National Climate Vulnerability Assessment Report

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Recently, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) released a report titled ‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’.

About

  • The report identifies the most vulnerable states and districts in India with respect to current climate risk and key drivers of vulnerability.
  • It uses a common framework across the states & union territory to make them comparable thereby empowering the decision-making capabilities at the policy and administrative levels.
  • Key Indicators used for the assessment include:
    • Biophysical aspects: Yield variability of food grains, area under rainfed agriculture, forest area per 1000 rural population, incidences of vector-borne diseases and water-borne diseases.
    • Institution and infrastructure: Area covered under centrally funded crop insurance schemes (such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) and Revised Weather-based Crop Insurance  Scheme (RWBCIS), implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
    • Socio-economic features and livelihood status: Percentage of population living below the poverty line (BPL), income share from natural resources, women’s participation in the workforce.
  • Major Findings of Report

Categories

States

Highly vulnerable states

Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal

  • These states, mostly in the eastern part of the country, require prioritization of adaptation interventions.

Highly vulnerable districts

Among all states, Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand have over 60% districts

Lower-middle vulnerable states

Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim and Punjab

states with low vulnerability.

Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Nagaland, Goa and Maharashtra.

 

  • Significance of Findings

 

  • The assessment will help policy-makers in initiating appropriate climate actions. It will also benefit climate-vulnerable communities across India through the development of better-designed climate change adaptation projects.
  • It will support the implementation and the potential revisions of the State Action Plans on Climate Change.
  • It can be used for India”s reporting on the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. And finally, these assessments will support India”s National Action Plan on Climate Change.
    • NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

India’s Effort to Address Climate Change

The Government of India has launched eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) for assessment of the impact and actions required to address climate change.

The eight missions are

  • National Solar Mission
  • National Mission for Enhanced Energy 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 for Climate Change

Department of Science and Technology Role

  • DST has been implementing 2 national missions on climate change as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
    • These are National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).
    • As part of these missions, DST has been supporting the State Climate Change Cells in 25 States and Union Territories.

Other Developments

  • The Government has provided LPG connections in rural areas, providing them with clean cooking fuel and a healthy environment.
  • LED bulbs have been distributed under the UJALA scheme, which has led to an energy saving of billions units of electricity per year and reduction of  CO2 per year.
  • It shifted from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020, which was earlier to be adopted by 2024.
  • International Solar Alliance: ISA is a global alliance being initiated by India as well as headquartered in India, with France as a partner country.
    • It is aimed at promoting research to develop more efficient, low-cost solutions to the global energy requirements, by leveraging advanced technology as well as providing incentives and regulation of solar power.

Source :PIB

 

 
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