Lok Sabha Question No. 3226 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-13
Subject: Impact of Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3226

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2020

## Impact of Climate Change

## 3226.   SHRI ANNASAHEB SHANKAR JOLLE: SHRI RAJU BISTA:

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

- (a) whether    the  Government  has  undertaken  any  research  to  evaluate  the  impact  of climate change on India and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is on the path to achieve the goals set up during the Paris Agreement on climate change and if so, the details thereof,
- (c) the present position of India as compared to other countries in fighting pollution and carbon emissions;
- (d) whether the Government has undertaken any audit to identify the percentage of land which is carbon negative in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  action  plan  prepared  by  the  Government  to  face  the  challenges  posed  by  the climate change

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO )

(a)  India  is  a  Party  to  the  United  Nations  Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change (UNFCCC).  India  submitted  Initial  National  Communication  (INC)  in  2004  and  Second National  Communication  (SNC)  in  2012  to  the  UNFCCC.  As  part  of  the  National Communications, the Ministry conducted studies on the impact of climate change in India which  are  summarized  in  the  'Vulnerability  Assessment  and  Adaptation'  chapter.  For  the SNC, climate change scenarios were analysed using high-resolution regional climate model for  the  years  the  2020s,  2050s  and  2080s  which  indicate  all-round  warming  of  the  Indian subcontinent.  Impact  of  climate  change  and  climate  variability  on  the  water  resources  are likely to affect irrigated agriculture, installed power capacity, environmental flows in the dry season and wet season. The report projects variable impacts in terms of the composition of forests and net primary productivity.

Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  conducted  studies  under  the National  Innovations  on  Climate  Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA)  project,  which  indicate variable  impacts  of  climate  change  on  production  of  crops  like  rice,  wheat,  maize  etc  in different regions of India.

Government of India has also published a report titled 'Climate Change and India: A 4 x 4 Assessment - A Sectoral and Regional Analysis for the 2030'. This report provides projections  on  impacts  of  climate  change  on  four  key  sectors  of  Indian  economy  namely, Agriculture,  Water,  Natural  Ecosystems  and  Biodiversity,  and  Health  in  four  climatesensitive  regions  of  India  namely  the  Himalayan  region,  the  Western  Ghats,  the  Coastal Areas and the North-East Region.

(b) and (c) India is committed to multilateral action to combat climate change and is Party to the UNFCCC, its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. India is meeting all its commitments and obligations under these instruments, and independent studies rate India's efforts highly. India is one of the few countries which is compliant to 2  C goal of the Paris Agreement as per some independent studies.

Under the Paris Agreement, India has submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution  (NDC)  outlining  eight  (8)  targets  for  2021-2030,  including  (i)  to  reduce  the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level, (ii) to achieve about  40  per  cent  cumulative  electric  power  installed  capacity  from  non-fossil  fuel-based energy  resources  by  2030  with  the  help  of  the  transfer  of  technology  and  low-cost international  finance,  (iii)  to  create  an  additional  carbon  sink  of  2.5  to  3  billion  tonnes  of CO2equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  launched  National  Clean Air Programme on 10 January 2019 as a national-level strategy for Pan-India implementation to reduce air pollution levels across the country through strategies for local, city, regional and transboundary levels.

(d)  As  per  India  State  of  Forest  Report  (ISFR)  2019,  the  total  forest  and  tree  cover  of  the country  is  80.73  million  hectare  which  is  24.56  per  cent  of  the  geographical  area  of  the country in 2019 which acts as a carbon sink. Further, as per India's second biennial update report  (BUR-2)  to  the  UNFCCC  submitted  in  2018,  about  12  per  cent  of  India's  GHG emissions were offset by the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector in 2014.

(e)  The  Government  of  India  also  stands  committed  to  combating  climate  change  through several  of  its  programs  and  schemes.  This  includes  inter-alia  implementation  of  National Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change  (NAPCC),  which  comprises  missions  in  specific  areas  of solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, water, sustainable agriculture, sustaining Himalayan ecosystem, sustainable habitat, Green India and strategic knowledge on climate change.  Thirty-three  states  and  Union  Territories  have  prepared  State  Action  Plans  on Climate Change (SAPCC) consistent with the objectives of NAPCC to address their Statespecific actions. These SAPCCs inter-alia outline sector-specific and cross-sectoral priority actions.

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