Bihar to showcase afforestation initiatives at COP28 in Dubai on December 2 to combat climate change

Bihar to showcase afforestation initiatives at COP28, highlighting commitment to environmental stewardship. Hariyali Mission, Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission, Agriculture Roadmap, Green Budget, and Climate Resilient & Low Carbon Development Strategy for Bihar to be presented. Initiatives focus on indigenous plants, agroforestry, and JEEVIKA's involvement in plantation & nursery raising. CM Nitish Kumar participated in Climate Ambition roundtable in Sept. 2020.

As the global community gathers for the Conference of Parties (COP) 28 in Dubai on Thursday, selected officials from Bihar are set to present a range of afforestation initiatives that have the potential to serve as a role model in the fight against climate change. 

The Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (DoEFCC) of Bihar government will showcase a comprehensive overview of its sustainable practices during its intervention in the India Pavilion at Dubai, underscoring the state’s commitment to environmental stewardship.

COP is an annual gathering of countries which are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aimed at measuring progress, negotiating multilateral responses, limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and combating global warming. This year’s conference, starting at Expo City, Dubai, will host representatives from 198 signatory countries.

A delegation to Dubai, led by a three-member team of senior officials from the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, including Secretary Bandana Preyashi, Director (Ecology) Surendra Singh, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Head of Forest Force) Ashutosh, will present key afforestation initiatives on December 2, 2023. The Bihar team will leave for Dubai on Friday. 

These initiatives include the Hariyali Mission (Green Mission), Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission, Agriculture Roadmap, and Green Budget, among others.

The salient features of Bihar’s afforestation schemes to be showcased at COP28 include a focus on indigenous plants, the active involvement of JEEVIKA (a state-run Self-Help Group of Women) in plantation and nursery raising, large-scale agroforestry on farmers’ land, and the integration of afforestation activities with soil moisture conservation measures to facilitate forest regeneration.

Secretary Bandana Preyashi emphasised the results of Bihar’s afforestation efforts, stating, “Under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar has emerged as a role model in climate crisis management through afforestation. The state’s green cover has increased from 9.9% in 2019 to 14.75% in 2021, with a total of 381.008 million plantations made since the launch of Hariyali Mission in 2012-13. The total carbon sequestration as a result has been 56.88 million tonnes as per the India State of Forest Report, 2021.”