Saturday 15 October 2016

India Blocks Pak Climate Change Project

India blocked a climate change project from Pakistan at the Green Climate Fund meeting in South Korea. The project is to be located in Gilgit-Baltistan and the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.India called the Pakistan project for adapting to climate change in the Himalayan region as flawed. The Pakistan project, supported by the UNDP, is meant to reduce flooding risks in Northern Kashmir area
because of outbursts from glacial lakes. An independent technical committee of the GCF assessed the project would provide protection to more than 700,000 people and save more than 100 lives that get lost due to frequent glacial lake outbursts.

When the proposals came up for discussion at the board, India had read the Pakistan proposal in detail and had objections to it. The Pakistan project’s success was predicated on there being no glacial outbursts during the five-year tenure of the project, which was unlikely considering the frequency of glacial bursts in the region. The project is fundamentally shaky and GCF’s reputation will be at risk.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is an arm of the climate change convention to fund projects in developing countries, supported by financing by rich countries and multilateral donors.

India is one of the three board members representing the Asia-Pacific region, along with China and Saudi Arabia. The fund’s board is meeting in Songdo, South Korea, to consider funding proposals.

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