lR;eso t;rs - Ministry of Environment and Forests

�Poverty
Poverty has been identified as one of the greatest barriers to
developing adaptive capacity. The poor, usually, have low
adaptive capacity due to their limited access to information,
technology and other capital assets, making them highly
vulnerable to climate change. Poverty also constrains
adaptation in other sectors. Poverty, along with
infrastructural limitations and other socio-economic
factors, could also limit efforts to conserve biodiversity in
India. Adaptive capacity in countries where there is a high
incidence of poverty, will likely remain limited.
�Inadequate
Awareness
Insufficient information and knowledge on the impacts of
climate change and responses of natural systems to climate
change will continue to hinder effective adaptation,
particularly in India. The limited studies on the interconnections
between adaptation and mitigation options,
costs and benefits of adaptation, and trade-offs between
various courses of actions will also likely limit adaptation
initiatives. The deficiency in available information and
knowledge will continue to make it difficult to enhance
public perception of the risks and dangers associated with
climate change. In addition, the absence of information on
adaptation costs and benefits makes it difficult to identify
the best adaptation option. This limiting factor will be most
constraining in developing countries, where systems for
monitoring and research on climate, and responses of
natural and human systems to climate are usually lacking.
�Lack
of Political Motivation
The slow change in the political and institutional landscape
in response to climate change could also be a major
limitation to future adaptation. The existing legal and
institutional framework in India remains inadequate to
facilitate implementation of comprehensive and integrated
response to climate change in synergy with the pursuit of
sectoral development goals.
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON CLIMATE
CHANGE
India released its National Action Plan on Climate Change
th
(NAPCC) on 30 June, 2008 to outline its strategy to meet the
challenge of climate change. The National Action Plan advocates
a strategy that promotes, firstly, the adaptation to climate change
and secondly, further enhancement of the ecological
sustainability of India's development path.
Approach to Climate Change
The National Action Plan recognizes that climate change is a
global challenge and that it should be successfully addressed
through a globally collaborative and cooperative effort based on
the basis of the principle of equity. The Action Plan expresses
India's willingness to play its role as a responsible member of the
international community and to make its contribution. However,
it emphasizes that this requires not only sustainable production
processes, but also sustainable life styles across the globe. In this
effort, every citizen of the planet should have an equal share of
the planetary atmospheric space. The Action Plan suggests that
the long-term convergence of per capita GHG emissions is the
only equitable basis for a global agreement to tackle climate
change. The Action Plan assures the international community
that India's per capita GHG emissions would not exceed the per
capita GHG emissions of developed countries, despite India's
developmental imperatives.
Domestic Action
India's National Action Plan stresses that maintaining a high
growth rate is essential for increasing the living standards of the
vast majority of people in India and reducing their vulnerability
to the impacts of climate change. Accordingly, the Action Plan
identified measures that promote the objectives of sustainable
development of India while also yielding to benefits for
addressing climate change. Eight National Missions, which
form the core of the National Action Plan, represent multipronged,
long term and integrated strategies for achieving key
goals in the context of climate change. The focus is on promoting
understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation,
energy efficiency and natural resource conservation. While
several of these programmes are already a part of the current
actions, the Action Plan seeks to enhance them in scope and
effectiveness and implement them in an accelerated manner
through time bound plans.
National Missions
1. National Solar Mission aims at increasing the share of
solar energy in the total energy mix through development of
Drought-a major concern of climate change
Key Environmental Issues-Climate Change
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