Governing Council on climate change constituted in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: In order to provide a policy directive to the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission, advise on Climate Adaptation and mitigation activities and provide guidance to the Tamil Nadu State Action Plan on Climate Change the State government has decided to set up the Tamil Nadu Governing Council on Climate Change (TNGCC).

The council will guide the implementation strategy on climate action.

Orders have been issued by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests with approval of Chief Minister MK Stalin. The Governing Council includes several eminent people apart from Senior Secretaries from various key departments and experts in the sector.

As per a government release, the Governing Council is headed by the Chief Minister. Members of the Council are Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Economist), Nandan M Nilekani (Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys Board), Erik Solheim (6th Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme, Former Under Secretary General), Ramesh Ramachandran (Founder Director of National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management), G Sundarrajan (Co-ordinator, Poovulagin Nanbargal) and Nirmala Raja (Chairperson, RAMCO Community Services).

The Chief Secretary has been appointed as the Vice Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission and senior secretaries of the Department of Industries, Municipal Administration, Finance, Energy, Rural Development, Housing, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare are also members of the Governing Council. The secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests department will be the convenor of the Governing Council.

"The Governing Council shall meet once in 3 months or as deemed fit. The council shall decide its own operational modalities to achieve its objectives. Tamil Nadu is spearheading several path breaking initiatives in the field of Climate change. The Government of Tamil Nadu has set up three key missions such as Tamil Nadu Green Mission, Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission and the Tamil Nadu Wetlands Mission," the release added.