Lok Sabha Question No. 4609 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-23
Subject: Assessment of Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KAMLA DEVI PATLE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4609

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2018

## Assessment of Climate Change

## 4609 SHRIMATI KAMLA DEVI PAATLE:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has made any scientific assessment on climate change caused by global warming and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether mining activities  is  the  major  reason  for  climate  change  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to set up a National Institute for climate change and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has conducted any study to know the impact of climate change on monsoon; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures being taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)  A scientific study to assess the impact of climate change has been conducted and a report titled 'Climate Change and India: A 4X4 Assessment - A Sectoral and Regional Analysis for 2030s' was published in 2010 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The study assessed impact of climate change on four key sectors of Indian economy, namely, agriculture, water, forests and human health in four climate sensitive regions of India - the Himalayan region, the Western Ghats, the Coastal region and the North-Eastern region. The study projects a variable rate of change in agricultural production including losses in some crops  and  change  in  the  composition  of  the  forests  and  net  primary  productivity.  Extreme precipitation  events  are  likely  to  increase  in  all  the  regions.  Water  yield  is  projected  to increase  in  the  Himalayan  Region,  whereas  it  is  likely  to  be  variable  across  other  three regions. Malaria is projected to spread to new areas and threat of its transmission is likely to increase in duration.

(b) The  mining  activities  is  not  the  major  cause  for  climate  change  and  greenhouse  gas emissions  from  mining  activities are small  as  compared  to  other  sectors  of  the  Indian economy.    As  per  India's  first  Biennial  Update  Report  submitted  to  United  Nations Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change  in  2016,  GHG  emissions  from  mining  and quarrying was 4313.44 Gg CO2 eq. in the year 2010, which accounted for 0.2% of the total greenhouse gas emissions.

(c) The provision for National Institute for Climate Change Studies and Actions exists in the central  sector  scheme-  Climate  Change  Action  Programme.  However,  the  details  are  not worked out.

(d)   Some recent studies suggest an increasing frequency and intensity of extremes in rainfall during past 40-50 years. However, their attribution to global warming is not confirmed. The inter-governmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  and  our  country's  own  assessment  using regional climate models project that extreme rainfall events are likely to be more frequent in India in future.

(e)    To  address  the  issues  of  climate  change,  Government  of  India  is  implementing  the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which includes eight national missions, implemented  by  various  Ministries  in  specific  areas  of  Solar  Energy,  Enhanced  Energy Efficiency,  Sustainable  Habitat,  Water,  Sustaining  the  Himalayan  Ecosystem,  Green  India, Sustainable Agriculture and Strategic knowledge for Climate Change.  It outlines a number of steps to simultaneously advance India's development and climate change related objectives of adaptation and mitigation. State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) prepared by 28 States and 4 Union Territories (UTs) are consistent with objectives of NAPCC.

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