india national adaptation evaluation

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National Adaptation Evaluation Report

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India National Adaptation Evaluation Report

Introduction

Global warming is an accepted phenomena and India is also expected to face the

impacts of climate change. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

However, it ranks 134 on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2011) making it

highly vulnerable. India is also faced with the challenge of sustaining its growth while

dealing with the global threat of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC) in its Fourth Assessment Report concluded that warming of the

earths climate system is unequivocal (IPCC 2007a). Recognizing that climate change is

a global challenge, the Indian Government created an Advisory Council on Climate

Change with representation from a broad spectrum of stakeholders. In June 2008, the

Council announced the National Action Plan on Climate Change (hereafter referred to

as the Plan) which comprises of eight National Missions including mitigation and

adaptation actions to deal with the impacts of climate change. The adaptation missions

include the National Water Mission, National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan

Ecosystem, National Mission for a Green India, National Mission on Strategic

Knowledge for Climate Change and National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.

Interestingly, the adaptation actions proposed build upon existing policies to reduce

vulnerability and strengthen resilience of the country and its people.

This paper attempts to evaluate if the Plan addresses key vulnerabilities, if it is up to

date, the actions proposed for adaptation, the approach used to arrive at these adaptation

strategies, who will administer them, if the activities are mainstreamed and the funds

allocated for the same.

Methods

(i) The criteria being used for the evaluation

Before the Plan came into force, India adopted an autonomous adaptation

strategy, which was a response to adjustments in natural or human systems in


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response to climate stimuli (IPCC 2007b). India had and still has many publicly

funded programs to address the direct impacts and prevention and control of

climate risks. In addition to these, the main objective of major anti-poverty and

rural development programs has been reduction of vulnerability to climate risks(UNDP 2009). With the announcement of the Plan, India has taken the path of a

planned adaptation strategy by mainstreaming adaptive strategies for

development and management. The Plan has adopted a no-regrets adaptation

policy which would generate neutral or positive economic benefits irrespective

of whether or not anthropogenic changes occur. Even Indias Second National

Communication recommends identifying no-regrets adaptation strategies that

may be needed for sustainable development (GoI 2012).

Criteria (Sections 11 to 35) mentioned in the Cancun Adaptation Framework

(UNFCCC 2010) are used to evaluate the adaptation strategies mentioned in the

Plan. More specifically, the Sections 12, 14, 15, 20, 32 and 34 have been used to

evaluate the Plan. These include the following but are not limited to:

The adaptation plan is country-driven, gender sensitive, participatory and

fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups,

communities and ecosystems, and is based on and guided by the best

available science.

Undertaken planning, prioritizing and implementing adaptation actions,

including projects and programs and actions identified in national and

sub-national adaptation plans and strategies.

Undertaken impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments, including

assessments of financial needs as well as economic, social andenvironmental evaluation.

Strengthening institutional capacities and enabling environment for

adaptation, including for climate-resilient development and vulnerability

reduction.

Improving climate-related research and systematic observation for

climate data collection, archiving, analysis and modeling in order to

provide decision makers with improved climate-related data andinformation.


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(ii) Brief overview of India

India has a geographic area of 3.28 million square kilometers and lies in a sub-

tropical terrain and is adorned with a largely diverse topography, climate and

biosphere. India occupies 2.3 per cent of the worlds land area but holds nearly

18 per cent of the world population (Indias population was 1.21 billion at the

end of 2010) (GoI 2012). India receives an annual average rainfall of 1,197 mm

amounting to a total precipitation of 4,000 billion m 3. However, 3,000 billion m 3

is lost due to run-off and only 1,000 billion m 3 is available as surface and ground

water sources (GoI 2008). The Plan also states that many parts of India are

already water stressed and India will become water scarce by 2050. More than

50 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture which contributes over

20 per cent of Indias Gross Domestic Product. The net cultivated area is about

140 million hectares and 60 per cent of it falls under dry land / rain-fed zone.

Decreasing ground and surface water is going to impact livelihoods of millions

dependent on agriculture and the economy. The forest cover in 2007 as per

satellite imagery was estimated at 69 million ha and has been increasing steadily

over the years due to various conservation and climate friendly policies (GoI

2012) . Indias coastline covers 7,500 km s and is of utmost significance because

of the density of population and livelihoods dependent on coastal resources.

Coastal zones are particularly vulnerable and sensitive to impacts of climate

change as rise in the sea level, rise in the high-tide level, and cyclones and

storms, which are projected to become more frequent and intense.

Rise in surface temperature, variable rainfall patterns, extreme weather events,

rise in sea levels and melting of glaciers in the Himalayan region will haveadverse impacts on the country in terms of impacts on water resources,

agriculture, health, forests and coastal areas. Even before the Plan was

formulated in 2008, India spent over 2.6 per cent of the GDP on adaptation to

climate variability (GoI 2008). Some of the adaptation measures already being

implemented were on crop improvement, drought proofing, forestry, water

resource efficiency, restoration of coastal regions, health, risk financing and

disaster management.


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and governance; and continuous self learning for balancing between forces of

nature and actions of mankind (DST 2009a). Each of the above objectives have

been further broken down into specific activities to sustain the Himalayan Eco-

system along with clearly defined methodologies. The work plan and timelinesfor specific activities have been defined. The Mission has considered available

data from Indias Second National Communication to the UNFCCC, Fourth

Assessment Report of the IPCC, and other research conducted by Indian

research institutes. The institutional mechanism and monitoring framework has

been proposed. The funds required for implementing the activities has been

identified and will be shared from the ongoing activities of the Ministry of

Science and Technology. There is no evidence as to whether other stakeholders

were consulted during the preparation of the Mission Document. Also, there is

no information available if this draft Mission Document has made any progress

since being announced.

National Mission for a Green India

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) announced the draft Mission

for a Green India in June 2010 which envisages a fundamental shift in mindset

of the traditional focus of increasing the quantity of forest cover, to increasing

the quality of forest cover. The Mission proposes objectives that are three-fold:

doubling the area to be taken up for afforestation /eco-restoration in India in the

next ten years, taking the total area to be afforested or eco-restored to 20 million

ha; increasing the GHG removals by India's forests to 6.35 per cent of India's

annual total GHG emissions by the year 2020; and enhancing the resilience of

forests/ecosystems being treated under the Mission (MoEF 2010). The document

also proposes further Sub Missions or key activities to achieve the objectives.

MoEF in the capacity as the lead agency will garner support from the forest

departments, joint forest management committees, district planning committees

and village councils at the state level. Much emphasis has been placed on

strengthening the local community institutions and local forest departments for

decentralized forest governance. Financial requirements to meet the objectives

have been identified. It is expected that most of the funds would be made

available from existing programs and any shortfall in funds would be requestedfrom international donors. This draft document was made available in the public


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domain and several consultations were held across India to identify gaps and

improve the document. There is no evidence if the findings in the stakeholder

meetings have been formalized into the final Mission Document.

National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

The Draft Mission was announced in August 2009 by the Department of Science

and Technology. Among the main objectives of this Mission are: formation of

knowledge networks, development of national capacity for modeling the

regional impact of climate change, complementing the efforts under the other

National Missions and building alliances and partnerships through global

collaboration (DST 2009b). The document highlights the importance of

identifying the gaps in available data on impacts of climate change. It proposes a

host of information dissemination activities to spread awareness among the

people and relevant institutions. The Document also proposes institutional

arrangements from different ministries at the Central and State Government

level. Monitoring mechanisms have been proposed that would discuss progress

achieved. However, there is no evidence if any work has happened ever since

the formulation of the Mission Document.

Discussion

The Plan agrees to the global climate changes and highlights Indias response by

formulating eight Missions that is a mix of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The

Plan considers that India is one of the most vulnerable countries that would be impacted

by climate change and has prepared a planned adaptation strategy by formulating these

National Missions. However, while this is a good beginning, the targets set forth bythese Missions appear to be ambitious in nature. Institutional arrangements and

monitoring protocols are proposed but it requires an enormous amount of coordination

between central and state level governments, other line departments, academia, industry,

research organizations and the general public. Most of the Missions discussed above

have objectives and targets that are cross-sectoral and overlapping in nature which can

lead to confusions in implementing specific targets. There is no evidence, apart from the

National Mission for a Green India, that the other Missions consulted StateGovernments, other local departments, and the people for whom these strategies are


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being formulated. Moreover, it appears that most of the Missions are building upon

existing programs in a business as usual scenario and interlinking the climate change

argument. For example, the Mission for a Green India also focuses on effective

implementation of the Wildlife Conservation Act and the National BiodiversityConservation Act, 2001. The Missions also fail to devise yearly targets so that the

progress can be monitored more effectively. The Plan was announced in June 2008 and

most of the Missions came up with Draft Mission Documents by June 2010. However,

there is no evidence that any progress has been made since then.

Conclusion

The Plan is the first significant and systematic attempt by the Government of India to

address the issue of global warming. The Missions identified in the Plan are primarily

building upon existing programs even though a new set of institutional arrangements

and monitoring mechanisms are being proposed along with some specific targets.

However, the Plan fails to address how these adaptation strategies will help the

vulnerable population. The only hope for the effective implementation of these

Missions depends on the Advisory Council on Climate Change which is headed by the

Prime Minister of India.

References

Department of Science and Technology (DST) 2009a, Mission Document: National Mission for

Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system under National Action Plan for Climate Change, viewed

on July 12 2012,

Department of Science and Technology (DST) 2009b, Mission Document: National Mission on

Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change under National Action Plan for Climate Change,

viewed on July 11 2012,

Government of India (GoI) 2008, National Action Plan on Climate Change, viewed on July 8

2012,


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Government of India (GoI) 2012, Indias Second National Communication to the United

Nations Convention on Climate Change, viewed on July 9 2012,

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007a, Fourth Assessment Report: The

Physical Science Basis, viewed on July 12 2012,

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007b, Australia and New Zealand.

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group

II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, viewed

on July 13 2012,

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) 2010, Mission Document: National Mission for a

Green India under National Action Plan for Climate Change, viewed on July 12 2012,

Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) 2002, National Water Policy 2002, viewed on July 12

2012,

Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) 2009, Comprehensive Mission Document: National

Water Mission under National Action Plan for Climate Change, viewed on July 10 2012,

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2009, Climate Change Perspectives from

India, viewed on July 13 2012,

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2011, Human Development Report 2011,

Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All, viewed on July 12 2012,


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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2010, Decision 1/CP.16

Decisions Adopted by the Conference of the Parties. Report of the Conference of the Parties on

its sixteenth session, held in Cancun from 29 November to 10 December 2010, viewed on July

10 2012,