The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday launched several green initiatives in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The initiatives by the State Environment, Climate Change and Forests department were launched by Inger Anderson, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at a function held in Kalaivanar Arangam here in the presence of State Environment and Climate Change Minister Siva V Meyyanathan, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy of Denmark, Dan Jannik Jorgensen, and TN Additional Chief Secretary Supriya Sahu. In March this year, the UNEP and Tamil Nadu government signed a three-year agreement to help Tamil Nadu deliver clean, efficient, and equitable cooling and adapt to rising extreme heat.
As per the pact, UNEP and the Government of Tamil Nadu will cooperate on a range of issues, including sustainable cooling, plastic waste management, and environmental education. About 25 schools have been selected to take up various green measures like energy efficiency by using solar lighting and use of solar pumps, setting up solar borewells, adapting rainwater harvesting, composting, creating vegetable gardens, medicinal plant gardens and also raising fruit-bearing trees, reducing water use, recycling of wastewater, creating a plastic-free environment, etc. These schools will inspire other education institutions, and they will be ranked on a green index to create a repository of information on green initiatives, an official release here said. An amount of Rs 5 crore has been allocated for this scheme. Tamil Nadu’s plastic waste management movement the “Meendum Majappai” and UNEP’s Tide Turner’s Plastic Challenge, together are two initiatives that can create a ripple in reaching out to the community and creating a change in society’s behaviour on single-use plastic, the release said.
