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Climate Change in
Development Planning: Introduction C limate change is now one of the greatest threats to economic development. Recognising this, the Government of India has developed the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and has identified 8 missions to address the enormous challenges of mitigation and adaptation to climate change. At the sub-national level, about 22 states have developed their State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) on the guidance of the national plan using different processes for the same. The MoEF & CC has approved action plans of 14 states as of February 2014. The Financial Needs Assessed by NAPCC through its 8 missions is estimated at Rs. 2300 + billion and the same estimated by 14 states under SAPCC is Rs 2009 billion. This seems an unrealistic wish list and how it is to be met is still unclear.
Policy formulation for Climate Finance in India is primarily being looked at by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) with support from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of External Affairs playing a role in the negotiation process at UNFCCC. The Ministry of Finance has also set-up a Climate Change Financing Unit. However, the process for availability and disbursal of funds is still unclear. The plans have been developed finances are available however effective utilisation of the same is still a question. The question is how this pool of financial resources available should be looked at in a comprehensive manner to have desired results? Challenges for Mainstreaming Climate Change in Development Planning Given the quantum of financial requirement under
NAPCC and SAPCC and diverse routes for fund flows, mainstreaming climate
change into development plans and policies is very important for
effective climate resilient development. However, integration of climate
change into development planning is a multi-dimensional and multi-level
process. Mainstreaming climate change in development planning is not
bereft of problems in operationalisation as the impacts of climate
change are complex and require coordination across multiple sectors and
departments (horizontal integration) and multi-levels viz.
state-district-local levels (vertical integration).
Currently, planning is being done in departmental silos considering the resource (especially financial resource) availability through centrally sponsored programmes with little connection to vulnerabilities, climatic variabilities and integration of climate funds available. The state plans are an integration of the state line department plans tailored to the resource basket available remaining a top-down exercise. Post 73 rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment, decentralised planning is now being looked at with primary planning being done at the village level. However, at the Gram Panchayat and community level, the understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation mechanism is limited. Hence, it is left to the District Commissioner/Magistrate to tie the plans based on the resource availability.Climate change is cross cutting and requires cross sectoral integration. However, the state plans are developed in departmental silos and are sometimes contradictory in nature for eg. emphasis on watershed development for addressing the water stress conditions and at the same time subsidy on irrigation pump sets. Such contradictions can be avoided if integration is promoted and capacity of various stakeholders enhanced to look at climate resilient development pathways. Considering these challenges, the recommendation strategies have to be more robust with vertical and horizontal integration and capacity enhancement of key actors on climate change integration. Recommendations for Mainstreaming Climate Change in Development Planning The development plans are made for five years and climate perspective planning requires a long term vision (20 year) which can then be further split to mid-term (five year) and short term (annual) plans. Climate change impacts differ in ecological zones hence, the plans should be developed considering these differences and not be completely top driven. A combination of top-down and bottom up strategies are required for effective integration of climate thinking in development planning. This will require: • Horizontal Integration: Inter-departmental linkages for climate change need to be understood due to climate impacts facilitating development of robust and convergent climate resilient development plans and integration of finances. To ensure effective utilisation of funds, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms need to be put in place with climate indicators incorporated in the same. • Vertical Integration and Capacity Enhancement: Capacity of all stakeholders at different levels and especially PRIs and ULBs enhanced for development of locally relevant climate resilient plans addressing both adaptation and mitigation needs. Fiscal devolution is critical to empower PRIs. Hence, the plans need to look at efficient delivery mechanisms at all levels for access and utilisation of funds. • There is a great scope of climatising the centrally sponsored programmes like Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Programme (MGNREGA), Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) etc. How can climate change be integrated in such programmes? • The GCF and other Climate Financing mechanisms will require looking at a comprehensive multi stakeholder process to determine national priorities for climate finance. It will require setting up institutional systems for effective integration of climate concerns in development planning and implementation processes. • To look at a model of two funding windows viz. on budget window for integration of climate concerns in various departments and the off budget window providing for CSO led innovative/facilitative initiatives for mainstreaming. q Gazala Shaikh Refrence 2 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-13/news/50564444_1_the-ncef-national-clean-energy-fund-rs-500-crore 3 Srinivas Krishnaswamy, A Handbook of Climate Finance in India, Vasudha Foundation and Heinrich Boll Stiftung http://us.boell.org/sites/default/files/climate_change_handbook_-_08-10-2014.pdf 4 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-13/news/50564444_1_the-ncef-national-clean-energy-fund-rs-500-crore 5 Bisht H & Shaikh GG, 2012, Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Policy and Planning, New Delhi, Development Alternatives
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At the global level, as a significant step to promote
low emission, climate resilient and gender sensitive development
pathway, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was launched in the 17