India has announced to set up a fund to assist South Asian countries to adapt to the challenges of the changing climate. The 16th South Asian Association on Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held at Thimphu, Bhutan had the theme ‘Towards a Green and Happy South Asia’. Heads of governments of eight South Asian countries took part in this summit which focused on environmental issues.
SAARC was established on December 8, 1985 by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan. Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives; Afghanistan was later added as a member. In terms of population it is the largest regional cooperation forum in the world with a combined population of about 1.5 billion. In addition these eight members, there are nine observers to the forum including China, the European Union and the United States.
India is the dominant member of the forum and it demonstrated its dominance by leading from the front on the issue of climate change. The Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh projected the adaptation fund as a ‘gift’ to the member nations as he announced the ‘India Endowment for Climate Change in South Asia’. He also proposed to set up regional climate innovation centres in South Asia in order to stimulate research and development in clean and sustainable energy technologies which the members nations can have easy access to. (more…)