Climate adaptation is a dynamic and complex process. This includes risk assessment, adaptation planning, implementation, and monitoring at different scales. Adaptation strategies vary according to specific types of climate hazards, geographical scales, and time frames. However, limited knowledge while dealing with several uncertainties is a major challenge. CSTEP's scientific strategies can help policymakers design and prioritise adaptation measures to meet our climate agenda.
Carbon Tunnel Vision Dominates the Climate Crisis Narrative
- The climate crisis is embedded in a breakdown of the larger socio-ecological system, wherein solving carbon will not necessarily solve the crises we are in.
- The West has been pushing a carbon-obsessed mitigation narrative.
Climate atlas of India: District-level analysis of historical and projected climate change scenarios
Climate change is the biggest challenge today and will be so in the coming decades. The increase in extreme events and their impact on natural and artificial ecosystems and lives and livelihoods are conspicuous. Formulation of climate policies and planning and implementation of programmes and projects for adaptation require climate information at various spatial scales.
Opinion: Climate adaptation must be transformational, not just fighting fires
For adaptation measures to work efficiently, assessments of capacity, technology and financial needs should be integrated. Regional (national and sub-national) stocktakes should now be initiated to move forward with the Global Goal on Adaptation.
It’s Time to Feed Our Soil
Soil — the second-largest natural carbon sink after oceans — has an enormous capacity to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide.
When functioning with loads of microorganisms, adequate water, air, minerals, and organic matter, soils are very much alive and healthy, sustaining ecosystems.
COP27: Reflections on Adaptation and Loss & Damage
The Climate, Environment and Sustainability team at CSTEP organised a discussion on 12 December 2022 to reflect on the key conversations that happened during COP27. The objective was to encourage dialogue among the climate community in India to speed up adaptation processes. For more details, please refer to the concept note and agenda.
Watch the full recording of the event here.
Towards a Policy Framework for Financing Future Loss and Damage
The inclusion of loss and damage (L&D) to the COP27 agenda is a positive first step in achieving climate justice. While vulnerable nations have been fighting for its inclusion into global discourses for decades, the recent climate-induced disasters across the world, especially in Pakistan, have played a pivotal role in its induction.
Multidimensional Policies for Rural Climate Resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic brought on unprecedented adversities for rural populations worldwide, endangering livelihoods and causing psycho-social impacts. These catastrophic effects have been further exacerbated by climate change, with a disproportional impact witnessed among the most vulnerable populations.
Urban Climate Resilience: A Case for Used-Water Treatment
The world is urbanising at a rapid pace. The United Nation’s report, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, predicts that close to 70% of the world’s population will reside in an urban area by 2050, placing an enormous burden on natural resources, especially water.
Given that the impacts of climate change will be felt acutely by cities, especially in the Global South, there is a need to adopt new processes — such as used-water reuse — to help secure their future.
OPINION: Knowing what is at stake - Climate risk assessment for resilience and adaptation
Climate change will amplify the existing risks and create new risks for natural and socio-economic systems. These risks are unevenly distributed and experienced. They are often greater for the disadvantaged or marginalised people (particularly women and girls), and also depend on the geographic location of these communities or ecological systems, such as coasts or mountains. Failing to assess climate risks—current and future—can lead to resource wastage, or worse, maladaptation.