16,000 crores at the beginning of 2023 in a bid to reduce carbon emissions from economic activities. Another ₹20,000 crore was raised in the latter half of the year as well.
The Budget also decided to exempt the import of almost 25 critical minerals including lithium, cobalt and copper from customs duty. These minerals are essential for the development of technology within renewable and nuclear energy.