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Climate Change: On the
Agenda of C limate change is not a new issue of concern for India’s government. However, change in the nomenclature of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change indicates that the new government of India has clearly stated climate change as a priority concern. Moving beyond international climate change negotiations, this mandate is likely to increase the emphasis on domestic issues revolving around climate change. Some of these issues include integration of climate change concerns in the development agenda particularly with respect to food, water, energy and disaster management. What is now needed is a clear roadmap for defining strategies that address these concerns for both climate change mitigation and adaptation.
2014-15 Budget Analysis for Climate Change The recently introduced Indian budget for the financial year 2014-15 has not only shown affirmative glimpses for minimising greenhouse gas emissions of our rapidly growing economy but has also opened new gateways for financing adaptation needs of the country. Firstly, as expected, NDA led government has given considerable priority to promote solar energy based renewables. With the clear intention to tap the solar potential of India, Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley has proposed to take up ultra-mega solar power projects in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir and has designated a sum of INR 500 crore ($93 million) 1 for this purpose. This initiative is likely to meet the energy needs of inaccessible and remote areas and also help India reduce its greenhouse gas emissions for climate change mitigation and environmental protection. Prioritising the upscale of renewables in the country is also going to reduce the burden on our limited non-renewable energy reserves in the form of coal. To encourage investors and entrepreneurs for renewable powered electrification, the government has also proposed a series of tax breaks for renewable sources of energy, including exemptions from excise duty on components used in the manufacture of solar photovoltaic cells and wind-operated generators.Extending beyond the expected budget allocation for renewables, the Indian government has also made allocation for helping the country to adapt to climate change. As part of the budget, Mr. Jaitley has proposed to establish a new National Adaptation Fund for climate change with an allocation of INR 100 crore ($18.5 million). With a major focus on ensuring food security for climate sensitive communities, the fund is particularly focused on helping vulnerable communities cope with climate change. The agriculture sector - one of the most climate sensitive sectors and a contributor to one sixth of the country’s GDP is a priority of this fund. Since, agriculture is highly prone to the vagaries of climate change, the proposed adaptation fund will help farmers through promotion of water conservation measures, water efficient farming techniques, climate resilient hybrid seeds and other robust adaptation strategies. Although the allocated INR of 100 crore for the adaptation fund is too little to meet the adaptation needs of a geographically diverse country such as India, it is an important step to indicate that the government is now recognising climate change adaptation as a necessity for the country. Further from the renewables quota, the government has also planned to launch a $74 million scheme for solar power-driven agricultural water pumping stations for 100,000 pumps and to spend a further $18.5 million on developing 1 MW solar parks on canal banks. This will not only increase the irrigation potential but will also help to reduce the dependency of farmers on the monsoons 2.Apart from direct investments in the name of climate change through the Adaptation Fund, indirect focus will be given to climate change adaptation through the agriculture sector. With GoI’s new agriculture mantra, "per drop more crop", increased agricultural productivity through increased water efficiency will be promoted. This will reduce the climate vulnerabilities of farmers and help them to deal with the erratic weather cycles. Additionally, the flagship programme of the UPA Government – MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme) will also be revamped through allocation of works that are more productive, asset creating and substantially linked to agriculture and allied activities. Another issue which has become as important as the food-water-energy nexus for the country is the ability to deal with catastrophic disasters. With the increasing impacts of climate change, extreme events and disasters are occurring more frequently and intensely. The Himalayan floods of Uttarakhand last year and excessive rainfall disrupting life in several hilly areas this year, clearly depicts climate change vulnerabilities of the Himalayan ecosystems in the country. The government has proposed to set up a ‘National Centre for Himalayan Studies’ in Uttarakhand. The institution will work towards extending science based inputs to policy makers for conserving the Himalayan ecology. While this is a significant step to conserve the Himalayan ecosystems and help hilly areas cope with disaster, the question really is - Is this enough? Keeping in mind, the different ecosystems of the country with different disaster related problems, larger set of investments are needed. Since extreme events such as droughts, erratic rainfall patterns, floods, cloud bursts, cyclones etc. continue to bother India each year, the government will have to pay more attention to meet disaster management and adaptation needs of different regions in India. Also, loss and damage - a critical issue adversely affecting the resources of the country, will have to be taken more seriously in the future. Points to Ponder - What Next? While the initiatives of the new government have given rise to new hopes and raised expectations, the big question is - What is the implementation roadmap and delivery mechanisms going to be for local level climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation commitments for cutting down India’s share in the global emissions? Although, the new name of India’s environment ministry has put climate change in the forefront of its agenda, however the allocated budget for climate change in 2014-15 has actually been reduced. The reduction in the allocated budget from INR 2884 crore to 2510 crore raises questions regarding the new government’s strategy to deal with the mammoth issues relating to climate change. India has region specific and community specific issues with respect to climate change. The Himalayan region, the coastal areas, the arid and semi-arid regions, flood prone regions and mangrove systems all require special focus for climate change adaptation and disaster management. Since the proposed adaptation fund is too little for a variedly climate sensitive country, the new government is likely to face challenges in meeting the entire country’s adaptation needs. The proposal for revamping and restructuring MGNREGS is also going to be under critique for meeting the adaptation needs of grassroots communities. Since the restructured MGNREGS programme is proposed to be ‘development oriented’, its implementation strategy will have to see synergies and overlaps between development needs and climate change adaptation. Lastly, it will be extremely important for the government to integrate all of the above proposed activities and allocations with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its eight missions. The proposed mitigation and adaptation strategies will ultimately have to fit into the NAPCC and decentralised planning processes for uptake at horizontal and vertical levels of planning. While all these issues are points to ponder upon currently, the coming months will be crucial to see how the new government’s efforts shape up to address climate change issues. q Harshita Bisht Endnotes 2 http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/india-budget-solar-idINKBN0FG03V 20140711 |