Resource on Assignment Submission , Turn Down the Heat

Explanation for Target audience

One  of the target  audience  of this resource material  would be fellow colleague and  friends working in the related  field  of Disaster Management, Climate  change at community  level to the national level. It will also try to target some of the key stakeholders involved and emerging enthusiast/students working in the area of climate change. Through this resource I am trying to generate at least some   inquisitiveness and awareness within the group mentioned. That may be helpful for them to develop at least general perspective on climate change and its impact. An issues indeed a very serious issue to work on.         

The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC), has reported that the impact of human activities on climate and a climate system is unequivocal. It is no longer a scientific enquiry but the concern now. Considering the physiographic settings of India and the unique climatological features, the climate change on India cover almost every aspect of climate change, right from the causes to the impacts & associated vulnerabilities; the institutional mechanisms that address climate at national and state level; the adaptation and mitigation actions taken or envisaged to be taken, within the context of its current national circumstances, its developmental goals, financial and technical capacities.

Source and projected impacts

According to the report published by Stockholm Environment Institute 2009, India possess unique problem in climate change scenario .On the one hand by virtue of her very large population, India is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, ranking fourth globally in overall terms (behind the US, China, and the EU) and contributing around 5.5 per cent of global emissions (FIIA, 2009).However India’s cumulative historical emissions remain low relative to most industrialized countries, and its per capita emissions of 1.7 tCO2  (WRI/CAIT) are very low, even relative to other major developing economies (the world average is around 5.8 tCO2  per  capita)[1]. 

Per capita carbon dioxide emis­sions of some regions in the world in 2004 are as fol­lows:

A comparison of India's per capita GHG emissions with some other countries

Country	Per-Capita Carbon-dioxide emissions (metric tons)
USA	20.01
EU	9.40
Japan	9.87
China	3.60
Russia	11.71
India	1.02
World Average	4.25

Source- National Action Plan Climate Change Report, India 

The largest bulk of India’s emissions come from the energy sector. In 1994[2] energy accounted for about 61 per cent of total CO2 e emissions – of which almost half came from electricity supply, 20 per cent from industrial fuel combustion and around 11 per cent from transport. Road transport accounted for nearly 90 per cent of transport emissions (the remaining 10 per cent coming from rail, aviation and shipping). Word Resource Institute estimates suggest that the overall contribution of the energy sector is rising (around 66 per cent by 2005). Of the other sectors, agriculture accounted for 28 per cent of total emissions in 1994 (around 22 per cent in 2005), industrial process emissions contributed around 6-8 per cent, 3 waste disposal accounted for 2 per cent (rising to nearly 7 per cent in 2005), and land use and land use change accounted for 1 per cent (net carbon storage in 2000)

Impact of climate change on key sectors agriculture, water resources, energy

Methane is the principal greenhouse gas emitted from agriculture, primarily from rice cultivation and livestock, with India again the largest source, though per hectare emissions are only 20–30 percent of the global average, reflecting such factors as poor soils, low levels of chemical application, and continued use of low-yielding rice cultivars and traditional planting regimes[3].

Climate change is impacting the natural ecosystems and is expected to have substantial adverse effects in India, mainly on agriculture on which 58 per cent of the population still depends for livelihood, water storage in the Himalayan glaciers which are the source of major rivers and groundwater recharge, sea-level rise, and threats to a long coastline and habitations. Climate change will also cause increased frequency of extreme events such as floods, and droughts. These in turn will impact India’s food security problems and water security[4].

IMPACTS ON WATER RESOURCES

River systems of the Brahmaputra, the Ganga, and the Indus, which benefit from melting snow in the lean season, are likely to be particularly affected by the decrease in snow cover. A decline in total run-off for all river basins, except Narmada and Tapti, is projected in India's NATCOM I. A decline in run-off by more than two-thirds is also anticipated for the Sabarmati and Luni basins. Due to sea level rise, the fresh water sources near the coastal regions will suffer salt intrusion

Mitigation Measures

National Environment Policy, 2006 outlines essential elements of India’s response to Climate Change. These, inter-alia, include adherence to principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities of different countries, identification of key vulnerabilities of India to Climate Change, in particular impacts on water resources, forests, coastal areas, agriculture and health, assessment of the need for adaptation to Climate Change and encouragement to the Indian Industry to participate in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests is being implemented through the nodal Ministries in specific sectors/areas. The plan identifies eight core “national missions” viz. 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. Under advice of the Central Government, State Governments are also preparing State Action Plans on Climate Change that are aimed at creating institutional capacities and implementing sectoral activities to address Climate Change. So far, 21 States have prepared document on State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC).

Twelfth Five-Year Plan and Climate Change the Government has a domestic mitigation goal of reducing emissions intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison with 2005 level[5].

---

[1] Stockholm Environment Institute, Project Report – 2009, page8-9

[2] Official data of India’s GHG emissions is available only for 1994 (MoEF, 2004), when aggregate emissions

amounted to around 1229 MtCO2e. More recently, the World Resources Institute (http://cait.wri.org/) has

published unofficial estimates for the years 2000 (1560 MtCO2e) and 2005 (1860 MtCO2e).

[3] South Asia Greenhouse Footprint World Bank  Report

[4] India, Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey, 2012-13, pp. 256-572

[5] Twelfth  Five year paper  and Government of India  Lok-Sabha Report