Lok Sabha Question No. 3057 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Losses due to Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Shiromani Ram, Pushpendra Singh Chandel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO.3057

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## Losses due to Climate Change

3057.  SHRIMATI MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH: SHRI RAMSHIROMANI VERMA:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

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

- (a) whether the  Government has made  any assessment of losses incurred in  agriculture and other sectors due to the climate change during the last twenty years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  details  of  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  reduce  and  prevent  the impact of climate change in the country including Uttarakhand and Bundelkhand; and
- (d) the efforts made and targets achieved in reducing the impact of climate change during the last three years?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) and  (b)  Climate  model  simulation  studies  done  by  various  agencies  including  the Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  (IPCC)  project  possible  linkages  of  climate change  with  frequency  and  intensity  of  weather-related  events.  However,  the  causal  link between climate change and loss of life and property or financial loss is difficult to establish.

(c)    Government  is  implementing  the  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change  (NAPCC) which  provides  the  overarching  framework  for  climate  actions,  through    eight  national missions  in  specific  areas  of  solar  energy,  enhanced  energy  efficiency,  water,  agriculture, Himalayan eco-system, sustainable habitat,  green  India and strategic knowledge on climate change.  These  Missions  are  institutionalized  and  implemented  by  their  respective  nodal Ministries.  Under  the  NAPCC's  overarching  framework,  thirty-three  (33)  States  /UTs  have prepared  State  Action  Plans  on  Climate  Change  (SAPCC).  Further,  to  support  adaptation measures in States / UTs in areas that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate  change,  Government  is  implementing  the  National  Adaptation  Fund  for  Climate Change (NAFCC). Under NAFCC, 29 projects  in 27 States/UTs have been sanctioned  for adaptation in agriculture, water, forestry, etc.

Under NAFCC, a project titled  'Ecosystem  services  based  adaptation  to  climate  change  in Bundelkhand region  of Uttar  Pradesh'  is  being  implemented  covering  four  forest  divisions viz.  Banda,  Hamirpur,  Orai  (Jalaun)  and  Chitrakoot.  The  project  aims  to  restore  degraded forest  areas  with  involvement  of  local  communities  and  improve  community/grazing  land, grassland and adjoining lands through agroforestry. Households in the project areas are being supported for informed decision making in light of vulnerability to climate change.

In  Uttarakhand,  a  project  under  Adaptation  Fund  (of  the  United  Nations  Framework Convention on Climate Change) titled 'Climate smart actions and strategies in north western Himalayan  region  for  sustainable  livelihoods  of  agriculture-dependent  hill  communities'  is being implemented. The project supports climate smart interventions in sustainable livelihood management by means of spring rejuvenation, roof top rainwater harvesting, introduction of Drip Irrigation for increased water use efficiency and introduction of improved horticulture varieties and high value vegetable cultivation under protected conditions using bamboo-based poly houses etc. The communities in the project areas were provided training and exposure visits for understanding vulnerability and adaptation to climatic change.

Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR),  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers Welfare, Government of India launched a flagship network project 'National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture' (NICRA) in 2011. Under NICRA, climate resilient technologies  were  demonstrated  in  two  (2)  districts  of  Uttarakhand  (Tehri  Garhwal  and Uttarkashi) and three (3) districts each in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh (Chitrakoott, Hamirpur and Jhansi) and Madhya Pradesh (Tikamgarh, Datia and Chhatarpur).

(d)  With domestic efforts, India's emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reduced by 24% between 2005 and 2016 against the pre-2020 voluntary goal of reducing it by 20-25% from 2005 levels by 2020. This indicates our continued efforts at decoupling growth from  emissions.  Forest  and  tree  cover  has  increased  by  around  1.3  million  ha  between  the 2015  and  2019  assessments  of  the  Forest  Survey  of  India.  The  Land  Use  and  Land-Use change sector, under which forests and tree cover are included, removed 15% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions in 2016, amounting to a net removal of about 307.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, increasing its status as a sink by 2.2% since 2014.

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