In
the august presence of Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar
Prabhu, Ministry of Railways signed a LETTER OF INTENT (LOI)
with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to formalise the joint cooperation
in the area of environmental conservation today i.e. 9th
March 2017 at Rail Bhavan. Minister
of State for Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain specially graced the
occasion. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member (Rolling Stock),
Railway Board, Shri Ravindra Gupta, other Railway Board Members and senior
officials were also present on the occasion. Mr. Erik
Solheim, Executive Director UNEP (and Under Secretary General, UN) from Head
office, Nairobi, Kenya was also present. Representatives
of Indian Railways and UNEP signed and exchanged Letters of Intent for exploring
the opportunity and Developing a Joint cooperation mechanism in the field of
Environment& Sustainability
The
focussed areas identified for joint activities would be to;
a.
Collaborate in Formulating Specific Roadmap for
achieving 20% reduction in Water consumption at Railway establishments.
b.
Collaborate in the development of a Draft action
plan for establishing waste management centres at major stations on Indian
Railways.
c.
Collaborate in the development of a Draft action
plan for Indian Railways on sustainable public procurement for green technology.
Speaking
on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that
Indian Railways welcomes this partnership. The priority in Railways is to reduce
the carbon footprints which will help public at large. After this partnership,
opportunities are large to work for environment conservation in collaboration with
UNEP. Railway is already taking several green initiatives and is going to
produce 1000MW solar energy. This joint co-operation will help Indian Railways
in its green objectives.
Speaking
on the occasion, Mr. Erik Solheim, Executive Director UNEP said that Indian
Railways is an iconic organization which provides environment friendly
transport. The focus of this partnership is on three main areas: waste
management which is important for community, reduction in water consumption
which is core of environment issues and sustainable public procurement. Indian
Railways is a major procurement agency. The focus should be to move towards a
greener state. Indian Railways under the reformist leadership of Minister of
Railways will sure move towards greener and efficient transport system.
Backgrounder:-
Indian Railways, the lifeline
of the country, with carrying 23 million passengers every day is the largest
passenger carrying system in the world. It is also the largest consumer of
water as well as electricity and major contributor to green environment due to
reduced GHG emissions. Indian Railways have been taking a number of steps
towards Water Management, Energy Conservation, Solid Waste Management and Green
buildings. United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), is the leading organization within the United Nations system in the
field of environment and has as a major area of focus of its global mandate,
the conservation, protection, enhancement and support of nature and natural
resources worldwide.
As
the UNEP and Ministry of Railways share common objectives with regard to the
coherent implementation of the environmental dimensions of
sustainable development, and wish to collaborate to further these common goals
and objectives within their respective mandates and governing rules and
regulations; both organisations today signed and exchanged Letters of Intent
for exploring the opportunity and Developing a Joint cooperation
mechanism in the field of Environment& Sustainability.
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AKS/MKV/ENS
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