A four-day ‘Carbon Neutral Ladakh- A New Beginning’ summit was inaugurated by Lt. Governor RK Mathur on March 2. The summit will be held from March 2 to 5. 

The summit on carbon-neutral Ladakh has been jointly organised by UT Administration of Ladakh and Ladakh Regional Centre of G.B Pant National Institute for Himalayan Environment.

Radha Krishna Mathur said that the Development path of Ladakh should be different and boundaries should be defined as it is important to develop and also preserve the pristine ecology and fragile eco-system of Ladakh. 

“The objective is to seek expertise to embark on a developmental path with the idea of conserving the indigenous culture and tradition of Ladakh. He added that the objective of the summit is to develop solutions rather than just having theoretical discussions”, added RK Mathur.   

He also announced that NITI Aayog has agreed to set up a committee that will focus on making Ladakh carbon neutral.

Gyal P Wangyal, Chairman/Chief Executive Councillor, Hill Council, Leh expressed his hope of achieving the development process of the region in-sync with the task of preservation of tradition and culture of Ladakh. He also stated that we can be among the leading contributors in renewable, geo-thermal and solar energy. 

Umang Narula, Advisor to LG UT Ladakh stressed on the requirement of a baseline study of carbon emission position in Ladakh for carving out result-oriented measures. 

Rigzin Samphel, Commissioner/Secretary Ladakh and G.B. Panth, Director, National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE) Dr R.S. Rawal also spoke on the occasion. 

The participants of the summit include policymakers, researchers, academics, practitioners and civil society groups. 

A short film produced by the UT administration titled ‘Carbon Neutral Ladakh’ was screened to outline the scope for discussions.