The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today
unveiled “Green National Accounts in India A Framework
- Report of the Expert Group” at an international workshop organized by the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOS&PI). The report
has been prepared by an expert group set up by MOS&PI under the renowned
economist and Professor at University of Cambridge Sir Partha
Dasgupta.
Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; Dr. Pranob Sen, Chairman National Statistical
Commission, Dr. T.C.A. Anant, Secretary, MO&SPI,
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta,
Chairman of the Expert Group and several other National and International
delegates are participating in the two-day workshop.
Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh has said that the Government of India has taken several
initiatives aimed at greening the Indian economy. A number of national
strategies and policies, which inculcate the principle of sustainability, are
already in place. He said, for example, Government has set up a National Clean
Energy Fund by imposing a cess on coal and have also created a Compensatory Afforestation Fund. He said, the National Environmental
Policy, 2006 articulates that only such development is sustainable which
respects ecological constraints and the imperatives of social justice. Dr.
Manmohan Singh said, the National Agricultural Policy focuses on sustainable
development of agriculture by promoting technically sound and economically
viable, environmentally non-degrading, and socially acceptable uses of the
country’s natural resources. He said, the National Electricity Policy
underscores the use of renewable sources of energy. The Prime Minister said, india’s National Action Plan on Climate Change provides a clear
strategy for addressing the challenges posed by climate change. An Expert Group
for Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth has also been set up. India has
also made a voluntary domestic commitment to reduce, by the year 2020, the
emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent as compared to 2005 levels.
Some State Governments are also proposing to experiment with Emissions Trading
Schemes to reduce the level of ambient air pollution near major industrial
clusters.
Dr. Manmohan Singh said, a new initiative that is
worth mentioning is the programme of the Ministry of Rural Development for
“greening” rural development. This comprises activities that regenerate and
conserve the natural resource base and use clean materials, technologies and
processes to create environment friendly products, livelihoods, enterprises and
jobs. This can stimulate rural economies, help maintain critical ecosystem
services and strengthen the climate resilience of the rural poor.
He said, while it is expected that the policies and
initiatives taken by the Government will contribute to a green bottom-line in
India’s national accounts, he said, he does not doubt the difficulties that
will be encountered in capturing a diverse set of variables in a statistical
framework and compiling the accounts from a truly green perspective. But, he is
equally sure that the deliberations of the Workshop will succeed in delivering
practical solutions to the problems of measuring the interaction between the
economy and the environment. Dr. Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, in consultation with the
Planning Commission and the Ministries concerned, will take a leading role in
implementing the recommendations of this very important Group.
The Minister for Statistics and Programme
Implementation Shri Srikant Kumar Jena in his speech has said that ‘Green GDP’
has been extensively used globally by economists, statisticians and policy
makers for integrating natural capital in the balance sheet of the
country. It is not only thought
provoking but a matter of concern for all of us to analyse
whether the accounting of GDP, measures the welfare of people or there is
something more to it. He said that besides deciding on a framework on Green national
accounting, the key challenge would be to monitor and measure adjusted economic
growth and efficiently use the data for effective policy initiatives for
welfare of the society.
The Minister informed that the MOS&PI has taken
many initiatives towards environmental and natural resources accounting by way
of commissioning a pilot project during 1999-2000 through ‘The Energy and
Resources Institute -TERI’ and commissioned eight studies in various States
covering different sectors of environment.
As a further step towards natural resources accounting, an Expert Group
was constituted under Prof. Dasgupta in August, 2011 to develop a framework for Green
National Accounting in India, identifying data gaps and preparing a road map
for implementation of the framework with the approval of the Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh.
Shri Jena also appreciated the role of Shri Jairam Ramesh,
the then Minister of Environment and Forests and Shri
Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission in setting up the Expert Group.
The report consists of six chapters and dives
extensively into the conceptual foundations of economic evaluation providing an
outline of what would ideally be needed for a comprehensive set of national
accounts. The Report deals extensively
with not only the conceptual building up
of the system of Green National Accounts
, but also deals with the implementability aspects based on the conceptual
framework of Green Accounting Framework
using the existing data sets and studies to discuss the framework methodology,
valuation techniques, and feasibility of compilation of various sectoral accounting tables.
Click here for
the Executive Summary of the Report released by the Prime Minister.
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