Developing pragmatic framework of development

The draft Sustainable Development Evaluation Framework (SDEF) notified by India has put in motion the process of consultation for developing the framework. The framework addressing the challenge of fine balancing development needs through project or programme implementation and conservation of environment is of vital importance to northeast region. One of the three component SDEF proposes in the draft is “Do-No-Significant-Harm criteria” in terms of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)– which will help evaluate negative impacts of a project on environmental (air, water, soil, biodiversity and waste disposal), social or governance issues and identifies remedial measures. Other two components include impact of projects on priority developmental aspects in terms employment generation, skills upgradation, clean technology adoption and scale-up, mobilizing, investments for priority developmental regions and positive impact on sustainable development – measurable contribution to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Northeast has been a hostage to a landlocked situation and vicious cycle of poverty and backwardness since partition. Host of connectivity projects, including highways, new railway lines, power projects, health and other critical infrastructure pushed in the region has put it on a faster track of development. Better connectivity and infrastructural development have fuelled new aspirations of growth among the people of the region. This has led to fast tracking the implementation of ongoing projects and while many new projects are in the pipeline. Majority of the projects are located in forest areas and requiring diversion of forests which have ecological implications. The “Do-No-Significant-Harm criteria” proposed in the draft is an assessment of the impact of the project/programme activities on ESG parameters and seeks to ensure that the project/programme doesn’t go beyond prescribed emission norms, doesn’t violate local laws, minimize negative environmental and social impacts on people in vulnerable situations and the negative impact is mitigable, and after the mitigation measures, the residual impact is manageable without compromising the environmental safeguards. Global warming and climate change impact have posed herculean challenge for the region in achieving the SDG targets. The “North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard Baseline Report” published by the NITI Aayog shows that in most districts that none of the 103 district ranked in the index has attained the “Achiever” status in the composite score and ranking of districts in terms of all SDG goals. This implies the development agenda should remain a top priority for all states in the region. The draft lists climate change mitigation activities that can be undertaken in India and which would enable the achievement of net zero targets. These include carbon emission mitigation activities such as renewable energy with storage, solar thermal power, off- shore wind, green Hydrogen, compressed biogas etc., alternate materials like green ammonia and activities that remove carbon dioxide from the anthropogenic system/atmosphere such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage. The proposed framework envisages encouraging project participants of all types, to support accelerated adoption of national climate change mitigation strategies. Private sector will be engaged to enable a rapid rollout of activities and uptake of clean technologies and notes emergence of municipal corporations, panchayats, cooperatives and civil society organizations as critical stakeholders in various national efforts to achieve sustainable development and other environmental objectives. Ensuring checks and balance in the form of rigorous environment impact assessment of projects rolled out by private sectors as well as public sectors are of critical importance for the region. The region being prone to recurring natural disasters such as flood, erosion and landslides, the conservation of forest and ecology cannot be overlooked and needs to be prioritized for sustainability of agriculture and horticulture. Prioritizing scientific waste management in implementation of projects and programmes has become an urgent necessity. Lack of adequate and proper solid and liquid waste management systems have already led to wastes piling up not just in cities, towns and villages in plain areas in the region but have posed serious threat to fragile ecology in hill towns as well as rural areas in the hill states. It is unfortunate the heaps of garbage growing in the region have escaped the required attention of the governments, municipalities, panchayats or local bodies and general public, and have become unmanageable. The unwarranted situation persisting due to indifferent attitudes of authorities concerned despite judicial interventions speak volume of poor awareness level of the stakeholders. The framework that is being developed need to address these critical issues to ensure that the development projects and programmes are sustainable in North-eastern states. India is required to communicate the SDEF to be developed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in accordance with the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. States in Northeast giving wider publicity to the draft will ensure robust consultation and help development of a pragmatic framework that will help address the key challenges of sustainable development in the region.