Lok Sabha Question No. 2790 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-21
Subject: IPCC Report on Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: K. Subbarayan

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2790

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2022

## IPCC Report on Climate Change

## 2790.  SHRI SUBBARAYAN K.:

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

- (a) whether  the  government's  attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  latest  report  of  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) saying that at least half of the World's population lives in regions vulnerable to the climate crisis;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the report has warned that the South Asia, including India, is among the most vulnerable to the climate crisis and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of precautionary measures being planned/to be taken to face this crisis?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  and  (b)  The  Intergovernmental  Panel  on  Climate  Change  (IPCC),  periodically  prepares comprehensive Assessment Reports on the state of knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response options. These assessments are based on the extant scientific literature available at the time. Scientists from all over the world, including India, contribute to the preparation of IPCC Assessment Reports.The IPCC is currently in its Sixth Assessment cycle and has completed two reports so far, released in August 2021, by Working Group I and in February 2022 by Working Group II.

India  has  taken  note  of  the  Working  Group  II  contribution  to  the  IPCC  Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on 'Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability'.The report notes that global hotspots of high human vulnerability are found particularly in West, Centraland  East  Africa,  South  Asia,  Central  and  South  America,  Small  Island  Developing States  and  the  Arctic.  Further,  as  per  the  report,  Asia  is  identified  as  one  of  regions  most vulnerable to climate change, especially on extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise, and erratic rainfall.However,  the  report  also  notes  that  vulnerability  and  the  burden  of  adaptation  is highest  for  those  who  have  contributed  the  least  to  global  warming.  India  is  one  of  the leading examples of this, having contributed so far only about 4 per cent of global cumulative emissions.

The risks due to climate change and climate extremes will rise throughout the world with  increasing  temperatures,  with  the  historical  emissions  due  to  developed  countries already causing a number of adverse impacts in different sectors and different regions. The developed  countries  who  have  contributed  the  bulk  of  cumulative  emissions  so  far,  and continue to emit at a level disproportionate to their share of the global population with their inadequate  efforts  in  climate  mitigation,  have  to  drastically  step  up  their  efforts  at  climate action.  The  developing  countries  also  need  support  under  the  United  Nations  Framework Convention  on  Climate  Change  and  its  Paris  Agreement  in  terms  of  climate  finance, technology  transfer  and  capacity  building  in  order  to  adapt  to  growing  climate  impacts primarily  arising  from  stock  of  historical  and  current  high  per  capita  emissions  of  the developed countries.

(c) The  Government  is  implementing  the  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change (NAPCC), which is the overarching policy framework for climate action in India, covering mitigation, adaptation and generation of strategic knowledge on climate change. It comprises of national missions in the specific areas of solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, water, agriculture, the Himalayan  eco-system,  sustainable  habitat, green India and strategic knowledge on climate change. Most of these missions are adaptation focussed. Further, 33 States/Union  Territories  have  prepared  State  Action  Plans  on  Climate  Change  (SAPCCs) consistent with the objectives of NAPCC. The Government is also implementing the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change to support adaptation measures of States/UTs in areas that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 articulates the need for mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into development planning. The central government has established a robust early warning  system  and  has  significantly enhanced  accuracy  of  weather  forecasts. Forecasting agencies are continuing their efforts for improvement of warning and dissemination  systems  vigorously.The  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  supports National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) /State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA) in  framing  necessary  guidelines  for  the  public  with  respect  to  different  extreme weather events and the same are available in the public domain.

Some other measures for improving disaster preparedness include; (a) Publication of various  guidelines  on  different  disasters  by  NDMA;  (b)  Setting  up  of  National  Disaster Response  Force  (NDRF)  for  prompt  response  and  pre-  positioning  of  NDRF  in  disaster vulnerable areas;  (c) Encouraging States to set-up their own State Disaster Response Forces;

(d)  Strengthening  of  State  and  District  Disaster  Management  systems  through  various schemes of Central Government; (e) Conducting mock drills and workshops for effectively responding to disasters; and (f) Carrying out capacity building of disaster professionals and communities by NDMA, NDRF and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).

A number of other measures are taken, keeping in view the threat of climate change, by  various  departments,  ministries  and  entities  of  the  Government,  as  part  of  their  regular mandated activities and responsibilities. These are periodically shared with all stakeholders and  the  world  through  India's  National  Communications  and  Biennial  Update  Reports submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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