On 1st March 2023, the Tamil Nadu (TN) Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a comprehensive Urban Cooling programme in Tamil Nadu to meet the objectives under the TN State Action Plan on Climate Change.
- UNEP is undertaking a nationwide cooling programme in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark to support Indian cities in implementing sustainable cooling and heat resistance strategies.
- The Urban Cooling programme is being delivered under the framework of the Cool Coalition and the India-Denmark green Strategic Partnership.
Signatories:
The MoU was signed by Atul Bagai, Country Head (India) for UNEP and Supriya Sahu, an Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Dignitaries:
The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth of Denmark, as well as Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, TN Minister for Finance & Human Resources Management, and T. Mano Thangaraj, Minister for Information Technology & Digital Services
Key Points:
i. The collaboration between TN and UNEP will address the rapidly expanding demand for cooling in cities while addressing the execution of initiatives to adapt and combat the rising heat.
ii. The Departments of Housing and Urban Development; Municipal Administration and Water Supply; and Environment, Climate Change, and Forests will work with UNEP to develop a comprehensive action plan that includes district cooling, improved urban design, increased urban green cover, and building efficiency measures.
iii. The MoU will provide capacity building and awareness raising for a wide range of stakeholders in TN, as well as institutional, financial, technological, and policy solutions for sustainable cooling
- Additionally, the collaboration will improve South-South cooperation by educating and training other Indian States and other countries on the activities and lessons learned from TN’s work programme.
iv. The programme will promote complete city and state-level planning for plastics waste management through scientific analyses and decision support systems, extended producer responsibility (EPR) implementation frameworks, enforcement of single-use plastics bans, capacity building, and awareness generation.
Note:
i. The TN Green Climate Company (TNGCC), India’s first-of-its-kind special purpose vehicle, directs 3 important government missions: the Green TN Mission, the TN Wetland Mission, and the TN Climate Change Mission.
ii. The TN government is also setting up TN Green Climate Fund with a fund size of Rs 1,000 crore, which will also have another Rs 1,000 crore green shoe option. This will be the first of its kind initiative to support mega-green projects under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
- It also announced the setting up of climate change missions in all 38 districts.
Recent Related News:
India’s 13 states and 3 Union Territories (UTs) along with the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to upgrade their schools under the Pradhan Mantri Schools For Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme.
About Tamil Nadu:
Chief Minister (CM)- MK Stalin
Governor- R. N. Ravi
Wildlife Sanctuaries- Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary; Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary
Tiger Reserve- Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve; Anamalai Tiger Reserve
About the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
Executive Director- Inger Andersen
Headquarters- Nairobi, Kenya
Establishment- 1972
