Railways Ministry and UNEP sign Letters of Intent on Environment

Railways Ministry and UNEP sign Letters of Intent on Environment Initiatives The Ministry of Railways on 9 March 2017 signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to formalise the joint cooperation in the area of environmental conservation. The agreement will help in exploring the opportunity and developing a joint cooperation mechanism in the field of Environment & Sustainability. Focussed areas of Letter of Intent
• Collaborate in formulating specific roadmap for achieving 20 per cent reduction in water consumption at railway establishments.
• Collaborate in the development of a draft action plan for establishing waste management centres at major stations on Indian railways.
• Collaborate in the development of a draft action plan for Indian railways on sustainable public procurement for green technology. This joint co-operation will help Indian Railways in achieving its green objectives. Railway is already taking several green initiatives and is going to produce 1000MW solar energy. Background Indian Railways, that carries 23 million passengers every day, is the largest consumer of water as well as electricity in the country. It is also the major contributor to green environment due to reduced GHG emissions. Indian Railways have been taking a number of steps towards Water Management, Energy Conservation, Solid Waste Management and Green buildings. On the other hand, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading organization within the United Nations in the field of environment and majorly focuses on the conservation, protection, enhancement and support of nature and natural resources worldwide. Hence, both the organisations collaborated to further these common goals and objectives within their respective mandates and governing rules and regulations.