1. Introduction
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Tamil Nadu State Action Plan for Climate Change 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Globally observations point towards a climate change scenario as temperatures are increasing, sea levels are rising, with a perceivable increase in severity and frequency of extreme events (IPCC 2007a; Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX), 2012) and the speed of the change is evidently fast. This is leading to a complex situation, whereby all spheres of our existence are being impacted. Model projections; indicate a further escalation of the situation if greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources keep on rising unabated. It is surprising that solutions to adapt or mitigate the situation essentially are emerging from indigenous knowledge, State of art technology and research in all disciplines and fields. Due to global temperature rise and speed at which climate change is occurring, it is evident that countries are becoming vulnerable to climate change, which reduces the development path. Hence, capacity to adapt should be increased through implementation of suitable national adaptation plans. Future vulnerability depends not only on climate change but also on the type of development path that is pursued. Thus adaptation needs to be implemented in the context of national and global sustainable development efforts. The international community is identifying resources, tools, and approaches to support this effort. Adapting to climate change entails taking the right measures to reduce the negative effects of climate change (or exploit the positive ones) by making the appropriate adjustments and changes. There are many options and opportunities to adapt. These range from technological options such as increased sea defences or flood-proof houses on stilts, to behaviour change at the individual level, such as reducing water use in times of drought and using insecticide-sprayed mosquito nets. Other strategies include early warning systems for extreme events, better water management, and improved risk management, various insurance options and biodiversity conservation. 1.2 THE NATIONAL CONTEXT India‟s economy and 68.8 percent of its population (Census, 2011) residing in rural areas are directly dependent on climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. Since climate change is expected to impact natural and human systems adversely by inducing changes in these systems, India can be considered highly vulnerable, as the extent of exposure is very high when compared to most countries in the world. Climate change is only likely to exacerbate India‟s already high physical exposure to climate-related disasters as 65 percent of India is drought prone, 12 percent flood prone and 8 percent susceptible to cyclones. As a consequence, climate change is likely to impact livelihoods by disrupting social, cultural, economic, ecological systems, physical infrastructure and human assets, accentuating health risks hence posing severe risks to the development of the country. 1 Tamil Nadu State Action Plan for Climate Change Since climate change impacts are felt at multiple levels from the global to the local, responses to climate change also needs to be at multiple levels, calling for strategic interventions at local, sub-national, national, and global levels. At the global level, India‟s contribution to multilateral negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been significant and it continues to advocate for effective, cooperative, and equitable global approaches based on the principle of „common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities‟. At the national level, India has developed the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC, 2008) which comprises of eight National Missions (Box 1.1) at its core and addresses various sectoral aspects of climate change. The NAPCC seeks to promote understanding of climate change, adaptation, mitigation, energy efficiency and natural resource conservation while pursuing overall economic growth – i.e., measures that promote development objectives which also result in co- benefits for addressing climate change. At the same time, recognising that the impacts of climate change will vary across States, sectors, locations, and that different approach will need to be adopted to fit specific sub-national contexts and conditions. All Indian States are preparing State Action Plans for Climate Change (SAPCCs) with the NAPCC. It is in this context that the Tamil Nadu State Action Plan (TNSAPCC) on Climate Change has been prepared. Box 1.1: National Missions under the NAPCC National Water Mission sets a goal of 20 percent improvement in water use efficiency through pricing and other measures National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem aims to conserve biodiversity, forest cover and other ecological values in the Himalayan region National Mission for a Green India aims at Increased forest/tree cover on 5 m ha of forest/non-forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 m ha (a total of 10 m ha), improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services, and carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 m ha. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture aims to support climate adaptation in agriculture through the development of climate resilient crops and appropriate agricultural practices National Solar Mission (renamed as Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) aims to promote the development and use of solar energy for power generation and other uses with the ultimate objective of making solar energy competitive with fossil based energy options. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency recommends mandating specific energy consumption decreases in large energy consuming industries. It also recommends financing for public-private participants to reduce energy consumption through demand side management programs National Mission on Sustainable Habitat aims to promote energy efficiency as a core competent for urban planning. The mission calls for a greater emphasis on urban waste management and recycling including production of power from waste. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change is for gaining a better understanding of climate science, impacts and challenges. It envisions improved climate modelling and increased international collaboration to develop adaptation and mitigation technologies. 2 Tamil Nadu State Action Plan for Climate Change 1.3 THE TAMIL NADU CONTEXT Like many other States with similar developmental contexts, Tamil Nadu too has high dependence on natural resources and faces the threat of climate change and its impacts. Available evidence shows that there is high probability of increase in the frequency and intensity of climate related natural hazards and hence increase in potential threat due to climate change related natural disasters. In the (relative) absence of State level climate models and/or vulnerability studies, as well as low community awareness, Tamil Nadu is potentially mere sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. Tamil Nadu ‘Towards Balanced Growth and Resilience’ Tamil Nadu is already undertaking a range of sectoral initiatives that are climate friendly (although these may not have been articulated as such in government documents), and the State plans to continue to foster such initiatives by providing an enabling environment. The Twelfth Five Year Plan of Tamil Nadu aims to achieve a higher level of sustainable economic growth, which will benefit all sections of society. Sustaining services growth and accelerating industrial growth, Tamil Nadu aims at a double-digit growth rate by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan period. The Twelfth Five Year Plan provides an opportunity to restructure policies to achieve not just a robust and inclusive growth but also sets the goal to make Tamil Nadu "Number One" among Indian States. It will work across all sectors to further promote human development that impacts and improves the lives of all- marginalized, women, old-aged, minorities and the differently-abled. Venturing on this path to foster human development, the State aspires to see a significant reduction in the inequities across social groups, regions and gender by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan. 1.4 TNSAPCC PREPARATION PROCESS The process of preparation of Tamil Nadu TNSAPCC started first in July 2010 with the formation of a Steering Committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. The composition of the Steering Committee is in Annexure 1a. Subsequently, an inception workshop was organised in August 2010, which identified the focus areas where the State needs to concentrate. The focus areas identified were Sustainable Agriculture (and allied sectors) Water Resources Forest & Bio-Diversity Coastal Area Management Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Solar Mission Sustainable Habitat Knowledge Management The next step was the formation of working groups, which was constituted with members drawn from various departments, universities, NGOs and other institutions 3 Tamil Nadu State Action Plan for Climate Change of significance (Annexure 1b for the composition of the working groups).Following this activity, the GIZ in association with Inter-coperation India, assisted the Government of Tamil Nadu and the working groups in formulating their sectoral papers. A number of working group