Long-Term Strategy Of India To Deal With Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Climate change adversely affects India’s water security, food security, health security and energy security. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, disastrous cyclones, himalayan landslides, etc. are influenced by global warming and climate change.

• India has been at the forefront of initiatives being taken for preventing the adverse effects of climate change on domestic as well as global population.

Strategy to deal with Climate Change in India

Programs, Schemes and Campaigns

• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): India has launched the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008, establishing eight National Missions to advance action on the country’s climate priorities.

• Climate Change Action Program (CCAP): It was launched in 2014 for a duration of five years. It was extended upto 2025-26, and consists of eight broad sub-components including the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) coordination, State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC), National Institute on Climate Change Studies & Actions, National Carbonaceous Aerosols Programme (NCAP), Long Term Ecological Observations (LTEO), International negotiations and capacity building.
• INDC: Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) have been submitted under the Paris Agreement through which India commits to reduce the emission intensity of GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 as compared to 2005 level; create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 through additional forest and tree cover by 2030; and achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel energy resources by 2030.
• The Prime Minister at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow in November 2021 announced ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030 to enable further reduction in emissions.
• National Hydrogen Mission: India has announced the National Hydrogen Mission for generating hydrogen from green energy sources. Through technological advancements, hydrogen is being blended with CNG for use as transportation fuel as well as an industrial input to refineries.
• Ethanol Blending: India has announced 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025. It will result in benefits such as saving $4 billion foreign exchange per year in imports, lowering carbon emissions, improving air quality, etc.
• FAME Scheme for E-mobility: Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME) – India Scheme (part of the National Mission for Electric Mobility) launched in 2015, aims to boost sales of eco-friendly vehicles in the country.
• Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE): It was proposed in November 2021 at the COP 26 in Glasgow. It aims for environmentally conscious lifestyle in a manner that revolutionizes many sectors and diverse areas such as fishing, agriculture, wellness, etc.

Funding Mechanisms

• National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC): It was launched in 2015, and 30 projects have been sanctioned from 2015-19.It focuses on climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, forestry as well as the coastal and Himalayan ecosystem, and is being implemented to enhance the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable sections of our population and ecosystems.
• Task Force on Sustainable Finance: In January 2021, a Task Force on Sustainable Finance has been set up by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. Its terms of reference include defining the framework for sustainable finance in India, establishing the pillars for a sustainable finance roadmap, suggesting draft taxonomy of sustainable activities and a framework of risk assessment by the financial sector.
• Task Force on Climate-related Financial Risks: RBI is a member of a Task Force on Climate-related Financial Risks set up by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and the International Platform on Sustainable Finance.

Institution Building

• International Solar Alliance (ISA): It was jointly launched by India and France in Paris on the sidelines of COP21 in 2015 to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries that lie completely or partially between the Tropics of Capricorn & Cancer.
  • In November 2021, the Prime Minister launched the joint Green Grids Initiative- One Sun One World One Grid (GGI –OSOWOG) at the World Leaders’ Summit in Glasgow. It aims to create a globally inter-connected green grid.
  • ISA is mandated to facilitate mobilization of USD 1 trillion in solar investments by 2030 for massive scale-up of solar energy deployment.
• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure: It was launched by India in 2019 for promoting disaster resilience of infrastructure.Its membership has expanded to 28 countries and seven multilateral organizations, with several member countries committing to provide technical assistance and financial resources.
• Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT Group): It was launched by India and Sweden, with the support of the World Economic Forum at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019, to boost climate ambitions and actions to implement the Paris Agreement.

Climate Change Challenges Faced By India

India faces following challenges with respect to climate change:

• Managing the Politics of Global Climate Change Policy: India is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, but in terms of cumulative emissions, it has imparted marginal harm. India’s policies are on track to help limit global average temperature rise to 2°C but most countries are failing to meet even this target. On the other hand, the top emitters which are large developed countries have not made sustainable efforts.
• Reducing India’s Coal Dependency: According to one estimate, 68% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from energy production, which remains largely reliant on coal power plants. Considering coal’s centrality in India’s energy mix, reducing dependency on coal is difficult.
• Reforming Climate-Insensitive Agriculture Policy: India’s agricultural policies aggravate water shortages, encourage crop burning and do little for climate change mitigation. Fertilizer overuse is responsible for the highest single share of agriculture’s direct greenhouse gas emissions, currently equal to some 2.1 billion tons of CO₂ annually.
• Balancing Growth and Environment: Economic and infrastructure development has been routinely cited to upstage environmental violations, rendering the principle of “sustainable development” only declaratory in nature, e.g.- in case of Char Dham Project.