INDIA-CLIMATE CHNAGE

1. Position of India

• India emitted 2,136 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases in 2010.
• Energy sector was the prime contributor to emissions & with 71% of total emissions in 2010.
• The energy sector includes electricity production, fuel combustion in industries, transport & fugitive emissions.
• Industrial processes & product use contributed 8%, agriculture & waste sectors contributed 18% & 3% respectively to the national GHG inventory.
• About 12% of emissions were offset by the carbon sink action of forests & croplands, considering which the national GHG emissions arrived at a total of 1,884 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
• India’s per capita GHG emission in 2010 was 1.56 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is less than 1/3^rd of the world’s per capita emissions & far below that of many developed & developing countries.
• A reduction of the emission intensity of GDP by about 12% between 2005 &2010 has been achieved against our voluntary pledge to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by 2020, compared with the 2005 level.
• India will continue to be a low-carbon economy.
• India’s primary focus is on adaptation, with a specific focus on mitigation.
• India has already unveiled a comprehensive National Action Plan on Climate Change whose activities are in the public domain.
• India advocates collaborative research in future low-carbon technology & access to intellectual property rights (IPRs) as global public goods.

  2. Climate & Weather Changes Observed India’s National Communication (NATCOM) to UNFCCC has consolidated some of the observed changes in climate parameters in India. No firm link between the documented changes described below & warming due to anthropogenic climate change has yet been established. Temperature: At the national level, an increase of -0.4⁰C has been observed in surface air temperatures over the past century. A warming trend was observed along the west coast, in central India, the interior peninsula & north-eastern India. Cooling trends were observed in north-west India & parts of south India. Rainfall:

• While the observed monsoon rainfall at the all-India level does not show any significant trend, regional monsoon variations were recorded.
• A trend of increasing monsoon seasonal rainfall was found along the west coast, northern Andhra Pradesh & north-western India, while a trend of decreasing monsoon seasonal rainfall was observed over eastern Madhya Pradesh, north-eastern India & some parts of Gujarat, Kerala.

Extreme Weather Events:

• Instrument records over the past 130 years do not indicate any marked long-term trend in the frequencies of large-scale droughts & floods.
• Trends are observed in multi-decadal periods of more frequent droughts, followed by less severe droughts.
• There was an overall increasing trend in severe storm incidence along the coast at the rate of 0.011 events per year.
• While the states of West Bengal, and Gujarat have reported increasing trends, a decline was observed in Odisha.

Rise in Sea Level: The records of coastal tide gauges in the north Indian Ocean for more than 40 years report that sea level rise was between 1.06-1.75 mm per year. These rates are consistent with 1-2 mm per year global sea level rise estimates of IPCC. Impacts on Himalayan Glaciers:

• The Himalayas possess one of the largest resources of snow, and ice & its glaciers form a source of water for the perennial rivers like the Indus, the Ganga, and the Brahmaputra.
• Glacial melt may impact their long-term lean-season flows, with adverse impacts on the economy in terms of water availability & hydropower generation.
• The available monitoring data on Himalayan glaciers indicates that while a recession of some glaciers has occurred in some Himalayan regions in recent years, the trend is not consistent across the entire mountain chain.
• It is accordingly, too early to establish long-term trends or their causation in respect of which there are several hypotheses.

Actions for Adaptation & Mitigation:

• Adaptation, in the context of climate change, comprises the measures taken to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change, for example relocating the communities living close to the sea shore, to cope with the rising sea level or switching to crops that can withstand higher temperatures.
• Mitigation comprises reducing the emissions of GHG that cause climate change in the first place, by switching to renewable sources of energy like solar energy/wind energy or nuclear energy instead of burning fossil fuel in thermal power stations.
• Current Indian government expenditure on adaptation to climate variability, exceeds 2.6% of the GDP, with agriculture, water resources, health & sanitation, forests, coastal-zone infrastructure & extreme weather events, being specific areas of concern.

Agriculture: Two risk-financing programs support adaptation to climate impacts. The Crop Insurance Scheme supports the insurance of farmers against climate risks & the Credit Support Mechanism facilitates the extension of credit to farmers, especially for crop failure crop failure due to climate variability. Crop Improvement: The present programmes address measures like the development of arid-land crops & pest management, as well as capacity building of extension workers & NGOs to support better vulnerability-reducing practices. Drought Proofing:

• The current programmes seek to minimize the adverse effects of drought on the production of crops & livestock & on the productivity of land, water & human resources, to ultimately lead to drought-proofing of the affected areas.
• They also aim to promote overall economic development & improve the socio-economic conditions of the resource-poor & disadvantaged sections inhabiting the programme areas.

Forestry:

• India has a strong & rapidly growing afforestation programme. The afforestation process was accelerated by the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which aimed at stopping the clearing & degradation of forests through strict, centralized control of the rights to use forest land & mandatory requirements of compensatory afforestation in case of any diversion of forest land for any non-forestry purpose.
• In addition an aggressive afforestation & sustainable forest management programme resulted in annual reforestation of 1.78 mha during 1985-1997 & is currently 1.1 mha annually.
• Due to this, the carbon stocks in Indian forests have increased over the last 20 years to 9-10 gigatons of carbon (GtC).

Water: The National Water Policy stresses that non-conventional methods for utilization of water, including inter-basin transfers, artificial recharge of groundwater & desalination of brackish or seawater, as well as traditional water conservation practices like rainwater harvesting, including roof-top rainwater harvesting, should be practised to increase the utilizable water resources. Many states now have mandatory water harvesting programmes in several cities. Coastal Regions:

• In coastal regions, restrictions have been imposed in the area between 200m & 500m of the HTL (High Tide Line) while special restrictions have been imposed in the area up to 200m to protect the sensitive coastal ecosystems & prevent their exploitation.
• This, simultaneously addresses the concerns of the coastal population & their livelihood. Some specific measures taken in this regard include the construction of coastal protection infrastructure & cyclone shelters, as well as the plantation of coastal forests & mangroves.

Health: The prime objective present of health programmes is the surveillance & control of vector-borne diseases like malaria, Kala-azar, Japanese Encephalitis, Filaria and dengue. Programmes provide for emergency medical relief in the case of natural calamities & train and develop human resources for these tasks. Disaster Management: The National Disaster Management Programme provides grants-in-aid to victims of weather-related disasters & manages disaster relief operations. It also supports proactive disaster prevention programmes, including the dissemination of information & training of disaster-management staff.   3. India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change In dealing with the challenge of climate change we must act on several fronts in a focused manner simultaneously. The National Action Plan hinges on the development & use of new technologies. The implementation of the plan would be through appropriate institutional mechanisms suited for effective delivery of each Mission’s objectives & include public-private partnerships & civil society action. The focus will be on promoting understanding of climate change, adaptation & mitigation, energy efficiency & natural resource conservation. There are 8 National Missions which form the core of the National Action Plan, representing multipronged, long-term & integrated strategies for achieving key goals in the context of climate change. 3.1. National Solar Mission The National Solar Mission is a major initiative of the Government of India and state Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenge. Objectives:

• To establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible.
• The Mission will adopt a 3-phase approach-
• Spanning the remaining period of the 11^th plan & first year of the 12^th plan (up to 2012-13) as Phase 1,
• The remaining 4 years of the 12^th plan (2013-17) as phase 2,
• The 13^th plan (2017-22) as phase 3.
• At the end of each plan & mid-term during the 12^th & 13^th plans, there will be an evaluation of progress and, a review of capacity & targets for subsequent phases, based on emerging cost & technology trends, both domestic & global.
• The aim would be to protect the Government from subsidy exposure in case the expected cost reduction does not materialize or is more rapid than expected.
• The first phase (up to 2013) will focus on capturing the low-hanging options in solar thermal; promoting off-grid systems to serve populations without access to commercial energy & modest capacity addition in grid-based systems.
• In the 2^nd phase, after taking into account the experience of the initial years, capacity will be aggressively ramped up to create conditions for upscaled & competitive solar energy penetration in the country.

Mission Targets:

• To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 100 MW of solar power by 2022.
• The centre has revised cumulative targets under the National Solar Mission from 20,000 MW by 2021-22 to 1,00,000 MW a quantum jump.
• The target will principally comprise 40 GW Rooftop & 60 GW through Large & Medium Scale Grid-connected solar power projects.

3.2. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE):

• The National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), which seeks to strengthen the market for energy efficiency by creating conducive regulatory & policy regime.
• NMEEE has been envisaged to foster innovative & sustainable business models in the energy efficiency sector.
• The NMEEE seeks to create & sustain markets for energy efficiency in the entire country which will benefit the country & the consumers.

Objective: Promoting innovative policy & regulatory regimes, financing mechanisms & business models which not only create but also transparently sustain markets for energy efficiency with clear deliverables to be achieved in a ti,e bound manner. Mission Goals: Market-based approaches to unlock energy efficiency opportunities are estimated to be about Rs. 74,000 Crores. By 2014-15:

• Annual fuel savings of over 23 million toe
• Cumulative avoided electricity capacity addition of 19,000 MW.
• CO₂ emission mitigation of 98 million tons per year

Four New initiatives to enhance energy efficiency:

1. Perform Achieve & trade
2. Market transformation for energy efficiency
3. Energy Efficiency Financing Platform (EEP)
4. Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED)

  3.3. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat

• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat seeks to promote sustainability of habitats through improvements in energy efficiency in buildings, urban planning, improved management of solid & liquid waste, modal shift towards public transport & conservation through appropriate changes in legal & regulatory framework.
• It seeks to improve the ability of habitats to adapt to climate change by improving the resilience of infrastructure, community-based disaster management & measures for improving warning systems for extreme weather events.

It will broadly cover the following aspects:

• Extension of the energy conservation building code-which addresses the design of new & large commercial buildings to optimize their energy demand.
• Better urban planning & modal shift to public transport-make long-term transport plans to facilitate the growth of medium & small cities in such a way that ensures efficient & convenient public transport.
• Recycling of material & urban waste management, a special area of focus will be the development of technology for producing power from waste.
• The National Mission will include a major R & D programme, focusing on bio-chemical conversion, wastewater use, sewage utilization & recycling options.

  3.4. National Water Mission (NWM) Objectives:

• Ensuring integrated water resource management for conservation of water, minimization of wastage & equitable distribution both across & within states,
• Developing a framework for optimum water use through an increase in water use efficiency by 20% through regulatory mechanisms with differential entitlements & pricing, taking the National Water Policy (NWP) into consideration.
• Ensuring that a considerable share of the water needs of urban areas is met through the recycling of wastewater.
• Meeting water requirements of coastal cities through the adoption of new & appropriate technologies like low-temperature desalination technologies allowing the use of ocean water.
• Revisiting NWP to ensure basin-level management strategies to deal with variability in rainfall & river flows due to climate change, including enhancement of storage both above & below ground, implementation of rainwater harvesting & establishment of equitable & efficient management structures.
• Develop new regulatory structures to optimize the efficiency of existing irrigation systems, rehabilitate run-down systems & expand irrigation to increase storage capacity.
• Promotion of water-neutral & water-positive technologies through the design of a proper incentive structure combined with the recharging of underground water sources & adoption of a large-scale irrigation programme based on efficient methods of irrigation.

  3.5. National Mission for Sustaining The Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) The most crucial & primary objective of the mission is to develop a sustainable National capacity to continuously assess the health status of the Himalayan Ecosystem & enable policy bodies in their policy-formulation functions & assist States in the Indian-Himalayan Ecosystem & enable policy bodies in their policy-formulation functions & assist states in the Indian Himalayan Region with their implementation of actions selected for sustainable development. Mission Objectives:

• Building Human and institutional capacities on climate change-related aspects
• Detect & decouple natural & anthropogenic global environmental changes & project future trends on potential impacts.
• Network knowledge institutions & develop a coherent database of all knowledge systems.
• Assess the socio-economic & ecological consequences of global environmental change & design appropriate strategies for growth in the economy of the region.
• Evaluate policy alternatives for regional development plans.
• Study traditional knowledge systems for community participation in adaptation, mitigation & coping mechanisms.
• Develop regional cooperation to generate a strong knowledge & database for policy interventions.
• Create awareness amongst stakeholders in the region.

  3.6. National Mission for a Green India Objectives:

• Increased forest/tree cover on 5 million hectares of forest/non-forest lands & improved quality of forest cover on another 5 million hectares of non-forest/forest lands.
• Increased forest-based livelihood income of about 3 million households, living in & around the forests.
• Improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services & carbon sequestration from the 10 million hectares of forest/non-forest lands mentioned above.
• Enhanced annual CO₂ sequestration by 50-60 million tonnes in the year 2020.

Mission Targets:

• Improvement in the quality of forest cover & ecosystem services of forests/non-forests, including moderately dense, open forests, degraded grassland & wetlands -5 million hectares.
• Eco-restoration/afforestation of scrub, shifting cultivation areas, cold deserts, mangroves, ravines & abandoned mining areas.
• Improvement in forest & tree cover in urban/semi-urban lands
• Improvement in forest & tree cover on marginal agricultural lands/follows & other non-forest land under agro-forestry/social forestry.
• Management of public forest/non-forest areas by community institutions.
• Adoption of improved fuel wood-use efficiency & alternative energy devices by households in the project area.
• Diversification of forest-based livelihoods of about 3 million households living in & around forests.

Sub Missions:

• Sub-mission 1- Enhancing quality of forest cover & improving ecosystem services (4.9 million hectares).
• Sub-mission 2- Ecosystem restoration & increase in forest cover(1.8 million hectares)
• Sub-mission 3- Enhancing tree cover in urban & periurban areas, including institutional lands (0.20 million hectares).
• Sub-mission 4- Agro-forestry & social forestry, increasing biomass & creating carbon sink (3 million hectares).
• Sub-mission 5- Restoration of wetlands (0.10 million hectares).

  3.7. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) Mission Objectives:

• To enhance agricultural productivity through customized interventions like the use of biotechnology to develop improved varieties of crops & livestock, promoting efficient irrigation systems, demonstration of appropriate technology, capacity building & skill development.
• To devise strategic plans at the agro-climatic zone level so that action plans are contextualized to regional scales in the areas of research & development (R&D), technology & practices, infrastructure & capacity building.
• To facilitate access to information & institutional support by expanding Automatic Weather Station networks to the panchayat level & linking them to existing insurance mechanisms including the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme & the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS), scaling the returns at that level.
• To strategise long-term interventions for emissions reduction from energy & non-energy uses by way of introduction of suitable crop varieties & farm practices, livestock & manure management.
• To promote “laboratory to land” research by creating model villages & model farm units in rain-fed & dryland areas.
• To realize the enormous potential of growth in dryland agriculture, through the development of drought & pest resistant crop varieties, adopting resource-conserving technologies, providing institutional support to farmers & capacity building of stakeholders.

1. Improved crop seeds, livestock & fish culture
2. Improved farm practices
3. Water efficiency
4. Pest management
5. Nutrient management
6. Credit support
7. Agricultural insurance
8. Markets
9. Livelihood diversification
10. Access to information

  3.8. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC) Mission Objectives:

• Formation of knowledge networks among the existing knowledge institutions engaged in research & development relating to climate science & facilitating data sharing & exchange through a suitable policy framework & institutional support.
• Development of national capacity for modelling the regional impact of climate change on different ecological zones within the country for different seasons & living standards.
• Establishment of global technology watch groups with institutional capacities to research risk-minimized technology selection for developmental choices.
• Establishing research networks & encouraging research in the areas of climate change impacts on important socio-economic sectors like agriculture, health, natural ecosystems, biodiversity, coastal zones etc.
• Providing an improved understanding & awareness of key climate processes & the resultant climate risks & associated consequences.
• Generation & development of the conceptual; & knowledge basis for defining sustainability of development pathways in the light of responsible climate change-related actions.
• Building alliances & partnerships through global collaboration in research & technology development on climate change under international & bilateral science & technology (S&T) cooperation arrangements.
• To complement the efforts undertaken by other national missions, strengthen indigenous capacity for the development of appropriate technologies for responding to climate change through adaptation & mitigation & promote their utilization by the government & societies for the sustainable growth of economies.
• Ensuring the flow & generation of human resources through a variety of measures including incentives to attract young scientists to climate science.
• Creating institutional capacity for research infrastructure including access to relevant data sets, computing & communication facilities & awareness to improve the quality & sector-specific scenarios of climate change over the Indian subcontinent.

  3.9. National Bio-energy Mission According to estimates, biomass from agro & agro-industrial residue can potentially generate 25,000 MW of power in India. This can be further raised with waste-land-based integrated energy plantation & power generation systems. Bio Energy: Bioenergy is renewable energy derived from biological sources, to be used for heat, electricity or vehicle fuel. Biofuels derived from plant materials are among the most rapidly growing renewable energy technologies. Sources of Bioenergy:

• Leftover organic urban residue
• Algal residue
• Leftover organic residue
• Leftover farm organic residue
• Leftover forest residue
• Cultivation of short-rotation energy crops
• Social forestry

Advantages of Bio-energy:

• High energy generation potential
• Capital efficient
• Significant carbon emission reduction potential
• Investments & benefits remain within the country
• Substantial employment & income generation potential
• Sizable economic value added to GDP
• Wasteland regeneration

India is highly vulnerable to climate change due to a combination of high levels of poverty, population density, high reliance on natural resources, and an environment already under stress.   3.10. INDC The Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the 19^th Session held in Warsaw in November 2013 invited all parties to initiate domestic preparations for their INDC towards achieving the objective of the Convention & to communicate them, well in advance of the 21^st session of the Conference of Parties. The concept of Nationally Determined Contributions, taking into account the outcomes of both Warsaw COP 19 & Lima Cop 20 has to reflect the principles of equity & common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) & the country’s contributions must be seen in a balanced & comprehensive context. India declared a voluntary goal of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25%, over 2005 levels by 2020, despite having no binding mitigation obligations as per the convention. A slew of policy measures to promote low-carbon strategies & renewable energy have resulted in the decline of emission intensity of our GDP by 12% between 2005 & 2010. It is a matter of satisfaction that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Emission Gap Report 2014 has recognized India as one of the countries on course to achieve its voluntary goal. INDC outlines the post-2020 climate actions they intend to take under a new international agreement. The INDC centres around India’s policies & programmes on the promotion of clean energy, especially renewable energy, enhancement of energy efficiency, development of less carbon-intensive & resilient urban centres, promotion of waste to wealth, abatement of pollution & India’s efforts to enhance carbon sink through the creation of forests & tree cover. It captures citizens & private sector contributions to combating climate change. The INDC proposals are on the following:

• Cleaner economic development
• Sustainable lifestyles
• Increase the share of non-fossil fuel-based electricity
• Reduce emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP)
• Enhancing carbon sink
• Adaptation
• Mobilizing finance
• Technology transfer & capacity building

In the INDC, the country focused on adaptation efforts including:

• Developing sustainable habitats
• Creating ecologically sustainable climate-resilient agricultural production systems
• Optimizing water use efficiency
• Safeguarding the Himalayan glaciers & mountain ecosystem
• Enhancing carbon sinks in sustainably managed forests & implementing adaptation measures for vulnerable species, forest-dependent communities & ecosystems.

Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC): India has submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Some of the salient points of the INDC are:

• To put forward & further propagate a healthy & sustainable way of living based on traditions & values of conservation & moderation.
• To adopt a climate-friendly & cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at the corresponding level of economic development.
• To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level.
• To achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 with the help of the transfer of technology & low-cost international finance, including from the Green Climate Fund.
• To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest & tree cover by 2030.
• To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health & disaster management.
• To mobilize domestic, new & additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation & adaptation actions given the resource required & the resource gap.
• To build capacities, create domestic framework & international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting-edge climate technology in India & joint collaborative R&D for such future technologies.

  3.11. Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment (INCCA)

• The INCCA was launched in October 2009 by the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) to promote domestic research on climate change & build on the country’s climate change expertise.
• The INCCA was conceptualized as a Network-based Scientific Programme designed to address & assess the drivers & implications of climate change through scientific research; climate change assessments on various aspects of climate change, associated vulnerabilities & adaptation; devise decision support systems; & build capacity towards management of climate change-related risks & opportunities.
• INCCA is a network-based programme of the MoEF, which consists of over 120 institutions & over 250 scientists countrywide and is aimed at bringing in more science-based policy-making, based on measurements, monitoring & modelling.
• The INCCA will research the effects of climate change in different regions & sectors in India & suggest suitable adaptation & mitigation steps.
• Objective- to have an independent body of Indian scientists who could prepare scientific reports at the domestic level about the impact of climate change on various sectors, which can give a real picture & influence the world debate.
• Reports prepared by the INCCA will form a part of India’s National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

INCCA-First Assessment India: Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2007

• The first Assessment of the Greenhouse Gas emissions was released in 2010.
• The first publication to come out from the INCCA has been an updated greenhouse gas emissions inventory for India for the year 2007.
• INCCA prepared the country’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emission data ‘India- Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2007’ which said the country’s emissions grew by 58% during 1994-2007.
• It covers the sectors of Energy, Industry, Agriculture, land use change and forest waste by sources & removal by sinks presented in this document.

INCCA-Second Assessment ‘Climate Change & India: A 4×4 Assessment’

• ‘A 4×4 Assessment’ addresses the impact of climate change in the 2030s on the natural resources & livelihoods of the people in the four climate-sensitive regions of the Himalayan region, the north-east region, the western ghats & the coastal plains for the 4 key sectors of Agriculture, water, health & natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
• The 4 region, 4 sectors Assessment in short has been referred to as a 4×4 Assessment.
• The assessment examines the implications of the climate change scenario in the 2030s using a regional climate model.
• The assessment brings out the future areas of work to enhance the knowledge & areas of further improvement in the future assessments.
• 4 Thrust Areas: agriculture, water, forests, human health.
• 4 Regions: western ghats, Himalayan region, coastal India, north-east India.

Impacts:

• Warmer seasons: Average temperature rise-2.0 Celsius predicted; 1.0-4.0 Celsius at extreme ranges.
• Increased annual precipitation with lower frequency of rainy days; increased intensity.
• Cyclonic disturbances of lower frequency; increased intensity & increased risk of storm surges.
• Sea-level rise; 1.3mm/year on average.

Agriculture:

• Up to 50% reduction in maize yields
• 4-35% reduction in rice yields with some exceptions
• Negative impacts on livestock in all regions
• Rise in coconut yields; reduced apple production
• Fresh water supply
• 10-30% increased risk of floods; increased risks of droughts
• High variability predicted in water yields from a 50% increase to a 40-50% reduction

Forests & Natural Ecosystems:

• Increased net primary productivity
• Shifting forest borders; species mix; negative impact on livelihoods & biodiversity.

Human health:

• Expanded transmission of malaria
• Higher morbidity & mortality from heat stress & vector/water borne diseases.

  3.12. National Communication (NATCOM)

• India’s Initial National Communication (NATCOM) was initiated in 2002 in pursuance of the implementation of the provisions of the convention to the UNFCCC, funded by the Global Environment Facility under its enabling activities programme through the United Nations Development Programme, New Delhi.
• The National Communication process envisages comprehensive scientific & technical exercises for the preparation of inventories of Greenhouse gases of anthropogenic origin, reduction of uncertainties in these estimations & vulnerability assessment & adaptation due to climate change.
• Towards preparation of NATCOM, a broad participatory approach involving research institutions, technical institutions, universities, government departments & non-governmental private organizations has been adopted, necessitated by vast regional diversity & sector complexities in India.

Implementation arrangements: The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) is the implementing & executing agency of the project. Work programme:

• Identification of key steps to be taken towards implementing the Convention.
• Development of comprehensive inventory for the base year 1994 & improvement of its reliability vis-à-vis earlier estimates. This would entail reducing uncertainties of GHG emission coefficients in key source categories.
• Enhancement of capacity to respond to projected climate change through the preparation of a ‘Targeted Research Proposal’ for developing a medium to long-term action plan.
• Creation of a reliable & comprehensive database for all the outputs produced through the establishment of a ‘Data Centre’ (DC). This information will be accessible on the Internet.

GHG Inventory Estimations:

• The gases to be inventoried include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbon & sulphur hexafluoride released from various anthropogenic sources of the base year 1994.
• By the provisions of Article-4, 12.1 of UNFCCC, preparation of inventories of a basket of gases has been started for the areas of energy, industrial processes, agriculture land use & land use change and forestry (LULUCF) & waste.
• This is in addition to estimating historical trends of GHG growth as a part of the initial National Communication to UNFCCC.
• The estimation of national GHG inventories for all sectors is based on the 1996 guidelines of the ‘Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’ (IPCC) & as good practices guidelines.

  3.13. India’s Policy Structure Relevant to GHG Mitigation: Integrated Energy Policy:

• India has in place a detailed policy, regulatory & legislative structure that relates strongly to GHG mitigation.
• Its key points include the promotion of energy efficiency in all sectors; Emphasis on renewables including biofuel plantations; and Emphasis on mass transport.
• Focused R & D on several clean energy-related technologies.
• Accelerated development of nuclear & hydropower for clean energy.

The Rural Electrification Policy, 2006:

• It promotes renewable energy technologies where grid connectivity is not possible or cost-effective.
• The new & renewable energy policy, of 2005, promotes the utilization of sustainable, renewable energy sources & accelerated deployment of renewables through indigenous design, development & manufacture.
• The National Environment Policy, 2006 & Notification on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), 2006, reform India’s environmental assessment regime.
• Several economic activities are required to prepare environment impact assessment & environment management plans, which are appraised by regulatory authorities before the start of construction.
• The EIA provisions strongly promote environmental sustainability.

Other provisions:

• It relates to reforming energy markets to ensure that energy markets are competitive & energy prices reflect true resource costs.
• These include- the Electricity Act 2005, Tariff Policy 2003, and Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006.

The provisions taken together are designed to:

• Accomplish price reform, through full competition at the point of sale
• Remove entry barriers & raise competition in exploration, extraction, conversion, transmission & distribution of primary & secondary energy sources.
• Promote tax reform to promote optimal fuel choices.
• Provide feed-in tariffs for renewables like solar, wind, and biomass cogeneration.
• Strengthen & where applicable, introduce independent regulation.

Introduction of Labelling Programme for Appliances:

• An energy labelling programme for appliances was launched in 2006 & comparative star-based labelling has been introduced for fluorescent tube lights, air conditioners, refrigerators & distribution transformers.
• The labels provide information about the energy consumption of an appliance & thus enable consumers to make informed decisions.
• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has made it mandatory for refrigerators to display energy efficiency labels & is expected to do so for air conditioners.

Energy Conservation Building Code:

• An Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched in May 2007, which addresses the design of new, large commercial buildings to optimize the building’s energy demand based on their location in different climatic zones.
• Commercial buildings are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian economy, reflecting the increasing share of the services sector in the economy.
• Nearly one hundred buildings are already following the code & compliance with the code has been incorporated into the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment requirements for large buildings.
• It has been estimated that if all the commercial space in India every year conforms to the ECBC norms, energy consumption in this sector can be reduced by 30-40%.
• Compliance with ECBC norms is voluntary at present but is expected to soon become mandatory.

Green building:

• Buildings are one of the major pollutants that affect urban air quality & contribute to climate change.
• Human habitats interact with the environment in various ways. Throughout their life cycles, from construction to operation & then demolition, they consume resources in the form of energy, water, and materials & emit wastes either directly in the form of municipal wastes or indirectly as emissions from electricity generation.
• Green building is the essence of which would address all the pollution-related issues of a building in an integrated & scientific manner.
• A green building depletes as little of the natural resources during its construction & operation.
• It costs a little more to design & construct a green building.
• It costs less to operate a green building that has tremendous environmental benefits & provides a better place for the occupants to live & work.
• It maximizes the use of efficient building materials & construction practices, optimizes the use of on-site sources & sinks by bio-climatic architectural practices, uses minimum energy to power itself, uses efficient equipment to meet its lighting, air-conditioning & other needs, maximizes the use of renewable sources of energy, uses efficient waste & water management practices & provides comfortable, hygienic indoor working conditions.
• They critically evaluate the impacts of each design decision on the environment & arrive at viable design solutions to minimize the negative impacts & enhance the positive impacts on the environment.
• In sum, the following aspects of the building design are looked into in an integrated way in a green building; building system designed in a way to efficiently use HVAC (Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning), lighting, electrical & water heating.
• Integration of renewable energy sources to generate energy onsite.
• Selection of ecologically sustainable materials with high recycled content, and rapidly renewable resources with low emission potential for water & waste management.
• Indoor environmental quality maintains indoor thermal & visual comfort & air quality.

The aim of a green building design is to:

• Minimize the demand for non-renewable resources & maximize the utilization efficiency of these resources when in use.
• Maximize reuse & recycling of available resources
• Utilization of renewable resources.

  3.14. Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA):

• Griha is a Sanskrit word meaning Abode.
• Griha was conceived by TERI & developed jointly with the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India.
• The green building rating system devised by TERI & the MNRE is a voluntary scheme.

Objective: The primary objective of the rating system is to help design green buildings & in turn, help evaluate the greenness of the buildings. Aim: The rating system aims to achieve efficient resource utilization, enhanced resource efficiency & better quality of life in the buildings. Rating Tool:

• Griha is a rating tool that helps people assess the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks & is suitable for all kinds of buildings in different climatic zones of the country.
• It will evaluate the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a green building.
• Griha attempts to quantify aspects like energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy adoption etc, to manage, control & reduce the same to the best possible extent.
• The rating system, based on accepted energy & environmental principles, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices & emerging concepts, both national & international.
• The guidelines appraisal may be revised every three years to take into account the latest scientific developments during this period.

Basic Features:

• The system has been developed to help design & evaluate new buildings.
• A building is assessed based on its predicted performance over its entire life cycle, inception through operation.
• The stages of the life cycle that have been identified for evaluation are:

Rating System: The Griha rating system consists of 34 criteria categorized under 4 categories. They are:

1. Site selection & site planning
2. Building operation & maintenance
3. Conservation & efficient utilization of resources
4. Innovation points

Eight of these 34 criteria are mandatory, four are partly mandatory, and the rest are optional. Each criterion has several points assigned to it. It means that a project intending to meet the criterion would qualify for the points. Different levels of certification are awarded based on the number of points earned. The minimum number of points required for certification is 50. Benefits: On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities & processes that led up to it, will benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG emissions, reducing energy consumption & stress on natural resources.

• Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels.
• Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats & biodiversity and reduced soil loss from erosion.
• Reduced air & water pollution with direct health benefits.
• Reduced water consumption
• Limited waste generation due to recycling & reuse.
• Increased user productivity
• Reduced pollution loads
• Enhanced image & marketability

Challenges:

• Each group may be organized to some extent, but there is limited interaction among the groups, thus disabling the integrated green design & application process.
• The Indian building industry is highly de-centralized with people or groups engaged in design, construction, equipment provision, installation & renovation working together.
• It is very important to define & quantify sustainable building practices & their benefits.
• It is important to separate the roles of different participants in ensuring that the building consumes minimal resources over its entire life cycle & leaves behind a minimal environmental footprint.

Energy Audits of Large Industrial Consumers: In 2007, the conduct of energy audits was made mandatory in large energy-consuming units in nine industrial sectors. These units, notified as designated consumers are also required to employ certified energy managers & report energy consumption & energy conservation data annually. Mass Transport:

• The National Urban Transport Policy emphasizes extensive public transport facilities & non-motorized modes over personal vehicles.
• The expansion of the Metro Rail Transportation System in Delhi & other cities & other mass transit systems like the Metro Bus Project in Bangalore are steps in its implementation.
• The state government of Maharashtra recently announced that it will impose a congestion tax to discourage the use of private cars in cities where it has created sufficient public transport capacity.

Clean Air Initiatives: In urban areas, one of the major sources of air pollution is emissions from transport vehicles. Steps taken to reduce such pollution include-

1. Introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) in Delhi & other cities.
2. Strengthening of mass transportation
3. Retiring old, polluting vehicles

Some state governments provide subsidies for the purchase & use of electric vehicles. For thermal power plants, the installation of electrostatic precipitators is mandatory. In many cities, polluting industrial units have either been closed or shifted from residential areas. Promotion of Energy Saving Devices:

• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has introduced ’The Bachat Lamp Yojana’, a programme under which households may exchange incandescent lamps for Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) using clean development mechanism (CDM) credits to equate purchase price.
• Some states have made mandatory the installation of solar water heaters in hospitals, hotels & large government & commercial buildings.
• Subsidy is provided for the installation of solar water heaters in residential buildings.

Promotion of Biofuels: The biodiesel purchase policy mandates biodiesel procurement by the petroleum industry. A mandate on Ethanol Blending of Gasoline requires 5% blending of ethanol with gasoline from January 2003 in 9 states & 4 Union territories. Indian Solar Loan Programme:

• In 2003, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated a 3-year programme, and credit facility in Southern India to help rural households finance the purchase of Solar Home Systems.
• In addition to providing financial support in the form of interest rate subsidies for borrowers, UNEP assists with technical issues, vendor qualification & other activities to develop the institutional capacity for this type of finance.
• Syndicate Bank & Canara Bank, along with their eight associate Regional Rural Banks, partnered with UNEP to establish & run a Loan Programme through their branch offices across Karnataka State & part of Kerala state.

  3.15. National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) The ICAR launched the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) during 2010-11 with an outlay of Rs.350 Crores for the XI plan. This initiative will primarily enhance the resilience of Indian Agriculture covering crops, livestock & fisheries. Objective: To enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture covering crops, livestock & fisheries to climatic variability & climate change through the development & application of improved production & risk management technologies. Project Components: The project is comprised of four components.

1. Technology demonstration on farmers’ fields to cope with current climate variability.
2. Strategic research on adaptation & mitigation
3. Capacity building of different stakeholders
4. Sponsored & competitive research grants to fill critical research gaps.

Strategic Research:

• The strategic research was planned at leading research institutes of ICAR in a network mode covering crops, horticulture, livestock, natural resource management & fisheries sectors.
• To begin with, the project focuses on crops like wheat, rice, maize, pigeon pea, groundnut, tomato, mango & banana; cattle, buffalo & small ruminants among livestock & both marine & freshwater fish species of economic importance.
• 7 major research institutes of the ICAR will work in unison to evolve coping technologies with the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad as the lead centre.
• The technologies include rainwater harvesting & its judicious use, in-situ moisture conservation, drought management strategies, seed & fodder banks, timely & precision agriculture, and effective agro-advisory systems using Information Communication Technology.
• Small & marginal farmers in rain-fed, coastal & hill areas will benefit more given the focused attention on these regions.
• Capacity building of scientists in frontier areas is another core activity of the project.

The major research themes are:

• Studying changes in pest dynamics, pest/pathogen-crop relationships & emergence of new pests & pathogens under changing climate.
• Vulnerability assessment of major production zones
• Linking weather-based agro-advisories to contingency planning
• Continuous monitoring of greenhouse gases in open field conditions in major production systems
• Assessing the impacts & evolving varieties tolerant to key climatic stresses in major production systems
• Adaptation strategies in livestock through nutritional & environmental manipulations.
• Harnessing the beneficial effects of temperature in inland & marine fisheries through a better understanding of the spawning behaviour.

BSE-GREENEX:

• The BSE-GREENEX Index is a veritable first step in creating a credible market-based response mechanism in India, whereby both businesses & investors can rely upon purely quantitative & objective performance-based signals to assess carbon performance.
• Gtrade Carbon Ex Ratings Services Private Limited is a company based in India, which has co-developed the BSE-GREENEX Index in close association with the BSE.

Index Description:

• The BSE-GREENEX Index includes the top 20 companies which are good in terms of carbon emissions, Free-Float Market Capitalization and turnover.
• The Index is a cap-weighted Free-Float Market Capitalization Index comprised from the list of BSE-100 Index.
• The Index has been back-tested from October 2008 with a base index value of 1000.
• The Index is rebalanced on a bi-annual basis i.e., end of March & September quarters.
• The September quarter review will be based on the fresh set of carbon emission numbers & the March quarter review will be based on the existing carbon emission numbers but the latest financial data.

  3.16. Fame India Programme:

• Faster adoption & manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME India) scheme rolled out in 2015 by the Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.
• The scheme will help promote the use of electric & hybrid vehicles & initially, a subsidy of 30% will be provided to the buyers.
• Phased replacement of fossil fuel-based vehicles with those based on the latest technologies will lead to a net saving of Rs. 14,000 crores.
• The scheme is proposed to be implemented over 6 years till 2020, which looks at sales of electric & hybrid vehicles up to 60-70 lakh units per year.

Long Term Ecological Observatories (LTEO)

• LTEO for climate change studies is one of the components under the climate change action programme with an outlay of Rs.40 Crores in the 12th-period plan.
• A science plan of LTEO was released during the 21^st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015.
• The First Phase of the LTEO Programme includes creating a network of field sites to assess the health of 8 different biomes of the country Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, North-western Arid zone, Central Indian Forests, Western Ghats, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jammu & Kashmir & Sunderbans.
• The LTEO programme aims to understand the biophysical & anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change in the selected biomes & their effects on social-ecological responses through a network of scientific institutions.
• Activities include experimental work to assess the change of structure & function in the natural ecosystems, identification of patterns & drivers of change in the natural ecosystems by monitoring populations of freshwater fish, birds, mammals, herbivores & carnivores, animal movements, soil processes in forests & grasslands, biophysical climatic variables.

  3.17. National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC)

• The National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) is a central sector scheme set up in 2015-16. NAFCC aims to support concrete adaptation activities which mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.
• The activities under this scheme are implemented in a project mode. The projects related to adaptation in sectors like agriculture, animal husbandry, water, forestry, and tourism are eligible for funding under NAFCC.
• The National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) is the National Implementing Entity (NIE).

Critical Initiatives: In addition, India has 24 other critical initiatives in the anvil, for which detailed plans & an institutional framework are being prepared.