India has created 37 crore tonnes of CO2 equivalent: Prakash Javadekar

NEW DELHI: India has created a carbon sink of 37 crore tonnes of CO2 equivalent, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said today as he asserted that it will achieve more than its INDC targets, a day before he is to leave for Paris for joining the high-level negotiations on reducing carbon emissions.

India's recently submitted INDC's has set a target to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes (250 crore) of CO2 equivalent in forests.

"In the past 24 months, 37 crore tonnes of CO2 equivalent carbon sink was created. We will achieve more than our INDC target which is to create 250 crore tonnes of CO2 equivalent carbon sink," he said after releasing India State of Forest Report-2015, which estimated an increase of 21.34 per cent and 24.36 per cent in the forest and tree cover respectively.

The report showed an increase of 3,775 sqkm in the overall forest cover and 1,306 sqkm in the tree cover of the country as compared to 2013 assessment.

He said India's INDC target will be achieved by aggressive afforestation, use of alternative sources of fuels, effective protection mechanism and sustainable forest management.

According to the report, the present forest cover is estimated to be 7,01,673 sqkm, which is 21.34 per cent of the geographical area of the country.

While, the net increase in the forest cover is a result of expansion in very dense forest and open forest, the moderately dense forest has decreased by 3,371 sqkm as compared to the 2013 estimates.

The major states showing gain in forest cover include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.