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Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and India's Stand: An Analysis

This article examines the approach towards climate change adaptation, including impact assessment, vulnerability assessment, and developing strategies. It also explores India's stand on international negotiations and its national action plans for adaptation.

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Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and India's Stand: An Analysis

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  1. Climate Change Adaptation • Agenda for Survival, June 28, 2012 Centre for Science & Environment, New Delhi

  2. How do you approach adaptation • —Finding out Impact of climate change • —Assessing Vulnerability • —Developing a strategy for Adaptation, especially to safeguard interests and protect the poor who will be impacted the most

  3. International Negotiations • In Durban, the world agreed on the following: • —Second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol • —Decision of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action • —Green Climate Fund • —Agreement on Durban Platform

  4. Green Climate Fund (GCF) • —Established in Copenhagen in 2009 • —Fund expected (not committed) to mobilise • US$100 billion a year by 2020 • Questions that remain unanswered about GCF: • —How much for adaptation? How much for mitigation? • —Where will the money come from? • —New or additional or part of development assistance package? • Note: Developed countries reiterated (in Durban) that funding is difficult in times of recession and economic downturn

  5. India’s global stand on adaptation • —Not clear, yet • —Make GCF operational; get it going • —Tending towards not asking for resources for adaptation. This will serve as a bargaining strategy: “Do not insist on arbitrary mitigation cuts. Let poorer countries take resources for adaptation” • —Classic conflict of what India is: rising/emerging economy with an extensive population of poor in the country

  6. India’s stand on adaptation: in house • “There are things we have to do. And we have to keep doing them. We cannot wait for money”—Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission • “You can’t have two inconsistent goals. You can’t have a goal for development and a goal for climate change; then you are going to have all kinds of contradictions in the system. They will have to be integrated”—Dipak Dasgupta, Principal Economic Adviser and Head, Climate Change Finance

  7. Adaptation Framework Guided by: • National Action Plan on Climate Change • State Action Plan(s) on Climate Change

  8. National Action Plan on Climate Change • Eight Missions: • —National Solar Mission • —National Mission for Enhanced Solar Efficiency • —National Mission on Sustainable Habitat • —National Water Mission • —National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem • —National Mission for a Green India • —National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture • —National Mission on Strategic knowledge on climate change

  9. State Action Plans on Climate Change • —Being readied • —Ministry of Environment and Forests, UNDP, GTZ, World Bank assisting state governments to draw up plans. • —Plans of five states with the Planning Commission for approval. These include: • -Arunachal Pradesh • -Sikkim • -Rajasthan • -Tripura • -Madhya Pradesh

  10. Adaptation programmes • —Crop Improvement: development of arid-land crops and pest management, as well as capacity building of extension workers and NGOs • —Drought proofing: minimize the adverse effects of drought on production of crops and livestock, and on productivity of land, water and human resources, so as to ultimately lead to drought proofing of the affected areas • —Forestry: Afforestation

  11. Adaptation programmes • —Water: inter-basin transfers, artificial recharge of groundwater, and desalination of brackish or sea water, traditional water conservation prac­tices like rainwater harvesting • —Coastal regions: Cyclone shelters, plantation of coastal forests and mangroves, saline resistant crops • —Health: Surveillance and control of vector borne diseases such as Malaria, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis, Filaria and Dengue

  12. Adaptation Programmes • —Risk Financing: The Crop Insurance Scheme supports the insurance of farmers against climate risks, and the Credit Support Mechanism facilitates the extension of credit to farmers, especially for crop failure due to climate variability. • —Disaster management: The National Disaster Management programme provides grants-in-aid to victims of weather related disasters, and manages disaster relief operations. Also, dissemination of information and training of disaster-management staff.

  13. Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme

  14. National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) • —Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s project, launched in 2011 • —Aim: Enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change through research and demonstration • —Critical assessment of different crops/zones in the country for vulnerability to climatic stresses and extreme events, in particular, intra seasonal variability of rainfall • —Screening of crop germplasm for drought and heat tolerance

  15. NICRA • —Comprehensive field evaluation of new and emerging approaches of paddy cultivation   • —Special attention to livestock and fishery sectors including aquaculture which have not received enough attention in climate change research in the past • —Documentation of adaptive traits in indigenous breeds

  16. MGNREGA • Existing programmessuch as MGNREGA, which focuses on livelihoods and watershed development, could also be used as adaptation programmes • Although successful, it has problems across all stages, planning, implementing and monitoring. • Not enough capacity • Not enough training at local level insitutions • Wages not paid on time • Little monitoring of structures created under MGNREGA

  17. ?time There are PLANS aplenty. But Implementation is a problem. With Mean Sea Level as a backgrounder, try and reflect on the following questions: • What parameters would you look at for an adaptation strategy in the Sundarbans? • How would you ensure plans are implemented? What institutional structures would you strengthen? • Zero in on five recommendations to save the people in the Sundarbans

  18. Reading material • 1. National Action Plan on Climate Change: • pmindia.nic.in/Climate%20Change.doc • 2. State Plans on Climate Change • http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/climate-change • 3. NICRA: http://www.nicra-icar.in/nicrarevised/ • 4. Climate Finance: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/time-out?page=0,2 • http://unfccc.int/cooperation_and_support/financial_mechanism/green_climate_fund/items/5869.php • 5. MGNREGA: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/million-opportunities-lost • 6. MGNREGA for Environmental Service Enhancement and Vulnerability Reduction: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/asiaResearchCentre/_files/epwArticle14052011.pdf • 7. Sundarbans: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rising-sea-levels-and-tidal-erosion-eating-sunderbans • http://www.cseindia.org/content/living-with-changing-climate-cse-study-0 • 8. Crop Insurance Scheme: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/2182

  19. Contact Email: indrajit@cseindia.org Tel (M): 7838646929

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